Standing Committee on
Legal Technology
December 2001 Vol. 9, No. 1
Statements or expressions of opinion or comments appearing herein arethose of the editors or contributors, and not necessarily those of the association or section.
(Notice to librarians: The following issues were published in Volume 8 of this newsletter during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001: October, No. 1; January, No. 2; June, No. 3.)
Contents
* Area code 809 telephone scam
* An Apple a day: Macintosh becoming computer of choice for many law firms
By Pamela Perrone
The world has changed dramatically since the last issue of the COLT newsletter. The terrorist attacks in NYC and DC on Sept 11, and the more recent anthrax attacks, have horrified everyone in America and the world. The personal impact has been felt nationwide; and in ways most couldn't have imagined before Sept. 11, it has unified our country.
The overall business impact of the terrorist attacks is still being calculated. But the impact on day-to-day "business-as-usual" was immediate: suspension of the statute of limitations and other court filing deadlines in New York are just a few of the legal implications. Other immediate personal changes included decreased business travel; increased scrutiny or the elimination of messenger delivery due to tightening of building security; new security concerns of all kinds (when was the last time your law firm conducted an evacuation drill?); and increased restrictions on Internet use by blocking sites, or eliminating or limiting the size of e-mail attachments.
What does all this have to do with the ISBA Standing Committee on Legal Technology and this newsletter? Well, technology can be the answer to some of the issues facing us. Video-phones are not just for CNN reporters in Pakistan and Afganistan. The Internet is the effective method of transferring information, including contracts and court filings, worldwide. The list goes on ...
None of this is new, mysterious or even particularly difficult. It's just that, except for e-mail, the majority of lawyers haven't been using these technologies. Each technology has its benefits, costs and challenges. COLT works to educate Illinois lawyers about technology and solve the challenges of using technology in a legal setting. Our work includes our computer workshops for lawyers and law firm employees, reviewing legislation affecting technology and its use, and efforts to expand the effective use of technology in the legal profession. Join us this year as we continue this work.
By Sandi Van Handel, AT&T Field Service Manager
Major scam: Don't respond to e-mails, phone calls, or Web pages which tell you to call an "809" phone number. This is a very important issue with Scam Busters because it alerts you to a scam that is spreading extremely quickly, can easily cost you $24,100 or more, and is difficult to avoid unless you are aware of it.
We'd like to thank Verizon for bringing this scam to our attention. This scam has also been identified by the National Fraud Information Center and is costing victims a lot of money. There are lots of different permutations of this scam, but here's how it works:
You will receive a message on your answering machine or your pager, which asks you to call a number beginning with area code 809. The reason you're asked to call varies. It can be to receive information about a family member who has been ill, to tell you someone has been arrested, died, to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc. In each case, you are told to call the 809 number right away.
Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls. If you call from the US, you will apparently be charged $2425 per-minute. Or, you'll get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you'll often be charged more than $24,100.
Why it works: The 809 area code is located in the Bahamas. The 809 area code can be used as a "pay-per-call" number, similar to 900 numbers in the US. Since 809 is not in the US, it is not covered by U.S. regulations for 900 numbers, which require that you be notified and warned of charges and rates involved when you call a "pay-per-call" number. There is also no requirement that the company provide a time period during which you may terminate the call without being charged. Further, whereas many U.S. phones have 900 number blocking to avoid these kinds of charges, 900 number blocking will not prevent calls to the 809 area code.
We recommend that no matter how you get the message, if you are asked to call a number with an 809 area code that you don't recognize and/or investigate further and just disregard the message. Be wary of e-mail or calls asking you to call an 809 area code number.
It's important to prevent becoming a victim of this scam, since trying to fight the charges afterwards can become a real nightmare. That's because you did actually make the call. If you complain, both your local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You'll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong.
Please forward this entire message to your friends, family and colleagues to help them become aware of this scam.
