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THE BEST LEGAL PRODUCTS, SERVICES & SOFTWARE FOR ATTORNEYS & PUBLIC
TOPICS:
Personal Injury Case Management Software
Software for Personal Injury Lawyers
Software For Your Law Practice
Legal Services & Software - New York
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Products reviewed
may have been provided without charge for review, however, my opinions are
genuine.
PERSONAL INJURY CASE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE:
Everything always changes and the practice of law is no different. Today, if you don't use practice management software, you simply can't be competitive. These are the personal injury case management software programs that I know about. If I'm missing any, please let me know.
SAGA
Practice Manager™
(for plaintiff or defense
attorneys) Saga Practice Manager™ is a case management
& document assembly software package for lawyers practicing in all areas
of law, including but not limited to Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice,
General Negligence, Litigation, Real Estate, Matrimonial, Business Transactions,
Criminal, and Collections. Saga Practice
Manager™ is an incredibly sophisticated 32 bit windows application using
the Microsoft SQL database engine and does almost everything except cook dinner.
Saga Practice Manager™ has a totally customizable and interactive calendar system. There are over 125 reports and the ability to customize your own queries. You can view all case data in many different ways and can customize this as needed. If you're running a network, the administrator can allow every user to customize the look of the program to their own preference. If you want to see the program, as customized for you, on another computer other than your own, just log in on your user name and it changes to your preferences.
Every area of the program is
continuously improved. Saga also includes its Smart Fusion Suite which
enables integrations with third-party products such as QuickBooks; MS Outlook;
e-Law (for New York and New Jersey law firms); all handheld devices such as Palm
Pilot, Pocket PC and Blackberry; and electronic submission of case information
to National Arbitration and Mediation (the nation's largest dispute resolution
provider for third party claims). With just one click, Saga electronically
submits an application with all the information required by National Arbitration
and Mediation. Saga
is a full featured practice management program that can be used by be used by
small offices from the sole practitioner
to a large law office with up to
1,000 users. Saga enabled me to triple my
personal injury case load without adding employees.
Philip L. Franckel, Esq. began using
Saga in 1992. Saga was the only program that was
easy to learn to use; easy to modify template documents and create new ones; easy to memorize merge codes
for creating new template documents (for instance, the merge code for the
defense attorney's telephone number is
<<DEF-ATTY-PHONE>>); easy to generate finished documents
& the only program that could create a Bill of Particulars which it does
easily (the only typing is for the injury paragraph which I dictate with
Dragon Naturally Speaking-see here below). In addition to letters,
Summonses & Complaints, Discovery Demands, and authorizations, Saga
will automatically create and fill in any needed form with all necessary data,
such as Retainer Statements, No-Fault Applications, Police Report Requests,
MV104s (accident reports) and other forms just by pressing the enter button on
your keyboard. Service from Saga has been
excellent and they are very receptive to suggestions. BUY IT NOW!
- My partner in New Jersey uses this software and is
very happy with it. At $399, it's very inexpensive. You can see
screen demos on their web site and you can download a 30 day free trial.
Not reviewed.- This is the personal injury case management software created by Jerrold Parker
and used by Parker Waichman Alonso LLP, the well-known New York personal injury
law firm commonly known for mass tort litigation. Now, lawyers can purchase the
same personal injury case management software developed at substantial cost by
a legal giant. Not yet reviewed.
- You can see screen demos on their web site and
you can schedule a live online demo.
Not reviewed.
- You can
request a demo CD or make arrangements for an in-person Needles demonstration or
a demonstration via the Internet.
Not
yet reviewed.
Clio
- Web-based Practice
Management software in the cloud with a full suite of tools targeted
specifically at the needs of sole practitioners and small firms.
Not reviewed.
Personal
Injury Copilot
Online personal injury case management system designed to
automatically move your personal injury cases forward, from medical
record collection to demand letter preparation, negotiation, litigation and
settlement disbursement. Not reviewed.
LEX
PI Personal injury case management and document assembly program. Not reviewed.
Perfect Practice - Not reviewed.
Prevail - Not reviewed.
HiperSoft - Personal Injury Power Tool - Not reviewed. said it is strictly a "case management" package since it does not include a firm calendar or tickler system. It may be used as a stand alone tool on a case by case basis, or it may be used to augment the features of any of the other products listed. We have clients using CaseWORTH with Needles because CaseWORTH does so many things that Needles does not. We designed CaseWORTH from the beginning to save each case file as a specialized document that can be attached to the document management system of any other Practice Management software. That means you can open your case in Needles, SAGE, De Novo, etc and click the CaseWORTH document to get access to all the financial and settlement details of the case.
SOFTWARE FOR PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS:
TimeMap
-
I have always wanted software that can easily create a professional looking time line! I create
time lines of medical treatment whenever I mediate or arbitrate a case.
The judges always want to know what treatment was received and when. In
the past I did a timeline on WordPerfect and included it in my mediation and
arbitration binders, but I wanted software that made it
easier to create and more professional looking. I also wanted a more professional
looking chart that can be used as a large exhibit. Making timelines on
WordPerfect, has been a huge help at mediations and arbitrations. Now, I can do it easier and better.
Besides, medical treatment history timelines, TimeMap can also be used to create time lines to visualize an accident sequence
or case history and more. TimeMap makes it a cinch to create
chronology visuals -- the kinds with fact boxes floating over a horizontal time
scale. See also, CaseMap below. Call Jenee at 904-273-5000 ext. 247 and tell her that
HURT911® referred you.
BUY IT NOW!
- Casesoft, the makers of TimeMap also make CaseMap which makes it
easy to organize and explore the facts, characters and issues of a case.
