The concept of the paperless office has been around for quite some time.  The initial thought was that digital representations would eliminate the need for paper, and perhaps in theory, it did.  But instead of less paper, offices got buried by documents that computers and printers were so effective at creating.  Everyone was a desktop publisher and “print it out” became the common refrain. 

Many industries have already embraced digital files. I have heard of companies that refuse to deal in anything but e-documents and have banned all paper

Papers filed with the court do not often lend themselves to easy formatting.  Working with captions can be frustrating and the text seems to move in indecipherable ways.  I remember spending 20 minutes trying to get the words “By Ex Parte Hearing” in the upper right corner of a motion.   I doubt the judge cared about the caption but after getting everything just right, I wanted to finish it off that way.   I think the same thing that drives us to be good at our jobs forces us to spend unreasonable amounts of time and effort to get things just right.  Psychological questions aside, there is an easy fix to this problem.  Text Boxes.

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Law Office Tech by Seth Azria, Esq. Mastering Documents in the Law Office

Acrobat is a great platform to review all types of documents and cases. Acrobat has built in stamps, sticky notes, highlighter, and very powerful search tools.  For users of Westlaw, the links in the cases can be set to stay live and will pull up the link directly in Westlaw.  I find this to be a great timesaver. I think using Acrobat is far superior to having cases and documents all over the desk.  The ease and convenience of Acrobat for reviewing documents is better demonstrated. 

What is Word 2008? Word is part of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac.  Yes, Microsoft makes software for the Mac and a Word document is a Word document regardless of which computer created it. For the last two releases, the Mac version of Office has trailed the PC version by one year.  For the PC we have 2003 and 2007, and for the Mac we have 2004 and 2008.  While I find it difficult to recommend a PC generally, for the vast majority of who still use them, I do recommend Office 2007.  After a short adjustment period, I think you will find that Word 2007 is a superior way to work. This is primarily because of the convenient and more graphical placement of most of the commands in the “Ribbon” running a Read More »

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Law Office Tech by Seth Azria, Esq. Mastering Documents in the Law Office

When I switched from the Blackberry Curve to the first generation iPhone, I could believe how much better I liked it.  When the iPhone 3G came out for half the price and worked with the Microsoft Exchange server – the server that runs corporate email – I said that the Blackberry’s days were numbered.

Fighting computer viruses costs money and time. Getting a computer virus multiplies that problem.  Why not just eliminate both problems?

Computer viruses are pieces of code secretly inserted into a computer system designed to  corrupt or destroy data and copy itself without a users knowledge.  While the term “virus” is often used generically describe the range of destructive code, viruses are actually a subset of the category known as a malware.  Malware includes computer worms, Trojan hors

Acobat Bookmarks

Acrobat is exceptionally valuable in the law office and the key to going paperless.   However, many lawyers don’t know just how effective Acrobat is for organizing, securing, sharing and storing files.  Acrobat can replace your filling cabinet, stamps, highlighters, markers, file folders, and most everything else in the office.  I find it impossible to overstate the value of Acrobat and the Bookmark feature is one of the many reasons why Acrobat is a great program to work in.  

Bookmarks are part of all word processing programs but often go unused. At least I don’t use them very often in those programs.  Bookmarks are also oft Read More »

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Law Office Tech by Seth Azria, Esq. Mastering Documents in the Law Office

For all of us we just want to get things done Apple computers are the best.   The fact that Apple makes the operating system and the hardware they are secure, easy to use, and allow us to do more than we have a right to expect.  Apple has always had an attractive product but today Apple unveiled a new line of MacBook laptops that look absolutely breathtaking and less expensive- as low as $999. 

The new MacBooks are make from a single piece of aluminum, have a light sensitive  key board that illuminates when the conditions require. This feature was previously only available on the MacBook Pro series. The new keyboards are similar to those introduced on the MacBook Air with the great feel and the light, nice.   Read More »

Sending the same email to many people can be a little tricky.  Here’s a good way to do it so that nobody knows your entire contract list or has to scroll through a very long header. 

Many people think of a website as a brochure or billboard on the internet.  If done well, the site sits on the internet, allows potential clients to read a few words about your firm and drives some business.  They all include an address, some include an interactive or static map to help your clients find the door. All typically include a an email address and mail-to link, i.e. when the potential client clicks the link a new message appears using their default email client, usually outlook. If the site user does not have an email client configured then the link will fail and make you look bad.  For this reason, the more sophisticated sites include a contact form that allows the user to type in the info which become ... Read More »

 I walked into a law office today, stepped out of the elevator and strode to the reception desk.  It was a nice office with a library in the background visible through large picture windows.  As I looked down to inform the receptionist of my arrival, there it was, an old-school typewriter sticking out like a mullet a nightclub. 

There is no reason to use a typewriter again ever.  Most of us already have Acrobat.  I use Acrobat 8 Professional and it comes with a typewriter that can type right on top of any unsecured PDF (Most all PDF are Unsecured) See Is a PDF Secure? 

You can get to the typewriter by selecting "view" -->"tool b Read More »

When lawyers work together on a document two things tend to happen.  First, depending on the number of revisions and edits the document gets saved each time by each lawyer under a different name.  Instead of having one file called "smith memo", we end up with "Smith memo v.2", "Smith memo, edits" and so on.  While we can usually deal with that by sorting files by date modified in Windows Explorer or the Finder, or by remembering which version is the latest, why add one more thing to do? Computers where supposed to make things easier right?  

Second, Who knows what happened to the document, when and why? Your colleague adds an argument or changes a c ... Read More »

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Law Office Tech by Seth Azria, Esq. Mastering Documents in the Law Office

Having spoken with a number of doctors recently, Id’ like to touch on the need to pay close attention to noncompetition clauses in the context of physician employment contracts.

With practice groups taking on administrative costs, training time and expenses, and assisting in the build-up of patient clientele, among other costs and responsibilities, noncompetition clauses (restrictive covenants) are common ... Read More »

I recently heard two professional looking guys talking about email on mobile devices.  One of them remarked that he used to hurry back to the office to receive and answer email,  he described his new ability as "transformative." This got me thinking about the many tech conveniences that we have readily available, easily accessible,  and underutilized.  Before I started the Off-Site Associates, if I was to know anything it was going to happen within the same four walls, everything was alw ... Read More »