Using the computer to level the playing field
The combination of computer software and access to the Internet allows sole practitioners to prepare cases as thoroughly as lawyers at large firms. Not long ago, a sole practitioner could feel virtually blown out of the water when taking on a defendant represented by a large firm or a government entity that could call on the resources of an entire legal department. Now, with the introduction of the personal computer (PC) and user-friendly software applications, a well-organized lawyer in a small office may even get a leg up on larger organizations. The key is to understand that the PC is like an extension of the brain. When properly used, it can enhance everything the lawyer does best and improve weak areas. The PC is a great equalizer, providing efficient access to information, organization, and communication. The computer can replace large chunks of associate, paralegal, and clerical time-lowering overhead, freeing up resources, and becoming the lawyer's most valuable assistant. Although I have used WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows for several years, only recently have I come to appreciate the full impact of some of its features. The computer screen is now my desktop, and through this word-processing program I have speedy access to nearly all the files, features, and programs I need to do my work. Following are some recommendations for maximizing use of your PC. Customize your toolbar. A customized toolbar provides immediate access to the features you use most often. For example, with a click of the mouse you can pull down an address book or card file, a list of cases with key telephone numbers, a spreadsheet and bookkeeping program, or a timekeeping system. While working on a case, you can connect to a court through the Pacer System to check on a docket entry or download the entire docket.1 While working on a motion or brief, you can click into LEXIS-NEXIS to conduct immediate research on a legal issue, then paste relevant parts directly into the work. You can undertake an Internet search by using the ARF program,2 retrieve e-mail online, or print out news from today's New York Times3 (for a fee) while continuing to work on the matter at hand. You can stamp a signature on a document, insert a certificate of service, spell-check it, and fax the document to opposing counsel in a matter of minutes. The customized toolbar lets you do what you have to do quickly when you want to do it. Set up trial notebooks. ATLA's 1996 Annual Convention Reference Materials included a particularly useful outline of a trial notebook.4 Using the CD-ROM provided with the convention materials, I pasted that outline into my word-processing program and turned it into a template. Every entry in the outline was bookmarked and hyperlinked (more information about these functions is provided later) to the table of contents, and a footer was created throughout the document with a link to key sections, such as Telephones, Contents, To Do, and Calendar. Opening and closing arguments are hyperlinked to exemplary openings and closings collected in a file in my computer. Other key sections are hyperlinked to documents generated during the course of litigation. For example, Plaintiff's Lay Witnesses is linked to automatic disclosures required under Rule 26, so there is no need to leaf through paper files to identify who to call at trial. Case materials are well organized, instantly accessible, and easily convertible into paper pages that can be inserted into the notebook used at trial. Using this system, I can retrieve information from any case in litigation, track events more efficiently, and better plan the case in the context of my overall schedule. Trial preparation is more comprehensive and less burdensome. Learn to use templates. Paul Bernstein, a frequent contributor to TRIAL's "Law Office Technology" column, has suggested that use of templates can double your productivity.5 Over time, that may be an understatement. Templates are merely reusable forms or documents. For example, once you have drafted an agreement, a complaint, or a motion, there is no reason to have to redraft another from scratch in a similar case. The key is to convert any document you use more than once into a template. Because courts are increasingly standardizing filings through the rules of procedure and local rules, a lawyer can anticipate filings and use a template to generate them at correct times. For example, I do §1983 litigation. Apart from specific facts, there are many standard paragraphs and claims in this litigation. Using a template, I can create the case caption by typing the name of the plaintiff and defendants, and the text can be filled out in minutes. I can generate the request for waiver of service, local rule certifications relating to attempts to settle, consideration of alternative dispute resolution, automatic disclosures, joint scheduling proposals, and appropriate cover letters to counsel and the clerks of courts. A case can proceed from preparation of complaint through trial or settlement with little duplication of effort. Learn to use hyperlinking and bookmarking. One of the greatest features of Windows integrated into word-processing programs is the ability to link related documents and files. By selecting text and clicking on the appropriate icon on the toolbar or menu, you can mark text for hyperlink. Then, by placing the cursor on the text and clicking the mouse, the program will jump to a related document or file. I accrue information on my computer from many sources: the Internet, LEXIS-NEXIS, Pacer, and a scanner. It is important to organize information so it can be easily retrieved and related to specific cases. Within any large document, selected sections can be bookmarked for quick access. Key items can be linked to documents related to a case, whether the items consist of legal research, news about similar cases, or notes from prior cases. Bookmarking and hyperlinking are also useful in creating directories of related cases, putting together briefs that draw from various information bases, or connecting word-processing documents with spreadsheets. Use of these features allows a lawyer to fly through tedious tasks. Use macros to speed your work. Any repetitive