CaseMap is integrated with TimeMap so the facts can be instantly charted on a
time line. According to Casesoft, all 93 UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS' OFFICES ARE
STANDARDIZING ON CASEMAP AND TIMEMAP. The USAO has purchased 15,000
CaseMap/TimeMap license sets. Many other divisions of the US DOJ have also
procured Enterprise Licenses, e.g., the Antitrust Division, the ENRD, and the
Tax Division. Order your free demo of TimeMap today and let me know what you think.
Call Jenee at 904-273-5000 ext. 247 and tell her that HURT911® referred you.
Not yet reviewed.
-
Integrate
this system with TimeMap & CaseMap.
(from
Quicken/Intuit)
makes it easy to track health care expenses for your client (and whole family). Create a
medical history for each individual, manage medical bills, prescription costs
and payments so you don't overpay, find medical tax deductions and tax tips, and
manage disputes — all in one place. Your clients can use this software to
print out a report for your office.
Not yet reviewed, but it's from
Intuit, so it has to be easy to use.
OBJECTION!
The Evidence Games - The
incredibly entertaining and seriously educational evidence games for attorneys
& the public aspiring to be attorneys, by Transmedia. Although it's meant
for attorneys, it's easy for non-attorneys to understand and real easy to
use. If you like Court TV, you'll love OBJECTION! Better trial experience
than a trial!! The Objection! series also provides CLE credits for attorneys.
There are 4 games available: 1) Objection! simulates a criminal trial.
Beverly Hills heiress Sandra Stiff has been murdered and it is your job to
keep your client out of the gas chamber by quickly recognizing objectionable
questions and the basis for your objection. 2) Civil Objection! Autoneg is
the same type of simulation as Objection! but with a civil twist. Your client
has been injured in a nasty auto accident and you must use all of your trial
skills to get her the best possible jury verdict. 3) Civil Objection! SlipFall
is also a civil case where your client can't seem to go anywhere without
slipping, sliding or falling. It's your job to get her the best possible
settlement to ease her pain and suffering. Expert Witness! is also a trial
simulation that enhances the quick recognition of objectionable statements,
but it mainly focuses on the issues and procedures of expert witness testimony
most critical to successful direct and cross examination. These games are
fantastic and they will send anyone a FREE version that is also fantastic
(after you get hooked, you can buy the full version, which is
inexpensive). You act as an attorney and must decide when to object
and on what grounds. If you're wrong (or right), the game will explain
the law of evidence on the point. You get graded by giving the right answer
and the amount of time you took to answer. If you take too long, the judge
starts tapping on his watch. This is a fun, entertaining & educational
game for attorneys and especially for all those aspiring attorneys who like
to watch The practice or Court TV.
BUY IT!
Jury Verdict Research Case Evaluation Software
and Basic Settlement Module
Accident Reconstruction
Software
SOFTWARE
FOR YOUR LAW PRACTICE - Software
that specializes in 3-D computer graphics of human anatomy with color graphics
that are remarkable for their clarity and precision. I just received
the Interactive Knee which is absolutely amazing. It shows the knee
at various depths in various types of images such as 3d Model Mode; Topic
Mode with views for Anatomy, Surgery, Biomechanics & Radiology; and MRI
Mode. There are movies such as one which shows a doctor conducting a McMurray's
test. The view or movie is on the left side of the screen with corresponding
text on the subject, on the right. Everything is interactive and changes to
correlate with the word you click on. This is a fabulous program for the medical
profession or the personal injury attorney. While it would be interesting for a
lay person with a knee injury, it is easier to use with a basic understanding of
the knee and would require the lay person to spend some time learning. I highly
recommend this software. Disclosure:
The Interactive Knee
was provided to me at no charge. The fact that it
was given to me without charge should tell you a lot, because I requested it.
If I'm going to ask for something for free, I'll ask for the best!
Primal Pictures, Ltd can be reached at 1-800-716-2475.
BUY IT!
Anyone in
New York State or any state in which doctors do not provide Whole Body Impairment
Ratings should be aware that there is an additional problem both with the
software and the call in evaluation which is that a Whole Body Impairment
Rating is needed by the software and New York State does not use Whole Body
Impairment Ratings. Without inputting a Whole Body Impairment Rating,
the evaluation will be even lower and unrealistic. Additionally, the software
does not discern enough information to provide a realistic value. Admittedly,
it would be very difficult to discern all variants in a case, since not all
information is always reported by attorneys. Instead of using software
or ordering a case evaluation, you could consider ordering copies of actual
verdicts. While JVR tracks verdicts nationally, I order NYS verdicts from
The New York Jury Verdict Reporter by Moran Publishing at 631-581-1930.
You can find a Jury Verdict Reporter for your state at
The National Association of State
Jury Verdict Publishers (NASJVP)
(My favorite software is listed here & some are FREE!)
Dragon is an enormous timesaver. it saves time two ways. 1) It is much faster to dictate than to type. 2) It saves a lot of time compared to using a secretary. Using a secretary requires proof reading which takes me more time than typing it myself and when using a secretary, I often had to proof read two or three times each time I gave it back for corrections. Now your secretary can do more important things.
Additionally, I started having substantial wrist pain from typing so much, before using Dragon. Now, after using Dragon, I no longer have any wrist pain. I can sum it up by comparing it to power windows. I can roll up my windows by hand, but I would never again buy a car without power windows. Now, I can't send an e-mail or type anything manually.
Dragon will not work well unless you have a good sound card or use a USB headset which bypasses the sound card. Whenever someone told me Dragon didn't work well, I found they were using a cheap sound card. Dragon NaturallySpeaking comes with an analog headset. This is a huge mistake because it causes many people to think Dragon doesn't work very well. This is simply not true. Dragon should be sold with a really good USB headset. I strongly recommend that you buy a USB headset (see below) and Dragon will work well.
Here are several tips to get incredible accuracy from Dragon NaturallySpeaking:
- Buy the latest version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking (accuracy keeps improving).
