The Mac Lawyer : Ben Stevens : Using Macs In The Practice Of Law

The following is a Guest Post from broadband suppliers:

There is a common thought among Windows users that Apple is more complicated and is only for techies. I was a Windows user for a long time until I got a chance to access one of my office's Macbooks. It was an easy and friendly experience that provoked me to upgrade to Macintosh.  I feel more comfortable, faster and proud to be with Apple now.

Every Apple product is embedded with an innovative solution that provides more accessibility to the user. Assistive technology has become a default standard of Apple at no extra cost. The experience of the product is same for all the users including the users with special needs. These are the key factors for the success of Apple.

All the Mac products are provided with an alternative simplified interface that can help users to learn and explore the features. Especially users who have difficulty in using a mouse are provided with features like slow keys, sticky keys, gestures, voice over, quick nav, etc.

Accessibility for Vision Disabilities

Apple’s assistive technology provides wide options for the users who have visual difficulties, which allows users to control the screen without even looking at it. Voice over is a speech to text tool that can auto speak and describes what is happening on the screen. This tool can be controlled by simple gestures like tapping or flicking the track pad. It can also be controlled using a virtual dial called the rotor to change its settings. Users are allowed to assign gestures using voice over commands to control the MAC. It also supports USB and Bluetooth Braille displays and automatically programs the keys based on the model.

Alex voice is one of the most important features which speaks English with a natural intonation even after faster speech rates. It analyzes a paragraph, understands the meaning and delivers content more naturally taking enough breathe between the passages.

Voice over includes a built in screen magnification with up to 40 times zoom in and a cursor magnification which makes it easy for the user to follow. High contrast and reverse video lets the user to play with display settings like color, contrast, scaling and system widening. Also there are a variety of apps with a talking feature like talking alert, calculator and clock.

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The following Guest Post is from Daniel Cawrey:

In the past, users connected to the Internet through a broadband connection. But with the advent of personal, mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets like the iPhone and iPad, we have new security concerns—especially with the wireless operators who serve these devices.

Take the recent reports about AT&T’s leak of over 100,000 personal email addresses from iPad owners using the wireless operator’s network. This was done by running a script on a public AT&T website by an underground security group named Goatse Security. Worse, they released these email addresses to the public.

AT&T has had security problems with Apple’s products before, most notably when the first iPhone was released. Shockingly, those using AT&T’s network were receiving bills that could amount to hundreds of pages long, detailing all of their data or web activity; highlighting that the operator was paying close attention to users’ 3G activities.

This new development brings a great question to the forefront – who is responsible for leaks of personal data in this example? Apple or AT&T? While Apple has a duty to keep user information private, the reality is that if you don’t have an iPad connected to AT&T’s 3G service, you simply won't have this problem. It's likely that while both companies will receive backlash because of this story, it’s really AT&T’s problem.

Apple needs to exert its influence on AT&T, however. It’s widely believed that Cupertino has spurred other wireless networks in favor of its exclusive deal with AT&T, to the tune of five years. With that being said, there are clear security issues with AT&T and its servers. In this instance it doesn’t appear to be the wireless network itself, but a flaw in the way that AT&T stores user information.

The fact that AT&T kept user information that is not encrypted is a concern. This data is not for public consumption and should be stored with respect to privacy. In the coming days, it's likely that AT&T will announce they will better obscure user data, and rightly so. Even if their servers are vulnerable, and at this point we know to some degree that they are, encrypting the database that stores user information would be a good step in making sure that outsiders don’t have the ability to swipe data that has any value.

The bottom line is that AT&T may not necessarily have problems with its wireless network, but its internal company servers clearly are not protecting data in case of any sort of loss. Here’s hoping that AT&T learns something from this latest security breach, before it happens again.

Source:  Daniel Cawrey is a technology blogger who writes on a variety of IT topics including Google Chrome and network management software.

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Episode 18 of the MILO Chat Weekly podcast - “iPad, New iPhone and Randy Juip” - is now live and ready for your enjoyment.  In this episode, your hosts  Ben Stevens and Finis Price discuss the new iPhone, the iPad and our guest Randy Juip’s conversion of his law firm to Macs. 

Subscribe to this podcast using iTunes by clicking HERE.

Download the podcast directly by right-clicking and saving HERE.

Comments? Send them to milochat@miloweekly.com

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This is Part Two of "Why We Went Mac, and Have Never Looked Back....", a Guest Post by my friend, Randy Juip, which explains why his firm converted to Macs.  If you want to read Part One of his Guest Post, which addressed their firm's hardware considerations, click here. Otherwise, I hope that you enjoy Part Two:

We purchased a copy of Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 for each station, which provided us with the basic software necessities -- word processing and spreadsheet mainly. If you keep your eyes open, you can pick up copies of this software on discount from time to time. Since I prefer to use Apple’s iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote), my partner and I have copies of that software as well.

