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

Mac-using attorneys who work with RealLegal's .ptx files will find the following article by Todd Vachon very helpful:

Recently, while doing some research on producing video depositions, I came across RealLegal's .ptx files. Those in the legal profession will recognize this format is the method not a few court reporters use to deliver deposition transcripts. This can present a challenge for Mac users because the .ptx file is a proprietary encrypted file, only readable with RealLegal's software which is not well supported for the Mac.

It's true that RealLegal offers free readers for both the PC and Mac, but if you look at the fine print you'll realize that the Mac version is written to run in 'classic' mode. Classic mode is not supported under OS 10.5 'Leopard' or on any Intel Mac. In other words, RealLegal isn't really interested in continuing to support the Mac market. If you have a PowerPC Mac running OSX.4 or prior, this solution may work for you for now. If not, read on...

Since I was interested in producing synchronized video depositions, I needed to find a way to easily access these files. Here are some of my initial findings:

For producing synchronized video depositions, Clarity Legal Software makes DepoSmart which it claims can read RealLegal e-Transcript XML files. I haven't tested it out yet, but it sounds promising. Clarity also produces free cross platform viewer software. All Clarity's is available for either platform (and really supported by the look of it).

What if you just want to be able to read .ptx files on you mac? I use Codeweaver's Crossover software to run a PC only program that I need to use. Crossover is a commercial application of the opensource Wine project, which is dedicated to running Windows application on Intel chips without the need for Windows. If you have an Intel Mac this is your ticket. Crossover is available as a free 30-day trial version.

I found that the PC version of RealLegal's free reader ran perfectly well in Crossover. If you want to give Crossover a try, here's some details on how I set it up that should save you some time: After installing Crossover for Mac and running it, click on the 'manage bottles' link and create a new Windows 2000 'bottle'. When Crossover is done setting up the bottle, click on the applications button and then the install software button. Choose the 'install unsupported software' option - don't panic, this just means it's not on the limited list of tested software - not surprising since there isn't a big market for it outside of the legal profession. Navigate to the envsetup.exe file you downloaded from the RealLegal site and choose it. Follow the installation directions. When it's done you should get a finder window with the viewer's program icon. Open the viewer application and use it like you would any other app.

What if you want to convert your transcript into a universal format that anyone can read, like a potential expert witness? Select the entire transcript (I found I needed to click and drag the whole document to do this - see what I mean about junky proprietary software?). Remember that it thinks it is running under windows, so the copy command is Control-C instead of the Mac's Command-C (Pasting on the Mac side is still Command-V). Next I opened Pages [Apple's word processor] and pasted the text in. From there choose File>Print and choose the 'Save as PDF' option and you'll have a cross-platform shareable PDF. [Note: other word processors, such as Word for Mac or even TextEdit may work for this, but I haven't tested them.]

If you own Adobe Acrobat Professional, you can take this a step further. [Note: I found I couldn't paste a transcript of 20 or more pages directly into a blank Acrobat PDF. My test file was 50 pages long. So I used Pages to create the initial PDF file, then opened it in Acrobat to index it.] Acrobat will allow you to index the file so you can search it for any word and quickly locate each usage. Open your PDf in Acrobat and choose Advanced>Document Processing>Manage Embedded Index. Click the 'Embed Index' button and Acrobat will index the entire document. The nice thing about this is that the index can be searched by anyone with the latest free Adobe Acrobat reader software. Adobe by the way has a very good track record at maintaining cross platform compatibility.

I hope this helps you if you've found yourself in the same boat. I'd love to hear some feedback on these workarounds or other ideas if you have them. Let me know of your experience with this issue.

Source:  "Working with RealLegal .ptx Files on the Mac" by Todd Vachon, published at his Todd Vachon Photography blog.

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If you have been considering purchasing an iPhone, you might find the following article from Kevin Hickey interesting.  I too hesitated in purchasing my iPhone, but I now regret not doing it sooner.  Here is Mr. Hickey's article:

Well, I took the plunge. I purchased an iPhone.  I purchased it within days of its release, so along with the plunge I also received the full soaking on the price. Was it worth it? For this particular solo I can answer emphatically "yes."

The best thing about the iPhone is how easy it is to use. Calendar, phone, email, and internet are all available on the main screen with one touch. This is really efficient for the solo that handles his own calendar and makes his own appointments (like me). You can be on the phone with a client, check your calendar, and schedule an appointment - no matter where you are.