- Instead of using the analog headset that comes with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, buy the Parrott Talk Pro USB-100 USB headset from vxicorp (see my headset review below). This is the headset I use. Most computers do not have a good quality sound card, which causes most of the errors people experience with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. A USB headset will bypass the soundcard.
- See more Dragon Naturally Speaking Tips
You will want to buy Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred, Professional, Legal or maybe the Medical Edition if you have a personal injury practice. I previously used Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred and now use NaturallySpeaking Professional. All of the versions have the same speech engine and therefore, the same accuracy. I found the Preferred version to be astoundingly accurate with medical terms. Many medical words were already recognized. The medical words which it didn't recognize, were easy to train. Once a word or phrase is trained, you don't have to do it again. I always used Dragon to dictate injury paragraphs in Bills of Particulars. I found it easy to go through medical records and reports dictating pertinent portions in a Word or Word Perfect document. When finished, I deleted any duplication and rearranged in an order that made sense. If you dictate Bills of Particulars with injury paragraphs or interrogatories with medical terminology and don't want to bother training those words, buy the medical version. Disclosure: Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional was provided to me at no charge. The fact that it was given to me without charge should tell you a lot, because I requested it. If I'm going to ask for something for free, I'll ask for the best! BUY IT NOW!
Headsets for Dragon NaturallySpeaking (Make sure you buy a USB headset!):
Parrott
Talk Pro USB-100
Since you want Dragon to work as well as it can, invest in a good headset!
When I bought Dragon, I
called tech support to ask what headset they used, and was told they use the
Parrott Talk Pro USB-100 headset from VXI. I purchased the Parrott Talk Pro USB-100 headset from the
VXI
web site and it works very well. The accuracy with this headset is a tremendous improvement
over the analog head set that is shipped with the software. The Parrott
Talk Pro USB-100 has a VXI
PARROTT Translator which makes the headset compatible with any PC, laptop or
palmtop soundcard, preventing incompatibility, a leading cause of voice
recognition failure. The PARROTT Translator allows maximum voice recognition
accuracy right out of the box by detecting the bias and resistance of the PC and
balancing it with the headset. It also improves other crucial voice
recognition factors such as flat frequency response band; limiting high
frequency output; high immunity breath pops; and low distortion at all levels.
After running over the wire a few times with the wheels on my chair, the headset
was no longer work properly and Dragon was typing trash. I called VXI, and
they were kind enough to send me a new headset. The new headset, the same
Parrott Talk Pro USB-100 model, has a longer wire than the previous model,
making it easier to work with. I have to say, that using Dragon with the
VXI Parrott Talk Pro USB-100 headset is one of the most significant life altering events I have experienced.
Notes: 1) I have not tried it, but the wireless head set is reported to work well with Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 9 which has a wireless microphone mode, but can not work quite as well as the wired headset because a wire with substantially more bandwidth, can transmit more data, faster; 2) Under the foam cover, the microphone has a white dot on one side. The side with the white dot is the side that must face your mouth.
Disclosure: the Parrott Talk Pro USB-100 headset was provided to me at no charge. The fact that it was given to me without charge should tell you a lot, because I requested it. If I'm going to ask for something for free, I'll ask for the best!
The last time I spoke with Dragon tech support, they said they were using the NC-7100 USB Headset from Andrea Electronics. I have not yet tried this headset, but I'm sure it works well.
Quicken Home & Business, QuickBooks
or
QuickBooks
Professional Services (for law firms)
-
Both Quicken and Quickbooks have been two of my all time favorites. I use
Quicken for my personal checking account, business checking account and escrow
account. Using Quicken for my escrow account allows me to know where every
penny is. Get Quicken Premier to track your stocks, mutual funds and
bonds. Get Quicken Premier Home and Business to manage both your personal
and business accounts. Quicken categorizes all of my expenses for tax purposes and the
reports it produces saves me approximately $2,400 a year in accounting fees. QuickBooks
Premier is
the software I use to run 1-800-HURT-911, Inc. and you should use it to run your
business. QuickBooks can be used to invoice customers by mail and e-mail.
I really like to send invoices by both mail and e-mail. So you don't have
to remember, you can set QuickBooks to automatically create invoices for
customers or clients who you bill every month for the same amount.
QuickBooks will track payments and
outstanding bills, do payroll and 1099's. Since most payments to lawyers
require that you file a 1099, this feature is invaluable. When you send
referral payments to various lawyers QuickBooks will track those payments and
compile 1099's for you. Quickbooks also saves me
thousands of dollars in accounting fees. I do not have to pay a bookkeeper
to come here every month to do my books. I simply print out a report with
QuickBooks and e-mail it to my accountant. If it makes you feel more
secure, you can fax it to your accountant. QuickBooks does not do any investment
tracking. With Quicken or Quickbooks,
you can easily reconcile your escrow account in seconds, making sure you won't
get disbarred for sloppy bookkeeping! (A lawyer in Nassau County was actually
disbarred and confirmed on appeal for bouncing an escrow check due to sloppy
bookkeeping, even though he had replaced the missing money!)
Disclosure:
QuickBooks was provided to me at no
charge. The fact that it was given to me without charge should tell you a lot,
because I requested it. If I'm going to ask for something for free, I'll ask
for the best! BUY IT NOW!
- If you need to transfer or copy data from one
QuickBooks file to another QuickBooks file, this Quick Books Transfer Utility will
transfer the data quickly and easily, eliminating the need to re-key the data. From within the Transfer Utility, you can select the specific types of data
(invoices, bills etc.) that you want to transfer and filter for specific dates,
reference numbers, customers, vendors, accounts and more.
Credenza
turns Outlook into a professional practice management system.
QuickFile4Outlook Lawyers Edition
- The email filing system that protects your
law practice
from the risk of poor email management.
When you want to save an email to another folder, QuickFile4Outlook automatically presents a short list of folders (specific to the client, case or any subject) for you to choose from. For instance, a person may send me emails which I may save in several different folders. QuickFile™ will show me only those folders where I have previously saved them. I then choose the correct folder and it's out of my inbox. If I want to save to a new folder, then I just select a new one.
