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

Blogs are not just for lawyers – there are several excellent blogs aimed at paralegals and legal assistants.  I have listed several below, and I invite you to let me know of others that I can add to this list:

• The Paralegal, published by Ana Pierro
• Paralegal How To
• Practical Paralegalism, published by Lynne DeVenny
• Paralegalese
• Paralegal Pie, published by Kim Walker
• Paralegal Gateway
• The Estrin Report, published by Chere B. Estrin
  
• ICC Law blog
• The Empowered Paralegal, published Robert E. Mongue
• Patti's Paralegal Page
• The Paralegal Mentor, published by Vicki Voisin

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Take a moment today to consider all the things that you should be thankful for, and be sure to let those you love know that you love and appreciate them...

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The latest episode of MILO Chat Weekly, Episode 13 – “I Feel Like I’m Looking at a Skinnier Version of Me”, has been released, and it's a "very special" episode, as only Victor Medina and Finis Price were available on the day it was recorded, due to scheduling conflicts.

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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Last week, I blogged about my presentation from ABA TechShow 2009, "Got Apple Envy? Macs in a PC World".  Yesterday, Jeffrey Kabbe of Apple Briefs published the following article, which set forth his thoughts regarding what should be added to my article:

I just finished reading through the materials for the presentation by Ben Stevens and David Sparks at the 2009 ABA TechShow called “Got Apple Envy? Macs in a PC World.” It’s a great introduction to using Macs in any business, but with a special emphasis on the business of law.

Since I missed it the first time around (the tech show was in April), I thought I would add my input. What has changed since April? There’s new software, of course. And I also have seven months of additional experience to draw on. So here is what I would add to “Got Apple Envy?” given the chance.

Office Suites

Ben and David did a good job of laying out the office suite options. But there are plenty of good word processing options outside of the suites.

One of my favorites is Nisus Writer Pro. I love the interface. Nisus Writer Pro makes it very easy to work with styles. It’s much better than Pages’ combination of styles drawer and inspector.

I’ll also give a shout out to AbiWord. It has the advantage of being free. But the real reason it’s valuable is because it does a good job of opening Word Perfect files. The PC version of Microsoft Word can do this, but Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac OS X doesn’t appear to have this capability. So I keep a copy of AbiWord around for those occasional Word Perfect files (yes, firms still use Word Perfect).

Task Management

People using Entourage probably use its built-in task management tools. But anyone using Mail has to choose between iCal’s tiny capabilities and using a third-party solution. The good news is that there are plenty of good Mac applications for task management (aka Getting Things Done – GTD). My current favorite is The Hit List. But I have also used Omni Focus and Things at various times. I plan to make a final decision sometime in the next six months, but it’s difficult. They all have their strong points!

Databases

I have to disagree that Bento has limited usefulness for a law practice. For a hypothetical firm that has a large budget for database design (or purchase) and someone experienced in charge of processes? Yes, Bento has limited usefulness because it just isn’t very powerful.

But many firms are still using pen-and-paper or Excel spreadsheets to track client work. Bento could absolutely help these firms if someone with just a little knowledge helped them set something up. Bento would definitely be a step up for countless small firms.

Research Tools

Another category of software that might be useful to attorneys are the research tools. Applications like Yojimbo, DEVONthink, and Together come to mind. I don’t have much to say on these other than that I know they exist.

I have used each of them, but I just prefer keeping my research data in a folder hierarchy rather than a single application. Ok, there is one exception. I have taken a liking to Little Snapper. I find myself using it much more than Paparrazi.

Anything Else?

I’d love to expand on the existing topics into the other kinds of applications that I use. But I doubt that most attorneys enjoy dabbling in law / marketing / design / programming like I do. Still, if there is a category of application that you want an opinion on, all you have to do is ask.

Source:  "Apple Envy Redux: Using Macs In Your Law Firm" by Jeffrey Kabbe, published at Apple Briefs.

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As you may recall, FutureLawyer (Rick Georges) and The Mac Lawyer (Ben Stevens) went head-to-head in the March 2008 ABA Journal (Mac v. PC).  By all accounts, the fight had to be stopped early – with Mac being declared the unanimous victor.  Hip hip hooray!

Now, FutureLawyer seems to be itching for another fight, as he blogged earlier this month "iPhones Are For Sissies".  He actually wrote, "This thing feels like a man's phone, and makes the iPhone experience feel more suited to a latte drinking, girly man, fashion conscious wimp."  Ouch – big talk from the PC guy.

However, he then quickly loses credibility by stating, "Trust me, there are, and are going to be, more open source Android apps than you will ever be able to read about."  Trust me? Really?  I guess FutureLawyer hasn't seen "Broken Promises", the latest Apple commercial which (correctly) mocks PC's plea to "trust me" that Windows 7 won't have any of the problems that the prior Windows OS had.