task-inserting a signature, converting a font, creating a standardized table, faxing a document-can and should be reduced to a macro that you execute with a keystroke or click of a mouse. I confess that I have not yet learned how to create a macro from the keyboard, but I have had plenty of success using the mouse as part of the word-processing program. In addition, hundreds of timesaving macros can be obtained by purchase,6 by subscription,7 free over the Internet,8 or through a listserv or user group.9 Use desktop publishing features. With high-quality laser printers available at reasonable prices, there is no good reason not to save money by generating stationery, envelopes, brochures, and even business cards through a word-processing program. Although you may want to use embossed stationery and printed envelopes for certain purposes, most daily correspondence can come right out of the computer with a highly professional appearance and low production cost. A handsome brochure describing your practice and background can be generated inexpensively. Scan in a photograph, use fancy borders, look around for some eye-catching clip art, and you can impress potential clients in the waiting room. Consider producing brochures that describe fee structures, tell clients how to prepare for depositions, explain the litigation process, or identify your specialty areas.
Fire up your modem A lawyer depends on information to analyze and effectively argue a case. The computer equipped with a modem is a powerful means of finding and retrieving relevant information. Here are some ways to use your modem effectively. Subscribe to a legal database. Perhaps no information is more important than the legal database of case law and statutes. The lawyer who masters the law can dominate any argument. Traditionally that has meant the expenditure of time and resources for law library research. Under the pressure of heavy caseloads, it is all too easy to forgo research, rely on old research, or conduct superficial research from secondary sources. Now, with the LEXIS-NEXIS Attorney's Advantage program, there is no excuse for failing to be entirely on top of the law.10 For a relatively low monthly fee, a lawyer can have unlimited access to the legal databases relevant to specified areas of practice. Research methods are easy to use. With a few key words, you can quickly identify, download, and print cases on point. Relevant parts of cases can be pasted directly into a brief or legal memorandum. WESTLAW now offers a similar service.11 Plug into the Internet. Legal databases are now proliferating on the Internet. Having tried many of them, I find that none is sufficiently comprehensive to compete with LEXIS-NEXIS or WESTLAW, and these other databases pose a significant citation problem. Over time, the Internet will probably be a feasible means to conduct legal research, but not yet.12 On the other hand, the Internet does provide ready access to the Library of Congress, federal regulations, many state regulations, and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence. Bookmarking these sources can provide rapid access to needed information. The Internet is also a virtually limitless source of information on medical issues, product issues, and experts. It may even provide an inexpensive source for demonstrative aids at trial.13 Through various forums and listserv and user groups, the Internet can provide access to expertise that might not otherwise be readily available. Every trial attorney, for example, should use ATLA NET.14 The association's online service has subject-specific forums where users can ask questions and learn from other lawyers. I regularly use the Civil Rights and Employment Law forums and often consult the Minority Caucus forum. Through this type of networking, help is at hand to collaborate on and address legal problems in a way that only large firms could in the past. The Internet and the World Wide Web-through forums and user groups, as well as through links among Web sites-hold out the possibility of "virtual law firms" spanning the continent and the globe. On a less grandiose scale, the Web provides a ready source of news, not only of a general nature but also case-specific news in areas of practice.15 Access to various local bar organizations can provide tips on current practice trends or local legal issues.16 The Internet also offers significant opportunities for low-cost communications through e-mail, Internet faxing, and telephony.17 Videoconferencing by way of the Internet raises the possibility of conducting inexpensive long-distance video depositions.18 Also consider developing your own Web site. You can use some of the same materials used to create your brochures to design a home page on the Internet.19 For as little as $30 a month you can have a home page that is listed with various search engines and will bring you clients.20 Home-page-developing software is readily available for free over the Internet. The software is provided on the honor system for testing or for demonstration. Searchers merely download home page designs and insert content.21 The nation, indeed the world, is going online. It was recently reported that use of the Internet in the United States and Canada more than doubled in little more than a year and that nearly 50.6 million people hooked up to the Net at least once during December 1996.22 Online shopping is increasing. Nielsen Media Research and CommerceNet, an Internet site dedicated to international trading opportunities, reported that the number of people using the Internet for shopping, including people shopping for legal services, more than doubled in 18 months.23 Naturally, the the popularity of this technology raises new issues concerning the ethics of advertising legal services online.24 Plug in the fax. Have a fax program, such as WINFAX PRO, installed on your computer.25 It provides for instant action (or reaction, as the case may be) when you need to communicate quickly. Although most jurisdictions do not yet formally recognize the sufficiency of service by fax, it is increasingly used and constitutes notice that can be documented. Furthermore, short of e-mail (which is even less universally used), fax is the most efficient means of sending out mailings quickly.
