Vote for the Best: The 2009 ABA Journal Blawg 100 is Here

Every year the ABA Journal selects the top blawgs from its blawg directory and puts them out there for the viewers to vote for the best.  Blawgs like Above the Law and FutureLawyer are among my favorite.  Above the Law seems to always be the first to uncover dirt on firms and the happenings of the industry.  FutureLawyer is a great tech-blawg because the bloggers review products and give great techie insight on new technology.  What are yours favorite blawgs and why?

It is my aim to get this blawg onto that list one day.  With your faithful readership, someday it will be.

You can see the blawgs and vote here.

OneNote in the practice of law

OneNote is a powerful tool all professionals should use, especially lawyers.

For those unfamiliar, OneNote is a Microsoft office program for note-taking, outlines, and so much more.  Today’s savvy student uses the program instead of Word or the conventional pen and pad.  However, I find that few lawyers, use the program.  This is a shame, and I’ll tell you why.

Just take a look at one trial lawyer’s experience with the program:

My opposing counsel kept looking at me with obvious envy as I made my argument to the judge why certain key evidence should be excluded from the trial we were involved in. I could tell from the look on the attorney’s face that he was puzzled how I could refer to portions of the record, prior witness testimony, exhibits, case law, and a brief that I had previously submitted, all without a single piece of paper in front of me. The only thing I used was my laptop and a mouse. He sat at a table with loose papers piled haphazardly, manila folders strewn about, and a Bankers Box on the floor, stuffed to overflowing.

When my opponent was speaking, he spent as much time shuffling through his papers and folders as he did addressing the court. Eventually, his disorganization began to annoy the judge. At one point he simply could not find the case he was looking for. He begged the court’s indulgence and promised he would provide the case reference later, after he’d had an opportunity to reorganize his file during a break. The judge was not amused, was not willing to wait, and ruled against him.

from an article by Bruce Olson.

By using OneNote, this trial lawyer was able to stay more organized than his opponent, and it had a direct effect on the outcome of his case.  I use the program almost everyday, and I have found the most siginificant benefits to include:

• Search feature – you can search an individual page, notebook section, or entire notebook.  The search feature is more powerful than Word’s “ctrl+f.”  OneNote’s search is more analogous to Google’s search power.  The search will display hits for your search in chronological order, and can be cycled through with ease.
• Import print feature – any document you can print on your computer can be sent to OneNote.  The document will be shown as it would had it been printed on paper, but will be on a new OneNote page ready to be added to your notebook.  *What is more, you can search printed documents.  That’s right, OneNote will comb through the document making the document subject to searches.
• Clip art feature – You can clip any section from your screen and quickly add it into OneNote.  It works just as well as a way to capture selected portions of a document when you do not want to print the whole thing.
• Simple and adaptable - Above all, OneNote is so simple to use, anyone should be able to use these techniques with a minimum of time invested in learning how to use the program.  After you have the basics down, you can adapt the ways you use the program to fit your style. Keep in mind that it’s just as useful at depositions or motion hearings as it is at trial. In a sense, wherever you use a legal pad, you should consider using OneNote.

I firmly believe OneNote is a great tool that would benefit any lawyer.  Whether in trial or in the office, OneNote is a fantastic way to keep everything organized and ready to be used.  I’m glad to hear it was at an ABA TechShow.  Perhaps the rage will catch on soon enough.

5 Free Apps for Windows 7

Windows 7 is here, and so are many useful applications to enhance your computing experience.  Here are 5 apps that look particularly useful for Windows 7:

1. Desktop Media – This app will automatically adds drive icons to your desktop. It will detect USB drives, fixed drives (ie. your hard drives), CD/DVD drives, network drives, and even RAM disk drives.
2. Standalonestack 2 – This app allows you to move one step beyond the new Windows 7 features and create program “stacks,” or graphical lists, based off of a single icon on your desktop. When you click on this icon, you can use the ensuing menu of items to launch new programs, folders, or settings options. It’s like having a number of different Start buttons that you can customize as much as you’d like.
3. 7 Taskbar Tweaker – This app is a simple utility for adding additional functionality into your default Windows 7 taskbar.  There are not a weighty list of items to play around with, but 7 Taskbar Tweaker’s modifications aren’t normally customizable options in the Windows 7 OS.
4. Menu App – This app allows you to configure menus and use them to launch your favorite programs, music files, documents, websites, etc., all from the start menu.
5. Rainmeter – This app provides desktop skinning without a ton of crazy configuration files to sort through.

