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Resources to Help Determine When to Buy Apple Products

Posted on August 1, 2013 by admin Posted in Hardware, Online Resources, Technology Leave a comment
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You’ve probably heard the saying that “timing is everything” – and it certainly applies to knowing when to buy, keep, or upgrade Apple products.

The following websites can prove extremely helpful when determining how long you should hold onto a Macintosh (or other iDevice) before upgrading, and when would be the ideal time to purchase a new one:

  • How Long Will Apple Support Your Mac?
  • How Long Will Apple Support Your iDevice?
  • When should You Purchase a New Mac?

Because I freely admit that I am one of the worst about lusting after Apple’s new products (many long before they are released), I ask my readers to do as I say, not as I do. In any event, I hope these resources are helpful to you.

Thanks to Randy Singer for his post in the Macs in Law Offices (MILO) forum on this subject.

Technology Presentations at SCAJ Annual Convention

Posted on July 30, 2013 by admin Posted in iOS, Office Management, Presentations, Software, Technology Leave a comment
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Earlier this year, Ben Stevens was named the chair of the Technology Committee for the South Carolina Association for Justice. Later this week, he and Jenny will be attending the SCAJ annual convention in beautiful Hilton Head Island.

Ben planned and will be moderating Computer Technology seminar there, which features “How We Do the Digital Law Thing by Thomas A. Pendarvis, Esquire and “How Litigation Apps Can Make You A Better Trial Lawyer” by James T. McLaren, Esquire and Jonathan Lounsberry, Esquire.

Ben will also be giving a presentation at the Litigation at Sunrise seminar on “Five Essential Apps for Trial Lawyers”.  Ben serves on SCAJ’s Board of Governors, and he previously served two terms as chair of its Family Law Section. He has been an active member of SCAJ for almost two decades, and he proudly shares its mission of protecting the public and keeping South Carolina families safe.

Five Finder Tips to Make Your Life Easier

Posted on July 17, 2013 by admin Posted in How Do I ...?, Software Leave a comment
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Most of us use the Finder every day, but it can do much more than you might have expected.  Consider the following tips:

  • Open files with the app you choose :: You can override the default to open a file by using the File > Open With command and choosing from the submenu or Control-click (or right-click) on a file and choose the Open With command in the contextual menu that pops up. To make the program you choose the new default when you open a particular document, press Option to change the contextual menu’s Open With command to Always Open With.
  • Move Finder items without dragging :: Instead of copying and pasting files and folders in the Finder with the Edit menu’s basic Copy and Paste commands (Command-C and Command-V), you can use the Option key to change the Finder’s Paste Item command to Move to Here.
  • Use global window commands :: You can change or close all your Finder windows in one fell swoop just by adding the Option key. For example, select the Window menu and then hold down Option. The Minimize and Zoom commands change to Minimize All and Zoom All. Use the same trick to change File > Close Window command to Close All.  You can also hold down the Option key while clicking the red, yellow, or green button at the top of any Finder window to close, minimize, or zoom all open windows.
  • Leap to your Library :: If you’re having trouble finding the Library, simply select the Go menu and then press Option to see Library appear in the list of options.
  • Add an app to the Dock without dragging :: On a large screen, you may have to drag a long way to move an icon into the Dock. Instead, select the icon and press Shift to change the File menu’s ‘File > Add to Sidebar’ command to File > Add to Dock.

Source: “Ten Fabulous Finder Commands You Should Be Using” by Sharon Zardetto, published at Macworld.com.

How Apps Can Make You a Better Litigator (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on July 11, 2013 by admin Posted in Guest Posts, Hardware, How Do I ...?, iPad, Office Management, Software, Technology Leave a comment
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I am pleased to present the conclusion of the Guest Post from Jim McLaren and Jonathan Lounsberry explaining how they use iPads and Macs in their family law practice. If you missed it, you can click here to read Part One. Thanks again to Jim and Jonathan for sharing this information with my readers.

Once all of the depositions are completed and the case is moving towards final preparation for the trial, we identify the key exhibits for trial.  An exhibit list for each witness is prepared, as is an overall exhibit list. All of this is keyed in and correlated in the Trial Notebook. Besides creating exhibit lists, we also prepare lists of the potential witnesses and issues. The exhibit, witness and issue lists are used to create our trial outline giving us a “roadmap” for trial. With all the outline and lists completed, we are generally ready for the trial and the presentation of testimony and exhibits.