To work and play well with the Federal Court ECF system, we use Mozilla’s Firefox 4.0 browser instead of Safari as our default browser. I use a neat little add-on called X-Marks to sync my Firefox bookmarks to Safari (which, in turn, syncs my bookmarks to Mobile Me). The process is then repeated in reverse at home.

For those stubborn, PC-only programs (like our timekeeping package, Sage’s TimeSlips, RealLegal’s .ptx transcript viewer, and Corel’s WordPerfect), we have installed Parallels 5.0 running Windows XP (we’ve recently moved on to Windows 7). I have no reason for using Parallels over VM Fusion other than I’m used to Parallels now, and don’t have the time (or desire!) to switch. Boot Camp was not an option because our workflow requires switching between the PC programs and their Mac counterparts. There have been great posts on this topic in the past.

Each employee has a MobileMe account, which was a simple, efficient, and quick solution to our remote access and mail needs. We use Mail for our email and iCal for our Calendar. To make the calendars work nicely with each other, we invested in BusySync licenses at each station -- this software allows us to share iCal calendars over our local area network (LAN) without needing to set up a server or the like. I understand that the publisher of BusySync has recently released a replacement program, BusyCal, which supposedly does even more amazing stuff. However, BusySync is working so well for us now and I really don’t see the need to fix something that doesn’t need fixing.

So what’s the other stuff? For me, it’s all the other programs that I use to make my life easier. I have come to rely on DataViz’s MacLinkPlus Deluxe for converting old WordPerfect files into Word Files. I am committing myself, more and more each day, to integrate Evernote into my workflow. I can not live without DropBox, which I’ve had for years. In my mind, DropBox is the single greatest utility ever created, and I frankly can’t understand people who still use thumb drives. Really.

One point which I think deserves some discussion is Time Machine. This may be preaching to the choir, but I can not tell you what a frustration computer security and back up in a PC environment can be. I’m not speaking about any firm in particular, but any PC environment -- through a combination of technological ignorance, bad habits and practices, and inherent flaws in the Windows system -- is asking for expensive IT support. I know firms that spend, literally, thousands upon thousands of dollars every year on security, firewalls, and, of course, IT support to rebuild and restore affected systems. This is a near constant headache, and for a sole practitioner or small-firm attorney, is not financially sound management.

It’s odd, then, that many older generation attorneys insist on PC’s over Macs, especially when they’re the least capable of dealing with the constant onslaught of PC-specific malware. “Yeah, Macs are nice,” an older Judge told me a this year’s ABA TechShow, “but at some point you have to grow up and get a PC.” Whatever.

Each of my key workstations has a 500GB or 1TB external drive attached to it locally for hourly time machine back ups. Our central file storage server is a Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ which has 4x1TB drives with RAID, so we have 2.7TB of effective central file storage which is mechanically secure. If one HDD fails, I can hot-swap it for another, and the entirety of our data is unaffected. It’s small, quiet, and powerful for our purposes. I understand that Netgear’s ReadyNAS Pro is even faster, with more RAM and Gigabit ethernet, but to date, our office has not run into any disconcerting issues in that regard.

Our mission-critical documents and files, in turn, are backed-up offsite using Mozy, which I'm not totally satisfied happy with, but which does the job. We chose Mozy over other worthy competitors (like Carbonite) due to Mozy’s support for Networked Attached Storage.

Time Machine, RAID in the ReadyNAS, and Mozy -- all of this means, to me, that I really don't spend much time thinking about Viruses, Malware, etc... I don't know if some crazy 13 year old is holed-up in his parent's basement working on a blockbuster Mac virus or not, but what I do know is that if we get it, we'll just rewind things an hour or two using Time Machine and our offline backup. Don’t misunderstand me -- I’m not completely unconcerned, but the worst case scenario is really not that bad with a Mac.

Aside from the Mac’s unmatched business functionality, it’s aesthetics, and it’s reliability, there are a number of other benefits to Mac users. If you use a Mac in your personal life you already know that the iLife programs -- iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, etc... -- are must-haves. The integration of your business life and your personal life is just one added benefit to taking your office Mac.

Don’t forget, either, the iPhone and the iPad. I hope it’s safe to say that the iPhone has established itself as the go-to smartphone for busy professionals. It seems to me that people who use other smartphones either don’t know better, are too close-minded to consider the alternatives, or more likely, have no choice. I don’t want to dismiss the alternatives out of hand -- everyone likes competition, but its clear that the iPhone competitors are trying hard to emulate the iPhone’s appeal, design, and capability.

