Another developing area is that of products liability as it might apply to software. So far the case law is sparsely reported. It likely will not remain so as it moves from bar journal article to courtroom.
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John Ellsworth is an Illinois lawyer who has been programming computers since the first Radio Shack TRS-80 reached the stores (1982). For the past eight years he has worked as a software developer at companies such as Intel, Boeing, Allstate, Morningstar, Searle Pharmaceutical, Anheuser-Busch, Crawford & Company, and AON Corporation. John can be reached at johnellsworth@charter.net or at 1207 Pinyon Drive, #107, Manchester, MO and by phone at 636-527-0183. John's legal software, CaseXL, can be viewed at http://www.casexl.com.
Office XP for law firms: A review
By Adrienne W. Albrecht
One day at the courthouse, I was complaining to a friend of mine that the secretaries in my office are always happy to use an automated document or spreadsheet after I took the time to create it, but would rarely go to the trouble of creating these forms themselves. Upon further discussion, he suggested that perhaps our office staff were consciously or subconsciously engaging in a form of subversive job protection by retaining for themselves the responsibility for document production. However, I've since concluded that the picture is much more complex. It is a product of the training that secretaries and paralegals receive as well as the differences between the manners with which lawyers and staff approach document assembly issues.
What brought this realization to mind was the purchase I made of a new training manual, called Office XP for Law Firms. Written by Ed Jones and Romena Benjamin, it was published in 2001 by Hungry Minds, Inc. It's a hefty manual, consisting of more than 800 pages with a companion CD-ROM. When I purchased it, I was looking forward to a manual that finally described the automation features of Microsoft Office that are peculiarly useful to legal applications; but which are glossed over in the typical user manuals. Because of that anticipation, I was disappointed. What I found was a typical Office guidebook with a few legal forms thrown in and some references to legal-specific software that the reader can purchase. The CD-ROM does contain some rudimentary legal database files and a sample version of Hot Docs, but I'm not going to spend $39.95 just for them.
Like the authors of the help text for Word, Jones and Romena think that mail merge is useful only for sending form letters from mailing lists. They completely ignore the potential of using mail merge to import data from database files or the content of Outlook Contacts forms into pleadings, contracts and other documents. There is no guidance whatsoever about dealing with gender and tense variables in text. Most frustrating, the list of field switches is incomplete and excludes some of the most commonly used formats, such as Roman numerals and ordinal text. Furthermore, the ability to perform calculations in Excel using dates is overlooked. The powerful formula feature of Excel and its potential application in the law office is given only summary treatment. From reviewing this and other manuals, I now understand the habit that my secretary has adopted of creating a new will by taking a similar one that I've previously created and replacing "John Doe" with "Robert Roe."
Upon reflection, however, I realized that this book is as comprehensive a guide for law office staff as I am going to find. It is written for individuals who are responsible for churning out a given document in the fastest manner possible. When lawyers assign work to their staff, they tend to say, "Take this down," or "Get this order done saying the following." They do just as they are told. Those firms that have automated forms tend to have programmers, or system administrators create them. Hot Docs is a program that, to some extent substitutes the automation process, but it is time consuming and is yet another program to purchase and learn.
What Office XP for Law Firms does do extremely well is describe why and how a user should create customized forms in the Contacts section of Outlook. This is important for legal application because of the ability to import into mail merge documents. It is also important because Outlook is the vehicle into which most legal-specific applications interface most easily.
Fundamentally, the computer manuals, just like law office staff, approach technology issues from specific to abstract. They begin their analyses by asking themselves, "What is the fastest way for me to generate this document for this client?" However, lawyers approach from the opposite perspective. Lawyers want to know, "How can I create a form to enable me to generate pleadings by inputting individual variables?" Rather than start with the fundamentals or Word, I'd like to see a manual that starts by instructing the user to locate the names of the fields that his or her legal database uses to store information. Then I'd explain how to create a form in the Outlook Contacts section to import those fields. Only then would I describe how to automate forms using form fields and mail merge that incorporate that data.