Closing tips As you make the personal computer your technology of choice in the law office, keep the following tips in mind: · Spend no less than 10 percent of your professional time developing and improving technical savvy. Learn to make full use of the programs you have, find out about new ones, and test them. Read the technology sections of legal periodicals, and seek out new ways to automate your work. · For example, the American Bar Association's Committee on Solo and Small Firms is distributing a videotape entitled What's Hot and What's Not in Small Law Office Technology, containing 60 minutes of practical advice on technology.26 · Protect your investment. Regularly back up your work and get a virus shield. I learned this the hard way when I purchased a program from what I assumed was a reliable company. The program had a virus that wiped out a lot of good work on two PCs. A free virus program from McCaffrey would have stopped the virus before it was downloaded.27 · Try out freeware, shareware, and time-limited trial programs. For little or no money, you may find programs suited to your needs. The Internet is replete with shareware and freeware, and there are a number of excellent programs that save time and money. · You can also discover some great programs by asking for demonstration disks. For example, the Bureau of National Affairs offers a free 30-day promotional CD-ROM for its Employment Law Library and other libraries.28 Jury Verdict Research will let you try its program that generates reports predicting probable verdicts for any kind of injury, taking into account the venue of the litigation and numerous variations of fact patterns. Although the package is expensive, it can help in justifying a demand to an insurance adjuster or opposing counsel.29 · Get a scanner. It will cut down on typing costs and permit you to keep all your case documents in your computer, where they can be retrieved quickly. Away from the office, you can receive scanned documents via e-mail. · Consider timekeeping software. It is inexpensive and easily accessed as you work at your desktop PC, and it can quickly provide information for billing, fee petitions, or time management.30 · Consider remote-access software to give your law office portability. For a little more than $100, you can turn your home computer into an office computer via the telephone.31 · Plan ahead. Get plenty of memory and speed when you purchase hardware. The demands on your computer will only grow in the next few years. The personal computer is an essential tool for practicing law. The technology is developing so rapidly that successful competition in the near future will almost certainly be driven by the PC. Learn to adapt this technology to your practice. Customize it to fit your strengths, weaknesses, and needs. Package programs can be time-savers, but the optimal use of the computer is as an extension of your own brain.
Notes 1. A subscription to the nationwide Pacer system enables lawyers to obtain and download information from most federal courts, including opinions and docket entries. For information, contact Pacer Service Center, P.O.Box 740026, Atlanta, GA 30374-0026, (210) 530-6283. 2. For more information about ARF, visit http://dwave.net/~bitsafe/arf or e-mail bitsafe@dwave.net. 3. Located at http://nytimesfax.com/. 4. Thomas J. Vesper, The Second Edition Trial Notebook: Are You Properly Prepared for Trial? in 1, 1996 ANNUAL CONVENTION REFERENCE MATERIALS 79 (ATLA). 5. Paul Bernstein, Double Your Productivity, TRIAL, June 1996, at 72. To create reusable templates of familiar forms and documents, Bernstein recommends the HotDocs program produced by Capsoft Development Corp., 732 East Utah Valley Dr., Ste. 400, American Fork, UT 84003, (801) 354-8000. 6. See, e.g., ADKINS ET AL., WORDPERFECT LAW OFFICE SOLUTIONS FOR WINDOWS (updated annually) (James Pub. Co., (714) 755-5450); see also KEN CHESTEK, WORDPERFECT IN THE LAW OFFICE (1996). 7. WordPerfect for Windows Magazine has a Disk of the Month Club that provides macros each month to subscribers. Call (800) 228-9626 for information. 