Hoosier Lawyer

INTERNET PHONE SERVICE GIVES YOU CHEAP OPTION FOR EXTRA LINE / LONG DISTANCE

If you have not looked into Internet phone service, you owe it to yourself and your practice to do so -- and quick ! ! !

Skype, one of the leading companies in Internet phone service is offering an incredible deal until the end of January.  Sign up and you get unlimited calls, including long distance throughout the United States and Canada, for $14.95. 

That is NOT $15 per month.  That is $15 for the ENTIRE YEAR.

To sign up, just go to www.skype.com Because it is a British company, you'll see the price listed in Euros.  But don't let that scare you off. They take good ol' American.

If this sounds too complicated, or simply technically too far out there for you, it is not.  Look into it, and you'll see it is no more complicated than dialing your own phone.  In fact in some ways, it's a lot more simple.

I already have an office phone and a cell phone.  What good is this to me?

Try this.  I have two lines in my office.  I'm always concerned about missing calls if both my secretary and I are on the phone at the same time.  But adding a third line is a huge investment in equipment and installation, in addition to the extra $$$ per month for the line charge.

But by adding Skype, I have nearly eliminated the issue.  I make my calls on Skype, and soon I will have my secretary doing the same.  Our two phone lines are left for incoming calls.

How about this.  NO long distance charges on my office phone.  EVER.  I can call Toronto or San Francisco for the same fee as the pizza place down the street.  And that would be a big $0.00

Adding Skype is simple.  Just go to the website and download the software.  You actually pay after you install the software.  That's it.  For a better quality, I suggest buying a headset with a microphone -- an investment of about $20-30.  That's it. 

Oh, and all those contacts in your Outlook?  They automatically show up in your Skype contact list as long as your Outlook program is open. 

And if none of this has convinced you that you have to try this, just remember . . . We've all blown $15 on stupid stuff more time than we can count.  If you end up not liking it, so you blew another $15.  But if you find it works (which I think you will), you will be amazed at yourself for what you did  for the price of 3 thick burgers at Hardees. 

How Good Are Your Passwords?

Security.  It is, or should be, a significant concern of anyone using a computer.  Whether it is for on-line banking, password protecting files, or safeguarding your Amazon or EBay account, much of our computer and Internet information is protected by passwords.

But are your passwords really protecting you?  Computer programs can go through the entire dictionary forward and backward, testing for passwords, in a matter of a couple of minutes.  It's like having a burglar who can test every conceivable combination to your safe in two minutes.

So what's a good password?  Well the best ever was in the movie Roger Rabbit. To get into the cartoon night club, Eddie the real-life detective, had to utter the phrase "Walt sent me."

But how do you protect yourself in the real world?  There are several keys to good passwords.

• NEVER use family information as your password.  Names, addresses, birth dates, pet names, are all very vulnerable.
• Do not use any word found in the dictionary -- either forward or backward
• Use at least 8 digits.
• Use UPPER and lower case letters
• Use at least 1 number and/or symbols in your password, but not at the beginning or end
• Use a separate password for each use.  Do not use the same password for multiple accounts.

So, want to find out how good your passwords are?  Find out.  Simply go to the Security Stats Password Security site.  Just type in some passwords, and you will get a quick response on how effective your passwords are. For the link, just CLICK HERE.  The site also offers a list of "dos" and "don'ts" in creating your passwords.

ISBA Website Offers Technology Help for Lawyers

Technology is a tremendous tool for lawyers, particularly solos and those in small firms.  But it can also be a maze where you can get lost and seemingly never find your way out.

Well help is as near as a mouse click.

A technology website has been launched by the Law Practice Management Committee (LPM) of the Indiana State Bar Association.  The site provides technology resources on billing, litigation, research, paperless office, disaster recoveryry.

This is the first step in a comprehensive Law Practice Management website that the LPM Section is implementing.  The next section is on hiring, training and terminating personnel, and will be premiered at the Indiana Solo & Small Firm Conference, in Bloomington, June 1-3

Check out the LPM's website.  You'll find it useful.

Blogs Provides Great PDF Help for Lawyers

As we all venture into the brave new world of electronic filing, communicating electronically with our clients, and electronic discovery, we are becoming very familiar with pdf documents.

Standing for "portable document format", PDFs are becoming the standard format for communicating electronic information, and the full Adobe Acrobat program is the Holy Grail of pdfs.

Whether it is a word processing document from Word, WordPerfect, or something else, or an Excel spreadsheet, or a photo, or virtually anything else on your computer, you can "print" it to Adobe, then send it to nearly anyone on the Internet, and they can view it with the free Adobe Reader, which is on nearly everyone's computer.

For legal professionals, there are two great blogs.  PDF for Lawyers is the work of lawyers Ernie Svenson and David Fishel.  It provides great hands-on practical tips in using Adobe Acrobat.  The second blog is Acrobat for Legal Professionals.  This is a "company" blog by Adobe's Rick Bernstein.  But just because Rick is an Adobe employee, don't discount the information on this blog.  It is a great resource that focuses on how to get the most from Acrobat in your practice.

If you have Acrobat, this site is a must to get more out of your investment.  If you don't own Acrobat, but work with PDF documents at all (and who doesn't?), this blog might give you insight into how useful this program is.  Take a look. 

Some Help With Computer Privacy

Everyone, lawyers and non-lawyers alike, is concerned with computer privacy -- and with good reason.  Well, here's a source for some great tips on keeping your private information private.