Update: The new version now has a scan and search feature for your folders.
I have approximately 1,000 folders and sub folders in Outlook, so it
sometimes can frustrate me trying to find a folder! With the new
version, you can type the first few letters of the folder name and it starts
giving you suggestions, so you can now find a folder in seconds and select
it for
QuickFiling.
Even better!
InsertText 4Outlook
I will show you below how to write batch files
to backup your hard drive. But first, I'll discuss a problem and a
great solution. The DVD is a little more work to backup because I have
to insert a couple of DVD's and the put them in a safe place. The
problem is I get lazy and usually only backup to another hard drive.
But what if someone steals my computer with my hard drives and backups or a
fire destroys everything!
Mozy uses 448 bit encryption and is even HIPAA compliant. It took just 5
minutes to get started and it's so easy, there's no need to read any
instructions, but if you barely know how to turn on your computer, they have
24/7 tel support. I tried calling and, Pablo, one of their techs
answered within 10 seconds. Their software can automatically back up
everything you need, even files on your desktop, email, SQL files,
everything! Your data can be backed up as files are created,
automatically when your computer is idle.
How much is a service like this? They have
one account for business and two for personal use. 1) If you want 24/7
tel support for backing up your business,
Pro online backup is only $3.95+$0.50/GB
per month. That means for only $11.45 per month, you can back up a
large office! 2) $4.95/month for
unlimited
backup space with email support (for personal use); 3) You can
even have a
FREE
online backup account (for personal use) with 2 GB of 100% free backup space
with email support, no setup
fee, no credit cards, no monthly payments, and no expiration.
Although I now back up online, I will continue to use my batch files to
easily backup my hard
drive locally with just one click. Now, how do you write batch files to backup your hard drive?
See create a batch file to back up your hard
drive.
Disclosure:
Mozy is provided to me at no charge. The fact that it is given to me
without charge should tell you a lot, because I requested it. If I'm going
to ask for something for free, I'll ask for the best!
Free PDF software
Scribus Open Source Desktop Publishing Software - To use scribus to edit PDF
files: Start scribus > New File > Insert > Image > Double click > Select PDF
file Download Scribus
Edit PDF files online without
downloading PDF software.
OpenOffice.org now uses extensions.
The
PDF Import Extension allows you to import and modify PDF documents.
File Shredder
- (Free) Before you dispose of your computer or your hard drive, make sure it you
delete your clients' files. They claim that files deleted with File
Shredder cannot be restored. File Shredder supports shredding
algorithms up to 7 passes, US government compliant DoD 5220-22.M, Guttman
method, has shell integration on right click in Windows, and Disk Wiper to
shred unused free space.
A Note About Spyware: These
programs are just as important as anti-virus software because spyware can
seriously slow down your computer, even disabling it. These
programs should be updated after installation and before initial use.
Additional updates should be done every week or two.
Microsoft
PowerToys for Windows XP
Medical Record
Retrieval - MediConnect Global's on-line medical
retrieval system simplifies the retrieval of medical records and reduces the
time it takes to obtain copies of medical records. It also transfers the
cost out of your pocket because it replaces your costly staff labor with a
billable expense. SmartJURY Lido.com
- Lido.com has thousands of stock medical
illustrations at a very low cost. Even better, order a custom illustration
from Charles Boyter, Certified Medical Illustrator at very
reasonable prices. You can call Charles Boyter for a custom medical
illustration at 404-874-6233 email: cbmedart (@) mindspring.com. I have ordered
custom medical illustrations from Charles Boyter and can say they paid for
themselves 100x. Using a custom medical illustration from Charles Boyter, Allstate
paid a $25,000 policy limit for a fractured fifth finger, before
depositions. Illustrations are great for settlement negotiations and an
absolute must at trial.
BUY IT NOW!
Lawyer's
Professional Liability Insurance
SpeakWrite.com
- An Internet-based
transcription service available around the clock and around the world, from
any telephone. Your dictation is transcribed, proofread and sent
back (via email) to your computer - often in less time than an on-site staff
is able to provide. Free trial offer.
TheLaw.net
- Your personal library that provides access for all
your research to Federal and state statutes, judicial and administrative rules and
forms, the CFR, Federal Register, state administrative codes, nearly 200 major-metropolitan newspapers, the nation's top
columnists, bill-tracking tools and much, much more. If you don't have a flat
fee with West Law or Lexis, using TheLaw.net can save you money. If you can't find something
they will find it for you. If you don't know how to do something, they will teach you.
They claim no one in this market space outperforms TheLaw.net when it comes to customer
service. If you don't have a flat fee with West Law or Lexis this will
save you money.
- InsertText 4Outlook is an Microsoft Outlook add-on that allows you to quickly and
easily insert pre-written text blocks into email replies. This can be
a huge and valuable timesaver when e-mailing information or instructions to
clients. This is extremely simple to use and you can learn how to use
it in three minutes. It interfaces very nicely with Outlook.
This program is essentially doing automatically what I used to do manually.
Before, I had many e-mails saved with template information. I
would cut and paste the information into my e-mails. Now, when writing
an e-mail I simply click on the InsertText button on the create e-mail
toolbar and select the template text to insert. Creating or editing a
template is as easy as writing an e-mail. This software was provided
as a courtesy for review and I use it every day.
BUY IT NOW!-
Color Code your Outlook Task List. The fast easy visual way to
identify your important tasks in Outlook.-
Do you back up your hard drive every day? You know you should! I
have been using simple batch files to backup my hard drive for various programs and
directories I want to back up. You can use batch files to backup to
another hard drive or to a DVD drive. This type of backup is great to
backup to a local drive that is located on your premises. I use RAID1
(reads and writes to two hard drives) and back up to a third internal hard drive and a fourth
external hard drive. It's easy and quick to click an icon and
instantly back up the day's work to another hard drive. 
