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

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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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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This month's Law Practice Today webzine from the ABA Law Practice Management Section focuses on how to implement and utilize paperless strategies in law offices.  I had the pleasure of serving as the editor for this issue, and I am very pleased with the result.  You can read the following articles at the links provided below, and I hope that you find them helpful:

• Some Thoughts on Becoming Paperless by Ernest Svenson
• Going Paperless for the Law Office: A Practical Guide by Michael J. Morse
• The Document Naming System in Our Paperless Office by Donna Neff and Natalie Sanna
• Less Paper Does Not Equal Less Training (at first!) by Adriana Linares
• The Paperless Office as a Risk Management Enterprise by Jim Calloway

As many of you already know, my family law practice is not paper-based, as all of our documents are scanned and stored digitally.  Not only does this make my practice more efficient, I can access all of the documents in all my clients' files from anywhere, which enables me to work and/or send information to them at any time, no matter where I am.  If you want to learn more about how I utilize technology in my practice, I am speaking about this topic at the upcoming MILOfest 2009 seminar, which is being held in Orlando, Florida from November 5 – 7, 2009.  You can learn much more about this seminar by clicking here.

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Apple Stores are known for their knowledgeable personnel and excellent customer service. Not coincidentally, those are also the hallmarks of outstanding law firms. This month, the Law Practice Today's The Legal Mac features an article from Jay Shepherd which questions what it would be like if these stores were run like law firms — and by extension, why law firms can't be run more like Apple Stores. It is a very thought-provoking article, and I hope you enjoy it. – Ben Stevens, The Mac Lawyer

A few weeks ago, I was out to dinner with my wife and girls. Nearby was an Apple Store, so while we waited, I scurried over for a quick purchase. I needed to get a new antiglare plastic sheet for my iPhone. Keep in mind, I was going to purchase what is probably the least expensive item in the Apple Store.

Anyway, I got to the store, made my way over to the iPhone accessories (there are about six million of them), grabbed a screen protector, and took a moment to see if there’s anything else I need (“need” being a vague term). At this time, a store representative, Anil (or it could have been Pete or Algernon – I don’t remember the names, so I’m invoking dramatic license and inventing them) came over and asked if I needed any help. This occurred not in a hovering, vulturelike, typical salesperson way, but rather in an “I’m-here-to-help” way.

“No,” I said, holding up my screen protector and my iPhone. “I just needed to get this.” He replied, “Great. But that particular protector is for the original iPhone. You have an iPhone 3G. You need this one.” Of course, he was right, and I swapped protectors with the correct one that he handed me. He then led me over to Angelina (license again), who took my credit card and quickly rang me up on her little handheld device. She asked me if I found everything I needed, and I confirmed that I did.

At that point, Angelina pointed to the screen protector and asked, “Do you want help putting that on?” If you’ve ever tried to put an adhesive sheet of plastic onto a piece of glass, it’s tricky. If you stick it on too early, you end up misaligned and, well, stuck. “Sure,” I said. She then called Pam over, telling me that Pam was the best screen-protector sticker-onner.

Pam led me over to another table. She took my iPhone and gently and carefully cleaned the glass face. Then, with the movements of a nimble surgeon, she peeled the backing off the protector, lined it up, and lowered it to about a millimeter above the glass. Then — and this is the cool part — she just dropped it that last millimeter. The protector floated down and landed evenly on the screen.

Pam then took a card and squeegeed the protector so that no bubbles would form under it. And that was it. My screen protector was perfectly installed, my receipt was being emailed to me, and the whole process took about six minutes from start to finish. I returned to my family just in time to sit down and order dinner.

So to recap: three Apple Store team members waited on me, all working together to make the smallest possible Apple Store sale. No one cross-sold me anything. I didn’t get snookered into a new Apple Cinema Display or a new MacBook Air. Three employees: $14.95 in sales revenue.

Now what if the Apple Store was run like a law firm? What if the Apple Store billed by the hour?

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Apple Stores are known for their knowledgeable personnel and excellent customer service.  Not coincidentally, those are also the hallmarks of outstanding lawfirms.  Jay Shepherd has written an article which questions what it would be like if these stores were run like law firms – and by extension, why law firms can't be run more like Apple Stores.  It is a very thought-provoking article, and I recommend it to attorneys everywhere.