8. Several excellent sites include the following:WordPerfect for Win (Leshiy's) at http://raf.rutgers.edu/dmitriy/WordPerfect/wp.htm; Kenneth Hobson's Home Page at http://www.telepath.com/khobson/; Maxx Services at http://www.afss.com/sis/macros.htm; WPWIN-L archives at http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=wpwin-l; WordPerfect Universe at http://wpwin.com/; WordPerfect 6.x or Windows Tips at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/macdonnell/page3.htm; and WordPerfect 6.1 Macros and Templates at http://gmccomb.com/wp/. 9. Tips about macros and other shortcuts are available through a free subscription to the WordPerfect List. Send an e-mail with SUBSCRIBE-WPWIN-L command to listserv@listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu. 10. See Paul Bernstein, Getting the Most Out of the Best, TRIAL, Sept. 1996, at 88. For more information about the Attorney's Advantage program, contact LEXIS-NEXIS at (800) 356-6548. 11. For information about WESTLAW PRO, call (800) 223-9378. 12. But see Peter C. Quinn, Websurfing for case law on a shoestring budget, TRIAL, Jan. 1997, at 74. 13. See Howard S. Richman & Francisco J. Rodriguez, Using the Internet to Win Your Next Medical Negligence Case, 11 PROF. NEGL. LIABILITY REP. 137-39 (1996), for a large number of useful URL addresses. 14. For registration information, see http://www.atlanet.org. 15. For example, the National Law Journal is available on Law Journal EXTRA! at http://www. ljx.com/. 16. For example, the Web site of the Boston Bar Association is located at http://bostonbar.org/. 17. For example, PhoneMiser, a PC add-on product from Boston-based MediaCom, purports to slash 66 percent from long-distance bills. With a price tag of $100, this item consists of hardware about the size of a modem and a CD-ROM. After loading the software, the hardware unit, into which the phone line is plugged, is attached to the computer's printer port. More information is available at http://www.phonemiser.com or by calling Connection, (800) 800-0022. 18. PictureTel Corp., Andover, MA, offers software based on Windows 95 and hardware-including camera, microphone, and speakers-for $1,495. Contact http://www.picturetel.com or call (800) 716-6000. Connectix QuickCam offers a less expensive system for $299 with alternative software packages available. Contact http://www.conectix.com or call (800) 950-5880. 19. Check out the author's home page at http://www.civiljustice.com. 20. Phyllis Weiss Haserot & Mark Pruner, Sailing into Cyberspace, TRIAL, Mar. 1997, at 58; Paul Bernstein, Making Connections on the Internet, TRIAL, Jan. 1995, at 76.; M. Ethan Katsh, Is Cyberspace Lawyer-Friendly?, TRIAL, Dec. 1995, at 34. 21. Popular sites are FilePile at http://www.filepile.com/nc/start; Freeware Now at http://www.freewarenow.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi; ZDNet Software Library at http://www.hotfiles.com/index.html; C.net's Download.com at http://www.download.com/PC/Search/Options/. Searchers can find home page design programs at any of these sites by identifying "home page" or "html editor" as the subject of a search. 22. Julia Angwin, Internet Usage Doubles in a Year, S. F. CHRON., Mar. 13, 1997, at B1. 23. Naill McKay, Survey Finds Net Shopping Boom, Mar. 13, 1997, at http://www.sfgate.com/ (IDG News Service). 24. See William E. Hornsby Jr., The Ethical Boundaries of Selling Legal Services in Cyberspace, NAT'L L.J., Jan. 29, 1996, at C1, reprinted by the American Bar Association at http://www.computerbar.org/netethics/abawill.htm. 25. WINFAX PRO, produced by Symantec, can be downloaded in a trial version at http://www.symantec.com/trialware. For information, call (800) 554-4403. 26. Copies can be obtained for $29.90. Call Linda Wilson at (312) 988-6666 or e-mail lwilson3@staff. abanet.org. 27. For information about McCaffey antivirus software and a demonstration program, contact http://www.Mcafee.com 28. For information, call BNA Consumer Services, (800) 372-1033. 29. For information, call Jury Verdict Research, (800) 341-7874, ext. 307. 30. John G. Iezzi, Reaping the Benefits of Keeping Time, TRIAL, Mar. 1997, at 64. 31. See Keith B. McLennan, Tips, SOLO AND SMALL FIRM PRACTICE SECTION NEWS, Feb. 1997, at 3 (Pennsylvania Bar Association). |