I recently found and now use
Mozy, the only full-featured remote
online backup service that is so inexpensive and easy to use, you can't afford not to use it.
In fact, sign up right now!
Imagine what you would do if you lost your computer with all of your data!
I would have to immediately sell my house and crawl into a hole.
Undelete™
recovers deleted files instantly, no matter where across the network they were
deleted from. Undelete safely replaces the Windows® recycle bin with
a Recovery Bin, which captures all deleted files, even the ones that typically
bypass the recycle bin. You can even recover files you purged from the Recovery
Bin or files deleted prior to installing Undelete. Includes SecureDelete™.which
deletes files permanently, so sensitive or confidential data doesn't get into
the wrong hands.
BUY IT NOW!
- This
is an excellent anti-virus software which you can download and use for FREE with
FREE updates. Whether you use AVG or another brand, you must use a
virus program and you MUST update the program with the new virus
signatures frequently. If you install AVG, click on the AVG Control Center
in the task bar and check "Use heuristics". Checking heuristics will tell
AVG to look for files that behave like a virus. On the Scheduler tab, I
unchecked "Enable scheduled tests" which I do not need since it checks
all incoming email. I have been infected many times before using AVG and
I've gotten quite good at eliminating viruses from my computer. Since
installing AVG, I haven't been infected. I update 2-3 times a week, but recommend you update
at least once a week.
USE
IT NOW!
- SpywareBlaster is freeware.
Spyware,
adware, browser hijackers, and dialers are some of the fastest-growing
threats to your computer today. By simply browsing to a web page, you
could find your computer to be the brand-new host of one of these unwanted
fiends! The most important step you
can take is to secure your system. SpywareBlaster prevents the
installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers,
and other potentially unwanted pests. Block spyware/tracking cookies
in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox. Restrict the actions of
potentially dangerous sites in Internet Explorer. SpywareBlaster
can help keep your system spyware-free and secure, without interfering with
the "good side" of the web. Unlike other programs, SpywareBlaster does
not have to remain running in the background. SpywareBlaster has
successfully prevented most spy ware from being installed on my computer and
I hardly ever have to check my computer for spy ware!
With the free version, you have to check for updates, which you should do
before running the first time and at least once every 1-4 weeks. After
obtaining be sure to click on enable protection for the new file download. The paid version of SpywareBlaster
will update automatically and is only $9.95. Since no one remembers to
update their software I highly recommend buying it.
BUY IT NOW!
-
This FREE software searches for and removes those pesky little programs
known as spy-ware or data minors that are installed on your hard drive to
report your internet browsing habits. - This
FREE software searches for and removes those pesky little programs known as
spy-ware or data minors that are installed on your hard drive to report your internet browsing habits. These little programs are usually
installed when you visit a
web site and also by pop-up windows. (You should use Ad-aware together
with Spybot Search & Destroy, which is listed below here). Porn sites are the worst culprits,
but you don't even need to visit a porn site to get one from a porn site!
and most commercial sites use them. The problem with these small unwanted programs is that
some are not well written and they can slow down your computer or even worse,
prevent it from working properly. Some computers which acted as if they
were infected with a virus were found to be bogged down by 100 or more data
minors and were cleared up after running Ad-aware. If you haven't used
Ad-aware before, you might have as many as 60 to 200 of these programs on your
computer reporting what you do. I run Ad-aware
once or twice a week to be sure my computer isn't slowed down. You can get
the free version of Ad-aware
or you can buy the paid versions of Ad-aware which work in the background
blocking the installation of data minors, before they can be
installed, so you don't have to run it.
Make your life easy and get Ad-aware
Plus or Ad-aware
Professional.
USE
IT NOW!
Spybot
Search & Destroy
- This
FREE software searches for and removes those pesky little programs known as
spy-ware or data minors that are installed on your hard drive to report your internet browsing habits. These little programs are usually
installed when you visit a
web site and also by pop-up windows. (You should use Spybot Search &
Destroy together with Ad-aware, which is listed above here). The problem with these small unwanted programs is that
some are not well written and they can slow down your computer or even worse,
prevent it from working properly. Spybot Search & Destroy is
entirely free and also has an "immunize" feature that blocks hundreds
of "spybots" before they can be installed.
USE
IT NOW!
Picture
Viewer -
IrfanView is a very simple to use yet powerful, fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE
graphic viewer for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP. It has multiple (animated) GIF
support, multipage TIFF support, and multiple ICO support. If you can't
download from their site, click
here USE
IT NOW!
TextMap® - transcript management software creates a searchable database of your electronic transcripts from depositions, examinations and other proceedings. Just upload a transcript, and you can easily search, summarize, annotate, issue-code and attach notes to important passages.
Track Your CLE for Free - CLE is confusing! Are you too busy to figure out how many continuing education credits you need and when? Try to keep track of last year's carryover credits and it gets even more confusing. Record your CLE credits and keep track of your CLE requirements for free with Lawline.com. You can manually record your CLE course credits which you receive from any source, but CLE credits received from Lawline.com are automatically recorded in your free account. The service is available in several states including California, Florida, Nevada, New York, & Oregon. By the time you read this, other states may have been added. USE IT NOW!
- REQwired provides CLE credit tracking, including carryover credits, for attorneys and also allows firms to monitor the CLE compliance status of all the firm's attorneys. I loved it when it was free, but now they charge for it so I began using Microsoft Excel to keep track of my CLE credits. Now, I use Lawline (see just above).Up to six hours of General credit based on the top-selling book "The Lawyer's Guide to Fact Finding on the Internet" is now available online (streaming video) Mixing narrative descriptions with an easy-to-use template presentation, the American Bar Association's "The Lawyer's Guide to Fact Finding on the Internet" introduces you to hundreds of useful, free resources on the web to locate factual information.