Source:  "What if the Apple Store Billed by the Hour?" by Jay Shepherd, published at The Client Revolution.

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Even though there are many fine time and billing programs for the Mac, some attorneys prefer to take an "old school" approach and use timesheets.  If you prefer this low-tech option, you should read the article at the Esquire | Mac blog, which provides the following easy to use templates:

• Numbers Billing Template
• Excel Billing Template

If you decide to use either of these timesheets, you will want to keep your spreadsheet easily accessible.  One way to accomplish this is to keep it in your Dock.  To do so, simply drag the document to the right side of the Dock (where your “stacks” folders are kept), and it will stay in the Dock for one click access to your timesheet.

Source:  "Excel and Numbers Templates for Attorney Billing Timesheets" by Adam Greivell, published at his excellent Esquire | Mac blog.

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FREE Webinar! Using Macs in Your Law Firm
Date: Thursday, May 21, 2009
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM EDT
Space is limited! Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/458254538

Description:
Until recently, law firms needed PC's to run their practices. No longer. Scanners, software, printers, are now available to practice law on the Mac, and the iPhone is now a powerful business tool.

Ben Stevens, aka The Mac Lawyer, will get us up to speed on how a firm can transition to Macs for legal work. We'll answer audience questions, conduct interactive polls, and discuss the latest gear and software for the Mac platform.

For those of you on Twitter, follow our conversation with the hashtag "#rmwebinar"!

Your host will be The Mac Lawyer himself, Ben Stevens:
Ben Stevens is a practicing attorney located in Spartanburg, SC. After using Windows machines for over a decade, his office has been all Mac-based since August of 2005. Ben has given presentations on both technology and legal topics at continuing education seminars, and he enjoys speaking on those subjects. Ben’s blog, TheMacLawyer.com, is synonymous with the Mac legal movement as is the Google Group he co-created, Macs In Law Offices (MILO). Ben is also a co-host of the MILO podcast.

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements:
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

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Larry Port from Rocket Matter and I will be conducting a free webinar next Thursday, May 21, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. entitled Using Macs in Your Law Firm.  The webinar description is listed below.  I hope that you can attend, and if you are interested, you can register by clicking HERE.

Until recently, law firms needed PC's to run their practices. No longer. Scanners, software, printers, are now available to practice law on the Mac, and the iPhone is now a powerful business tool.

Ben Stevens, aka The Mac Lawyer, will get us up to speed on how a firm can transition to Macs for legal work. We'll answer audience questions, conduct interactive polls, and discuss the latest gear and software for the Mac platform.

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The Legal Mac section of the February 2009 Law Practice Today features the article "Marketing & Macs" by Victor J. Medina:

Not just for creative types anymore! A long-time staple of the technology needs of designers, ad agencies, etc., Macs are now worthy opponents of PCs when it comes to the needs of "serious" people. Read more about the ever-growing list of applications designed to help you market your business.

Marketing can mean a lot of things when you are dealing with a law practice these days. Technology has given rise to a new class of marketing activities and the flattening of the world has allowed many attorneys to handle most of their marketing from their living room (or office desk). With all of the services offered on the Internet, lawyers can now design and print their own business cards and brochures online - and many are doing so. More importantly, those attorneys who can create things that are decidedly in the talented-amateur level of design will be able to distinguish themselves from their competition. That’s where Macs come in.

It is well-known that Macs have been, and are, the go-to computer choice for people in the creative world. Most of the notable bloggers, ad agencies, and writers all use Mac computers. (Tom Clancy is even credited with saying, “Never ask a man what kind of computer he drives. If it’s a Mac, he’ll tell you. If not, why embarrass him.”) What’s lesser known is the fact that Macs are becoming the go-to computer for “serious” people who want to separate themselves from the pack in business.

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As my readers are aware, I presented two seminars at the ABA TechShow 2008 this past March in Chicago.  One was "How Lawyers Practice Law and Serve Clients with Macs -- Really!" which I co=presented with Jeff Richardson.  Our written materials from that session were recently republished in the September 2008 Law Practice Today webzine, as follows:

While most lawyers are wedded to the PC, these two lawyers enumerate the advantages of the Mac, for work, for home, and for the pure enjoyment of it.

