ABA Site-tation http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/AllPosts.aspx RSS feed for ABA Site-tation, official blog of the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center. Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:49:44 GMT Windows SharePoint Services V3 RSS Generator 60 Friday PMA Blog Roundup - 11/20/09 http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=583 Body:

Another great week's worth of posts from the law practice management advisors:

You can stay up-to-date on the latest blog posts from practice management advisors by subscribing to our PMA Pipe RSS Feed.

Category: Technology News
Published: 11/20/2009 1:39 PM
]]> Poje, Joshua Technology News Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:39:15 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=583 Introducing ABA TechEZ: Tech-Savvy Savings for ABA Members http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=582 Body:

The ABA has launched ABA TechEZ, www.abanet.org/techez, a directory of technology-related discounts for ABA members. Discounted products and services are divided into a wide range of categories including smartphones, encryption, website design, practice management, internet fax, online backup and much more. In addition, the directory links visitors to ABA resources such as articles, comparison charts, presentations, books and CLE to supply information on how to make smart technology purchasing decisions.

 

ABA TechEZ is a collaborative effort of the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center and ABA Member Benefits. It was developed to serve an educational purpose as well as provide special pricing on legal software for ABA members — particularly those in solo practice or small firms who work without the benefit of in-house IT staff. Look for more additions to the directory, and special opportunities to learn how these products fit into law practice to gain efficiencies and help provide excellent client services, coming soon!

Category: Technology News
Published: 11/19/2009 3:57 PM
]]> Catherine Sanders Reach Technology News Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:41 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=582 Google Scholar Legal Opinion and Journal Search, ABA LTRC Free Full-Text Law Review/Law Journal Search http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=581 Body:

Google officially announced adding legal opinion and journal search features to Google Scholar this week, following the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center's announcement of the release of a free full-text online law review/law journal search engine created using Google Custom Search.  What are some differences between the two search engines? 

 

Google Scholar legal searches often return a large number of fee-based journal sites and cannot currently be limited to searching free sources only; the LTRC search engine is designed to search free full-text sites.  Google Scholar legal searches often return a mix of legal opinions and journal articles and cannot currently be limited to searching journals only; the LTRC search engine is designed to search only law review, law journal, and related article sites. 

 

Google Scholar's options for searching legal opinions are more developed than those for searching legal journals.  Searches can be limited to legal opinions and by jurisdiction through the Google Scholar Advanced Search interface. The legal opinions linked to in the search results are free full-text and include pagination.  Google Scholar includes a citator feature for legal opinions: clicking on a "How cited" link appearing next to an opinion in the search results leads to a page which displays text snippets from citing paragraphs in citing opinions (no editorial analysis such as treatment is given). "Cited by" and "Related documents" links display lists of citing and related opinions and articles.

 

Information regarding coverage of Google Scholar's legal opinion database can be found at http://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/help.html under the heading "Which court opinions do you include?"   

 

For more legal opinion-related information on the web, also see the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judicial Improvements' new Media Alerts on Federal Courts of Appeals website, which features case summaries and information on selected Federal Courts of Appeals cases.

 

Other resources:

 

Internet for Lawyers:

Google Makes Free Caselaw Search Available in Scholar

 

The Supreme Court of Texas Blog

Google wades into free legal research (for Texas, too!)

 

The Official Google Blog

Finding the Laws that Govern Us

 

ABA Site-tation

Free Full-text Online Law Review/Law Journal Search Engine

 

ABA Journal

Goal of New ABA Web Effort: All the Federal Decisions that Are Fit to Print

Category: Online Research
Published: 11/18/2009 4:45 PM
]]> Stephen Stine Online Research Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:48:14 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=581 Be Careful! Twitter Phishing Catches Lawyers, Too http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=580 Body:

Twitter, the well known microblogging/social media tool, has become popular with lawyers over the past year. It's used to build professional networks, to share ideas and articles, to expand conference experiences, and according to some, it's even used to find clients. But Twitter's casual atmosphere and relative ease-of-use has led to dangerous (if inevitable) phenomena: Twitter phishing and Twitter spam.

According to a recent MSNBC.com article, the current Twitter scams begin with phishing: innocent users are tricked into entering their Twitter account information into a fake Twitter log in page, effectively handing control of their account to a malicious third party. The usurper then uses the innocent individual's account to send out spam, malware, and more phishing attempts via Twitter's "direct message" (DM) feature.