SMART Board™ - The world's first and leading interactive
electronic whiteboard. Combining the simplicity of a whiteboard with the
power of a computer, the SMART Board interactive whiteboard will create
intense interest and engage the jury to see your argument clearly and to see
it the way you want them to. The touch-sensitive display connects to
your computer and digital projector to show your computer image. You can
then control computer applications directly from the display, write notes in
digital ink and save your work to share later. Best of all, the
full-featured SMART Board interactive whiteboard is incredibly easy to use.
You can live without this only if you don't do trials.
BUY IT NOW!
LEGAL
SERVICES
& SOFTWARE FOR NEW YORK
e-LAW.com
New York Appearances
All NYS Counties:
PerDiemServices.com
Nassau
& Suffolk County:
E-LAW® is
a full featured internet web site that allows attorneys, their clients, pro
se (people representing themselves) parties, and other interested members of the public to search, manage
and monitor active cases, dockets and court calendars in New York Supreme and
Civil Courts, Federal Courts and, in New York County you can search the County Clerk File.
E-LAW® users are able to locate cases
of interest, register them for future e-mail alerts of important court dates,
decisions, orders and notices; view individual IAS dockets, and retrieve copies
of any filed court documents from anywhere at any time. E-LAW®
will automatically populate your Microsoft Outlook® Calendar or Case Management
Software. Membership
is FREE NOW and FOREVER. Automatic email notification
is available for a nominal fee and you can add other email addresses to your notification
list! I use the automatic email notification for a
small flat fee per case. Since it's a case expense, you can even charge it to
the case. Don't let your case be dismissed, use the automatic email notification
on all your cases and you'll never miss a court appearance! Monitor cases you referred
out! USE IT NOW!
OFFICE EQUIPMENT & PRODUCTS
(Links to the best prices I
could find)
Nextag - Compare prices of different manufacturers
Document Scanners:
The new Canon ScanFront 220P high-volume network color document scanner is simply
fantastic. Just like every one of Canon products, from copy machines
to cameras, this scanner is simply the best. I finally decided
to make my office as paperless as possible and got a ScanFront 220P
document scanner. I love it! On my first day using the
scanner, I scanned hundreds of papers which I promptly threw out or
shredded. I already emptied 1/2 file drawer and now have more
space, less clutter and greater security. It's easy to set up,
easy-to-use, easy to maintain yourself, works great and does everything you
need. Read about my experience, the difference between the
ScanFront 220
and the
220P, and my
review of
the ScanFront 220P document scanner.
Disclosure:
The Canon ScanFront 220P
was provided to me at no charge. The fact that it
was given to me without charge should tell you a lot, because I requested it.
If I'm going to ask for something for free, I'll ask for the best!
Copiers:
Canon Copiers from Quality Business Machines
Color
Laser Printers:
Ricoh CL1000N:
Electric
Letter Openers, Folders, Shredders, etc. Everything for handling
paper, for small to
large offices.
Electric Laminators: Laminate medical
illustrations and important pages in mediation and arbitration binders.
Don't use binders? You should! I use very professional looking
binders and will soon have a link here to buy them.
Chairs: Want
to get your money's worth from your staff? Let them be comfortable!
HermanMiller
Aeron Chairs® - Combining distinctive looks with pioneering
ergonomics, Aeron performs like no other chair. It adapts naturally and adjusts
precisely to fit people of all sizes and postures doing all kinds of activities.
Its imaginative design gives superior comfort and body support all day long
(description on Herman Miller website). This chair is used in most of the
television production studios, I have seen, where people have to sit for long
hours. I bought the Highly Adjustable chair at Costco for $600 and it's
very adjustable, comfortable and durable. I have also seen the chair for
sale on the internet for $599 with free shipping. The only complaint I
have is that it should come with a second back support which can easily be added
on, since it is a reversible support and designed to just slide on and off.
It can probably be purchased from HermanMiller inexpensively.
Places online to buy the Herman
Miller Aeron Chair - Highly
Adjustable Model:
Ultimate Back Store
OfficeDesigns
Neutral
Posture Ergonomics' model 8000 series This
chair is excellent for working at a desk either at the office or at home for
anyone who wants maximum comfort and back support. It is a must for anyone with
a bad back or just wants to avoid getting one from sitting improperly. It
is adjustable in every direction imaginable, and then in even more directions,
and has an inflatable lumbar support. Available in a large variety of fabrics
& leathers, we recommend ordering the chair with either fabric or leather on
the top of the adjustable arms for added comfort and looks. The chair is
extremely well made for a lifetime of use and comes with a limited lifetime
warranty from the manufacturer, Neutral Posture Ergonomics Inc., which is a
publicly traded company. You can not find a chair this well made at the average
store. I tried out many chairs and having found this chair to be the most
unbelievably comfortable and supportive, I bought the model 9700 for myself!
First, create a text file; write your
backup instructions as indicated below; save your text file naming it
whatever you want, such as Monday and change the file extension to .bat so
it appears like this: Monday.bat I wrote the following instruction for
each directory that I wanted to back up: "xcopy c:\quicken\*.* f:\friday\quicken\
/d/e/y" (without the quote marks). When backing up files and
directories which have names longer than eight letters or spaces, you must
use quote marks like this: xcopy c:\"Documents and settings\All
Users\Application Data\ScanSoft\NaturallySpeaking9\Users\*.*"
f:\Full\dragon\Users /d/e/y (notice that to make it simpler, I use
short names without spaces on the destination drive). To
back up your Outlook file with a batch file, use the following on 4 separate
lines: The commands used in the above examples back up only those files
which are new or have been changed, and works quite well except that I have
to remember to do it everyday. I haven't used a backup program to back
up my hard drive because the ones I have seen use a proprietary compression
scheme, which I do not like.