These apps are reviewed at MaximumPC.  Enjoy.

70 Lawyerly-Apps for your PC, PDA, Smartphone

The ABA Journal has posted a list of 70 lawyerly-apps you can get on your PC, PDA, and Smartphone.  These apps include:

• Quickoffice
• Google Docs
• Manual for the United States of America with the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, the Gettysburg Address, the Patriot Act and more.
• WaffleTurtle Software – offering apps from the Fed. Rules of Civil Procedure to Evidence
• Dictionary.com, which includes a thesaurus.
• Evernote is a handy free app for clipping articles online, taking notes or recording a voice note on the go
• Surf Canyon, a free Firefox and IE browser app, claims to accelerate your search process with Google, Yahoo, Live Search, Lexis Web and Craigslist
• Picasa
• Eyejot lets you create and receive video messages
• WiFi Checker
• Chronology-Timer
• Remember the Milk – time management app

and more…  You can peruse the ABA article here.

Bloomberg Introduces New Legal Search Engine

Get ready all you LexisNexis and Westlaw users.  Bloomberg is ready to launch a new legal search engine that could give the “Big 2″ legal research titans a run for their money.  Bloomberg has been working on this engine for two years, and it should be ready to go at the end of October.

As the Bloomberg Law page details, the engine is an “all-in-one legal research platform that integrates legal content with proprietary news and business intellegence from the world leader in data and information services.  It’s completely integrated.  Completely customizable.  And above all completely user-friendly.  It’s the first and only real-time research system for the 21st century practice.”

Bloomberg law seems to tout it’s real-time news and search capabilities.  You can register for the site on Bloomberg Law site to begin the registration process.  I’d like to have a peek at the software myself, and may be able to offer a review some time in the near future.

UK Court Issues Injunction via Twitter

Technology has forced U.K.’s legal system to use the Internet in creative and interesting ways.  The United Kingdom’s High Court issued an injunction via Twitter Friday, representing a groundbreaking embrace of technology by a traditionally slow-moving legal system.

The order for the injunction stems from an anonymous user impersonating Donal Blaney, a prominent right-wing blogger and principal of the Griffin Law firm based in Hawkhurst, England.  The injunction was delivered by Twitter’s direct message feature to the impersonator, so it was not public. The tweet contained a link to the injunction, which ordered the person to reveal their identity and stop impersonating Blaney on Twitter.  The judge, who was familiar with Twitter, also knew of a case in Australia where court proceedings were delivered over Facebook.

The bottom line is this:  Who knows if the injunction will ever reach the anonymous blogger.  There are other alternatives available for the impersonated lawyer to pursue.  What is really interesting is watching the legal system take such creative and innovative actions in response to technology.  Perhaps the court’s decision proves effective and one day influences a judge in the American legal system to adopt a similar strategy.  Perhaps it doesn’t.  Nevertheless, watching the legal system evolve and develop before our very eyes is always exciting to see.

You can read more about the story here.

Google Adwords Don’t Violate Trademark Law

An adviser to the European Court of Justice says the use of a competitor’s trademark as a keyword by companies advertising on Google doesn’t violate trademark law.

The issue is at the heart of the so-called adwords approach used by Google in selling ads on its search engine. Under this approach, a competitor can pay to make use of a company’s trademark as a search keyword, thus directing potential customers of that company to the competitor’s Internet ad.