Does the client need to send you something to review asap? No problem. iPhone can receive MS Word and PDF email attachments and download them in seconds. Need to hop on the internet? Touch the safari icon and you are there. With a wi-fi connection you will not notice much speed difference from your regular computer. Also, iPhone downloads the regular webpage instead of a modified mobile webpage. So you will see the same internet images that a person on a regular computer will see.

Out of town and need some directions? Touch the map icon and you are immediately connected to detailed maps of any city you need. Type in anything you want (i.e. "steak restaurants", "hotel") and pushpins appear on the map showing you the closest places that match your search. [Ed. Note: This alone sounds worth the price to lawyers like me who keep getting appointments outside their home counties.] Detailed contact information is included next to the pushpin - touch the phone number and you are calling your selection. A hyperlink will be included with the contact information if your selection has a website. Very fast, very easy.

iPhone is also one of the most advanced iPods on the market. You can have all of your songs, podcasts, even movies right at your fingertips. This is great for those drives out of town to court or depositions. Just put the earphones in and you are ready to go. If you receive a phone call while you are listening to music, iPhone will pause the song and notify you of the call. You can take the call or ignore it. Once you are finished with the call, or if you ignore it, your song immediately starts again from the point it was paused. Very intuitive!

Voicemail is also much easier to manage. iPhone has "visual voicemail" which means you have a list of all of your voicemail messages. You can either listen to the message or delete it. This is very handy if you have already talked with the person and the voicemail he/she left you is no longer necessary. Instead of having to listen to the message and delete, you just delete it from the list. If you listen to a message and decide you need to talk to the person, simply push the "Call Back" button and the person is being dialed immediately. This is also available while you are using the text message feature on iPhone (ie. Text conversation getting tedious? You always have the option on the text screen to "Call person"). No more closing the text message window and searching through your contacts for the phone number.

iPhone also contains a calculator on the main screen as well as a notepad. Very handy for recording that great idea for your appellate brief when you are sans pen and paper. Do you have an idea but it needs to wait until later in the day? Push the clock icon and you can set a reminder alarm for later in the day.
I admit that many of these features are available on a lot of the PDAs on the market today. However, the iPhone has taken efficiency and practicality to a whole new level. There is enough stress in our careers without adding to it by fumbling around with our PDAs.

The Impact on Your Life: Too Much Of A Good Thing?

One final thought. You might have the same fear that I did when I considered my purchase. Is this purchase going to make my career a 24-7 endeavor? I hear enough from (insert spouse, significant other, friend here) about how much I work already. This will only make it worse! Not so. iPhone has several settings so that you are not alerted of anything unless you want to be. You can turn on airplane mode to block all calls and you can set it (as I have) to not alert you of incoming emails. Email will then only be received when you want to receive it. I also have mine set to not delete email from my server. That way if I check an email on my iPhone and would rather answer it later at the office, it will still be on my laptop when I get back to the office. I can delete if off the iPhone and then not worry about it until later.

Source:  "A Lawyer Reviews The iPhone" by Kevin L. Hickey, published at his blog and The Inspired Solo.

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Time magazine has named the iPhone its "invention of the year" for 2007, for the following five reasons:

1. Good design, cool features, and ease of use
2. Use of touchscreen technology provides new way to relate to computers
3. Likelihood that it will make other phones better
4. Integration of OS X platform into mobile computer
5. Potential of even better iPhones to come

Source:  "Invention Of the Year: The iPhone" by Lev Grossman, published at Time.com.

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I want my readers to be aware that there is a Mac security threat (called a "trojan horse") making its rounds across the internet.  This malware, named the OSX.RSPlug.A Trojan Horse, is apparently associated with suggestive photos/videos of pop train-wreck Britney Spears.  Please note that this is not virus -- meaning that it can't self-propagate from one machine to another.

When you believe that you have found the video of Ms. Spears and click to watch it, you receive a message stating that your machine lacks the necessary codec.  A disk image will then start downloading, and it can then mount and launch an installer which asks for your admin password.  If you enter the password, you have allowed the trojan horse to be installed.

Of course, you should NEVER install anything that you receive from an untrusted source.  (Note:  I won't comment or pass judgment on the impropriety of searching for or viewing suggestive videos or photos of scantily clad or nude pop stars.)  If you find your machine is infected, Macworld has outlined the necessary steps to remove the trojan horse from your machine.

While I know that it is somewhat disconcerting to have to remember that malware exists, since it's not something that Mac users face that often, don't forget that this particular threat only poses a problem if you are careless and give your Mac permission to install it.  Even with this threat, Mac OS X is still quite safe and secure, and I don't plan to get any "security software" at this time. 

Source:  "Trojan Horse Warning: What You Need to Know" by Rob Griffiths, published at Macworld.

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