And, no one even knows how the iPad will infiltrate our workflows and professional lives, but the smart money is that it will, in a big way. Although PC’s can integrate with iPhone and iPad, they don’t do it as seamlessly or as nicely as a Mac does.

The short of it is this -- I can't tell you how simple my and my practice manager's jobs are not having to worry about the technology in the office. Our technology does what it is supposed to do -- it works and lets us work to serve our clients. We don’t spend valuable time working on getting out 

technology to work. While there have been a few headaches, are significant only in that they are the exception, not the rule.

To each their own, I think. There are so many close-minded attorneys out there, who don’t understand how Intel chips forever changed Macs into business-friendly machines; but they’ll never get it.  For my part, you should not hesitate, even for a second, to take your firm Mac. Besides, people will think you're cooler then.

Randall A. Juip is a partner and the founder of The Juip Richtarcik Law Firm, and focuses his practice on professional negligence defense, business litigation, civil rights law, and public relations work (including risk management, crisis management, and public representation). The firm’s web site (www.jrlawdetroit.com) is currently undergoing a much-needed renovation and facelift). He is a Mac. 

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My friend, Randy Juip, has written a two-part Guest Post explaining in depth why his firm converted to Macs.  He was also a guest on an upcoming edition of the MILO Weekly podcast discussing this same subject.  I am pleased to present Part One of his Guest Post, "Why We Went Mac, and Have Never Looked Back....":

So many firms are locked into legacy systems -- they have PC’s, and so they continue to buy PC’s, almost without thought or consideration to the alternatives.

But I was lucky. When I opened my firm in July of 2009, I was starting from scratch. This was a totally new firm; the logistics were almost overwhelming. We would need everything, from trash bins to desks, and from staplers to computers. Taking time off from selecting legal pads and chair mats, one of the more interesting questions was also one of the easiest to answer: Mac or PC? Since I’ve always loved Macs, it was easy to go in that direction. We’ve never looked back.

So yes, PC’s are cheaper out of the box. And cost was a factor. We priced a number of different PC systems, from custom-built boxes to ordering the whole lot from Dell. It turns out that the savings -- not counting valuable, billable time -- was measurable but not as compelling as one would expect.

There were a number of considerations that lead us away from PC’s. First was the sheer technological hurdle of setting up and running a PC-based office. Macs are easy easy to set up and easy to network. You don’t have to spend hours adding available printers or copiers with a Mac. With a PC environment, on the other hand, our fear was that we’d spend much of our critical first-month start-up time babysitting fragile network settings. Macs just work, PC’s aren’t really that easy.

Second, we didn’t want to have a PC firm. PC’s are notorious for “gunking up,” for not working as well as they should, for needing constant attention and diligence to make everything work right. My partner and I knew from our own experience that running a firm from Macs would avoid these hassles.

Third, we are a young firm. We’re clever, and technologically savvy. We rely on email, PDF conversions, electronic records, and computers in general much more than our competitors. I had used PowerPoint (and now Keynote) for trials long before other attorneys began utilizing such things. “Going Mac” would fit in with the image we wanted to portray. It just made sense.

So, everyone at the office is now on one of two set-ups:

My partner and I, as well as our office manager, are on MacBook Pros (various models, but a minimum of 4GB RAM). The important consideration for us was making sure that the MBP had enough Video RAM to run an external monitor without choking on it. For docking and/or desk space, I have my MBP nestled in one of twelvesouth’s BookArc stands. They’re really sharp, and help not only display the sharp design, but to cool the MBP while it’s processing. I am waiting eagerly for HengeDock’s new product -- a base that you will slip a MBP into and out of, with all the connections available at all times. I understand that they have availability for 13” MacBooks and MBP’s, but not for the 15” and 17” models (yet).

For the external display, we selected Dell 24” G2410t monitors. They’re beautiful, accept an external arm mount on the back, and are generally well-reviewed (although I understand they’ve been discontinued by Dell -- too bad!).  Also, they are very affordable -- if you don’t mind buying on eBay.

These monitors are mounted using Ergotron’s LX monitor arms, which are not only sleek and stylish, but have support for multiple-monitorconfigurations. You know, in case we want to do that... The Ergotron LX, again, can be found very affordably on eBay.  I have really appreciated the flexibility of this arrangement -- especially on heavy drafting days. Moving the monitor in and out, closer and further from my face is a luxury I don’t know if I could now do without.

Lastly, for input, I use the Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad -- I can’t tolerate the smaller keyboards without the number pad. They just don’t work for me. Being old-school, I also am partial to the original wired Mighty Mouse, which is no longer available from Apple. My partner believes that I’m crazy, as he’s devoted to the Apple Wireless Keyboard and the new-model Apple Magic Mouse. Our office manager likes a generic PC USB Keyboard and a generic PC USB Mouse. I suppose everyone will have their own preferences for input.