By Hon. James Bumgarner, Retired Circuit Judge
Long ago, for searching the Internet, there was Gopher (http://www.infospace.com/info.gopher/), and Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com/). Then along came Lycos (http://www.lycos.com/), InfoSpace (http://www.infospace.com/), Hotbot (http://hotbot.lycos.com/), Metacrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com/index.html), Excite ( http://www.excite.com/), and others. Later, Altavista (http://www.altavista.com/) also appeared. It was a fast and useful improvement.
I liked Altavista a great deal. That is, I did until Google (http://www.google.com/) came along. Google added the great benefit of intelligently ranking the search results. Usually, the address you were looking for was at the top of the list. But not always. Think of the term "storage." Ranking would probably list most of the results to include hard disk storage and perhaps a few to include product storage. When I tried it, I found storage of physical objects at the eleventh position on the list. Not bad, but how would you know that you had all the product storage addresses? Fortunately, since Google reports only items that include all the words of your search string, you can adequately refine a Google search. Try "automobile storage." You'll get close to what you want for that definition.
As the list of search engines is a long one, for anyone wanting to know more , a neat listing and ranking of search engines is available from SquirrelNet (http://www.squirrelnet.com/search/ratings.htm).
If you search very often for very specific information, it might be worthwhile to learn how to do a Boolean search, using a logic system devised by a British mathematician George Boole. It involves the use of "and" to require both; of "or" to include either; of "not" to exclude the term following; and of parentheses to force the order of search. One can find a primer for learning how to perform a Boolean search at "University at Albany" (http://library.albany.edu/internet/boolean.html). At this location, if you scroll completely to the bottom of the page, you can also find which search engines provide for Boolean searches. The list includes many of the engines we have listed, but it is necessary to know how to bring up that possibility for each. The chart at the bottom of the same page indicates how to do this as well.
Recently, newcomers Daypop (http://www.daypop.com), Teoma (http://www.teoma.com/), Wisenut (http://www.wisenut.com), and Vivisimo (http://vivisimo.com/) have appeared and are vying for ascendency. Specifically, however, Daypop is not for general search. It searches for news sites and Web logs only, but for that purpose it is excellent. Next, Teoma is helpful because, in addition to displaying search results, it also lists a number of categories from which you can select what appears to be the most logical place to continue your search. I didn't do too well with "storage," getting only computer disk storage. When I added "car storage" and checked the box "find this phrase," I did quite well. As to Wisenut, it is similar to Teoma, and I experienced like results to those I described for Teoma.
To conclude the iteration, however, I opt for Wvisimo. By using the term "storage", with this application, you also get a mixture of both disk and physical storage; however, as an added feature, the left side of the screen shows a number of categories that are pretty clear as to how they will narrow your search. Additionally, immediately to the left of each category on the left is a plus sign, similar the those shown in Microsoft Explorer. As you would suspect, clicking the plus sign expands the category. Clicking any category of the main list, or of the expanded list, immediately brings up the search results that have been waiting in the background.
Another good feature is included. If you click any address in the window that includes the original list, the result appears within the original page window, so that it is not necessary to return to the search page after viewing that result. All you need to do is to hit the back button and you return to the original list again. This neat feature does not work when you click a category from the left. When you do this, the resultant list fills the entire screen. To get back to the beginning, you must close this page. Prior to doing that, if you select one of the addresses listed, you will bring it up. Then to get back, you must click the back button and then close the page.
Conveniently, each item on the category list is several times expandable. For example, under "storage," clicking the category "self storage" gives a list of ten further categories. Clicking one of these gives a further list. This is a novel and very ingenious way to help you narrow your search to find just what you are looking for.
As a bonus, each address on the lists shows you from which search engines it was generated and the number of hits from each. For instance, one shows Netscape 2, Looksmart 40 and HotBot 27. And, if you wish, you can click on those entries to go to the original search engine.
Unfortunately, by the time this is published, there will be new search engines and improved old ones. Meanwhile, happy hunting!
An Apple a day: Macintosh becoming computer of choice for many law firms
By T.L. Headley
According to a survey by the American Bar Association, Apple computers are increasingly the choice of law firms. Between 1998 and today, Apple saw a jump of more than 250 percent in the number of law firms using its computers--23 percent in 2001 versus only 9 percent in 1998.
