Category Archives: Legal Technology

Time For A New Office Computer?

19 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by in Apple, Computer Forensics, Confidentiality, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, PC Computers, Technology, Technology

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Give Away your Computer, Revisited, by Craig Ball, Ball In Your Court

https://ballinyourcourt.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/give-away-your-computer-revisited/

This is the fourth in a series revisiting Ball in Your Court columns and posts from the primordial past of e-discovery–updating and critiquing in places, and hopefully restarting a few conversations. As always, your comments are gratefully solicited.

Give Away Your Computer 

[Originally published in Law Technology News, July 2005]

With the price of powerful computer systems at historic lows, who isn’t tempted to upgrade? But, what do you do with a system you’ve been using if it’s less than four or five-years old and still has some life left in it? Pass it on to a friend or family member or donate it to a school or civic organization and you’re ethically obliged to safeguard client data on the hard drive. Plus, you’ll want to protect your personal data from identity thieves and snoopers. Hopefully you already know that deleting confidential files and even formatting the drive does little to erase your private information—it’s like tearing out the table of contents but leaving the rest of the book. How do you be a Good Samaritan without jeopardizing client confidences and personal privacy? . . . .

Continue reading →

Martindale Hubbell’s Brand Is Not What It Used To Be.

16 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by in Advertising, Law Office Management, Legal Technology, Marketing, Technology

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Martindale Hubbell: Another Legal Icon Bites the Dust. But It Was Once Worth Its Weight in Gold (and Held for Ransom), by Jean O’Grady, J.D. M.L.S., Dewey B Strategic Blog

http://tinyurl.com/l24mabe

In August 2013 LexisNexis announced that they had entered into a joint venture with Internet Brands (the owner of Cars.com) to develop ‘marketing solutions’ using the Martindale.com platform. Although Internet Brands is taking the lead in managing the joint venture there is no mention of Martindale on their website. Since LexisNexis owns InterAction,  the leading ‘contact management’ product which is used in many law firms – it is puzzling why some effort was not made to integrate Martindale with InterAction and other LN sources containing rich actionable client data such as Courtlink dockets.

Blogger Kevin O’Keefe recently posed the question ‘Does Martindale Hubbell, as we knew it still exist?‘ ‘The answer is clearly ‘no,’ and O’Keefe wonders aloud whether the Martindale brand divorced from the legacy of Martindale Hubbell has any real meaning.  The announcement of the joint venture was followed by the layoff of most of the Martindale staff. These were the people who used to curate the surveys and data collected to evaluate whether lawyers and firms qualified for the for the ‘gold standard’ AV rating. So what is left of the legacy? . . .

 

LexisNexis® Adds To Its List As Exclusive Provider.

10 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by in Legal Technology

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Lexis Gains Exclusive Legal Information Provider Status of The New York Times, by Greg Lambert, 3 Geeks and a Law Blog

http://tinyurl.com/mwvcdyn

LexisNexis representatives are sending out notices that they are now the exclusive provider of The New York Times content for the legal market. For those of you that are keeping score, this adds to LexisNexis’ exclusive content with Factiva (which includes The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones News Service), and ALM content. It would seem that LexisNexis is doubling-down on the news content area.

Here is the message that went out earlier today.

LexisNexis® is now the exclusive legal information provider of The New York Times® content to the legal market!

This agreement extends LexisNexis’s position as the leading provider of premium news content to the legal market. Highlights of our unmatched collection of news and current awareness sources include:

  • LexisNexis is the exclusive legal information provider of The New York Times content to the legal market.
  • Law360® is exclusive to LexisNexis, providing breaking news and analysis.
  • LexisNexis is the exclusive online third-party provider of ALM® news publications—including titles such as The American Lawyer®, The National Law Journal® and Corporate Counsel®—and the only provider of its publication news archives (more than six months old).
  • LexisNexis is the exclusive provider of Factiva® content to the law firm market, offering access to North American English sources, including The Wall Street Journal® and Dow Jones News Service.
  • LexisNexis provides more than 26,000 News & Business Sources from 4,000+ Publishers, with many exclusives, in over 150 countries and 21 languages.

The New York Times, as well as our other news exclusives such as Factiva, The Wall Street Journal, and ALM, will continue to be available through LexisNexis® Publisher and via our Moreover/Newsdesk product (releasing in Q2). Newsdesk is the only aggregator/monitoring tool that will be able to deliver this content in full text.

What’s The Stuff That Makes The Best Presentations?

07 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by in Legal Technology, Presentations, SlideShare, Technology, Trial Tips and Techniques

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Why Great Presentations Require Tension and Discovery, by Scott Schwertly, The Official SlideShare Blog

http://tinyurl.com/ppsk9o3

A few years ago, I read a great book by Walter Anderson called The Confidence Course: Seven Steps to Self-Fulfillment. For starters, it’s a great book on self-improvement, but it also offers some great tips and tricks on the topic of storytelling. One major takeaway is Anderson’s focus on the topic of applying tension and discovery when sharing stories. It’s a simple technique that applies a ton of value unlike some other complicated storytelling styles.