Unfortunately, many lawyers are falling victim to the scam. In the last few weeks, for example, the LTRC Twitter account (@ltrc) has received dozens of DM spam/phishing messages from lawyers, legal technology vendors, and even major law firms. For lawyers attempting to use Twitter in a professional or client development capacity, the results can be embarrassing and potentially damaging. Colleagues and potential clients won't be thrilled to see your Twitter name flooding their inboxes with spam, and they'll be even less happy if spam from your account leads to compromised security on their end.

So what can you do to protect yourself?

  • Be wary of general, impersonal direct messages. Is someone telling you to check out their website, a funny link, or to take a quiz? Does it say something like: "OMG, is this you?" or "I think you're on here"? These are all common signs of a phishing/spam message -- exercise extreme caution.

  • Watch the login page! Most accounts are compromised as a result of phishing - fake login pages that trick you into giving up your account information. Be wary of any link that takes you to a page asking for your account name/password. Doest he URL look right? Were you already logged into Twitter? When in doubt, close the page and open the Twitter home page (www.twitter.com) in a new window. Log in there.

  • Don't use the same login/password for every website. If your login and password are the same for Twitter and your online bank, having your Twitter account compromised can lead to much bigger problems.

  • When in doubt, take it off Twitter. If you aren't sure if a DM is real, ask the sender to contact you via e-mail or phone. That should give you a better opportunity to evaluate the situation.

  • Be careful who you follow. It's tempting to follow everyone in sight, but the better you know the person you're following the more likely you are to identify a DM that's out of character or unusual.

  • If you do fall victim to phishing and your account is used maliciously, change your password immediately and then Tweet a warning to your followers. Try to help others avoid your mistake.
Category: Technology News
Published: 11/16/2009 9:52 AM
]]> Poje, Joshua Technology News Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:52:48 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=580 Free Full-text Online Law Review/Law Journal Search Engine http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=579 Body:

 The ABA Legal Technology Resource Center has created a free full-text online law review/law journal search engine that searches the free full-text of over 300 online law reviews and law journals, as well as document repositories hosting academic papers and related publications such as Congressional Research Service reports. 

 

The search engine, created using Google Custom Search, is designed to make it easier for people to find substantive legal analysis available on the Internet.   Coverage may vary; for more complete coverage visit your local law library and fee-based online legal research services. Please contact the LTRC to suggest additional full-text law reviews/journals and related sites that you think should be added to the search engine.

Category: Online Research
Published: 11/16/2009 9:49 AM
]]> Stephen Stine Online Research Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:51:37 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=579 Friday PMA Blog Roundup - 11/13/09 http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=578 Body:

No PMA blog roundup last week, so this covers two weeks of great posts from the law practice management advisors:

You can stay up-to-date on the latest blog posts from practice management advisors by subscribing to our PMA Pipe RSS Feed.

Category: Technology News
Published: 11/13/2009 2:17 PM
]]> Poje, Joshua Technology News Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:17:16 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=578 Sticks and Stones – More about online reputation management http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=577 Body:

When people are searching for information they are most likely to be using Google.  According to Experian Hitwise, a global online competitive intelligence service, Google accounted for 71.08 percent of all U.S. searches conducted in September 2009.  Therefore, Google's Reputation Management Advice carries considerable weight.

 

A lawyer’s reputation is his or her stock in trade; making this topic particularly relevant to the legal profession.  Following is a collection of resources for lawyers regarding online reputation management.

 

·         Online Reputation Management: First Rule is to Avoid Self-Inflicted Wounds – Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Blog

·         "Online Reputation Management" - Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast

·         Is Bad Publicity Better Than No Publicity? Not Necessarily in an Internet Age - Nolo's Legal Marketing Blawg,

·         Debate rages over anonymous blogs – The Lawyers Weekly

 

Additional Resources:

·         Google's Reputation Management Advice

·         Control Your Online Reputation: Google Profiles

·         The Many Uses of Online Reputation Management for Lawyers

·         Managing Your Online Persona - A Success Story

·         Online reputation management

·         Protecting Your Reputation

Category: Web/Communication Technology
Published: 11/10/2009 9:35 AM
]]> Tonya L Johnson Web/Communication Technology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:37:02 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=577 In Case of Emergency – Disaster Recovery Resources http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=574 Body:

September was National Preparedness Month which emphasizes the responsibility of individuals, families, and communities -- including the private and nonprofit sectors -- to do their part before an emergency.  While September is behind us, the potential for disaster is ever present.