Here is a list of 11 easy tips that can greatly increase your computer security and safeguard your private information.  Just CLICK HERE.  These are practical, easy-to-do tips that anyone can do.  Set a goal to do 2 a day, which will take about 10 minutes.  In one work week, with just a minimal effort, you will have greatly enhanced your computer security.

This list is the handywork of Chris Hoofnagel, Director of EPIC West and EPIC's senior counsel.  EPIC is the  Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a  public interest research center in Washington, D.C. founded in 1994. 

Chris regularly posts tips on internet and computer security on the EPIC West Blog.  If you value your computer privacy, its a blog well worth monitoring.  Just CLICK HERE.

Thanks to Tom Mighell for pointing out this list on his Inter-Alia blog

Lost About E-Discovery? Here's A Good Primer On The Basics

Are you one of those people who sees all this discussion about e-discovery and feels totally lost?  Well I've found a great primer to catch you up on the basics of e-discovery.  E-Discovery:  The Way Ahead is a basic, easy-to-read online guide to get you started on e-discovery. 

In this computer age, the overwhelming majority of documents and information never make it to printed form.  They exist only in electronic data.  If you are not pursuing electronic discovery, you are limiting your litigation arsenal -- and potentially exposing yourself to malpractice. 

Think you are immune because you don't handle "big" commercial cases?  Think again.  According to a forensic computer expert at ABA TechShow this past spring, the most frequent type of case on which he is retained is divorce.  He ferrets out all those nasty secrets about paramours, phony business trips, and hidden assets.

And if you just handle small business clients and don't do litigation, you're not immune either.  If you don't know how to advise your clients on properly preserving electronic evidence, you may be exposing them to substantial liability.

E-discovery is a tidal wave heading toward the legal profession at lightning speed.  You're either going to be ready to surf, or you and your clients will be swept away.

CLUSTY GIVES ORGANIZATION TO YOUR INTERNET SEARCHES

Clusty.

No this isn't the cigarette-smoki ng profanity-spewing clown on the Simpson's show.  It's an award-winning step forward in internet searching.

Clusty searches similar to Google or Yahoo.  The difference comes in how the results are displayed.  They are grouped (or clustered) by subject matter.  So if you search for "pearl", your results may be grouped by Jewelry, Pearl Harbor, Pearl Jam (if you don't know who they are, ask your grandkids), or Steinbeck Novels.

It's a remarkable time-saving devise, helping you weed through your search results to find what is really relevant.

And you can search blogs, too.  To check it out, CLICK HERE.

BEST OFFICE COMPUTER TIP EVER ! ! ! "Google" the Stuff On Your Own Computer or Computer Network -- FOR FREE ! ! !

THIS MAY BE THE BEST COMPUTER TIP EVER ! ! !

GOOGLE, the standard for searching everything on the Internet, can now be used to search your own computer or computer network.  It's called GOOGLE DESKTOP.  That's right!  You can find anything on your computer with a simple "Google" search -- any word processing document, any e-mail, any spreadsheet.

And best of all -- it's absolutely FREE. 

The tool is Google Desktop.  Just go to GOOGLE, click on the "More" link, then look under "Tools" -- or just CLICK HERE.  It takes about 3 minutes to download and install the Google Desktop.  After that, the program indexes everything on your computer. 

How can it help you?  Well, if you can't find that brief you know you did about a year ago on adverse possession -- just search for "adverse possession" on your Google Desktop.  Presto -- you get a search result of  all the items on your own computer (or computer network) that include the phrase "adverse possession."  It also contains a little snippet of the context so you can tell which is the document you are really looking for -- just like Google on the Internet.

There is even a toolbar which you can add to your desktop.  With the toolbar, you don't even have to open a program to "google" your computer.  Just type your search term in the box, hit "enter," and a few seconds later, your results pop up.

Legal Tech guru Ross Kodner of Microsoft predicts that within five years, Google Desktop (or similar programs) will totally replace document management programs, such as I-Manage. 

But why wait.  EVERYTHING on your computer is now just a Google search away.

And did I mention -- IT'S FREE ! ! !

IF YOU DON'T INSTALL THIS ON YOUR COMPUTER, YOU'RE NUTS! 

Even if you (or your secretary) use this just once to save yourself five minutes in searching through your files for a document, you'll more than cover the price of purchase.  In fact, if you use this and are not completely satisfied, there is an iron-clad money-back guarantee (because it's FREE ! ! !)

GET THIS.  USE IT. 

Technology: Brave New World Meets Monty Python

Technology has become it's own reality.  This dialog message comes from the latest version of Adobe Acrobat.  If you didn't know better, you'd swear this was written for Monty Python.

Click on the picture to see a bigger image which you can read.

You can't make this stuff up.  Thanks to fellow blogger Ernie the Attorney for pointing this out.

Municipal Law Seminar: Computers and Malpractice -- NOT!

I had the opportunity to speak  today (Friday, June 23) at the Municipal Law Seminar in Indianapolis sponsored by the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns.  I shared the podium with Renee Kodner from MicroLaw, Inc., the legal technology firm from Milwaukee.

Renee and I spoke on "How Not to Commit Malpractice With Your Computer." We touched on topics such as e-mail practices, meta-data, e-discovery, and protecting confidential information on computers.  It was a real pleasure to speak with Renee.

Guess we did okay.  As anyone who speaks at seminars knows, the WORST time slot is the last presentation on the last day -- and particularly when the last day is a Friday.  That was precisely where we were slotted.  But we kept everyone (or nearly everyone) in their seats until we were done.

Thanks to Renee and the Indiana Associaiton of Cities and Towns for the invitation.