If you are fan of Hollywood or the work of individuals like the Robert McKee (famous for his Story Seminars), you are probably aware that there are dozens of different ways to share a story. For instance, you have classic styles like The Heroic Journey, The Underdog, and The Present/Future approach. But all can get a bit too stylistic and complicated in regards to a presentation. However, the style of tension and discovery is easy and it works almost every time.

Do you remember seeing Steven Speilberg’s classic Jaws? If so, do you remember the haunting sounds of the cello or seeing the creepy shark fin peeking above the water? Both leave you in suspense for 80% of the movie until finally the great white shark reveals itself in the end. It’s one amazing “A-ha” moment. That’s the power of tension and discovery.

Here’s another example: Borrowing from Hollywood again, do you remember the movie The Sixth Sense? If you have had the pleasure of seeing this movie, then you’ll remember the scene where Malcolm Crowe (played by Bruce Willis) is trying to reassure Cole. He comforts him by telling him a very short story. Here it is:

‘Once upon a time there was this person named Malcolm. He worked with children. He loved it. He loved it more than anything else. And then one night, he found out that he made a mistake with one of them. He couldn’t help that one. And he can’t stop thinking about it, he can’t forget. Ever since then, things have been different. He’s not the same person that he used to be. And his wife doesn’t like the person that he’s become. They barely speak anymore, they’re like strangers. And then one day Malcolm meets this wonderful little boy, a really cool little boy. Reminds him a lot of the other one. And Malcolm decides to try and help this new boy. ‘Cause he feels that if he can help this new boy, it would be like helping that other one too.’ You will notice that it starts with a moment of tension and ends with a moment of discovery. As brief as it is, you feel worry and then you feel hope. That is great storytelling and it will work for your next presentation.

These same emotions can be created with your next talk. That’s because the technique of tension and discovery does the following: . . . .

More Handy Word Shortcuts.

05 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by in Legal Technology, Microsoft Office, Word

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Word 2010 Shortcuts,by Shortcut World.com

(wiki-style reference database for keyboard shortcuts)

http://www.shortcutworld.com/en/win/Word_2010.html

Also provides shortcuts for 2007 and 2013 – very handy stuff. -CCE

Top Posts for 2014.

01 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by in ALWD, Android Phones, Citations, File Naming Conventions, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Legal Writing, Legalese, Microsoft Office, Office Procedures, Outlook, Readability, The Bluebook

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Here they are – the posts ranked highest during 2014, the first full year for this blog. Posted in order of popularity, it is an interesting mix. Many thanks for stopping by. -CCE

Android Users – Good Advice And Alternative Options For Google Calendar Sync.

https://researchingparalegal.com/2014/07/09/android-users-good-advice-and-alternative-options-for-google-calendar-sync/

Peter Martin’s Introduction to Basic Legal Citation — An ALWD and Bluebook Cheat Sheet.

https://researchingparalegal.com/2013/10/31/peter-martins-introduction-to-basic-legal-citation-an-alwd-and-bluebook-cheat-sheet/

Legal Ethics Head’s Up – Don’t Get Drunk, Move A Dead Body, And Lie To Police.

https://researchingparalegal.com/2014/02/10/legal-ethics-heads-up-dont-get-drunk-move-a-dead-body-and-lie-to-police/

What The Heck Does “SS” In An Affidavit Mean Anyway?

https://researchingparalegal.com/2014/05/25/what-the-heck-does-ss-in-an-affidavit-mean-anyway/

Plain English Tools include Gobbledygook Generator.

https://researchingparalegal.com/2013/11/20/plain-english-tools-include-gobbledygook-generator/

Please Use Electronic File Naming Conventions!

https://researchingparalegal.com/2014/03/29/please-use-electronic-file-naming-conventions/

Sayeth or Saith? Actually, It’s Neither.

 https://researchingparalegal.com/2014/02/22/sayeth-or-saith-actually-its-neither/

ABA Journal’s 2014 Top Ranked Law Blogs.

27 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by in Blogs, Law Office Management, Legal Blogs, Legal Technology

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Comparing The Top-Ranked Law Blogs To The ABA Blawg 100, by Robert Ambrogi, LawSites Blog

http://tinyurl.com/m72nj4p

Includes the ABA Journal’s Law Blawg Hall of Fame, which are no longer listed in its top 100 legal blawgs. Don’t worry. They’re not gone. They’ve just moved to a higher plane. -CCE

Jayne Navarre has an interesting post at her Virtual Marketing Officer blog in which she looks at how the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 list lines up with the top-ranked law blogs generally. Her post underscores the vagaries in “top” lists of any kind. But her primary premise seems to be that the Blawg 100 list omits several outstanding law blogs, and that those blogs’ high rankings using other metrics validates her position that they should be included in the Blawg 100.