Our basic set-up in the courtroom is much like our deposition set-up. My rule-of-thumb is to be totally self-sufficient and not depend on any locally provided services.  We bring the MacBook Air, iPads (Wi-Fi and 4G), extension cords, multi-plugs, 4G Hot Spot, chargers, VPN and Wi-Fi access to our servers at the office, thumbdrives, printers, gaffer’s tape and everything else we need to operate throughout the trial.  We usually request a staging room (if available) where we keep the printer (set-up and ready to use), an additional computer and hardcopies of documents (separated by day in which we anticipated using them).

In the trial of a case, we use TrialPad to present our exhibits.  Clean paper copies of the exhibits are marked and entered into evidence as official exhibits, with copies to all involved counsel and an extra copy for the judge.  As each exhibit is entered into evidence, our highlighted exhibits in TrialPad are put up on a screen (already in the courtroom or provided by us) in front of the attorneys, the trial judge and the witnesses.  Important portions of documents are displayed using the “call out” feature of TrialPad. Either an associate or a paralegal operates TrialPad from our counsel table; quite effective and easy to use.  No fumbling or waiting until the witness gets to page 188 of a 256 page document – we take the witness, the trial judge and all counsel directly to the excerpt.

Another effective way we present testimony and evidence in trial is through a PowerPoint presentation (or Keynote, if you are a Mac-user). I have found that using a PowerPoint presentation allows for a more structured examination of a witness or opening/closing argument. We like to keep our slides simple, illustrating single points or facts. Our motto is “detailed brevity”. This is important to keep the trial judge or jury focused and able to easily retain a larger percentage of the witnesses’ testimony. Depending on the length of the hearing and the electronic capabilities of the courtroom, we use either a laptop or an iPad (through Keynote or TrialPad) to present our PowerPoints.

Most of our office hardware and software is Microsoft-based.  While some are Apple-based, that is the exception.  Prior to the spring of 2011, I always had a reluctance to move into Apple products fearing they would not be compatible or usable with our Microsoft-based systems.  Having incorporated Apple products into our workflow, I find the Apple products are not only very intuitive but each product has become almost indispensable. Using Apple products has definitely changed the way we present a case during trial.

I hope you find this post helpful. My goal is to give the reader an idea of how we use technology in our practice, and I hope your path to successfully using technology in the courtroom has been shortened. Thank you.

About the Authors:  

James T. McLaren maintains a statewide family law practice emphasizing complex marital litigation in Columbia, South Carolina. He is a partner in the law firm of McLaren & Lee. He currently serves as First Vice-President and is on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and he is a Diplomate of the American College of
Family Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

Jonathan W. Lounsberry has B.A.’s in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of South Carolina (2006) and a J.D. from the Charleston School of Law (2009). He is a member of the Charleston County Bar and the South Carolina Bar. He practices in the areas of complex domestic litigation and juvenile justice.

How Apps Can Make You a Better Litigator (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on July 9, 2013 by admin Posted in Guest Posts, Hardware, How Do I ...?, iPad, Office Management, Software, Technology Leave a comment
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I have had the privilege of seeing several presentations by my friend (and trial lawyer extraordinaire) Jim McLaren explaining how he uses iPads and Macs in his family law practice. I asked Jim and his associate, Jonathan Lounsberry, to write this Guest Post to share this valuable information with my readers, and I greatly appreciate their generosity and willingness to do so. Part One appears below, and Part Two will be published on Thursday:

First, I want to thank Ben Stevens for giving me this opportunity. My intention is not to lecture on how to handle a case from top to bottom. Rather, I hope to share my firm’s learning experience in dealing with technological and organizational challenges in critical phases of the litigation process. The choices, good, bad and in-between, will be shared. Hopefully, some of our experiences will shorten your path to successfully using technology in and out of the courtroom.

Remember, this is a team effort. Our staff is very specialized and experienced, each having an integral role. Input and participation from everyone in the office is essential. All lawyers and staff must know how to fly the plane. Since our approach to litigation of cases is a team effort, everyone on the team must be able to use the necessary tools.