I didn't know that anyone legitimately doubted that the iPhone changed the cell phone forever.  I realize that some people like it more than others, but to say it's akin to a "latte drinking, girly man, fashion conscious wimp" – give me a break!  The iPhone put a computer in its users' pockets and the App Store introduced countless new ways to increase users' productivity.  Trust you?  No way, my bespectacled friend.

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The ABA TechShow blog has a series called "The Best of ABA TechShow 2009", which features some of the best presentations given by past speakers to showcase some of the content available to attendees.  I am pleased that "Got Apple Envy? Macs in a PC World", the presentation given by David Sparks and me is one of those featured. The session description is listed below, and you can download a *.pdf version of our materials as well.

It used to be the only apples found in the law office were in lunch bags. No longer: the resurgence of the Apple Macintosh platform has led to many attorneys now practicing law on their Macs. Popular Mac attorneys and bloggers Ben Stevens and David Sparks discussed the Macintosh platform at ABA TECHSHOW 2009 in their session "Got Apple Envy? Practicing Law with a Mac."

David and Ben provided a convincing argument about why using a Mac for the practice of law makes sense, and also shared strategies and recommendations on the best hardware and software solutions for a Mac attorney. Finally, they explained how to successfully drive a Mac in a PC firm with recommendations for networking and file sharing.

The attendees enjoyed an entertaining and educational session. Ben and David will both be back presenting at ABA TECHSHOW 2010.  Click here to read David and Ben's paper!

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The following Guest Post was written by one of my readers, Michael Yurkanin, and it reviews several wireless microphones to address their use with MacSpeech Dictate Legal:

There have been many articles written about the latest version of dictation software by MacSpeech, MacSpeech Dictate Legal. To use the software requires a microphone. The majority of the microphones recommended by MacSpeech are wired and plug directly into a USB port. MacSpeech, however, now endorses two wireless microphones which they sell on their website, the Samson AirLine 77 Wireless USB and the Revolabs xTag USB Wireless Microphone.

These microphones eliminate another set of wires crossing your desk and are also convenient if you have to step away for a moment since you do not have to remove a headset. On the negative side, both of these microphones are quite expensive compared to a wired microphone. Aside from the cost consideration, the two microphones are significantly different from each other. This review will provide you with information to consider before purchasing so that you will choose the wireless microphone best suited for you.

(MacSpeech recently added the Plantronics Calisto Headset + Bluetooth USB Adaptor which is not included in this review.  This headset was originally designed by Plantronics for use with the Plantronics Calisto Pro Home Office Phone which is sold online and at office supply stores. I have used the Home Office Phone Bluetooth headset and it works well as a phone. The modified Calisto Headset for dictation will be reviewed in a forthcoming article. One item to note is that the Plantronics Calisto Headset uses Bluetooth technology and will have a much smaller range than the other two units.)

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I installed Snow Leopard shortly after its release, and overall I have really liked it. The one thing that has been driving me absolutely bonkers was the fact that now under Snow Leopard, Finder automatically resets its columns back to a narrow width.  If I had hair, I would have been pulling it out over this quirk, but luckily I have finally found a fix.

Let me explain the "problem" and then I'll show the simple solution.  When using Finder, my preferred view is the "multiple columns."  I'm not sure there's any specific reason why, but that's just how I like to navigate.  Prior to Snow Leopard, the columns would resize themselves in such a way that you could see the names of the files listed in each column.  Times were good, people were happy.

The "problem" is that when I installed Snow Leopard, Finder began making all columns extremely narrow by default, with no apparent option to change this setting.  Yes, it was nice to be able to see more columns, but it actually caused more problems than it solved.  My office uses a standardized naming method I use our client files (YYMMDD File Name), which results in everything being listed in chronological order.  Therefore, all I could typically see as  part of the date with little to no file name.  The image below shows how my "Applications" folder looks using the default column width.  Again, this can drive one mad in a very short period of time.  (Note: I realize that many would argue that it's a very short trip for me, but I digress...)

Since I am male, I am hesitant to ask for directions, so I tried every trick I could think of to attempt to change the default size of the colums, short of voodoo or black magic – though those options were becoming more appealing as time passed.  Finally, I gave in and conducted a Google search, and voila – found a solution.  To set a new default column size, you simply hold down the Option (Alt) key while sizing the columns in Finder.  Then, when you open a new Finder window, the default size is changed going forward.  The image below shows the same "Applications" folder from above after the columns have been resized.

Thanks to Geert Vanderkelen of the Some Abstract Type! for his post on this topic.

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As my readers are aware, I attended the inaugural MILOfest last week in Orlando, FL, where I presented a session called "Computing in the Clouds".  Overall, I thought that the seminar was superb and that it offered something to everyone, from the novice to hardcore Mac-using attorneys. 