Sadly though, this year I note that a number of really outstanding law blogs, which had made prior years top 100, are now off the list. Out with the old, in with the new. Got me thinking. Have these once power house blogs been diminished? To cure my intellectual curiosity, I set off to find out: Does the Blawg 100 stack up to the top ranked law blogs?

To make her comparison, Jayne turns to the BlogRank list of the top 50 law blogs. This list ranks blogs using more than 20 different factors, including RSS subscribers; incoming links; Compete, Alexa and Technorati ranking; and popularity on social networking sites. . . .

What Is A “Zero Knowledge” Cloud And Why You Should Care.

24 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Clouds, Confidentiality, Document Retention, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Malpractice, Technology, Technology

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‘Zero Knowledge’ Encrypted Cloud Service Sees Business Boom, by Steven Nelson, U.S. News & World Report

http://tinyurl.com/q9fj4l8

If you have been paying attention, you have heard about “zero knowledge” clouds — and you are thinking about changing from Drop Box or other clouds that can access the information you put in them. If you know nothing about zero knowledge clouds, don’t stop here. Read more about them, and decide whether it is time for your firm to change to a more secure cloud platform. -CCE

File-storing service SpiderOak says it’s experiencing a business boom – rapidly nearing one million users and doubling its site metrics in six months – amid a constant trickle of news reports revealing Internet surveillance by the government.

Files stored using SpiderOak are encrypted and their contents unknown – and unknowable – to the company. Sharing such files will soon be ‘zero knowledge,’ too, as the company prepares to roll out Crypton, its open source app-building framework, which will be publicly available within the next couple months.

‘Essentially what we did was we inverted the Internet,’ says CEO Ethan Oberman. ‘We created a world where the server is actually a big dumb machine. It only sees encrypted data blocks.’

A free version of the file-hosting service offers 2 GB of storage in exchange for a name, email address, username and password.

‘We don’t really fact check that information,’ Oberman says.

The company does know the IP address of users, he says, but IP-masking browsers – such as Tor – can conceal that information as well, making it possible to store files without disclosing any identifying information.

If the government were to come to the company with a valid legal demand for data, Oberman says, ‘We could turn over the data, but it is literally in encrypted data blocks and not decryptable by us. The only way it’s decryptable is if you have the key, which we do not maintain.’ . . .

New “Must Have” PDF Book For Lawyers By Ernie Svenson.

21 Sunday Dec 2014

Posted by in Adobe Acrobat, Legal Technology

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Review: PDF Essentials for Lawyers by Ernie Svenson / MPU 230, by Jeff Richardson, iPhone J.D. Blog

http://tinyurl.com/mvtts7k

You know this has to be good. First, it’s recommended by Jeff Richardson; second, the book is written by PDF expert Ernie Svenson. It doesn’t get much better than that. -CCE

I still remember the time, many years ago, when PDF documents seemed novel. Today, of course, most attorneys work with PDF documents just about every day, especially if you practice in federal court. And PDF is my preferred file format for storing documents on my iPad. My GoodReader app has a huge number of folders, each of which is full of PDF documents for the pleadings, correspondence, research, exhibits, and other key documents associated with my case files. But as much as I work with PDF files, I always feel like there is so much more to know about working with this file format.  I suspect that most of you feel the same way. (If you don’t, then either you are a PDF genius, or you just don’t know what you are missing.)

Today, I have two good recommendations for helping you to learn more about working with PDF files:  a free podcast, and an inexpensive book. . . .

Eeek! Microsoft Office Kills Clip Art, But You Have Other Options.

21 Sunday Dec 2014

Posted by in Legal Technology, Microsoft Office, PowerPoint, Presentations

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How To Find Images For Office Documents Now That Microsoft’s Killing Clip Art, by Derek Walter, PCWorld

http://tinyurl.com/kwku5tu

But Microsoft is sending its Office clip art to the digital beyond, where it shall rest in glory with Clippy, Zune, and the rest of the Redmond saints.

In other words, those wonky, yet charming images that graced countless PowerPoint presentations are in their last days. Microsoft already nixed the website where you could download Clip Art, so it may not be long before it disappears from Office entirely.

These guys won’t be around much longer.

So it’s time for a different plan. The good news is that Office already has better options for spicing up your files than relying on the dated and questionable-looking Clip Art. For example, Office’s integrated Bing Images search is solid, parsing the web for copyright-free images that you can use to bring some life to the staid world of business presentations.