From my secretary's vantage point, Office XP for Law Firms is perfectly comprehensive, user-friendly, and worthwhile. From my perspective as a lawyer, it is frustrating and incomplete. Given a choice between it and other guidebooks to Microsoft Office that I've seen, I'd select this one. However, it is not something that would enable a lawyer to inspire his or her secretary to automate forms so that they are easily adapted for a different client. That will take an author with a completely different approach. No wonder the retail industry finds lawyers to be difficult.
TechnoLawyer.com: Digital cameras--diversion or useful tool?
By Carol L. Schlein
Introduction
Sometimes it's hard to think about serious issues like billing systems, litigation or case management. With the autumn foliage at its peak, we want to spend time with our families, travel, relax, and reinvigorate ourselves. For me, the goal of automating my practice has always been to enable me to earn a good living with minimal stress from tight deadlines or work-related emergencies, and to spend more time with family and friends.
For me, a camera is a must for capturing special moments during my time away from work. Over the past two years, I've noticed more people shifting from traditional film-based cameras to digital models. After watching the prices fall and the number of models and brands proliferate, it was time for me to take the plunge. While my primary goal was to reduce the costs associated with buying film and reproducing photographs, I've already found some uses for the camera on the professional side of my life.
For a practicing lawyer, I see even more potential uses. Imagine, instead of being confused about who is on the phone, you could quickly access a photo of that person along with his or her contact record in your case management program. How about adding photos of your staff and office location to your firm's Web site? Need to document scenes from an auto accident? No problem!
Getting started
To use a digital camera, you need the requisite accessories. Just choosing a camera can be overwhelming. Getting familiar with the terminology can be like learning a language. You have to understand megapixels, JPEG files, storage options such as SmartMedia cards, and battery options.
If you've been a serious photographer, you will want to steer toward the higher megapixel cameras (3 mp or more) with a faster lens. You also may want to hold different models to see if they are comfortable and easy to focus. Some brands like Nikon sell cameras that swivel so you can see your subject. Others like Olympus have both a viewfinder like a traditional camera as well as a preview screen to see a larger image of the photo before you take it.
The cameras come in many sizes. Having had a very small point-and-shoot camera for several years, I found that too often the pictures were blurry because it was too hard to hold the tiny camera still enough. So when I was choosing a digital camera, I spent a lot of time holding different models to see if they were large enough to hold steady yet light enough to carry in a small bag for quick day trips without getting a neck ache.
The right price
Digital cameras come in a wide range of prices and models. Low-end cameras sell for between $200 and $300; high-end models can sell fore more than $1,000. My philosophy when purchasing a camera was to look between these two extremes for a "prosumer" model. I didn't want last year's model, but I also didn't want to overpay for unnecessary features. My decision was reinforced when I spoke with friends who bought both an expensive and an inexpensive camera and felt the extra money was not worth the difference.
I settled on the Olympus Camedia 3040, which cost approximately $500. It has a very fast, high-quality lens and uses four AA batteries. On friends' advice, I also purchased rechargeable AA batteries and a recharger. In addition, I was advised to purchase a higher-capacity SmartMedia card. Unlike traditional film that allows up to 36 pictures on a roll, a single 256 MB SmartMedia card can hold 164 photos. Not having to worry about running out of film is a new freedom afforded by digital cameras. If a picture doesn't look good, I can delete it and take another.
There are some other notable differences between traditional and digital cameras. When you take your first picture, you'll notice a longer delay between the time you press the shutter and the time the photo is created. This can sometimes make catching the moment more difficult. Over the July 4th weekend, I practiced taking pictures of fireworks to see how well I could anticipate the shot I wanted.
Online development
Even if you decide to stick with your 35-millimeter camera, you can have your photographs delivered online or on a CD-ROM. Any digital photograph can then be printed or shared electronically with friends, family, clients, colleagues, etc. Many local photo developing stores and drugstores now have affiliations with the leading online digital photo printing sites.