Don't forget
to keep additional copies off premises. Don't leave your only backup copy
in your drive. If your computer is stolen, your data goes with it. If your
only copy is in the office and there is a fire, you will experience the desire
to kill yourself. I use an internal hard drive, an external hard drive, a
DVD-RW drive, and an inexpensive off site online back up service to back up.
See offsite-online Hard Drive / File Back Up above.
Tips To Speed Up Your
Computer or Does Your Computer Act Like There's Glue In It? Use SpywareBlaster, Spybot, LavaSoft Ad-aware and Diskeeper
(mentioned above under Business and General Software)
weekly or buy these programs and they will work in the background so you don't
have to run them. Are you running old DOS programs in a window
in Windows XP? I have a couple of old DOS programs I just won't give
up, however, when the DOS program is open in a window, it uses 100% of
system resources and seriously slows down everything else in my computer.
How do you know if your computer is using 100% of system resources?
Press Ctrl, Alt & Delete once; Click on Processes and look at the bottom of
the window where it says CPU Usage (give it 2-3 seconds to provide an
accurate figure). Solution: Right click the icon for the DOS program;
Left click Properties; Left click the Misc tab; Drag the Idle
sensitivity bar all the way to the right; Left click Apply; and
Left click ok. You're done. RealPlayer hogs system
resources. Disable RealPlayer from running on startup: Run
RealPlayer by clicking on All Programs; Accessories; Entertainment.
When RealPlayer is running, click on View; Preferences; StartCenter
Settings; uncheck Enable StartCenter; Click ok; Click ok again.
You can disable other unneeded programs from starting at startup. You
can see all running processes by pressing Ctrl, Alt & Delete once; Click on
Processes. If you do not know what these processes are or if they are
needed, you can find out at
Task List Programs.
Problem: Your computer monitor or TV LCD screen or plasma screen has image
burn-in - image persistence (burned images appearing as ghosting) or stuck pixels on the screen. The applet runs
safely inside a web browser, does not require installation and works with
Windows, Linux and Mac computers. Solution:
The free JScreenFix Java
applet can fix stuck pixels and image persistence on LCD screens and reduces
burn-in on plasma screens. The applet runs safely inside a web browser, does
not require installation and works with Windows, Linux and Mac computers. Just click on
Launch
JScreenFix at the bottom of the page and let it run
full screen for 15 minutes. Press F11 to make it full screen.
This works great and best of all, it's free! You will need Firefox to
run this applet because you will not see the launch button in IE6.
Problem: Metadata in Word. If you use compare or track changes in Word, the comments or
redline changes will not go away unless you delete the comments or
accept/reject redline changes. Many lawyers only hide redline changes and
comments by changing view, printing the final document and forgetting about
them. The next time a similar document is needed, the lawyer opens the
previous document, changing the names, and e-mails it to opposing counsel as
the first draft, forgetting that the changes and comments were only hidden
in the previous document. Opposing counsel can then easily see those
changes.
Problem: I have a file on my computer and don't know what kind of file
it is. Solution: The
three letters in the file name to the right of the . are called the file
extension. The File
Extension Source can tell you what kind of file it is.
Problem: WinXP has some problems such as giving Windows error messages,
Explorer closing and opening, file folders blanking out and coming back,
etc. Solution: Run
System File Checker (SFC): Insert your WinXP system disk in the CD
drive; Click "start"; click "Run..."; then type sfc /scannow
(notice the space between c and /); then click ok. This may take a
while to run, so do this when you can have your computer tied up for 15-30
minutes and do not interrupt this process after you start it. Three
Steps to Help Insure Your PC is Protected. Microsoft provides three
simple, basic, important steps to protect your computer that many people do not
do or aren't even aware of.
Windows Time: Automatically
schedule your computer to synchronize its clock with official government
time. Right click on Time/Day/Date at the bottom right corner of your
monitor screen; Left click on Adjust Date/Time; Left click on
Internet Time; Left click to check the box "Automatically synchronize with
an internet time server"; Left click on the arrow and select
time.nist.gov; Click here
to see a picture of what the screen looks like.
Problem: with windows time? If it doesn't
update to the correct time, I may have a fix. It seems the
time.windows.com has been broken on & off for months. It is fixed in Vista,
but not at this time in XP. Here is a fix. I
Want: to be able to access my computer from any other computer,
outside my office, just as if I were in front of my computer. Solution:
If you have WinXP Pro, you can use Remote Desktop to control your computer, just
as if you were there. For instructions, check out "Get started using Remote Desktop with Windows XP Professional". Problem:
Windows Update does not count up and updates do not appear. 1. Windows update takes you to
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp. Instead of using
that path, add an "s" after the http: like https://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp
(you can also click on this link) Problem: Disk Cleanup hangs while
scanning or compressing files (WinXP). 1. Backup your registry first.
Firefox & Internet
Explorer Browser Tips
Go to a web site by just typing the name without
typing http://www. and .com. Just type the name of the web site, like
Firefox Keyboard
shortcuts (most of these will also work in IE)
- I love my Canon copy machine! I have the
Canon NP6035 which is now quite a few years old. I would love to get a
new digital color copy machine, but my Canon is still working just as well
as the day I got it. That's why I love it. It's the first copy
machine I ever had that never breaks down, never needs maintenance and never
jams. Other than a desire for newer features, there is simply no
reason to replace it. You can save thousands by buying a relatively new
repossessed or off lease Canon copy machine or fax machine and save even more
with service contracts at 20% off from Quality Business Machines Tel.:
1-800-409-8423. I saved $5,000 buying a 6 month old Canon copier that was
repossessed and had only 6,000 copies on the meter. That's my machine in the
picture. BUY IT NOW !
Send mail over night for the cost of one
stamp.
Just print bar
codes in the address on your envelopes and use a postage meter. Every word
processing program can print barcodes. What is a barcode?