That’s not the only available solution, however. Here’s a rundown of your best options for grabbing the clip art that’s still there—and learning some new strategies for better images. . . .

“Lock Down” Your Bates Numbers To Prevent Edits By Opposing Counsel.

16 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Adobe Acrobat, Bates Numbering, Bates Numbers, Discovery, E-Discovery, Legal Technology, Requests for Production

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Preventing Edits To Bates Numbers Applied In Acrobat, by Rick Borstein, Acrobat for Legal Professionals Blog

http://tinyurl.com/lvc4j87

If your job is anything like mine, you use Adobe Acrobat to Bates number documents all the time. There are many reasons to use a Bates numbering system. One of the top reasons is that it helps to eliminate confusion and keeps documents organized.

If opposing counsel can change the Bates numbers on your produced documents, it can create havoc. I do not like havoc, especially when I have spent a lot of time and my client’s money to create a neatly Bates-numbered set of documents. Thank you, Mr. Borstein! -CCE

[T]he ability to remove Bates Numbers is valuable in case you make a mistake during the numbering process. However, due to the adversarial nature of the legal business, attorneys may desire to limit what the other side can do with documents.

To whit, this email I received from an attorney last week:

What can I use to flatten Bates numbers so that they cannot be altered or removed using the Acrobat Bates numbering process?

I know I can print to PDF, save as TIFF, print-then-scan, etc., but am looking for a solution that will work in batch mode and not degrade the appearance of the file. Also, I don’t favor using security settings because I don’t want to restrict the user’s ability to access the file.

In this article, I’ll discuss how to ‘lock down’ Bates Numbers so that they cannot be removed by Acrobat’s ‘Remove Bates’ option. . . .

All Types Of 2015 Internet Privacy Protection Sites.

14 Sunday Dec 2014

Posted by in Clouds, Computer Forensics, Computer Virus, Cybersecurity, Document Retention, Health Law, HIPAA, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Technology, Technology

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Guide To Privacy Resources 2015, by Marcus P. Zillman, LLRX.com

http://www.llrx.com/features/privacyresources2015.htm

The Guide to Privacy Resources 2015 is a comprehensive listing of privacy resources currently available on the Internet. These include associations, indexes, search engines as well as individual websites and sources that supply the latest technology and information about privacy and how it relates to you and the Internet. These resources and sources will help you to discover the many pathways available to you through the Internet to find the latest privacy sources and sites. . . .

How To Make § And ¶ On Your iPhone.

11 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Apps, iPad, iPhones, Legal Technology

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Sections And Pilcrows –Making The § And ¶ On The iPhone, by Jeff Richardson, iPhone J.D. Blog

http://www.iphonejd.com/iphone_jd/2014/12/sections-and-pilcrows.html

Yesterday, I reviewed an app called Codification, which uses for its icon the section symbol — §. That is certainly a symbol that lawyers need to type a lot, but it isn’t immediately apparent how to do so on an iPhone or iPad. I was discussing this with Ray Ward, an appellate attorney at my law firm who also publishes the great blogs The (New) Legal Writer and Louisiana Civil Appeals, and he reminded me that it is almost impossible to create the pilcrow on an iPhone. The what? Yeah, I had to look that one up too; a pilcrow is a symbol that most lawyers call the paragraph symbol — ¶.

You can type many additional characters using the iPhone and iPad keyboard by holding down on a letter. I see that I haven’t posted a full list of those shortcuts since 2010, back when iPhone J.D. had far fewer readers, so I though it might be useful to post the list again, which is largely still the same in iOS 8: . . . .

Is Email Between You And Your Client Safe? No, And This Is Why.

01 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by in Android Phones, Apple, Blackberry Phones, Clouds, Confidentiality, Emails, Encryption, iPad, iPhones, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Malpractice, PC Computers, Technology

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How to Encrypt Attorney-Client Communications, by Lisa Needham, Lawyerist Blog (with hat tip to Allen Mihecoby, CLAS, RP!)

http://tinyurl.com/kfrpqz3

If you have decided you need to get serious about client data protection, you will need to consider encrypting both your data and your communications. We have previously covered how to encrypt your data and will focus here on how to encrypt your email communication.

What Is Encryption?

Simply by using the Internet, you are probably using some sort of encryption scheme during some activities, whether you know it or not.

Encryption is simply the act of turning your data into unreadable gibberish. If your data is intercepted or hacked, the thief now has nothing but a pile of garbage.

End-to-end encryption is a must for transferring sensitive data across the internet. In end-to-end encryption, your data is encrypted while it travels towards your intended location and the same encryption occurs on the reverse trip. Your bank (hopefully) uses end-to-end encryption. Your practice management software (hopefully) uses end-to-end encryption if it stores and syncs data remotely. This sort of encryption is done for you without any effort on your part, as it is just a standard feature of the infrastructure you are using to bank or update client data or similar activities.

