Now is the time to gear up for the ISBA legal technology boot camp that will be conducted Thursday and Friday, Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at The Chateau in Bloomington.

The two-day Law Ed seminar for attorneys, paralegals, secretaries and other staff members will be conducted by ISBA Committee on Legal Technology. (MCLE hours: 12.0)

Richard A. Kinner of Springfield is the professional computer training instructor. Steven L. Dunn of Springfield, the state bar association's director of information technology, is coordinator.

Microsoft Word for Legal Applications will be covered on the first day. Microsoft Excel for Legal Applications, with advanced tips and tricks for both Word and Excel, will occupy the second day.

The seminar will focus on features in the XP and 2003 versions of Excel and Word. This will not be a hands-on program, but participants may bring their own laptops to follow the speaker's examples.

Thursday discussions on Microsoft Word include page set-up as required by Illinois Supreme Court Rules 341 and 344, text vs. paragraph formatting, and tables, mail merge, toolbars, macros, line numbering, custom forms, and outline view.

Also redlining and tracking changes, templates and styles, footnotes and endnotes, page breaks and section breaks, and the “autos” (AutoCorrect and AutoText).

Friday morning discussions of Microsoft Excel include formulas and functions, cell formatting, page set-up, sorting and filtering, data validation, hiding and protecting worksheets, and grouping and subtotals.

On Friday afternoon, advanced tips and tricks include bookmarks and cross references, tables of contents and case captions, linking and embedding Excel worksheet data, electronic filing and changing Word to comply with filing rules, and creating macros, custom AutoFill lists, and custom templates.

Seminar fees for ISBA members are $140 for attendance on either day, or $240 for both days.

Fees for additional ISBA members or support staff members from the same firm are $100 each for one day and $160 for both days. New bar admittees pay only $15 to attend.

Fees for non-members are $200 for either day and $450 for both days; additional non-member registrants are $200 each per day or $350 for both days.