I Heart Tech

Why Your Documents Look Like Crap and I Think I'm In Love

A lot of tough love going on at I ♥ Tech this week so sit up and take it like a lawyer! For today's digital lashing, I'm going to piggy-back on someone else's program. I stumbled across this great post titled "Why Our Agreements Looks Like Crap" from attorney Michael J. O'Sullivan who writes about "issues encountered by corporate lawyers" at his blog ; provided, however,. I think I love this guy (I fall in tech love very easily). I found his points insightful and quite lawyerly. He points out some technical, possibly strategic and historical reasons as to why your documents look like crap (finally someone else who isn't afraid to call ugly ugly) but he doesn't hit on the root of all this formatting evil: lack of training. However, there is always me to do that...

He begins by describing one of the biggest failure points when it comes to creating and maintaining  good looking documents: OP. OTHER PEOPLE. I hear this excuse all the time. And likely from the same person that the OP are pointing their fingers right back at.The ugly truth is that most legal professionals don't really truly madly deeply know how to create complex legal documents. I don't care what your secretary tells you. As a matter of fact, most don't even know how to properly format a simple one page letter. There is an embarrassing amount of spacing and tabbing that goes on in the Word docs I often encounter. Microsoft Word is a complex program to a point. It's not that it's hard to use, it really isn't - and you are all very smart people. The thing about Word is that it's a structure snob and if you don't meet its standards, it spits on you. It requires some training. Just some, not even a lot. You wouldn't believe what one measly hour of learning will gain you.  Need some dollar figures to convince you? Read this other great post: Beware the Hidden Costs of Bad Formatting.

So get yourself some training and then get some for your clients too. Here's a thought: offer your most important clients (or their staff) some training. Get your trainer or bring one in *ahem*cough*cough* for a document workshop and figure out how to collaborate on the stream of documents you are and will be working on. Your clients will love you for it. Consider it part of your Make Our Clients Love Us and Want Us Campaign.

At this point I am SO SURE that you are SO INSPIRED to get some training that you CAN'T WAIT one more second! Yes? Yes! Let me lead you to some water: Typography for Lawyers by Matthew Butterick, lawyer, graphic designer, genius. Again, who is this guy? And I think I love him too! I implore you to take some time and read every page of this wonderful resource.

My friends, here is the thing, this day and age - your documents (along with all your other digital communications and exchanges) are a reflection of your commitment to the use of technology in your practice, which of course exists to help you better serve your clients.<VBG>.

Famous Law Firm Last Words: I'll Never Do That

I am going to take one tiny moment and NO pleasure in saying:

I TOLD YOU SO!

Yes, all caps and in red. I TOLD YOU SO. There are only a handful of you whose faces and names I can remember, but the rest of you, you know who you are...

Hey Legal Assistant, in the unemployment line...remember the time I invited you to a Word class on creating an automatic table of contents? You confidently, perhaps even defiantly, replied "I'll never need to know how to do that". She believed in job security, ga'bless'er. Just last week I was at a firm offering an Excel class and an Outlook class, one of the paralegals came in and sat down expecting the Outlook session to start, when she realized I was about to start Excel, she got up, pushed her chair in and said, "I'll be back for Outlook, I don't use Excel." Seriously? First, who REALLY doesn't use Excel? What paralegal with half a brain couldn't identify SOME way that Excel could be use on SOME matter SOME where? The more truthful statement would have been. "I'm comfortable in doing my job the way I do it, I'm very busy and I have no interest in expanding my skills in a way that 1) might make my job easier 2) might help my attorney better review or work on a matter and 3) I have no interest in learning how we can better serve our clients.

Whoa! Wait a minute, behind you, Legal Assistant, ...is that? Oh my, it sure is... it's Laid-Off C.O.O! I know you VERY well,  Mr-I-Have-People-That-Do-That-For-Me. Who's updating your resume and your cover letters now?  Don't you wish now you had taken a couple of those salaried hours of mine and learned how to perform simple tasks in Word and Excel? Yep. I know you do.