Why Do You Need to Care?

A few years ago, the ABA issued a formal ethics opinion stating that if there is a significant risk that a third party might gain access to the email, attorneys have to warn clients about that risk.

This poses a problem, because unlike your bank and practice management software, email is usually unencrypted. This is true whether you are using a desktop client or a web-based email like GMail. . . .

Do You Ever CC Clients On Emails? Here’s Why You Shouldn’t.

28 Friday Nov 2014

Posted by in Confidentiality, Emails, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Malpractice, Office Procedures, Rules of Professional Responsibility

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Don’t CC Clients on Emails, by Sam Glover, Lawyerist Blog

http://tinyurl.com/mrm3ucz

This one seems like a no-brainer, but I suspect many lawyers and paralegals alike have not realized the danger in this practice. -CCE

As a general rule, you should not CC your clients on emails.

First, because it gives every other recipient a chance to communicate directly with your client. In fact, it looks like an invitation to do so. Opposing counsel should know better, but even they might use Reply All accidentally, accidentally-on-purpose, or maybe even intending — albeit misguidedly — to be helpful.

In the case of recipients who are not bound by the rules of professional responsibility, you can hardly be surprised if they take the inclusion of your client’s email address as an invitation to keep them in the conversation or communicate with them directly. And remember that the recipient might forward your email, giving anyone not already included the chance to do so. This could be harmless if your email is related to a friendly business transaction. It could also be disastrous.

Don’t forget that clients can make mistakes, too. Even if you BCC your client to avoid the above problems, it could be your client who uses Reply All.

Second, part of your job is to counsel your client, which is difficult to do without providing at least a sentence or two of summary or context or explanation. If all you do is CC your client on every email (or forward every email with little more than “FYI”), you are missing a chance to do your job.

The better practice is usually to wait until the end of the discussion (or at least a decision point), so you can bring your client up to speed with a brief summary, some context, your analysis, the options you need to discuss, etc. Go ahead and include all the back-and-forth if you like, but don’t just hand it off. It is safe to assume given the fact of your representation that your client wants you to use your legal acumen to help them understand what is going on.

So don’t CC your client. There are certainly some exceptions to this ‘rule,’ or times when it doesn’t really matter. But at a minimum you should think twice before adding your client to the CC or BCC field of an email you are about to send.

Using Location And Time To Exonerate Or Implicate.

26 Wednesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Android Phones, Blackberry Phones, Cell Phones, Criminal Law, Evidence, Experts, Forensic Expert Witness, iPad, iPhones, Legal Technology, Trial Tips and Techniques

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Location. Location. Location., by Craig Ball, Ball In Your Court Blog

http://tinyurl.com/mq2u5zv

Okay, you have to admit that it’s pretty cool when a judge calls to pick your brain! – CCE 

I’m peripatetic. My stuff lives in Austin; but, I’m in a different city every few days. Lately looking for a new place for my stuff to await my return, I’m reminded of the first three rules of real estate investing: 1. Location; 2. Location and 3. Location.

Location has long been crucial in trial, too: ‘So, you claim you were at home alone on the night of November 25, 2014 when this heinous crime was committed! Is that what you expect this jury to believe?’ If you can pinpoint people’s locations at particular times, you can solve crimes. If you have precise geolocation data, you can calculate speed, turn up trysts, prove impairment and even show who had the green light. Location and time are powerful tools to implicate and exonerate.

A judge called today to inquire about ways in which cell phones track and store geolocation data. He wanted to know what information is recoverable from a seized phone.  I answered that, depending upon the model and its usage, a great deal of geolocation data may emerge, most of it not tied to making phone calls. Tons of geolocation data persist both within and without phones.

Cell phones have always been trackable by virtue of their essential communication with cell tower sites. . . .

The Five Basic Excel Functions That Make Your Life Easier.

24 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by in Excel, Legal Technology, Microsoft Office

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5 Basic Excel Functions That Make Work Infinitely Easier, by Fatima Wahab, Addictive Tips Blog

http://tinyurl.com/ndql3ks

Excel is the illiterate man’s (and woman’s) favorite data manipulation tool. The literate i.e. those that can code, don’t need to worry themselves much about columns, rows, and the correct formula and its syntax because these wizards have their own devices. For everyone else, practically anyone in a management position, Excel is an essential work tool. Despite this, a lot of people, especially those just stepping into a job are often intimidated by it. In reality, if you learn Excel well enough, you can use it to keep time based records that update automatically, use it to store inventory, and even conduct surveys. That said, here are five very basic Excel functions that every beginner needs to know. . .

Cool Tip – How To Re-Number Your Exhibits’ Bates Stamps For Trial.

