The Bottom Line
October 2000, Vol 22, No. 1
(Notice to librarians: The following issues were published in Volume 21 of this newsletter during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000: October, No. 1; November, No. 2; February, No. 3; June, No. 4.)
Statements or expressions of opinion or comments appearing herein are those of the editors or contributors, and not necessarily those of the association or section.
Contents
* The Internet, on the lighter side and a year-end potpourri
* Paralegal assistants in a trial practice
The Internet, on the lighter side and a year-end potpourri
By Paul Bernstein, Esq.
The Internet must be a part of your law firm "arsenal." By now, you should be accessing Westlaw, Lexis, LexisONE (for free case law from the last five years and more) and the ISBA Home Page or sending email or document attachments, or collaborating with others via ListServ and/or threaded discussion groups or exploring Applications Service Providers (ASPs) to use various software products on a "rental" basis. However, there is a lighter side to the Internet as well. Here, we'll discuss a few of them and, since you will probably be reading this towards the end of the year 2000, why not indulge yourself by giving yourself a few of the following as your very special holiday present to yourself?
Dilbert for your daily "lift"
We all need an emotional lift from time to time. For me, Dilbert is the ticket. Scott Adams, the author of Dilbert comic strips and books, is a master at dissecting how businesses work. Whenever I want a lift or a laugh or both, I read one of the several Dilbert books that I have or go to the Dilbert home page on the Internet. This pleasant change-of-pace can be very helpful in getting through the stressful hours of each day. I highly recommend this site. http://dilbert.com/
Free holiday cards/greetings and more
Ever run out of time to send a holiday or other type of card to your spouse, child, business associate or friend? Most of us do from time to time. I've been a fan of greeting cards for years, and in today's world, we now have customizable, digital greeting cards in a growing variety that are animated and have sounds and graphics with them.
A couple of sites that you should know about and/or visit and see what I mean are:
ExpressIt at: http://www.expressit.com/
Blue Mountain at: http://www.bluemountain.com/
Jesse Berst's Anchor Desk
Ever wonder how some of us seem to know so much about technology? The answer is that we have "secret" sources of information that, over time, we have found out about....we access these treasures of information and then make you feel insecure because we seem to know so much more than you do. Well, secrets revealed number one: Jesse Berst's Anchor Desk is a daily email transmission off of a ListServ. Every day, after you "subscribe" to Jesse's list, you get a wide variety of information on a series of topics and you can pick and choose what, if anything, you want to know more about. If you do want to know more, just "click" your mouse on the indicated URL for more information, and by the magic of your Web browser and the Internet, you are taken right there and there you can register to get on the mailing list. A "miracle" of sorts. Try it, you will like it. http://www.anchordesk.com
Lockergnome for those with a high-tech bent
And, here's secrets revealed number two. If you are really a "techy" you will get a kick and lots of valuable information from the following resource, which is also an electronic newsletter delivered to you via a ListServ--here too, all you need to do if you want to is sign-up on the mailing list and you will get the newsletter via email. http://www.lockergnome.com
Lockergnome provides this free newsletter and tells you: "We'll send our e-mail newsletter to you every day--packed with the latest Windows freeware, games, multimedia, fonts, Web sites, tips & tricks, updated, drivers, themes, computer industry news, and more." I've uncovered a number of gems on this Web site. Not for the stodgy or aristocratic.
So, now you know two great, "secret" resources of information. If you find any you think are worth the effort, please email me about them and I'll mention them in a subsequent article.
Five years of your state's case law for free and much more--lexisONEsm
lexisONEsm is a resource that you must know about. To get to the site on the Internet go to: http://www.lexisone.net
Case law
There you will find a variety of resources including free case law for five years or more. Here's what Lexis says about their free case law: "Access free case law from the LEXIS® service--including U.S. Supreme Court cases from 1790 and selected federal and state cases from January 1, 1996. For enhanced search capabilities and access to a broader range of sources, you can easily link to lexis.comsm from your lexisONEsm search results to get Case Summaries, LEXIS® Search Advisor, Shepard's®, personalized updates, and more."