Esquire! You here too!? Wow. Remember the time, I begged and pleaded you to attend a lunch and learn on BASIC Word skills for lawyers? Or how about that totally awesome Training Golf Challenge that the entire firm participated in BUT you?

And you there, you look familiar...ahhhh yes, now I remember you.  You are that firm administrator that looked me in the eye at last years Central Florida ALA Partner Expo and said "Oh, we don't need training."

As a trainer (I'm more than "just a trainer" btw) I face these people every day. I'm always amazed at the number of people who turn - if not  RUN away from training. In this case, I'm of course, I'm referring to computer and legal technology training but certainly the thought can be applied more broadly.

I'm contracted by a large firm with several offices in two states to provide their new-hire training as well as to offer regularly scheduled and varied monthly training sessions. At first, attendance in those sessions (which are webinars kept to 30, 45 or 60 mins) was sparse. Just a few of those types who actually chase after these opportunities would loyally attend. But little by little as the word got out from them to their peers and to their office administrators about how useful the sessions have been, I've seen a steady growth in attendance. Hmmm, am I that good or the economy that scary?

What can you do to promote training and attendance in your firm? Well, here are a few things to consider:

1. Keep sessions short and relevant. Don't offer a 3-hour "Word for Lawyers" session, instead offer a 45 minute session like "Top Ten Things Every Attorney Should Know About Word".
2. If your state requires CLE, look into applying and getting it for your technology sessions. Most states offer it and it's pretty easy to qualify.
3. Be sure you have a likable and trusted trainer in front of your attorneys and staff. Not every Help Desk tech is right for a training job. See my old post about this topic.
4. If a billable hour is to be lost, make it worthwhile. Be sure they walk away satisfied - no THRILLED that they attended and with some new skills that they can use the minute they get back.

If you are lucky enough to have a firm that offers training and development - in any area - be sure to attend or sign up for upcoming sessions - do it today. If you don't have that sort of resource inhouse, but would like some help, maybe I can help. I offer legal technology training sessions either in person or over the web at times that are convenient for you and your firm.

Outlook's Delay Send is a Godsend

How does it happen? Two voices in your head simultaneously cry out, "Go ahead and click send, you're all set" while the other one is screaming "You forgot the attachment!" or "Hey Dumbass, you clicked Reply to All" or even worse, "Don't send it while you are still fuming! Wait!" We all know how that movie ends and we all know how we wish it could unS-END.

Can you recall, retrieve or unsend an email message that has gone out? No, the answer is the NO. In the old days of AOL and even Groupwise, you sure could (if the recipient had not opened it). But today, short of getting onto the recipients actual PC and/or smartphone and/or webmail and/or laptop and/or the other tens of places your ONE email can land, you can fuhgedaboudit.

GMail has a new feature in its Google Labs that allows you to "unsend" a message within 5 seconds and that's kinda cool - I say meh.

Now, what you CAN do if you are an Outlook user is set up your outbound messages to sit in your outbox for a few minutes before they deploy. By default, Outlook is set to send an email out of your OUTBOX and in to another's INBOX as soon as you hit the SEND button - immediately. You can turn that off and then tell Outlook how often it should send - like every 3, 4, 5 or ten minutes. Here's how you set that up:

From Outlook, begin by going to Tools > Options > Mail Set Up tab. There, you will see a check box to "Send immediately when connected". When this is checked - it does exactly what it says it will do - Send an email out  for immediate delivery as long as you are connected [to the internet]. If you are not on the internet, then Outlook will send as soon as it detects that connection.

You can uncheck it and then click on the Send/Receive button just to the right of that option. That leads you into the following window:

 

Look for the option to "Schedule an automtic send/receive every X minutes". By default, this is set to 30 minutes. So for those of you who think your Outlook is slow or not sending and receiving in a timely manner, you can change it here. I have mine set to checking (and sending) every 5 minutes. When I need something to go out immediately, I simply push the Send/Receive button on my Outlook toolbar and off it goes. Also, when someone says "I just send it to you, you should have it by now" - I also click that Send/Receive to force a check.

So my outbound emails, will wait for a few minutes before flyingout which then gives me the chance to open the email (if needed) and edit it before I look like an idiot.