Since I returned, I have wanted to post my thoughts on the conference, but it's been a busy week in my office.  Although belated, my thoughts on some of the other sessions are:

• Justin Kahn demonstrated many tips and tricks which can make Adobe Acrobat even more useful to lawyers.  He covered everything from OCR to bookmarks to indexing to portfolios to creating PDFs from webpages to redacting to Bates stamping.
• Gerry Oginski explained why lawyers should use video in their marketing efforts, and after hearing his presentation, I am convinced to try this myself in the new year.  If you want to see how Gerry uses this in his own firm, check out his channel on YouTube.
• Jack Newton from Clio discussed the "10 Things that Every Lawyer Should Know about SaaS" and explained why web-based software is ready for prime time and everyday use in law firms.  You can view one of Jack's previous presentations on this subject here.
• Larry Port from Rocket Matter then stressed the importance of using standardized repeatable processes in your office to the extent possible, including Getting Things Done concepts and agile techniques.  You can learn more about these topics here.
• Elise Hunt demonstrated the many ways that BeeDocs' Timeline 3D can help attorneys tell stories and convey their context efficiently and effectively to help listeners retain information.  She also gave attendees a "sneak peek" at coming features.  This is truly a "must have" application.
• Grant Griffiths (a/k/a the "BlawgFather") explained that blogging is a way for attorneys to build relationships not only with potential clients, but also with other attorneys.  He advised to "write for the human search engine and the online search engines will find you."  Grant then wowed the audience by showing the many features that makes Headway Themes the premier platform for blogging lawyers.
• As mentioned above, my presentation was called "Computing in the Clouds", and I showed how it is possible to run your law practice using web-based (SaaS) software, such as DropBox as part of a document workflow, Evernote as a digital filing system, and Gmail for email.  I also discussed the possibility of replacing traditional servers in small firms with a SaaS program like DropBox or SugarSync.
• There were several other excellent presentations, including Victor Medina's "50 (or so) Free Apps in 50 (or so) Minutes" and Tomasz Stasiuk's "Beyond Paperless | The Anywhere Office".  Unfortunately, I had to leave to catch my flight home, but I heard great things about Albert McMurry from Omni Group's "Focus Your Graffle on This!" and Mark Merenda's "Branding & Your Mac."

If you were unable to attend MILOfest 2009, you should begin making plans to attend next year.  In the meantime, you can read the blog posts from Gerry Oginski and Larry Port to get their thoughts about the seminar.  Also, several people (including me) were covering the presentations via Twitter, and you can read the numerous tweets here.

Finally, I want to publicly thank Victor Medina for organizing such a great seminar and including me as a small part of it.  Also, thanks to all of the attendees that took the leap of faith to attend this first year.  I enjoyed getting to catch up and spend time with friends that I hadn't seen in a while, including Brett Burney, Kern Lewis, Julie Kiernan, and many others.

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I am in Orlando, Florida this weekend, speaking at  MILO Fest 2009 on the subject of "Computing in the Clouds."  My talk will discuss ways to use web-based technology in the practice of law, including programs like Evernote, Dropbox, and Gmail.  I look forward to getting to meet and spend some time with my readers at this conference.

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It only takes you one time to experience a data loss without a current backup to make you understand just how important they are.  I learned that lesson the hard way several years ago.  The following article from Mac Tricks & Tips discusses the backup options for Macs:

Backup’s are very important. You should always have more than one backup if you are serious about making sure your data stays in one piece. Its ok backing them up to disk but what happens if you lost that disk or it doesn’t work. This post will hopefully explain some of the different ways in which you can back up your data. I recommend you pick two different options to make sure you don’t lose everything.

1) Time Machine

The first option you should have in place (I think by default) is Time Machine, you are given the option of data backup service installed by default so I recommend you use it. In essence Time Machine will backup files all of your file on your disk. Then as you change files and add files Time Machine will add them to the backup. This way you can go back in time and view how a file has changed as you have worked on it, you can pick a file from a specific period and restore it as necessary.

I think Time Machine is a great consumer backup system. Its simple to use, works and allows me to pick and choose files I want to restore. I have only used it a couple of times when I have wanted to restore a file, but it was a life saver when it was there. You do need a second hard disk for it to work effectively which is an added cost, however hard drives are getting cheaper all of the time. If you want to read more about using Time Machine read the Noob2Pro post I did a while ago.

Time Machine isn’t a proper backup tool, in that it doesn’t backup system files. If you ever do a full system restore it combines it with a fresh install from your installation disk. As a result you can’t make full backups to take a machine to a certain point and use this disk on a second computer. This is where option number two comes in.