The US Post Office uses a postnet barcode to automatically speed delivery of
mail by machine without using humans. If you send mail without a postnet
barcode, the USPO will manually sort your mail and send it to a barcoder to
print the barcode on your mail. This extra step delays your mail by one
day. Want your mail to go as fast as possible? Use the 5+4
digit zip code with your bar code. If you regularly send mail to someone,
such as a client, doctor or insurance carrier, look up the 5+4
digit zip code and enter it in your personal injury software
database. I routinely find that mail sent at 5:00pm from Long Island, is
delivered in NYC the next day. Q: What slows down mail? A: Hand
writing an address; using a stamp; not printing a bar code; not using the 5+4
digit zip code. Q: How do I print bar codes? A: In your
word processing program, go to the print envelopes screen and choose to print
Postnet Bar Code. Microsoft Word: Go to Tools; Envelopes and
Labels; Options; click on the white box at Delivery point barcode; click
on OK. Word Perfect: Go to Format; Envelope; and
just above the Mailing Address box, click on the middle icon showing a bar code; the Postnet Bar Code screen will pop up; click on the
Position you want (I use Position bar code below address); then click
OK.
BACK UP ALL YOUR DATA!
Backing up your hard drive can avoid foreclosure and the desire to kill yourself.
to use batch files to easily back up your hard drive with just one click, follow
these instructions:
taskkill /im outlook.exe
@ping 127.0.0.1 -n 2 -w 1000 > nul
@ping 127.0.0.1 -n 2 -w 1000> nul
xcopy c:\"Documents and Settings\Phil\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\*.*" f:\Full\Outlook /d/e/r/y
Customer Relations.
Successful
doctors and lawyers do not have patients and clients. They have
customers. You should treat every client like a customer and everyone else
like a potential future customer. That means taking your client's
telephone call over all other calls and taking the time to talk to people who
call even when they are not interesting. For instance, if you advertise
you are likely to receive calls like the one I just did. I just received a
Serious Injury Alertsm
on my Blackberry®
on Saturday stating someone who called
Solution: See
How
to minimize metadata in Word 2002;
How to minimize metadata in Word 2003 or you can use
Payne Group metadata
removal software
Solution:
Go to the window where you synch the time from. Select the "time.nist.gov"
entry, but then change it to "time-a.nist.gov" (Don't include the ""
marks). Just type over the old entry in the window. This synched the time
on my machine instantly.
Solution:
2. Check to see if your computer date is correct. Restart your computer;
during post (early part of boot up) press the Delete key continuously until you
see the BIOS screen. The date should be listed at the top. If your
computer is out of date, correct it; Choose exit saving changes. If
your date is correct, choose exit discarding changes and use the link above.
This fix stops the system from compressing the old files, which is the point where the hang occurs.
Solution:
a. Click Start
b. Click Run
c. Type Regedit in the Run box and click ok
d. Click File
e. Click Export
f. Name the file such as: Registry Back Up click save in Start - Run
g. In the Save in window at the top, choose Desktop or My Documents
h. Click Save
2. Type Regedit in Start - Run
3. Click on the plus symbol next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
4. Click on the plus symbol next to SOFTWARE
5. Click on the plus symbol next to Microsoft
6. Click on the plus symbol next to Windows
7. Click on the plus symbol next to CurrentVersion
8. Click on the plus symbol next to Explorer
9. Click on the plus symbol next to Volume Caches
10. Open "Compress Old Files" folder
11. Delete all files in this folder (not the folder on the left side, only the files on the right) right click the priority entry and select delete.
Right click the default value entry and click delete. This will leave the default value as
"not set" and remove the priority entry.
12. Reboot
13. Run Disk Cleanup
Would you like to prevent your current open web page from being changed when you click a link in an email message?
- Open an Internet Explorer browser window.
- Click on the Tools menu (at the top of the window) and then click the Internet Options command.
- In the Internet Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab. Scroll down the list of Settings and find the Reuse windows for launching shortcuts option (under Browsing). Uncheck the checkmark from its checkbox. Click Apply and then click OK.
Outlook Tips
Installation Problems:
If you're upgrading from Outlook Express to Outlook and want to import all
of your e-mails and folders and need to make sure that they retain the
original dates, you may find as I did that some e-mails were missing and the
dates that the e-mails were sent were incorrect. After I transferred
my old Outlook Express e-mail to Outlook 2003 I found that Outlook 2003 did not now show the original "Received" date of
some of the e-mails, but instead showed the date of when it imported the
e-mail. Apparently, during installation Outlook has problems retaining the dates of the e-mails. After
spending two days researching the problem, I finally found the solution.
Instead of allowing Outlook 2003 to import the e-mails from Outlook Express,
simply export from Outlook Express. Be sure to go to Outlook 2003
first to delete all of the e-mails and folders which have already been
imported, otherwise you will have duplicate e-mails in Outlook 2003.
Then, go to Outlook Express; 1) click on File; 2) click on Export; 3) click on
Messages; 4) click OK; 5) click on All Folders.
Building Your Own Computer: What To Buy, Where To Buy & Cool Stuff
Best place to find the best price for your hardware: Pricewatch c/net Shopper
Best places to find hardware reviews: sharkeyextreme tom's hardware guide Storage Review ZDNet
Best places to find digital camera reviews: Steve's DigiCams
Memory: Mushkin has the fastest and most reliable memory I have found. All memory is not created equal! Mushkin has CAS 222 memory (High Performance Black). Memory from other brands are usually not CAS 222. I recommend the High Performance Black. This is sold only from the Mushkin web site.
Fans: Nexfan
Motherboards: I use only Asus motherboards. I have never had a problem with an Asus motherboard. I never use the latest motherboards, since I prefer to wait a little while for them to get any bugs fixed.
CPU: I use only AMD CPUs. AMD is always a step ahead of Intel and always has the fastest CPUs.