23 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by in Adobe Acrobat, Bates Numbers, Exhibits, Legal Technology, Trial Notebooks, Trial Tips and Techniques

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Trial Tech Tips – TrialDirector Bates Numbering, by Ted Brooks, Court Technology and Trial Presentation Blawg  

http://tinyurl.com/ok53uvl

This tip is one of the best ways to use Adobe Acrobat’s Bates-numbering feature. Not to take away from TrialDirector, but you can do this entirely with Adobe Acrobat. It is fast and easy. If you have not tried it, I strongly encourage it. Mr. Brooks’ post will explain why. -CCE

This article is the first in a series entitled ‘Trial Tech Tips.’ Focused on the crossroads of law and technology, and in no particular order, we will share a collection of proven and tested methods for accomplishing a wide variety of common and/or critical tasks encountered during trial preparation or presentation. We will also try to rank them from one to ten on a ‘geek scale,’ with one being not too technical, and 10 being very technical.

On a geek scale of one to ten, this article would be rated at about an 8.

In litigation, it is generally a good idea to make sure that when a certain document is referred to, it is that exact document, and not another version of the same. In situations where there are more than one, and it can be proven, it can result in an interesting trial.

Bates numbering has been around for some time, and is one good method of making sure that everyone is on the same page – literally. Through the years, inked stamps have been used, printed stickers, and nowadays the method most commonly used adds them via software – generally in the lower right corner of each page. Although the most efficient methods can handle a large volume all in one operation, this can also be done at the individual document level.

There are many reasons for adding a Bates number to your exhibits, and there are many for adding yet another Bates number. For instance, if your exhibits have already been numbered according to document productions, it may be helpful to add another set of numbering tied to trial exhibit numbers. This makes it easier for counsel, judges, witnesses and jurors to quickly get to any given exhibit page. Rather than having some lengthy production-based Bates number (e.g., PLTF000024) that may or may not be followed by its next numerical page (PLTF000025) when used in a trial exhibit, we can simply make reference to the trial exhibit and page number (e.g., 0178-002 would be trial exhibit 178, page 2). . . .[Emphasis added.]

iPhone Candy Courtesy of iPhone J.D. Blog’s Sixth Anniversary!

19 Wednesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Apple, Apps, Clouds, Emails, iPad, iPhones, Legal Technology, Microsoft Office, Tablets, Word

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Six Years Of iPhone J.D., by Jeff Richardson, iPhone J.D. Blog

http://tinyurl.com/oc2ptjb

Congratulations and thanks to Jeff Richardson for six years of iPhone J.D. Blog. As usual, Jeff shares a sweet collection of apps in honor of his yearly anniversary. Thank you, Jeff! -CCE

iPhone J.D. turns six years old this week.  Seems like it was just yesterday that I wrote the first post on iPhone J.D., explaining why I found the iPhone a valuable tool in a law practice.  Back then, almost no attorneys used iPhones (about 5% according to a 2008 Am Law Tech Survey), but now the majority of attorneys in the U.S. use an iPhone (around 60% according to the ABA).

Over the past six years, I’ve written over 1,200 posts on iPhone J.D., including reviews of over 300 apps, reviews of every major iOS device released by Apple (from the iPhone 3GS to the new iPhone 6 and all models of the iPad) and reviews of over 300 accessories.  I’ve also tried to provide lots of tips and tricks for getting the most out of your iPhone and iPad, and discussed all of the tech news that I think that you might want to know about if you use an iPhone or iPad.

Through the years, I’ve gotten tons of great feedback from iPhone J.D. readers, ranging from emails to over 2,500 comments on the site, and I’ve been honored to share guests posts by attorneys from around the world who use iPhones and iPads in their law practice.  Site traffic has grown steadily every year, and in just a few days, one of you is going to load iPhone J.D. and it will be the 5 millionth page view since the site launched.

Popular posts this year.  It’s a tradition on iPhone J.D.’s anniversary (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) to identify the most popular posts from the prior 12 months.  Perhaps it reveals something about the topics that iPhone and iPad owners have been thinking about lately.  Here are the ten most viewed posts published in the last year . . . .

Westlaw Public Records Database Breached. Who Is Affected?

16 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by in Cybersecurity, Encryption, Identity Theft, Legal Technology, Privacy, References, Research, Westlaw

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Westlaw Discloses Breach Of Public Records Database, by Sabrina I. Pacifici, BeSpacific Blog

http://tinyurl.com/pffqhny

News release: ‘West Publishing Corporation, a unit of Thomson Reuters, has notified the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office of a breach involving their Westlaw subscription-only public records database. In a letter dated November 4th to those affected, Senior Vice President Andy Martens explained that on October 14, they detected unusual search activity. Investigation revealed that some subscribers’ passwords had been compromised and used to access the database. The types of information involved included addresses, date of birth, and in some cases, driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers. No bank account or credit card information was involved. In response to the breach, West removed external access to full sensitive identifiers in public records, forced a password reset on all public user accounts, and implemented  additional technological controls to detect and respond to searches of more limited public records that also appeared unauthorized. Federal law enforcement was also contacted. West offered those affected two years of free credit monitoring with Experian ProtectMyID Elite. Nine NH residents were notified. The total number of individuals notified was not indicated in their report to New Hampshire.’