“Google has not infringed trademark rights by allowing advertisers to buy keywords corresponding to registered trademarks,” says the opinion prepared for the French Cour de Cassation by Advocate General Poiares Maduro. However, using a competitor’s trademark in the content of the ad could still violate the law.

Read the rest of the article here, and here.

Law Firms May Post Case Summaries on Websites

A recent North Carolina ethics opinion considered whether professional rules allow law firms to showcase their successful verdicts and settlements on their websites.  As long as enough information is provided and an “appropriate disclaimer” is included, a law firm may post successful case summaries.

To come to this conclusion, the opinion recognized that law firms have a duty to provide information to the consumer without creating an unjustified expectation about the results the lawyer can achieve.  Also, the opinion recognized that lawyers benefit from the dissemination of accurate information when seeking to enlist the aid of co-counsel in a particular matter.

So what does a firm need to disclose along with these case summaries?  The opinion stated that law firm websites have to contain sufficient information about the factual and legal circumstances of the cases, along with “an appropriate disclaimer.”  “The summary should reference the complexity of the matter; whether liability and/or damages were contested; whether the opposing party was represented by legal counsel; and, if applicable, the firm’s success in actually collecting the judgment.”

The opinion seeks to regulate the use of case summaries on websites.  This noble opinion seems to have  walked the fine line between allowing law firm websites to be used as effective marketing devices, and keeping lawyers honest and professional on the web.  Care needs to be taken when adding cases to a website, but the fact that it can be done is a step in the right direction. Remember that states will vary on this issue, and this was a North Carolina ethics opinion.

See also the ABA’s report, and the Legal Professional Blog here.

E-Mail Hacks Deserve More Punishment

How would you feel if someone hacked into your personal e-mail account?  I know, just ask former Governor Palin, right?  But seriously, how would it feel to have your Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, or other private e-mail account hijacked by your ex, a con-artist, or other? I bet if something like this happened to you personally, you would want the perpetrator to pay dearly for his/her transgressions…

Well, I think you would have a hard time finding solace with the way today’s law punishes e-mail hackers.  A recent article published by the Washington Post highlights the relatively puny punishments that e-mail hackers face (that is, when they are prosecuted in the first place).  Federal law prohibits hacking into e-mail, but without further illegal activity, it’s only a misdemeanor, noted Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University and a former trial attorney in the Justice Department’s computer crime section. Every state has laws roughly similar to the federal computer laws, Kerr said, and rate the offenses as misdemeanors.

Does this surprise you?  Do you demand more punishment for hackers that infiltrate your e-mail, or sell your passwords to others, so they can tresspass on your inbox?

Hackers surely recognize the situation.  Some hackers have formed companies that flaunt their e-mail hacking abilities:  “Web Based email password hacking or cracking is one of our all time favourite and unique hobby,” write the folks at YourHackerz.com.  “We will provide you with the original Passwords.  No questions asked whatsoever.  Payment only after you are CONVINCED.  100% guarantee of Cracking.  Total privacy of your information.  No legal hassles.”

I think as technology progresses, it’s time for our cyber laws to progress as well.  It’s time for tougher laws against e-mail hackers.  Who’s with me?

Microsoft granted stay on Word ban

The U.S. District Court, Eastern Division of Texas has become a hotbed for patent infringement suits thanks to a judge with a history of siding with patent holders in disputes. The latest and highest profile case heard in the court was a patent infringement suit brought against Microsoft by Canadian firm I4i LP.  You can read more about it here.

Microsoft has won an decision to stay the inunction set to go into effect on October 10 that would have forced Microsoft to stop selling Word without removing some features. The Federal Circuit in Washington said it acted “without prejudicing the ultimate determination of this case.”

Oral arguments in the appeal are set to be heard in Washington on September 23 and the order for an injunction originally granted in Texas won’t go into effect until the appeal is resolved. The court said that Microsoft met the  conditions needed to be granted a stay.

Read the full story here:  Dailytech.