Preparing legal documents online--the future
is here, now
If you want to see the future of the preparation of legal documents online via the internet with "merge-codes" you will want to look at lexisONEsm. Here's what Lexis has to say about the various types of forms available there: "There are three types of forms available on the LexisONE site--HotDocs online forms, HotDocs graphical forms, and PDF forms. Tutorials are available below to demonstrate how to fill both types of HotDocs forms."
To see this exciting, leading edge technology, you will have to go to the Web site, give yourself an ID and password, log-on and give it a try. I think you will find this a real eye-opener. You will especially be captivated and amazed by the online tutorial that is provided to show you how these forms' fill-in systems work. Not only is this resource a major break-through for document assembly, but the combination of HotDocs OnLine with the preparation of legal documents via the internet is a capability whose time has come.
With the type of Internet and forms fill-in power used, can electronic filing be far behind?
Links to 16,000 plus resources on the Internet
"With a simple click, the lexisONEsm Legal Internet Guide lets you link to more than 16,000 law-related Web sites. Organized into 24 intuitive categories, these sites were personally selected by legal practitioners to provide access to the most useful and relevant legal sites available."
Getting in touch with each other and consumers of legal services
More and more online services are offering discussion forums between lawyers and members of the public. To be sure, one must avoid the giving of legal advice online and the formation of unintended lawyer-client relationships, but given rights of free speech, the desire and need of consumers to know their rights and marketing opportunities for lawyers on the Internet, these resources, present for years, are now getting a lot of national attention. Two of the more significant resources that exist for this purpose are the following: Freeadvice.com at http://www.freeadvice.com/ and Prairielaw.com at http://www.prairielaw.com/
If you have an interest in creating your own forums or discussion area on your own home page, I strongly recommend that you take a look at what threaded discussion-type software looks like. A good example is the UltimateBB which is running on my own Web site and can be viewed at: http://www.paulbernstein.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi. Take a look and let me know what you think.
One of my favorite resources--Law Office Computing Magazine
One of the finest publications on the market is Law Office Computing Magazine. Not only have they had an excellent hard copy publication for years, but their Web site is terrific and provides a lot of detailed information. You can access their Web site at; http://www.lawofficecomputing.com/.
Now, when you get there, let's suppose you are interested in case management software. Just click on the words "case management" and you will get a list of reviews for the following products (as of September 10, 2000):
21st Century Lawyer; Alta Point Law Office Management; Abacus Law; Amicus Attorney; Case and Point; Case Master; Case Mate; Chief Legal Officer; Commence; Corporate Legal Management System; Gryphon, Jr. Partner, LawBase; LAWTRAC; LawQuest; Lawyer's Helper; LegalEdge; LegalFiles; Legalex; LegalMate; Needles; Personal Assistant; Practice Manager; ProLaw; TimeMatters; Trial de Novao; Trial Lawyers Assistant; Trial Works and more.
If you have very limited time to do research on various software products and want to get the broadest amount of information from a variety of talented writers, Law Office Computing in hard copy and accessing their Web site is an important resource for you to use.
Application Service Providers (ASP): what are they and why should you care?
An Applications Service Provider, or ASP, is an Internet-based resource which provides you with the ability to "rent" various types of software on, generally, a month to month basis. Now, you may well ask, "Why is this of any importance to me? I've already got Microsoft Word and other programs on my computer?" Let me tell you the reasons why I see ASPs as the wave of today and tomorrow.
Don't you just love to upgrade the software on your computer? Do you have the same problem I usually have--each time I upgrade software or add a new program, stuff that used to work before no longer works properly, if at all. And, don't you tire of having Microsoft correct bugs in their software via a so-called "upgrade" and then charging you for the privilege of having corrected software? Further, are there no products out there that you might like to try, but do not wish to buy and install and tinker with only to find you really can't or will not use the product at all?