For over a decade, every one of the hundreds of press releases issued by Apple has ended by noting that "Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh." Apple's critical role in the early days of personal computers is beyond debate, but for a period of time in the 1990s, Apple seemed to have lost its way. Its computer lineup was confusing, its market share reached an all time low, the company's stock price fell to $5 a share (in current share prices), and Dell CEO Michael Dell famously quipped that if he owned Apple, "I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." 

Since then, the company has had a resurgence. Apple's computers and software have received rave reviews, its market share is at the highest point since the Mac was first introduced in 1984, Apple has taken over the digital music market with the ubiquitous iPod, the company is already a formidable presence in the cell phone market with the iPhone introduced just last year, and at the time of this writing (January of 2008) Apple's stock price has risen to over $200 a share.

With a record number of people now switching from PCs to Macs, the question for lawyers is: should you switch too? And if you do, should you maybe just switch for your home computer, or also for your office as well? Most importantly, what do you gain and what do you lose by making the switch?

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The following guest post is from Gerry Oginski, a Mac-using medical malpractice & personal injury trial lawyer in Great Neck, New York:

As the internet has taken hold and more lawyers have recognized the benefits of marketing online, one marketing tool is defining the standard of advertising on the web. Online videos. It is the newest, hottest tool available for lawyers to communicate their message on the web. Admittedly, attorney videos are one-way communication, but they offer significant advantages over every other advertising medium.

Most attorneys have failed to understand the true value of video and how it can improve their chances of a potential client calling them over their competitor. Legal marketing experts agree that the sooner you start to see the value of video marketing, the sooner you'll see the results. Legal marketing expert Larry Bodine recently commented that putting video on your website is "...a great opportunity to present how you look, how you talk, what you're like, and make yourself more attractive to clients. It's a great business-getting technique." The key to encouraging a website visitor to call you, is with video. Static websites and fancy graphics just do not cut it any more, and fail to distinguish yourself from your competitor. Tom Foster, CEO of Foster Web Marketing says "If you get in early by putting video on your website, you can take advantage of good search placement on the video search engines."

If you thought that internet video was for the MTV crowd, you'd be wrong. If you thought that video for your website was only for geeky techno-lawyers, you'd be wrong too. If you thought that putting a video of yourself online was useless, you'd definitely be wrong. In fact, Google thinks you're so wrong that they recently paid one billion dollars to buy a video sharing site called YouTube. To give you an idea about the reach that internet video has, consider a ten minute video clip by comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham: his video has been viewed over 60 million times. Most attorney videos are viewed in the hundreds of times, but it shows the potential that video has. Plus, if done correctly, does not cost you anything more if it is watched 100 times or 100,000 times.

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The following Guest Post is from Jesmond Darmanin, a Web Marketer with GFI Software, and it explains the "Four Reasons for Archiving Email Correspondence":

Email is a primary source of documentation for many organizations and it has taken on an increasingly critical role in corporate court proceedings, regulatory compliance and legal discovery. Companies are realizing the importance of archiving their email correspondence, since being in a position to retrieve an old email could save them thousands of dollars in legal fees and fines, as well as their credibility.

The following are four legal reasons why companies need to archive their email correspondence:

1. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the '1934 Act') :: requires various entities to maintain records for five years and more. Failure to do so can result in severe fines.
2. The Commodity Futures Training Commission (CFTC) :: requires futures commission merchants to keep records for five years. Failure to comply can result in hefty fines.
3. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act ('Sarbanes Oxley') :: accountants must keep all audit or review workpapers for a minimum of five years. Violation of this rule can lead to a fine and imprisonment.
4. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) (formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD)) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) :: members are required to preserve records for no less than six years or they can be imposed with a civil fine.

Email archiving can help companies to abide by all four requirements mentioned above, because emails are archived at server level, so no matter if a copy is deleted by the end-user from his/her computer terminal, once an archive exists with all correspondence entered into by the company then the emails are searchable and retrievable and can be presented in court or as requested.  Moreover, one is also able to offer the assurance that the email was not tampered with or altered in any way, thus making it a legal and binding document that could save a company or organization a lot of money in a legal situation. Companies that are unable to provide email documentation that is requested by the courts or other legal body could be subject to hefty fines, as they would be in breach of legal requirements.