One of the largest and best known of these sites for sharing and printing digital images is <http://www. ofoto.com>, a subsidiary of Kodak operated in conjunction with Amazon.com. On this site, you can obtain free software to edit photos to remove red-eye, change the contrast or brightness, crop the image, etc. Once you have the photos the way you want, you can create different albums and share them free with selected recipients. If you have more than 200 photos in your albums, you will be asked to delete some or pay a small storage charge. You also can order various-sized prints as well as photo cards, frames and other accessories.
The main competitors to Ofoto are Snapfish <http://www.snapfish.com>,Shutterfly <http://www.shutterfly.com>,and PhotoWorks <http://www.photoworks.com>. Several retail chains also have online processing sites. They include Costco <http://www.costco.com>, Wal-Mart <http://www.walmart.com>, Walgreens <http://www.walgreens.com>, CVS <http://www.cvs.com>, and RitzCamera <http://www.ritzcamera.com>.
Right now, Snapfish has the lowest prices, closely followed by Ofoto. Most sites charge about $.49 per reprint although some provide significant discounts for larger numbers of prints. There also are differences in postage charges. Even if using a traditional camera, you may want to compare these prices with the convenience of developing pictures locally, especially when sending holiday cards.
Lawyerly uses
Okay, so it's easy to find reasons to buy a digital camera if you have adorable children or love to travel. How about finding ways to use a digital camera to better serve your clients?
Does your firm have a Web site? How about posting pictures of your office location, the lawyers, and staff? Avoid copyright issues and take photos of parts of your office to illustrate different pages on your site.
Jar your memory
If you're like me, I regularly confuse clients with similar names or those from similar towns who called me around the same time. If I took a photo of each during our initial meeting, I could connect it to the case record and look at it when they call or before I head to their office. All the leading case and practice management programs, as well as litigation support applications, allow users to connect digital images with case or contact records. I realize that taking pictures of your clients might be a sensitive issue for some lawyers and for some practice areas. But perhaps you could include those photos with a thank-you note at the end of their case.
Documentation
How you might use digital photos will largely depend on the nature of your practice. Lawyers tend to be more verbal than visual, but digital images could improve your case outcome. For example, it's easy to imagine taking photos of the property for sale during a real estate transaction. If there is a dispute over the condition of the property, a picture could be helpful in resolving the issue of who does the repair. Documenting the conditions of a tenant's apartment could improve the result on your client's behalf.
Immigration lawyers often have clients they haven't met because they were hired through a relative in an attempt to gain residency. A digital photo of the actual client may help the lawyer better match the file and circumstances to the person.
Evidence
Any sort of physical evidence can be documented with a digital camera. If you're an intellectual property lawyer trying to prove the new design of your client's product doesn't infringe on the plaintiff's product, incorporating digital photos of each product into a presentation might be more effective than using print photos. While you may have to take additional steps to prove the photos haven't been altered, you can easily enlarge digital photos to highlight details that might normally not be seen.
In a divorce hearing or custody case, you might be able to show the judge different views of the marital residence or show details from a child's room in connection with a custody hearing. In some instances, videotape may be more appropriate but often a photograph will suffice.
Conclusion
As the cliche goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." A digital camera is now the best way to take that picture.
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Carol L. Schlein is president of Law Office Systems in Montclair, NJ, a training and consulting firm specializing in law firm automation. She formerly chaired the Computer and Technology Division of the ABA Law Practice Management Section. She has organized Time Matters user groups in New Jersey and New York. You can find meeting information as well as copies of her previous technology columns at <http://www.losinc.com>. You can contact Carol via e-mail (carol@losinc.com).
This article originated in The TechnoLawyer Community, a free network of e-mail newsletters through which legal professionals share information about legal technology and practice management issues, products, and services, often developing valuable business relationships in the process. To join The TechnoLawyer Community, visit the following Web site: <www.technolawyer.com>.
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