Like many, we began with carbon copies and semi-manual typewriters. Now, we are fairly sophisticated from a technology standpoint, always trying to stay on the cutting edge of technology. When a case demands it, everyone in the office collapses around and works on that case during critical stages, such as preparing for trial, hearings or depositions. We endeavor to produce (in a short period of time) high-quality legal work.

We use technology throughout all phases of the litigation process. The two phases where technology has the most impact are depositions and trial. Below are the ways our firm uses technology during these two critical phases.

In depositions, I prefer to have three iPads in front of me as well as my MacBook Air, together with multiple hard copies and an index of all exhibits and a list of questions or subject areas I intend to cover with the witness. Why do I use three iPads?

On iPad #1 (Evernote), I have my deposition cross-examination outline, and any summaries or comparative analyses I plan to refer to during the deposition. Evernote allows me to collect and combine a multitude of information into a single repository. Also with Evernote Business, anyone at the firm can access and update the deposition cross-examination outline, summaries or comparative analyses. We refer to this iPad as the “OutlinePad”.

On iPad #2 (PDF Expert), I have annotated copies of all of the exhibits I intend to enter during the deposition. PDF Expert allows me to annotate the exhibits and highlight what I am going after. Other good Apps for that purpose are Adobe Reader, iAnnotate and Good Reader. We refer to this iPad as the “ExhibitPad”.

iPad #3 (BT Chat HD), is used exclusively for communication during the deposition with my experts, my client and co-counsel. I have used both email and messaging (BT Chat HD or Apple iOS Messages) for this purpose. I find messaging is the best method, being a little bit cleaner and more efficient. Messaging eliminates the clutter of email chains and extraneous emails. We refer to this iPad as the “YammerPad”.

Sure, you can get away with one iPad, but it is difficult to maneuver between the screens in the heat of a deposition. It is better to have three – they are cheap and make your work easier and more manageable.

On the MacBook Air, we maintain the case Encyclopedia Britannica (Trial Notebook) allowing me to access any information about the case, particularly anything I have overlooked in preparation. You should not undervalue having everything about the case with you. The witness probably will bring up some obscure document you logged, bates-stamped and have readily available in the Trial Notebook.

Following the deposition, we always request the transcript in electronic (preferably .txt format) and paper forms. Once we get the deposition transcript in the office, we go about the business of summarizing the depositions. The summarization process is done with either iAnnotate or Transcript Pad. Whomever you designate to do the deposition summary should have a good handle on the case and the subject matter to be highlighted. Part Two will explain how technology can assist you in the courtroom. Stay tuned…

About the Authors:

James T. McLaren maintains a statewide family law practice emphasizing complex marital litigation in Columbia, South Carolina. He is a partner in the law firm of McLaren & Lee. He currently serves as First Vice-President and is on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and he is a Diplomate of the American College of Family Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

Jonathan W. Lounsberry has B.A.’s in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of South Carolina (2006) and a J.D. from the Charleston School of Law (2009). He is a member of the Charleston County Bar and the South Carolina Bar. He practices in the areas of complex domestic litigation and juvenile justice.

Review of the Lynktec TruGlide Pro Precision Stylus

Posted on May 29, 2013 by admin Posted in iPad, Product Reviews 1 Comment
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Lynktec was kind enough, once again, to provide us with one of their new products to test drive for our readers. The TruGlide Pro Precision Stylus is a new universal stylus for iPads, iPhones or any touchscreen device you may have. After using this new tool, we can recommend this as a favorite among soft-tip styluses.

The stylus tip is microfiber, which makes it super smooth and at just 5 mm, much more precise than your fingertip. In fact, we found the TrueGlide Pro to be a far better writing tool than all of the other soft-tip styluses we’ve tried. While artistic skills are not high on our list, this stylus is also a favorite of digital artists. According to Lynktec’s website, a new conductive silk artist paintbrush tip is coming soon as an additional tip option that can be interchanged with the microfiber tip.