 

The ABA Disaster Law Resources  consist of a collection of resources for disaster survivors and lawyers about disaster preparedness and recovery.  For Lawyers and Law Firms there are resources that are specific to your practice area as well as helping disaster survivors.  Additionally, The ABA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) in collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has created the Disaster Legal Assistance Program to provide pro bono disaster related legal services to low-income victims of a federally-declared disaster when asked to do so by FEMA.

 

The ABA Legal Technology Resource Center (LTRC) can help you and your firm in preparing for digital disasters. Contact LTRC directly at 312.988.5465 or ltrc@abanet.org with your questions regarding the use of technology in the practice of law.  Following is a selection of LTRC resources that can help minimize the impact of unexpected downtime.

 

·         Securing Your Tech: More Than Just Data - September 2009 ABA Section of Family Law eNewsletter (Scroll down to the bottom to the Tech Corner Column)

·         Protect yourself: Tips on using online passwords and password recovery system security - Your ABA eNewsletter, August 2009

·         Avoid Loss of Law Firm Data and Business Downtime by Keeping Software Updated - July 2009 ABA Section of Family Law eNewsletter

·         Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst: Protecting Your Firm from Disaster - September 2008 ABA Section of Family Law eNewsletter

·         It Could Happen to You: Disaster Preparedness - ABA Site-tation

·         Three Internet scams and solutions lawyers should know about Your ABA eNewsletter, November 2008

·         To catch a thief—tips and tools to protect your computer investment - Your ABA eNewsletter, June 2008

·         FYI: Data Backup - ABA LTRC Resource

·         FYI: The Ethics of Online Backup Systems - ABA LTRC Resource

·         FYI: Playing it Safe With Encryption - ABA LTRC Resource

Category: Online Research
Published: 10/27/2009 8:30 AM
]]> Tonya L Johnson Online Research Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:31:32 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=574 SaaS and Cloud Computing Data Portability--Bulk Export from Google Docs Now Available http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=576 Body:

 

In August we wrote about the importance of data portability and the efforts of some companies to allow users of Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud computing services to easily download their data, for purposes such as keeping local backups and transferring the data to other services.  

 

Google has finally enabled a feature that has been long awaited for their Google Docs application--the new "Convert, Zip, and Download" feature allows  users to select some or all of their documents and download all of them in a single zip file, whereas previously documents could only be downloaded one at a time. 

 

If you are using or considering using any SaaS and cloud computing services, whether webmail, online collaboration, or online legal case and practice management software, be sure to investigate their data portability features to ensure that you can keep your data safe and easily available.

 

Here are other resources on data portability issues:

 

ABA LTRC

Data Portability: Google Data Liberation Front and Legal SaaS

Avoiding Rain in "the Cloud": Ensuring Access to Your Online Information

FYI: Software as a Service (SaaS) for Lawyers

FYI: E-mail Backup (You've Got Mail! - And Lots Of It)

 

Compujurist.com

Red Gorilla Redux? Why you need to select your online storage company carefully

There’s No Cure for Stupid – How Failing to Backup Killed JournalSpace

 

The Economist.com

Unlocking the Cloud

 

InformationWeek.com

Google Data Liberation Front Fights 'Evil' Lock-In

Category: Web/Communication Technology
Published: 11/5/2009 4:44 PM
]]> Stephen Stine Web/Communication Technology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:45:46 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=576 Friday PMA Blog Roundup - 10/30/09 http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=575 Body:

Another busy week of blogging for the law practice management advisors, and a new blog joins the list:

You can stay up-to-date on the latest blog posts from practice management advisors by subscribing to our PMA Pipe RSS Feed.

Category: Technology News
Published: 10/30/2009 1:03 PM
]]> Poje, Joshua Technology News Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:03:03 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=575 Dictionaries on Demand: Mobile law dictionaries http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=573 Body:

The ABA Journal announced Black’s Law Dictionary Now in iTunes.  This is the first iPhone/iPod Touch app from West Publishing and features the most recent edition of the dictionary.  At $49.99 it is less than the Amazon price for the print edition.

 

Shortly afterwards came the announcement of a Free Plain-English Law Dictionary iPhone App Released. Nolo, a publisher of do-it-yourself legal books and software, has created Nolo's Plain English Law Dictionary, a free dictionary app for the iPhone with plain-English definitions of nearly 4,000 legal terms.  According to a Nolo press release, “you’ll find both the legal standards—Latin terms, courtroom jargon, contract basics—and newly minted terms that reflect the ever changing language of the law today." 

