3 Productivity Tools for Attorneys

By Attorney David Speringo, Esq.

When was the last time you were able to sit down and evaluate new technologies for use in your law practice? Between discovery, depositions, and client meetings, rarely will you get the free time to thumb through the newest legal technology magazine. With all the different product catalogs and all the different techniques to configure the newest computer solution for your practice, it might seem overwhelming. At least for many of you, that is. However, I have had the opportunity to sit down and play with, take apart, put it all back together again, and then take it apart once more, to learn how to make these devices work for the busy lawyer. And do they work? Absolutely.

There are some electronic gadgets and tricks on the market today that many lawyers would never ask to look for, or do research about, because they just did not know they existed. Usually these gadgets or techniques were discovered or invented out of necessity by paralegals or tech savvy lawyers. If you were put into a predicament, and you needed object "A", and you did not think that it existed, what would you do? Obviously you would try to invent one, and in failing to do that (as most of us would) at least look to see if someone else had already done that.

Portable Hand Scanner

How many times as a lawyer have you gone onsite to an opposing party’s workplace to "sticky" documents for a copy job, only to realize that while you are doing that, you just tipped off the opposing counsel to what you deemed as important or unimportant? Generally, you do not bring a copier with you, or even a commercial scanner to make a copy of these important documents. I dare say that a couple of you have had that experience. So what is the next best thing?

A portable hand scanner. For the best prices on these, see:

http://www.mindconnection.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=M&Category_Code=SCAN-MOBILESCANNERS

This is definitely one tool that will get a lot of use once you start to rely on it. Check out the product offerings, and get the one best-suited to your needs. Once you start using it, you will wonder why you didn't do this earlier.

Portable Wireless Printers

Another device that could prove to be of use for those who deal in mediation or arbitration, where hearings take place in hotel conference rooms, is the portable wireless printer. HP (sounds like a company who knows what lawyers want!) makes a portable bubble jet color printer, called the BJP-5000, which is extremely small and compact. Since its size allows for travel and its design allows for printing both color and black and white at a speed of 10 ppm (pages per minute), it seems like the ideal candidate to also make it wireless. The only problem is that it does not come wireless from HP. In fact, it attaches to your laptop via a USB cable. Although not extremely loud, it does present some background noise. Noise which could interrupt a conference room if you needed to print something in a hurry. Especially 6 copies of a 10 page document for everyone in the room.

This is where the wireless print server comes into play. Attaching to the BJP-5000, assuming you have a wireless card for your laptop, you can communicate with the wireless print server several hundred feet away, through walls and even floors of a building, depending on room placement. Most conference rooms are hosted in buildings with a business center or a lobby. By setting up your printer in either of these two areas, you can take the noise out of the arbitration room and also print out what you need in a hurry. This is not only efficient but practical because you do not have to worry about having someone from the office driving X number of miles to deliver a document that you need in 10 minutes.

Cell Phone Laptop Internet Surfing

Speaking of wireless networking, many attorneys are doing this while they travel on business, but also some are "plugging in" while they are on vacation (can you truly never take your work home?). They are utilizing their cell phones with their laptops to connect to the internet. People have been doing this for the past 3 years, but it was only until recently with data connection speeds reaching 144kps (for comparison

dialup modems on home computers are 56k), that these speeds have made it more feasible to send and receive email, look at stock quotes, and even upload and download files-with ease and speed. Previously, connection speeds were around 14.4kps. Very slow and frustrating. These speeds were barely good enough for checking email. Now, you can be in your hotel room (not all hotels have connection lines yet for the internet) and get your email or surf the web. If you get nationwide coverage, you can now get on the net almost anywhere. The same holds true for being in court, or the aforementioned being on vacation (should the need arise, beware of the consequences from the people you travel with). Connection hardware can be purchased at any major electronic store. Depending on your cell phone service carrier, the costs may vary.

What these 3 cool toys and tricks allow you to do, as an attorney, is to become more efficient with your time which allows you to better represent your client. Your return of investment should be almost immediate by using these three tools. While in practice if you become complacent with how you do things, you may be doing yourself and your client a disservice. By keeping up with the different trends in technology and how it may or may not help you, this allows you to at least be aware of what is available and in turn how you may best utilize any given device to best suit your needs. The lawyer with an edge is one who has more of an advantage. The choice is yours on how you want to use that advantage.

David Speringo is an attorney and the principal of TheRivanGroup.com, a Guilford, Connecticut Web design and hosting firm focusing on servicing the legal market. David is also a legal technology consultant for law firms interested in expanding or developing their Information Technology services. He may be reached at (203) 458-1641.

 ŠThe Rivan Group 2003

Legal Resources

Advice on working with an attorney

Many people assume an attorney is all-powerful or can work some kind of legal magic, just by dint of being an attorney. The reality is quite different. Look in your own line of work, and what do you see? People of differing abilities and work ethics, for one thing. And how many problems come up that even your best people have difficulty solving? How many projects go bad?

An attorney is just another person working in a specific field. It happens to be law. That is, some area of law. An attorney who doesn't have significant experience and/or training in the area of law that concerns you probably isn't going to do as well as one who does. There are so many "gotchas" in law, it borders on the absurd.

Your attorney isn't your buddy. Your attorney is a contractor you pay, and pay well. Usually by the hour. Don't waste your attorney's time with complaining or by seeking explanations of things you can look up on your own.

Your attorney's success is contingent upon such factors as:

• Your accuracy. Don't guess at the answers your attorney needs. Look things up. If your attorney asks how much you made last year, for example, produce your tax return rather than flip a number off the top of your head.
• How honest you are. Lying to your attorney is generally a dumb approach. It can get your attorney into trouble and is likely to undermine your case.
• How open you are. Hiding information from your attorney, even if you think it's irrelevant can easily result in a courtroom surprise that destroys any chance of winning your case.
• Your ability to stay out of trouble. Getting arrested, even on some unrelated charge, while your case is pending makes extra trouble for your attorney to handle.
• How well you articulate your side of the story. You don't need to be a polished speaker, but you do need to be concise and direct.

Don't:

• Make statements about the other person's motivations. Your attorney can't prove such allegations, so they are worthless.
• Produce forged documentation for your attorney to use. This creates a landmine that can not only blow up your case, but result in (further) criminal charges.
• Do or say anything that wastes your attorney's time.
• Yell at your attorney.
• Make disparaging remarks about the other side's attorney or anyone else involved in the case.
• Call your attorney for daily progress reports. This just wastes time.
• Text your attorney, unless told this is OK.
• Send your attorney long e-mails.
• Send your attorney paper, unless told this is preferable. Paper must be scanned and then shredded, creating extra work.

Do:

• Outline what you think the other person's viewpoint is. This will help you understand the whole case, and will show your attorney you seek this understanding.
• Provide any evidence you can locate or produce. This includes e-mails, photos, and receipts. Ask your attorney what evidence will help your case, and see about getting it.
• Think about how you can save your attorney time. Offer to do research, for example. "How about if I check that out for you?" Keep any reports to the attorney accurate and objective.
•  Treat your attorney with respect at all times.
• Behave in a professional manner. How you behave will affect how others perceive you, and that does affect the outcome of your case.
• If you have the OK to text your attorney, do this only rarely and when there is a good reason for it.
• E-mail your attorney with status updates or requests for information.
• Keep e-mail messages brief and limited to that which is most important and/or urgent.
• Convert paper to PDF and e-mail necessary documents to your attorney.

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