Now, these tips are really good for those of use without an Exchange server and an IT department controlling our mail options. If you find that you can't change these settings or they don't seem to comply, talk to your local IT person and see if they can help.

By the way - want to learn more about using Outlook? I'm doing some webinars on Outlook (first one in a series of three is this Friday) and a few other topics in my monthly webinar schedule. Check it out here.

ABA TECHSHOW Afterglow

I had SUCH a great time at the ABA TECHSHOW this year. The positive feedback I kept hearing from all the attorneys after each session or event was overwhelming. If you missed it, you have been remiss in your professional and business development.

One of our first time speakers, David Sparks wrote a great post about his experience.

Of course, everyone was all atwitter throughout the event. You can review the tweet roll here. There are lots of great links to resources, articles and educational information there.

I didn't take as many pics as I usually do, but the ones I did snap are here. LexBlog was very busy capturing our thoughts on life, the conference and legal technology. Watch the one they did with me here if you really have nothing better to do today. 

The Dennis, Tom AND Adriana Show...

Officially, it's called the Kennedy-Mighell Report but I'm working every angle I can to make it the Kennedy-Mighell-Linares Report. Maybe you can help me rally the cause by writing in to the Legal Talk Network and letting them know you like the way it rolls off your tongue - with the spanish rrrrrrr's. LeenahRRRRRes.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I was honored to be invited as Dennis and Tom's first guest on their cool new podcast, the aformentioned K-M Report. We each chose a legal tech topic to discuss. I brought up the widepsread and no-longer surprising (at least to me) lack of computer illiteracy that exists among the lawyer community. During the podcast, I challenged all listeners to take time to learn some basic and necessary Word skills. I hope you take the time to download and listen. I hope you enjoy it and more than anything, I hope you take the challenge. Here are some links to help you do just that:

1. Understand and use Paste Options
2. Learn how to Format Paragraphs
3. Using Autotext Entries - BIG Help in Word!!
4. Bullets and Numbering
5. Why does Word keep doing that!? How to set Word automatic formatting features

Download the podcast.

Word's Track Changes...So Pretty and Smart yet So Dangerous

Oh stop...no...oh go on...Ok, Ok, enough about me...seriously, lets talk about something useful - like Track Changes.

For some reason, that even my twelve years of legal technology training can barely explain, some lawyers who "use" Word still don't know how to use Track Changes. This is truly confounding to me considering how simple the feature is to master. Now, I'll give you a little tiny window of forgiveness if you've never had to or wanted to track document revisions and editions in your document.. but then I think, REALLY? Never, in all your years of practicing law...REALLY?

For the unaware, the Track Changes feature in Microsoft Word is a built in feature that allows you to colorfully and visually see the changes you make in a document, as you make them (it's also part of the Compare tool that lets you compare two documents or versions of a doc)...

So, as you can see, its pretty and really, quite smart. When does it become dangerous, you ask? Oh, that's when you come in - sweet sweet attorney. See, it has happened in the past that a few of you have had no idea that it exists and it has been turned "on" and "it" (never you the user!) has inadvertently been emailed to someone else wherein they have seen YOUR changes and edits.

How could this possibly happen? Well, sometimes, technology has a learning curve. And because some of you don't ever make the time for educating yourself on the important tools that help you practice law and service your clients <VGB> - THIS very sort of thing can actually happen. Track Changes, like most other tools on your computer, just aren't that hard to learn, and by virtue of those hard-earned and very expensive letters after your name - we all know you're smart enough to get it. You just wont take the time...arrrgghhh...TIME!! If only there were more of it!

So a couple of technical tips before I send you on your way to some self-study: The chances of this happening have been lessened thanks to Word 2007 (if you're there), if you are on an older version, then it's imperative that you figure out how Track Changes works (remember, it's not hard, do not be afraid) and yes you can can get rid of all signs of track changes. Oh, one more thing... your best defense against track changes and metadata? Have a "PDF First" policy - if they don't need to edit it, PDF it.

Since there are already so many resources out there about Track Changes, I'm going to link you out there and trust that you will take a few minutes to read, learn and apply...afterall, isn't that how you got here?