Permacookies – AT&T’s and Verizon’s Way Of Saying “Hello.”

16 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by in Apple, Cell Phones, Cybersecurity, iPad, iPhones, Legal Technology, Mac, Search Engines, Tablets

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AT&T Kills The ‘Permacookie,’ Stops Tracking Customers’ Internet Usage (For Now), by Nick Mediati, PC World

http://tinyurl.com/kff7k94

In recent weeks, Verizon and AT&T have been caught up in a privacy firestorm over their use of so-called ‘permacookies,’ a method of tracking what their users do while browsing the Web with the intent of sharing that data with advertisers. Verizon’s permacookie program lives on, but AT&T has ceased the practice, ProPublica reported on Friday.

At least for now.

AT&T tells ProPublica that its use of permacookies was ‘part of a test,’ which has since wrapped up, but the company says that it ‘may still launch a program to sell data collected by its tracking number.’ For its part, AT&T says that it will allow customers to opt out of the program if—or when—it decides to use permacookies for advertising purposes.

The story behind the story: Permacookies aren’t cookies in the traditional sense: Instead, they’re unique identifiers appended to website addresses you type in on your device that let carriers see what kinds of sites you visit.

Permacookies exist for the same reason traditional tracking cookies exist—so advertisers can see what sorts of things you might be interested and serve up related ads in the hopes that you’ll click on them. But unlike regular tracking cookies, which you can easily delete from your browser or block entirely, there’s no way of removing or blocking permacookies since they’re handled entirely by the carrier. . . .

Basic Evidence Presentation Tips For Young Lawyers.

11 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Admissibility, Authentication, Evidence, Exhibits, Legal Technology, Presentations, Trial Tips and Techniques, Video

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Letter To Young Lawyers—Basic Tips And Presentation Of Evidence, by Hon. E. Kenneth Wright Jr.,YLD News, Illinois State Bar Association™, Vol. 55, No. 1 (August 2010)

Dear Attorney Jane Doe and Attorney John Doe:

As a young lawyer, you are in a place that I left some time ago. However, I have watched you step into jury courtrooms with a level of anticipation and excitement that is refreshing. While a few of you mask it well, I know there is also some anxiety lurking in the background. Don’t worry, because that anxiety strikes even the most seasoned litigators. Now I sit on the bench, and I sometimes wish I could call a time out during the trial to share with you some simple tips that will put you more at ease as you proceed with your case.

Being a member of the judiciary is an honor that comes with extraordinary powers and responsibilities. These powers do not include a coach’s ability to call for substitution of players, so in this note I want to briefly address some basic practical pointers to improve your overall practice as well as touch upon the specific issue of presentation of evidence to a jury. I hope by doing so I give you peace of mind and contribute, in a small way, to your growth as a fine attorney.

Basic Pointers

How quickly you acclimate yourself to courtroom practice depends in large part on you, your learning style, and how many opportunities you have to appear before the court. In the beginning, you may feel overwhelmed by the number of items you must remember, track and recall at a moment’s notice. In your haste, you may overlook a few very basic points that can actually help you. . . .

iPriviledge – Is It Legal To Be Forced To Use Your Fingerprint To Unlock Your iPhone?

05 Wednesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Admissibility, Appellate Law, Apple, Cell Phones, Civil Rights, Criminal Law, Evidence, Fifth Amendment, iPad, iPhones, Legal Technology, Passwords

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iPrivilege: Virginia Beach Judge Finds Prosecution Can Force Defendant To Supply Fingerprint To Unlock iPhone, by Evidence ProfBlogger, Editor Colin Miller, EvidProf Blogger

 http://tinyurl.com/lyvlk4o

In relevant part, the Fifth Amendment states that:

“No person…shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself….”

The Supreme Court has stated that the Fifth Amendment only covers “testimonial” evidence that results from compelled communicative acts, i.e., acts which disclose the content of one’s mind. Therefore, the Fifth Amendment does not cover a suspect’s act of appearing in a lineup or giving a blood sample to determine whether there are drugs in his system. The Fifth Amendment also does not cover the act of completing a handwriting exemplar. Imagine that the police find an alleged confession note written by the defendant. The prosecution can force the defendant to complete a handwriting exemplar in which the defendant writes a pre-printed paragraph in his handwriting so that a handwriting expert can compare the exemplar and the confession note. All of these and similar acts are not communicative because they are nontestimonial in that they do not force the defendant to disclose the contents of his mind.