"The latest study is a combined study that looked at small, medium and large firms together," the ABA said in issuing the report. "It is called the 1999 Legal Technology Survey Report. What this study shows is quite exciting. When asked which hardware brand of personal computer is most widely used by the firm, Apple computers ranked an amazing second with 23 percent of the firms responding that Apples were the dominant brand."
The survey found results that are in line with other research that has shown many law students (30-40 percent) use Apple computers. Bill Gardner, technical administrator with the Charleston law firm of McQueen Harmon & Potter LC, said that while Apple computers have always had a "foothold" in the legal profession, the maker is now gaining ground, chalking much of the credit up to the 1998 introduction of the Apple iMac, a low-priced, easy-to-use, self-contained machine.
"IMacs were the first sub-$1,000 machine," Gardner said. "I don't know how many attorneys switched." McQueen Harmon & Potter LC has used Apple computers since the firm was founded in 1987. In fact, Gardner's office is lined with old Macintosh SE computers that have been taken out of service. Gardner said only two PC machines are used at McQueen Harmon and Potter, one to do payroll and the other to handle phone logs.
Denise Thomas, office manager for the Charleston law firm of Bell and Bands, said that like McQueen Harmon & Potter, Apple computers were the first choice of Bell and Bands when the firm went into business. Like Gardner, Thomas said the ease of use of the Apple operating system, the fact that it is network-ready "right out of the box" and is affordable were driving factors in the decision to continue using Apples. Bell & Thomas uses iMac computers on all of its attorney's desktops. Harry Bell, a founding partner with Bell and Bands, said he chose Apple systems because "it is an extremely reliable platform and we wanted our people to concentrate on practicing law and serving clients rather than dealing with all the bugs and problems one encounters with Windows (the PC operating system) or before that, DOS (an older operating system).
Doug Payne, systems consultant for TCS Technology Services of West Virginia, said that locally there hasn't been the increase in Apple use as has been seen nationwide simply because many local firms have been using Apple computers for years.
"Folks I know have been using them for a long time," Payne said. "But it certainly isn't a decline. It really gets down to the thing it has always been--die-hard Apple users versus die-hard PC users." Payne said Apple systems have several advantages and even the disadvantages are now manageable.
"There are usability factors," Payne said. "Networks are easier to manage in an Apple system. Software selection has gotten better. Law firms basically use word processing, Web-browsing and database software. Those are the basic standard functions."
For those areas where there are still software problems, such as scheduling programs, Payne said there are ways around the gaps, like as using e-mail systems such as Outlook, which have gotten more sophisticated.
In addition, Payne said other companies are writing special software for Apple now.
Payne said the conversion of documents from an Apple platform to a PC platform and back is likewise no longer the problem it once was.
"At this point, if you have the current version of Word on PC or Apple you can attach a file to an e-mail and send it to another computer and open it without conversion," Payne said. "You can also do that with Excel, Pagemaker and other software. You really don't have the kind of translation problems you once had."
Gardner said that although many law firms are moving toward Apple computers, most of the U.S. and all of the West Virginia court systems are PC-only. That, he said, sometimes poses problems.
"Every judge in the state uses a PC," Gardner said. "In fact, many of them are using Corel Wordperfect. The problem is that Corel stopped developing Wordperfect for Apples several years ago."
Gardner said it is important for judges in the state to recognize that more and more attorneys are not using PC-based systems but opting instead for Apple computers. Bell said communicating with PC-based judges is little more than a "minor nuisance" for the new Apple systems.
"You can save a file as Wordperfect or Microsoft Word for Windows and it will open right up," Bell said. "That is the beauty of the Apple software. It translates beautifully."
_______________
Reprinted with permission by West Virginia State Journal:
The State Journal
904 Virginia Street East
Charleston, WV 25301
304/344-1630
I've got your peripatetic right here
By Jay Giusti
Investing in computer technology sometimes seems to require a call to Miss Cleo: How can we predict, with some assurance of accuracy, which emergent products are most likely to be around for awhile? Which ones will maximize the return on your investment?
