The Trial Practice Tips Weblog

Technology Without the Hype

At My Law License, Brian Tannebaum isn't buying into the iPad hype. In his post, "The Technology Curmudgeon Gives His Technology Secrets," Tannebaum summarizes his firm's set-up--

In my office is a telephone. My receptionist also has one, and so does my secretary. So do the 3 other lawyers in my office and the other support staff. This is how clients normally reach me. In a very non-techy way, my clients, mostly lawyers, law students, and alleged criminals, like to be pretty traditional and come to my office and meet with me. They’re not real big on video conferencing, email, or Starbucks.

There's more about the good-old-days of legal tech in the full post.

Related posts (from my other weblog)--

1. "Types of Lawyers #16: The Lawyer with the Shiny New Gadget"

2. "Is TheBarAfterWork a Valuable Networking Tool or Just for the Drunks?"

Tech: Try a Virtual Fax Service

From Bryan Sims at The Connected Lawyer: "Are Lawyers Moving to Virtual Fax Services?"--

If you are like me and still dealing with attorneys who insist on using a fax machine, go to a virtual fax service. You will never regret the move. It’s as close to moving your communications to email as you are likely to get in today’s legal world.

I concur. I've been using MyFax for years and have never had a problem. When someone sends me a fax, it shows up in my email inbox, which is great when I'm not in the office or out of town.

Related Post: "Tech Tips for Taking Your Law Firm on the Road."

Older Lawyers: Watch Your Backs

Here's why older lawyers should be looking out for the younger generation (or at least getting with it on technology)--

Most lawyers have trouble with email (and digital information in general) because they don't understand how to navigate that world. Lawyers who don't search for things on Internet are the worst. They lack a fundamental skill that's needed to efficiently attack digital information. Naturally they're inept when it comes to handling electronic discovery. Some of them are committing serious malpractice. But, of course, they have no idea.

The next generation of lawyers will not have this problem, or at least it won't be a prevalent problem like it is today. The young turks coming out of law school today don't have a passive relationship to information. They attack digital information the way sharks attack wounded seals.

This is from a much longer post from Ernest Svenson, "The Young Turks of Information Processing," which a commenter called "a great synopsis of the coming storm." I agree.

More iPhone Tips For Lawyers

Here are two good posts from Jeff Richardson of iPhone J.D.--

• "iPhone apps that I use at my desk" (including a discussion of apps such as DaysFrom, QuickOffice and NotifyMe); and
• "Review: ZeroTap -- quickly move text from your computer to your iPhone"

Many lawyers don't have iPhones. But for those that do, Richardson's site is a great resource.

Handling the Metadata in Your Documents

The February issue of the Illinois Bar Journal contains a tip-filled article by Helen Gunnarsson titled "Is Your Metadata Showing?"

If you don't have access online as an ISBA member, you can find the article in a library.

Highlights--

• Safely sharing draft documents with opposing counsel and experts;
• Naming conventions to keep track of different versions;
• Correctly using "track changes";
• Safely creating PDFs;
• The ethics of viewing metadata.

There's also a sidebar that lists other articles about the practical aspects of dealing with metadata in documents.

Gunnarsson draws much of her material from three presentations at the last October's Fifth Annual Solo and Small Firm Conference. These presentations can be viewed at the ISBA's FastCLE website.

The Weekly Law School Roundup

For years, I've been doing a weekly roundup of good weblog posts from law-school weblogs. For quite awhile, this has been in conjunction with the weblog Thanks, But No Thanks, which is responsible for this week's Law School Roundup #211.

My own efforts appear on Beyond the Underground every two weeks. If you're not familiar with the weekly law-school roundup, please take a look.

Fastcase: Free Research for the iPhone

Fastcase is free for the iPhone. There are two good reviews here--

• "Review of the Fastcase iPhone App," at Legal Geekery;
• "Review: Fastcase -- free caselaw and statute research for the iPhone," at iPhone J.D.

An iPhone for You

At iPhone J.D., Jeff Richardson answers the question, "Which iPhone should I buy?"

My Other Weblog Is Recognized by the ABA

My other weblog, Beyond the Underground (formerly The Legal Underground), was included in the Third Annual ABA Journal Blawg 100.

Here's what Molly McDonough and Sarah Randag had to say--

Beyond the Underground is where we go to keep tabs on St. Louis lawyer/writer Evan Schaeffer. There he lists links to his latest practice management posts from Trial Practice Tips Weblog. A favorite, however, is his “Weekly Law School Roundup” of worthy posts from future lawyers.

Twitter: @eschaeff

Quick Take: Schaeffer has collected and assembled many of his posts to form a sort of e-book, The Sixteen Types of Lawyers, and Other Observations from a Lawyer with a Weblog.

If you haven't read Beyond the Underground, please take a look. It's less law-focused than it used to be . . . but maybe that's a good thing!

Google at the Center of Dispute Between Two Wisconsin Firms

At Wisconsin Personal Injury Lawyers Blog, Frank Pasternak writes about "an interesting lawsuit among Wisconsin personal injury attorneys"--

Habush, Habush & Rottier, an old-guard Wisconsin personal injury law firm, is suing Cannon & Dunphy, another such firm for paying Google to link to the Cannon & Dunphy website when Google user searches the name Habush or Rottier. It's actually quite interesting given that the Habush law firm was one of the first to advertise quite heavily on T.V. here in Wisconsin, but was one of the last among major Wisconsin personal injury law firms to start advertising on the web.

More details in the full post.