What about if the defendant has encrypted files on his computer? Can the prosecution force the defendant to decrypt them? Some courts have said no. Other courts have said yes.

Can the prosecution force a defendant to supply his fingerprint to use for the TouchID on his iPhone? For the last year, I’ve used this article to teach my students that a judge could likely order a defendant to supply his fingerprint to unlock his iPhone. Recently, this possibility has become a reality.

According to an article in SlashGear:

[A] judge has ruled that you can be forced to relinquish your fingerprint to investigators seeking access to your device. The reason, says the judge, is that the fingerprint isn’t knowledge like a password, but is instead a physical object of sorts, like a key or a DNA sample.

The ruling was made recently by Virginia Beach Circuit Court Judge Steven Frucci, and was the result of a case against EMS captain David Baust, who was accused of attempted murder. The case’s prosecutors wanted access to Baust’s phone, believing that it might have a video of the alleged crime, but the defendant’s lawyer argued against this.

And, according to an article in the Huffington Post:

[I]t’s unclear how the ruling will impact Baust’s case. If his phone is protected by Touch ID, prosecutors could access it using Frucci’s ruling. If the phone is protected by a passcode or both a passcode and Touch ID, they can’t . . . .

One workaround to this issue could be to just turn off your phone if cops approach. In that case, you’d have to enter your four-digit pin when you turn it back on, even if you use Touch ID. . . .

Microsoft OneNote – Why We Should Be Using It.

27 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by in Legal Technology, OneNote

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Tools For Writing: Microsoft Onenote, by Matthew Stibbe, Bad Language Blog

http://tinyurl.com/k9kwmkv

I feel stupid. I have this on my computer, but have not used it. That will definitely change. – CCE

Microsoft OneNote, the underdog pretender to Evernote’s crown, is a growing part of my life. I’ve used the digital notebook application, on and off, for many years. I tried switching to Evernote a couple of times but always came back, like the prodigal son. (Full disclosure: Microsoft is a client of Articulate’s but this is just my own personal review.)

Indeed, there are many things to like about OneNote:

  • Hierarchical structure. You have notebooks, tabs, pages and sub-pages. For a tidy-minded person like me, this works better than using tags to categorise notes.
  • Encryption. You can password-protect and encrypt whole sections of your notes.
  • Familiar interface. It looks and feels a lot like Microsoft Word, which is where I spend most of my life. Evernote’s roots are more HTML and sometimes that shows in the limited formatting options.
  • Multiple elements. It’s easy to embed and scale multiple pictures, add diagrams and handwritten notes and mix up multiple text boxes on the same page. It feels like a digital notebook should feel – flexible.

But until recently, it fell short of its potential. That’s changing. Here’s why:

  • Solid multi-platform support. I can – and do – use OneNote on my PC, Mac, web browser, iPhone, iPad and Android. Notebooks synchronise smoothly across all the devices.
  • Price. It’s free on all platforms and you can use it with a free OneDrive subscription or, as I do, with an Office 365 account and OneDrive for Business.
  • Pen support. I don’t have a pen-equipped Microsoft Surface but my Samsung Galaxy Note has a pen and OneNote works well with it.
  • Sharing. It’s easy to share notebooks with colleagues. For example, I just created one where we can archive useful sources and web pages.
  • Change highlighting. When someone changes something in a shared notebook, the changes are nicely highlighted when you log in. I think this is going to be an increasingly important feature.
  • Integrations. It works with Feedly, my RSS-reader of choice and IFTTT. More integrations are happening.
  • Capture. There’s a screen clipping app and a web page grabber that drops new content straight into OneNote pages, where you can annotate them.

Overall, I’m finding that I’m spending more time in OneNote and I can see it becoming a useful tool for me and my colleagues at Articulate.

What do you think? How does it compare with Evernote?

 

Want Stronger Passwords? Here’s How.

11 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by in Legal Technology, Passwords

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Make Your Passwords Harder To Crack, by Kerry Davis, PCWorld

http://tinyurl.com/ahnpsk4

There’s nothing you can do if hackers get into a database with your password in it, but you can still protect yourself for all the other worst-case scenarios involving hacking. In this video, we go over ways to make your passwords harder to crack. [Video found at PCWorld link.-CCE]

First, don’t make it easy on hackers by choosing a common password. Splashdata uses security breaches to gather ‘most popular passwords’ lists each year. The word ‘password’, number sequences, and other simplistic phrases or numbers fill the top spots. Also, don’t use your name, a password related to another one you might have on a different site, or a login name.

Instead, experts recommend using 15 characters, upper-case letters, better yet nonsensical words with special characters and numbers inside them.

Need help? Check out some free websites, like Strong Password Generator. This Macworld article on security in the iCloud age also has some suggestions on strong password creation.