A more in depth article on e-mail archiving can be found HERE.

Jesmond Darmanin  ::  Web Marketer  ::  GFI Software

GFI is a leading software developer that provides a single source for network administrators to address their network security, content security and messaging needs. With award-winning technology and a strong focus on small-to-medium sized businesses, GFI is able to satisfy the need for business continuity and productivity encountered by organizations on a global scale.

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The Connected Lawyer  published an informative interview with Larry Port from Rocket Matter, which is a web-based practice management and time and billing solution.  Since I am a big fan of Rocket Matter, I have published excerpts / highlights from that interview below for my readers.  However, I urge you to click the link below to read the entire interview for yourself.

What is Rocket Matter?

Rocket Matter is an easy-to-use web-based legal practice management and time and billing solution. It's designed from the ground up to facilitate the practice of law in small and solo firms.  Rocket Matter allows law firms to manage calendars, to-do lists, contacts, matters, and time and billing in one integrated and simple solution.

We created a technology we call "Bill as you Work", which traps billable time as lawyers and paralegals go about their day. The net result is a product that allows firms to operate more efficiently and reduces the amount of time that gets lost for invoicing.  Since we host Rocket Matter on our servers and it's accessed via the Internet, users have ubiquitous access to their information while never having to spend money or time on software installations or upgrades.

Tell me more about Bill as you Work. How does it work? What does it capture?

The whole idea behind "Bill as you Work" is to capture time as you go about your day to day activities, so that at the end of the month when it comes time to bill you don't end up losing all of your precious hours. For example, when you schedule a deposition in your calendar, you can choose to bill for the time spent when you create the appointment. Likewise, your to-do items can be instantly converted from simple reminders into billable items that can end up on your invoice. The application also contains its own stopwatch, so you can time any activity you work on and funnel that directly into billing.

What size of firm is your product ideal for?

Our ideal firm is small, consisting of 1 to 25 total employees. We can scale our application to much larger firms, but we want to focus on the solo and small firm segment of the market, which has been under-served for too long.

What type of security do you use to make sure that the information remains secure?

The security measures we included in Rocket Matter are comprehensive. Every request is encrypted with 128-bit secure SSL, the same encryption used by many major banks and financial institutions. Passwords are hashed (stored in an encrypted format) and known only by you. Threat Modeling, which is the practice of identifying and countering attacks, is a fundamental part of our development process. There are a host of other security measures we have taken to lock down and isolate a firms data, and we'll be conducting ongoing audits with independent security specialist firms.

What type of computer system do I need to access my data?

Rocket Matter runs in an Internet browser, freeing you from the constraints of any particular operating system. Macs, PC's, and Linux systems can all be used, as long as they have a modern browser (Firefox, IE 6 or above, and Safari). Now that full-fledged mobile browsers have been introduced, iPhones and Pocket PC's with SkyFire can be used to access Rocket Matter.

Can I access my data in any way if I cannot reach your servers, (e.g., I can't get to the internet)?

Currently, access to Rocket Matter requires an Internet connection. Of course, if you need to access some piece of crucial information and you find yourself without access, you can always call our customer support line.

What happens to my data if I chose to stop using your service?

In the sad circumstance that we part ways, Rocket Matter will offer you a full copy of your data at no charge. Your contacts and calendar data will be exported to industry standard formats, such as vCard and iCalendar, which can be read by applications such as Outlook, iCal, and Address Book. Your matter and time and billing information will be exported to a navigable HTML format, so that you can view and make sense of your information.

Can I backup my data from your servers to a local hard drive?

Rocket Matter is developing an enhanced service plan, in which customers can obtain regular backups of their information. Users participating in this plan will have the option of downloading their data or having it sent to them on a DVD.

Do your offer training with your product? If so, what kind?

Rocket Matter users enjoy free training called CRE, or Continuing Rocket Education. These are live webinars hosted every week, open to all Rocket Matter customers at no additional cost. Furthermore, we offer Online CRE courses, which allow users at any time to watch guided instructional videos on the various features of the program.