With this set-up, there are also the peripherals.... Each MBP needs an adapter (like the Micro-DVI to DVI adapter sold by Apple) to connect the external monitor. I bought a USB extender cable to snake up through the Ergotron arm so I could have my USB keyboard cable not drape across my desk. Each computer, as well, has a 1TB External Drive (I have grown attached to the reliability and aesthetics of Fantom Drives’ GreenDrive) attached (either by USB or by Firewire, depending on the set-up) for use as a Time Machine disk.

The support staff and associates have 24” iMacs. We bought these refurbished from the Apple web site, and purchased an AppleCare package for each of them. We were fortunate that Apple had enough of the refurbished models in stock when we needed them; it’s sometimes hit or miss when buying refurbished from the Apple site.

My office manager and support staff, along with some of the associates, were concerned about the switch from PCs to Macs, and with “relearning” the everyday workflow of a new OS. However, when they saw the difference between the old 15” CRT monitors they were used to, and the beauty and size of the new 24” iMac display, much of this concern was alleviated. We had already transitioned away from Corel’s dreaded Word Perfect word processor to Microsoft Word and the Office suite, so there wasn’t much to learn there. And, once the staff learned to integrate spotlight, quicklook, and the dozens of other helpful Mac shortcuts into their workflow, everyone -- every single employee of mine -- agrees that they are more productive and happier using Macs than using the old PC’s.

There’s not much more to say about these set-ups. They make work easy and employees happy, and what more could one want?

Randall A. Juip is a partner and the founder of The Juip Richtarcik Law Firm, and focuses his practice on professional negligence defense, business litigation, civil rights law, and public relations work (including risk management, crisis management, and public representation). The firm’s web site (www.jrlawdetroit.com) is currently undergoing a much-needed renovation and facelift). He is a Mac.

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Yesterday in San Francisco, Steve Jobs kicked off Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference by announcing the new iPhone 4, iOS 4.0, and other goodies.  Let's take a quick look at the highlights:

• iPhone 4 :: The next generation model is thinner, with a higher resolution display (called "retina display"), increased battery life, front-facing camera, flash on the rear camera, and two microphones for noise cancellation.  It will be available June 24 in both white and black versions for $199 with 16GB of built-in storage, and $299 for the 32GB version.
• Face Time :: This new feature allows you to have video chats with buddies using either the front or rear facing camera.  For now, it only works over wi-fi until carriers can catch up with the bandwidth needed.  This feature looks really cool and will make it unique among smart phones.
• iOS 4.0 :: This update, previewed back in April, will become available on June 21st, and it wil be a free upgrade to those with compatible devices, even on the iPod Touch.  Mr. Jobs demonstrated multi-tasking on the new iPhone, and it looks like Apple has gotten it right.
• Other Goodies :: The iPhone will have fantastic new apps, such as iMovie ($4.99), which will allow users to splice together clips they've filmed on their phone and add features like zooms and pans, transitions, and themes to their work.  Also, Apple released a version of its iBooks software for the iPhone and iPod Touch, which will allow users to make notes on the pages of their books and includes native support for PDF files.  What's cool though is that the new version of iBooks syncs both purchases and reading progress between devices.

 Source:  "WWDC 2010: What You Need to Know" by Josh Lowensohn, published at CNET.

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The Macs In Law Offices (MILO) forum has now surpassed 2,300 members and is rapidly approaching 2,500.  MILO is not only the biggest, it's also the best online forum for attorneys who want to maximize the use of Macs in their law practices.  If you want to learn more or join this outstanding free resource, you can do so by clicking HERE.

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Do you find yourself getting frustrated when trying to figure out how to insert certain characters (like ⌘, ⌦, §, or ¶) into documents?  I know that I used to – until I learned how to use the Character Palette.  Now this process is very quick and easy.

There are a couple of different ways to access the Character Palette, including (1) press Command, Option/Alt and T together to open it, and (2) go to the Edit menu and choose Special Characters  From there, you simply locate your desired characters and insert them by either clicking "Insert" or dragging the character into your document.

If you find that there are certain characters that you use more frequently, you can add them to your "Favorites" by selecting the character, clicking the "gear" icon on the bottom left, and selecting "Add to Favorites".  Finally, the search window in the bottom right can help you more easily locate certain characters if you need assistance.

You can learn much more about the Character Palette here and here.

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Virtually everyone knows that Keynote is a fantastic presentation program, far superior to PowerPoint.  However, some people have questions about the best way to create handouts from their Keynote presentation.  Macworld recently explained the process, which I have illustrated below:

1.  After you have created your presentation, go to the print options via File > Print or ⌘P

2.  Select Layout from the pop-up menu

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