A few years back, before CD and DVD authoring were available, I enjoyed great backup capability using a Panasonic Phase Dual (PD) optical-magnetic media, which stored 650 megs on a rewritable disc, and also played CDs and CD-ROM discs. Use of the PD drive ended as operating system upgrades no longer supported the required drivers.
Over the past year or so, I've been using very portable FireWire/USB drives, with capacities from six gigs and more. FireWire, as you may have read, supports faster read/write performance than USB, but models such as some from VST Technologies offer either type of connector, and even both USB and FireWire in the same drive. That flexible choice permitted me to use one drive for various machine models, easily transportable from office to home, in a unit about 3 x 5.5 x 0.75 inches. But I still could only use the drives for one device: attached to a computer.
If my recent experience is typical, things are now getting better. Storage media is now in the miniature realm, usable in different devices, with decreasing costs.
The Compact Flash (CF) memory card (smaller than a matchbook) that I use in my digital camera can also be used as storage on a desktop PC or notebook computer via PC Card or other adapters, such as Microtech's Zio! USB-based CF reader/writer ($30-40 alone, or bundled with media), USB CameraMate or FireWire CameraMate ($50-70, also by Microtech). CompactFlash cards recently have dropped well below the $1 per megabyte level, with 128 meg cards priced below $50 after rebate; 512 meg cards are becoming available, and gigabyte cards announced. So the 128 meg CF card I use to store hundreds of digital photos serves double duty. Triple duty, actually.
Handspring's PDAs (personal digital assistant) supporting its proprietary "Springboard" expansion module capacity can use flash memory cards, such as CF, as additional storage space. New PDAs from Palm incorporate SD expansion cards in much the same way. My Handspring Visor, with 8 megs of built-in memory, through a $50 "MemPlugCF" Springboard module (www.portableinnovation.com) can now access documents and applications stored on the same 8-, 30-, and 128-meg cards I use in my camera (the card, though, may need to be reformatted to be used in a different device.) Newer applications support running applications directly from the CF card, while software written for older PalmOS versions require moving applications and files from the CF storage to the handheld. Applications for PalmOS PDAs that allow documents created on PCs to be read and modified on PDAs include several varieties of Adobe Acrobat PDF-format reader utilities; DocumentsToGo4 from DataViz for reading/creating Word, Excel and PowerPoint files; and FileMaker Mobile for databases. (I've found a good selection of expansion modules, applications and utilities for PalmOS at www.palmgear.com. Some computer mail order equipment/software dealers also carry PDA accessories and software.)
And now, tiny portable hard drives: IBM makes Microdrive models supporting the CF+ form factor (original CF is about 3 mm thin; CF+/CFII is about 5 x 42.8 x 36.4 mm overall size, the micro drive weighing all of 16 grams). Micro drives reportedly require even less power in digital cameras than CompactFlash memory. IBM drives are also marketed under other trade names, and are often bundled with various adapter/reader equipment. As of this writing, 1 gigabyte capacity drives can be found for about $300 (representing a 50% decrease in price over the past year), smaller capacities also now available, with larger capacity models pre-announced. Many current model digital cameras supporting CF media have slots wide enough to use Microdrives. The drives can be used as additional computer storage via PC Card adapters and CF readers (such as the Zio!, and Interactive Media's Kangaru5 in 1 USB Card Reader at $50 MSLP). (In theory, I could even boot up from a PC-card or FireWire adapter micro drive with MacOS installed, since the MacOS now supports booting from removable FireWire drives, but I don't have a FireWire adapter or reader, so I'll leave that as an exercise for others.)
One caveat: while security staff at court houses and government buildings in general now seem better able to interpret electronic devices revealed by scanning equipment (less frequently requesting to see cell phones and PDAs turned on), it wouldn't be surprising to be asked to demonstrate that tiny backup storage media and devices actually work, without having the necessary equipment along.
%20Initial.GIF)