What is the pricing for Rocket Matter?

During our Pilot Program, we are charging $50 USD per attorney per month and $15 USD per support staff per month.  Customer support is included for Pilot Program participants. Phone support is available from 9am to 6pm EST. Phone support is handled in the United States and conducted by a native English speaker.

What makes Rocket Matter different from other similar programs?

Rocket Matter's big differentiator is the simple yet comprehensive nature of its features. Simplicity, paired with great customer support and training, will enable our customers to actually use our product and enjoy doing so.

Compared to traditional legal practice management tools, Rocket Matter is a leap forward in ease-of-use. We eliminated the confusing "bloatware", or features people don't require. We've taken the elements that most firms need: calendaring, contact management, matter management, and invoicing, and rolled them into one integrated product.

By creating a web-based solution, we have created another differentiator with existing legal products: there is no need to purchase additional hardware, and no IT consultant required for an install or upgrade. We handle backups, security, and all of the other technical issues so that attorneys and their staffs can focus on the practice of law.

Source:  "An Interview with Larry Port from Rocket Matter" by Bryan Sims, published at The Connected Lawyer.

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My good friend, David Swanner, reports that his "tech guy is using Apple iMacs to build a more stable, easier to maintain Windows network."  That's right, even some PC tech guys are starting to come around to the many benefits offered by Macs.

Dave lists the following advantages of running Windows on a Mac:

• Nice Hardware at a Reasonable Price - Chrome and glass, 20" monitor, memory, speed, decent memory all in one box. It works well and is attractive.
• Less Desk Space - The Macs are an all in one and leave a small footprint on your desk. It's just the monitor and the keyboard.
• Ease of Maintenance - The entire Parallels Windows file is a single computer file. That's huge. You can install Windows, tweak it to the way you want, install all of the programs that you want and then all of that information will be in a single Parallels file that can be copied and backed up. If your Windows goes down, you can just copy that file back to your iMac and you're up and running. If your entire iMac goes down, you can copy that file to a different iMac and you're up and running. No worrying about file registries, different hardware signatures. No fuss, no muss.
• Portability - Once you have your Parallels backup file, you can copy that to another machine without any problems. You can't do that (easily) with Windows, because of different hardware configurations and the Windows registry.
• Ease of Installation - Once you have a specific set up that you want, for example, WordPerfect, TimeMatters, CaseMap, TimeMap, Sanction, MicroSoft Office, you can save this as a building block and as a base for every installation. Of course, you need to have a site license for each program. You will also have to switch license codes, but that's a lot easier than starting each machine's installation from scratch.

I urge you to visit Dave's post to get his thoughts.  While you are there, you should check out the rest of his blog, as I believe it's one of the best out there.

Source:  "Using iMacs to Build a Better Windows Network" by David Swanner, published at his South Carolina Trial Law Blog.

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I am pleased to present the following post from my friend, Grant Griffiths, on his ten "must-have" applications for solo practitioners using Macs.  Of his designated applications, I personally use four myself and have taken close looks at three others.  Kudos to Grant for compiling his list, as follows:

My blogging friend, Rick Georges of the Future Lawyer had a recent article at Law.com. He wrote about Ten apps for the solo practitioner. I know Rick does this just to cause me to write up an answer to his post. As he mentions in his post, he stuck to Windoze based stuff. And like Rick, I am going to stick to what I know and that would be applications I use in my own solo practice.

1. First and foremost on my list is Mac OSX itself. Now, I know what you are thinking, that is an operating system and not an application. However consider for a moment building an office and where you should start. The foundation and it should be as stable, strong and reliable as possible. Mac OSX gives you that. But it also gives you more. Not only is it a wonderful OS, it provides four of the applications I use everyday in my solo practice.

• iChat
• iCal
• Mail
• Address Book

I use each one every single day and would not want to operate my practice without them. Best of all, all four will integrate into other programs which I will discuss in future posts.

2. Second is my word processor of choice, NeoOffice.

NeoOffice is a fully-featured set of office applications (including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and drawing programs) for Mac OS X. Based on the OpenOffice.org office suite, NeoOffice has integrated dozens of native Mac features and can import, edit, and exchange files with other popular office programs such as Microsoft Office.