 

Most recently, attorney Jeff Richardson reviewed Barron's Law Dictionary for his iPhone J.D. blog.  Available in the iTunes store for $14.99, the Barron's Law Dictionary, according to its website, defines more than 3,000 legal terms in non-technical language, but without sacrificing legal accuracy.  The iPhone J.D. blog posting provides a comparison and contrast amongst the three law dictionaries along with screenshots.

 

Each of the dictionaries is available in traditional hardcopy format with Nolo’s dictionary also conveniently available for purchase as an eBook.

Category: Technology News
Published: 10/27/2009 8:23 AM
]]> Tonya L Johnson Technology News Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:26:22 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=573 Friday PMA Blog Roundup - 10/23/09 http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=572 Body:

It was a busy week for the law practice management advisors, with plenty of great posts going up. Here's what they wrote about:

You can stay up-to-date on the latest blog posts from practice management advisors by subscribing to our PMA Pipe RSS Feed.

Category: Technology News
Published: 10/23/2009 10:56 AM
]]> Poje, Joshua Technology News Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:56:34 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=572 Update on Windows 7 http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=571 Body:

Microsoft will release its newest operating system, Windows 7, on Thursday, October 22.  Microsoft Vista, released in 2007, proved to be unpopular with businesses and consumers, which cited problems like driver and software incompatibilities, high memory usage, and slow startup times.  Many users stuck with older operating systems such as Windows XP instead of upgrading to Vista.  According to the 2009 Legal Technology Survey Report, 74% of attorney respondents reported that their primary computer uses Windows XP, compared with 9% Windows Vista and 6% Windows 2000.  Likewise, Forrester researchers report that 71% of enterprise PCs and 80% of commercial PCs still run on Windows XP.

 

What is the outlook for Windows 7, and are there compelling reasons for attorneys to upgrade?  So far Windows 7 has received a bevy of positive reviews--however, one columnist notes that Windows Vista also received positive reviews early on, which were not a good indicator of Vista’s subsequent poor reception.  Here are some considerations for law firms considering a switch to Windows 7 from other operating systems such as Vista and XP.

 

-Computer hardware may need to be upgraded, especially if a firm is using older computers and operating systems such as Windows XP.  Remember that listed system requirements are just a minimum, and to achieve better computer performance exceeding the minimum requirements is often recommended.  Microsoft goes so far as to recommend that users with PCs running Windows XP or older operating systems should purchase a new PCs to run Windows 7 instead of installing Windows 7 on their current PCs. 

 

-If not installing from scratch on new computers, installation may be tricky depending  on the version of operating system firm computers currently have installed.  There are third party software programs designed to help ease the installation process.  Microsoft provides a free Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to scan PCs for Windows 7 compatibility issues.  Making a backup of any data and software before installation can be critical in case anything goes wrong with the installation process. 

 

-Any current firm software and drivers may experience compatibility problems with Windows 7.

 

-Many IT professionals have traditionally recommended waiting until a first "service pack" is released for a new Windows operating system before making the switch from an older operating system.  Service packs are designed to fix bugs and add features to operating systems, so the operating system should be more stable and dependable after the release of the first service pack.  Research firm Gartner lists a few reasons why business IT staff might not want to wait for the first service pack this time around but that advice might apply more to more tech-intensive organizations than typical law firms.

 

-Microsoft will eventually stop providing support for older operating systems.  This may be one of the main reasons law firms may eventually consider switching to Windows 7 from other operating systems such as Windows XP.  Windows XP was dropped from "mainstream support" to "extended support" in April, meaning that Microsoft now only provides paid support for Windows XP.  Extended support is scheduled to end in 2014.  Since law firms depend on maintaining and protecting firm and client data, access to operating system support can be essential to maintain system stability and security.

 

Other resources:

 

PC World

Windows 7: A Complete Survival Guide

 

CNET

Which Windows 7 is right for you?

 

Lifehacker

Prep Your PC for Windows 7

 

Microsoft

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

 

Windows 7 Compatibility Center

 

ABA Site-tation

Avoid Loss of Law Firm Data and Business Downtime by Keeping Software Updated

 

Windows 7 Hits Shelves October 22nd

Category: Law Office Technology
Published: 10/21/2009 1:59 PM
]]> Stephen Stine Law Office Technology Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:00:11 GMT http://new.abanet.org/sitetation/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=571