Would you not like to license a product to yourself but be able to access the software via different computers without having a pay a separate license fee for each of your computers from which you access the software?
For these and other reasons, an ASP may be in your future.
Essentially, as ASP is:
* a remote computer owned by another party,
* that has installed on it the software you want to use,
* and thereby acts as a host
* allowing you to access the software from any computers you operate
* at any time and from any place
* over the Internet
* at, usually, a fixed monthly fee,
* where you can cancel the relationship, generally, on 30-day notice,
* and where the ASP maintains the software and,
* keeps the servers open for your access 24 hours per day, seven days per week,
* and where the hosting ASP does all upgrades and enhancements to the software,
* and provides all technical support necessary for the product(s)
* and provides security for their computer systems.
One of my favorite ASPs is the following one which I have used and tested and like a great deal. I was running Microsoft WORD via the Internet on this service and had exceptionally fine results: http://www.personable.com.
In addition to WORD, this resource also hosts, among others, the following software.
ACT!2000
GoldMine 5.0
MS Office 2000 Standard
MS WORD 2000
C.I.S.--New Jersey_Child Support, Worksheets, etc.
Easy Amortization v5.5
Easy HUD RESPA
Easy Trust Accounts
MS Access 2000
MS Excel 2000
MS FrontPage 2000
MS Outlook 2000
MS PowerPoint 2000
There's more and much of it is free.
However, you will probably want a cable modem or pretty fast DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) in order to be pleased with the response time from the remote server. DSL lines have come down in cost rapidly and hopefully, in your town you will find a resource for such a high-speed telephone line at reasonable cost.
Marketing in the 21st Century
We may not like it very much as lawyers, but marketing is part of what we do. And, because of the wonders of the Internet, more and more resources are available for you to find and take advantage of, often for free. One of the very best resources in that regard is provided by Larry Bodine, a lawyer who has been with Sidley & Austin for years and has been extremely active with marketing for law firms of all sizes for many, many years. Larry has a terrific Web site with lots of invaluable information on how to market your law firm and related information. You can get on his mailing list for this once-per-week newsletter that is delivered to you via your electronic mail address.
Larry Bodine can be contacted at: Email: Lbodine@ LFMI.com; telephone: 312/853-7759; home page for the goodies and the free newsletter: www.Lawmarketing.com.
I trust everyone who reads this will find at least one, or perhaps several, useful resources. Let me know what you think and tell me what you're accessing and why.
Paul Bernstein, Esq.
Former Chair: ISBA Committee on Legal Technology
Former Chair: ISBA Law Office Management and Economics (Standing Committe on) Council
Present Vice-Chair/Technology, ATLA's Small Office Practice Section
email: paulbern@interaccess.com
email: paulbernstein@yahoo.com
Internet: http://www.paulbernstein.com
Internet: http://www.cyberbarassociation.net
Phone: 312/951-8451
Fax: 312/280-8180
Paralegal assistants in a trial practice
By Maximilian M. Prusak
The practice of law has changed over the past 25 years. Words similar to these have been uttered by attorneys many times. The practice has changed, and lawyers have had to change with them. Lawyers have been particularly resourceful in becoming more productive so that the fees charged in the Central Illinois area have not risen as dramatically as one would have expected.
In my opinion, essential elements of that productivity are technology and paralegal assistants. It has been my experience that paralegal assistants have adapted as well as (if not better) than lawyers. Paralegal assistants are very productive with computers by using them for scheduling events, following up with tasks, creating checklists, abstracting depositions by using ASCII disks supplied by the court reporter, tracking discovery schedules mandated by the court, creating forms, establishing systems, using case management software and using document assembly programs to create documents.