Released as free, open source software under the GNU General Public License (GPL), NeoOffice is fully functional and stable enough for everyday use. The software is actively developed, so improvements and small updates are made available on a regular basis.

3. Next, and one that I have discussed before is Circus Ponies Notebook. It's a combination outliner and free-form database that lets you clip, annotate, and share unstructured information. Organize your information using a familiar notebook interface complete with pages and tabs. Best of all you can organize a case in a way that makes sense to you. Not the way the software company believes it should be done. You can import photos, images, film clips, and sounds directly into Notebook from ay source. Display embedded media in your Notebook in Media Frames that give you control over the media item. Import any kind of content from the web or from other Mac apps using NoteBook's built-in Clipping Services. Copy text and other content directly into your Notebooks without leaving whatever app you are working in. You can even pre-edit clippings before sending them to your Notebook.

Notebook includes tabs on the right side just like a trial notebook. I set mine up like a Bindertek trial notebook. Labeled and color coded just like a hardcopy notebook. However, with Notebook, I can assure you one thing, I can find my information faster than an attorney using a hard copy, like a trial notebook. And I can use my Notebook version to present information and exhibits in court.

Notebook also works with iCal where you can set and manage alarms and to do's for your case.

4. Like Rick, I too use Skype. It truly is a great tool for the law office. I bought the SkypeOut service for just over $29.00 per year. I can call unlimited nationwide numbers all I want. I have it set up so that my BT ear piece connects to the calls I make and receive on Skype. And actually, Rick and I have visited often using Skype. Get it, you won't be sorry you did.

5. Pagesender is my built in fax service. It is a great software that sits on my file/fax server, Mac Mini. I use the same phone line that I use for my DSL service so I only have to tie up one line for both those useful tools. All faxes come into my office as PDF's which I than store directly to my clients virtual file folder. If I am out of the office, my faxes are emailed to me no matter where I am at. And when I need to sign something that comes in as a fax, I don't even print it. I sign it with the next application listed below.

6. With PDFpenPro I can Fill out PDF forms and edit PDFs easily. Split, combine, reorder, sign and augment PDFs with text, image overlays & watermarks. Signing is as easy as inserting my signature which is saved to my desktop onto any document I want. In my humble opinion, I just don't see how you could have a paperLESS office without this application.

7. Keynote 3 is not a replacement for PowerPoint. But a better solution for those presentations we might make as a lawyer.

Cinema-quality presentations for everyone -- with ease. Keynote puts you in the director's chair and gives you complete control over how you build and deliver your presentation.

8. For postage I no longer go to the post office to get my stamps. I use endicia for Mac. You can print mailing labels, envelopes and InstaPostage labels with ease. Print real postage from your Mac. No more standing in long lines at the post office. It works with Apple's Address Book and the next program I discuss below.

9. EasyTime billing program is my billing program of choice now. It is written by a Mac using developer for the Mac using attorney.

• easily manage clients and cases
• address book integration
• retainer billing
• multiple rates per timekeeper
• unlimited task & case notes
• task timer
• user shortcuts
• fully customizable invoices and reports
• batch invoice printing with automatic email option
• postage printing via Endicia (US customers only)
• link external documents to client & case
• assign persons (attorneys, witnesses, adjusters, etc.)
• contact overview and phone call reminder

EasyTime will develop into a full time billing, case and document managing system.

10. Finally, Basecamp is a must have practice tool. In my own practice, Basecamp is used to manage cases and clients. Each client has access to their own case. By using Basecamp, each has access too all the documents in their case and also know when important court dates are. They can leave comments or questions about their case and they can keep up on the progress of their case. It keeps clients more involved in the process.

There you have it, ten of the must have apps for the Mac using solo practitioner. I would love to have as many of you post comments here telling me what applications you feel are a must have. Lets keep the conversation going.

Oh and by the way Ben Cowgill do you have a list for the windoze using attorney? And you thought us Mac using attorneys did not have any software. I actually had to stop at ten. There is a ton more and if enough interest is expressed, I will do a follow up to this post in the near future.

Source:  "10 Must-Have Apps for the Mac Using Solo Practitioner" by Grant Griffiths, posted at his Home Office Lawyer blog. 

 

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