2) Disk Cloners

There are a variety of disk cloners out there on the market. In essence they copy the entire contents of you disk and place it on a second drive. This enables you to quickly restore a backup by plugging the hard drive into your Mac or copying the DVD’s contents onto a your Mac. The advantage of this is that you can create a bootable backup, so you can boot directly from the back up. You can’t do this with Time Machine or other similar software.

There are two decent pieces of software out there which you can use for this sort of thing. SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner. They are very similar in the feature set. If you want to look into this type of back up software take a look at the feature set and try the pieces of software out. I prefer the Time Machine backup as it is a lot simpler. I don’t need to have a lot of full backups. I just need to keep my personal files intact.

3) Online Backup

I mentioned in the opening paragraph that you ideally need two types of backup. The second option I prefer is an online backup. The reason for this is that it acts as an off site backup. The best backup systems are ones where the first backup is next to your computer for easy access, then a second off site to protect against fire, theft etc. This is where online backups come into play.

There are a variety of different online backup systems. Most do the same basic thing. You upload the files to there server, you let them sit around, then when you need them you re-download them. There are lots of different options which such as using Amazon file cloud or a dedicated service which works on the same level. One service I have been trying out over the last couple of days is Backblaze. Its cheap, offers a lot of space and works well. If you want a second method which is cheap and reliable the online method would probably work well, there are plenty around so have a quick google and see what you can find.

Conclusion

Hopefully I have opened your eyes to different ways you can backup your files. The automated methods which I have listed are the best, this is because you don’t need to think about backing up every day, it does it automatically. You can of course burn files to disk using a DVD burner and select the files you want. This however needs a lot of disks and it takes a lot of time (plus burnable DVD’s break down and become useless after a while). Using hard drives, I think, is more valuable for money. 

Source:  "Backup Solutions For The Mac" published at Mac Tricks & Tips.

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Technology and Business seem to have a rite of passage. When the business starts, a few computers are purchased and the firm makes sure they can access the internet. The assumption is to become a real business requires purchasing your own server. Everybody needs one, right? And thanks to Apple and Microsoft, they are so affordable!

There was a recent blog entry about the new Apple Mac Mini Server. This is a good little product, but I felt it was important to discuss the benefits, costs, and risks of owning such a device. If a server makes sense, I think it can be a great solution. Just don’t be seduced by the apparent “low cost deal” without considering other factors.

There are good reasons to own an in-house server:

1. Apple’s Server product includes a simple Wiki and Blog engine for teams. Perhaps you have a team performing some research. Perhaps you need to develop a corporate knowledge base. The Wiki makes this simple. No programming required.
2. It provides simple file sharing. Do you have a document you want to save so others can access it? Put it on the server. A Mac or PC can easily share files.
3. iCalServer. This provides a shared calendar location for all employees. iCalServer has its quirks, but it has definitely improved in this version.
4. The Mac Mini Server has two 500 GB hard drives inside. That would allow you to create a RAID-1 (mirror) to protect your data. This only prevents downtime in case one hard drive fails in the middle of your workday. It is not a substitute for a good backup strategy.

The challenge is that many will fail to consider these additional factors:

1. Apple’s Server product (and Microsoft’s) include a built-in email server. Don’t use it. Just Say No! If you’ve got a technology consultant talking you into it, find another one. They are trying to make money on regular maintenance! Email is a very complex, always changing beast. Would you try to run your own telephone service?
2. Now that you’ve saved all your data to your server’s disk, how are you going to protect it? What is your backup strategy? What is your off-site backup strategy? I’ve had clients experience office fires, theft, and employee stupidity. Data without an off-site backup plan will be gone someday. Factor that expense into your solution.
3. Servers are computers that work many hours of the day. They never get turned off. The two most common failure points in any computer (Mac or PC) are the hard disks and the power supply. Many large servers have built-in dual power supplies because this is such a common issue. That is also why most servers utilize redundant disks (RAID-1). The Apple Mac Mini Server can handle the disk issue, but perhaps you should consider an additional extra Mac Mini power supply. Plan for the day something fails, because it will.
4. On-Going Monitoring and support is another cost factor to running your own in-house server. Who will make sure that one of the disks hasn’t failed? Who will guarantee that the backups were successful? These are not complex tasks, it is just important to not assume everything is OK.
5. The server itself may have some other hardware failure at a most inappropriate time. This is one of the primary reasons to never run your own email server. Email is too critical a communications medium to have any downtime.

There are many great solutions today that provide “Software as a Service” or SaaS. Some refer to this as “cloud-computing”. There are many factors in choosing a software partner. Several vendors have written guest columns for this site. Solutions exist for Practice Management, Calendaring, Email, Data Sharing, and Electronic Whiteboard. The list is endless. These may ultimately be more secure and cost effective solutions for your firm.

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