A paralegal assistant is not a replacement for a secretary. In my office, the lawyer, paralegal assistant and the secretary function as a team. The secretary produces most of our documents, speaks with clients and schedules hearings depositions and appointments. One extremely important function of the secretary is to present a positive image to our clients. The most important function of our secretary is to pay attention to details. She makes suggestions about documents that are dictated, points out unclear aspects of documents that we have produced and prioritizes the mail, making sure that the high priority items are addressed immediately. Secretaries are much better typists than attorneys and paralegals. Therefore, we attempt to keep keyboarding to a minimum for the attorney and paralegal assistant.
In my trial practice, the paralegal assistant is involved from the beginning to the end. During the initial interview with our client, the paralegal assistant (hereinafter referred to as the "paralegal") is present in order to establish a direct relationship with the client. The client is informed about her role and direct contact is encouraged. We point out that the attorney spends a lot of time out of the office at trial, hearings and depositions. The paralegal is in the office and available. Fortunately, the paralegal in our office has a high degree of people skills.
A checklist has been developed in our office as a joint effort by the attorney and the paralegal. The paralegal is responsible for making sure that the checklist is followed. Grief can be caused by the failure to log the statute of limitations dates, note liens in the file and discover whether there is more than one insurance policy applicable. When action is taken pursuant to the checklist such as issuing a subpoena for a record, the paralegal is responsible for entering the follow up date on the computer and making sure that a response is received.
The investigation involved in a lawsuit can range from the simple to the complex. A paralegal can be very useful with respect to making suggestions about what could or should be done. If an investigator is retained, the paralegal can monitor the investigator's progress and make sure that the case proceeds on schedule.
In our office, the task of accumulating, organizing and summarizing medical records is done by the paralegal. Important items in the summary are typed in bold so that the attorney will be alerted. Further, the paralegal makes recommendations about which doctors should be deposed and/or used at trial.
Many times court records are needed such as conviction records for impeachment purposes. The paralegal is very efficient about procuring the needed records and having them certified, if appropriate.
In my experience, the paralegal can be very effective with regard to legal research. As a general rule, the paralegal is most effective when the issue being researched is narrow (for example, the basic elements of breach of contract or the time period established by a statute of limitations). I do the more general research, particularly in the areas of the law where I have less familiarity.
The paralegal is particularly helpful in obtaining a draft of answers to interrogatories from our client and suggesting additions to the answers based upon her knowledge of the case. She also prepares a draft of the affidavit of compliance for my signature. She has enough experience to determine the obvious documents to produce. Further, she attaches a copy of the documents that she believes might be producible for my review. Of course, the attorney must maintain responsibility for what is actually produced. The paralegal is particularly helpful for compiling a proposed response to the Illinois Supreme Court Rule 213 disclosures concerning witnesses.
The paralegal is heavily involved in the case from start to finish. She schedules a meeting with me 30 days prior to every court appointed discovery compliance date to make sure that we adhere to the court's schedule. Approximately 90 days before trial, the paralegal schedules a meeting to prepare for trial. We discuss: making sure our client is available for trial; determining whether any evidence depositions are needed and scheduling them; determining when the trial subpoenas will be issued and by whom; discussing the contents of the Supreme Court Rule 237(b) notice, selecting trial exhibits; completing updates on all discovery including Supreme Court Rule 213 disclosures; determining the need for court room equipment (video player, television, etc.) and other anticipated problems.
At trial, the paralegal is particularly helpful with respect to scheduling and producing our witnesses on time. She is in charge of making sure that all trial exhibits are properly prepared and that court room equipment is present and in working order. It is important to know that someone is standing by in the office to do research, if needed.
The paralegal is indispensable to our litigation team. When the paralegal first joined our team, I helped her to realize that she could contribute in more ways than she imagined. Later on in our relationship, the paralegal helped me to realize that she could contribute in more ways than I imagined.
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(The author is Maximilian M. Prusak who is a partner in the law firm of Prusak & Winne, Ltd., located at 331 Fulton St., Suite 704, Peoria, IL 61602.)