• Microsoft Explains Track Changes 2007 2003
• Lawyers Explain Track Changes (read horror stories by unwitting attys here)
• Shauna Kelly answers: How does Track Changes in Microsoft Word work?

ABA TECHSHOW Road Show in Gulfport, Miss - Next Week!

We're less than a week away from another ABA TECHSHOW Road Show and about two weeks away from the show in the big tent of Chicago. I'll be at both and hope to see you at one of the two. Next week I am speaking with Craig Bayer, James Province and Tom O'Connor on some of my favorite topics - law office technology, Outlook and Acrobat...get the full info and schedule and of course REGISTER to attend here.

Yes You Can - Send Text Messages from Your Email

Or is that send an email to a cell phone? Well, either way you look at it, here is yet another way for your clients to stalk to you. For the most part, all cell phones with text messaging capability can also send and receive emails - mind you that the messages are limited in length (usually 160 characters - subject and message total) and any charges that are incurred when sending a regular SMS will apply. (SMS stands for Short Message Service aka text message.) If you're like me, you have a plan with unlimited text messages and don't care how many come in or out. And if you're like me, you protect your cell phone number like your SS number and don't have to worry about creepy SMS's (short message stalkers).

Why would you (really, I) want to do this? Well, let me try to make a long story short. I have an iPhone, which for the most part I love. But the two things I don't love about it are: typing on it (couldn't possibly suck anymore - and do not believe the evangelists who constantly squawk "you'll get used to it") and that it doesn't cut/copy paste (yes, I know there's an app for it, but the reviews have not been high enough for me to dare). So, I had made a reservation on OpenTable and wanted to forward some of the information from the email confirmation to my fellow diners. It was a Saturday and I didn't want to send them all emails as I knew that several of them don't check email on weekends but they certainly have their cell phones attached to their heads.

To determine the cell phone's email address you need to know (unfortunately) who the service provider is. All addresses start with the 10 digit number of the phone followed by the carrier domain. Example, for AT&T, the cell phone email addy would be: 4075551212@mms.att.net. To determine your address, send a text message FROM your celly to your email (yes, you can, try it). To determine someone else's carrier and domain you can input the cell number at Mobile Carrier Look Up and easily find it. If your firm or family uses the same service for everyone, then it's easy enough to know all the addresses once you figure out the first one.

Here are some popular carriers and their domains:

Carrier......Send Email to phonenumber@
Alltel.......@message.alltel.com
AT&T.........@mms.att.net
Nextel.......@messaging.nextel.com
Sprint.......@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-mobile.....@tmomail.net
Verizon......@vtext.com (text only) or @vzwpix.com (pictures and videos).

Outlook - Finding An Email in a Haystack

Seems to be that we all spend too much time looking for information - especially  when it comes to our inboxes. While the searching features in 2007 are much improved, here is a tip that you can use in any version of Outlook to quickly filter and search for emails that are related to a specific person or a specific subject.

Right-click on an email, go to Find All, then select either:

• "Related Messages" to see all the emails in your inbox, subfolders, sent items and even deleted items that are threaded to the email you selected. You'll see a new window pop up which will display the results of your search. It will show you the dates of the messages and even the folder where the message is located. 

or select

• "Messages from Sender" to find all messages from that particular sender. It displays the search results as described above. You can also sort the messages by clicking on the column headers (Received, From, etc). Additionally, you can rearrange the columns in this view as easily as you can your inbox columns. (See previous post about Maximizing your Screen Real Estate).

So Many Words, So Much Billable Time...Word Counts for You

Word has a handy feature that displays counts for words, paragraphs, lines, and characters. In Word 2003 go to Tools > Word Count. In Word 2007, you will find the Word Count button on the Review Tab.

If you don't select any text, Microsoft Word counts the words in the whole document. If you want to count words in one paragraph or other specific content, select the text first then go to Word Count.

I know this obvious but for the benefit of the less tech savvy (my mom reads my blog) I offer this tip: To add or remove footnotes and endnotes from the count, select or clear the "Include footnotes and endnotes" check box.