The TruGlide Pro is currently only available in two color options (silver or black) and it’s sleek design makes it the perfect accessory for the busy executive looking for “practical and functional” or the digital artist looking for “beauty and design.” At $29.99, and with a promise that “no replacement will be needed anytime soon”, it may be a little pricier than most styluses, but we think the style, design and the overall performance are well worth it.

Siri vs. Google Now – Which Do You Prefer?

Posted on May 22, 2013 by admin Posted in iOS, Technology Leave a comment
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Which do you prefer – Apple iOS’s Siri or Google Now? My friend Jeff Richardson took an in-depth look at the two and discussed the pros and cons at iPhone J.D. I’m curious to hear which my readers prefer and why. Take a look at Jeff’s excellent article and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Fonts for Lawyers

Posted on May 6, 2013 by admin Posted in Guest Posts, Miscellaneous, Office Management Leave a comment
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About a year and half ago, I asked whether attorneys gave any thought as to why they use a particular font. After all, lawyers are hired to advocate their clients’ positions as effectively as possible. Fonts transmit the written word, and they are a daily part of most lawyers’ lives, whether they realize it or not. That article discussed Equity from Matthew Butterick, which is still my font of choice. Matthew has recently released a new font, Concourse, and I asked him to write the following post to introduce it to my readers:

As I told Ben in my last guest post, it took me a while to come around to the idea that lawyers had enough special typographic requirements to merit the design of a new text family. But once I did, the result was Equity, a font tailored for the needs of legal writers.

Given its design brief, I was prepared for the idea that Equity would find an audience that was enthusiastic but small. To my surprise, however, the audience has been enthusiastic and large. So to those of you who have bought Equity, my sincere thanks — your support of good typography makes my work possible.

Predictably, Equity customers were soon asking me what sans serif face would work best with it. I referred them to the Typography for Lawyers book & website for ideas.

But I had another idea too. Before I started work on Equity, I had drawn sketches of a sans serif that was inspired by classic sans serifs of the 1920s and ’30s. I wasn’t sure what to do with it, so I set it aside. But once I finished Equity, I saw that it would work well as a sans serif companion. I picked up the sketches again, finished the family, and have now released it as Concourse.

With Concourse, I relied on many lessons learned while designing Equity. For instance, Concourse can set long blocks of text in an efficient amount of space. Concourse has separate fonts containing the small caps, so it’s easy to use them. Concourse is available under a liberal per-person licensing system.

But sans serifs are used in more design contexts than serif text fonts. So Concourse is actually a bigger and more diverse family than Equity. It comes in six weights, from thin to black. It includes a large complement of figures, fractions, and alternate alphabetic characters. You can see the whole Concourse family deployed in the PDF type specimen.

Concourse comes into two packages. Concourse Standard includes all 18 styles ($180 for a one-person license). Concourse Basic, includes the nine styles most likely to be useful in legal writing, like briefs and letters ($90 for a one-person license). You can order these on the Typography for Lawyers website. (You can also get Equity together with either Concourse package at a discount.

About the Author: Matthew Butterick is an attorney, designer, and writer in Los Angeles. He is the author of the website and book Typography for Lawyers (Jones McClure Publishing).

10 Security Tips to Protect Your Mac

Posted on April 30, 2013 by admin Posted in Security Leave a comment
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Although Macs are already very secure, there are steps that you can take to lock down your system. The ten following tips will help ensure that your system is as safe and secure as possible:

  1. Enable Firewall :: Although there may be better firewalls out there, the one built into your Mac is sufficient for most peoples needs. To enable it, open System Preferences, select the Security & Privacy pane, select the firewall tab, and make select the ‘Turn On’ button. (Note: If this is greyed out select the lock at bottom to enable the settings.)
  2. Encrypt With FileVault :: FileVault is a built in app with the roots of you operating system. It encrypts your data on the fly, this means that any data you store is inaccessible if the drive is removed and read from another computer. This is very useful if your Mac is stolen and the hard drive removed in order to retrieve the data. To turn it on, open System Preferences > Security & Privacy tab and select the  ‘Turn On’ button on the FileVault tab.  Be aware of two potential issues: (a) it slows your Mac down when read and writing to your disk and (b) you can’t decrypt your data if you forget your password.
  3. Keep Software Up To Date :: One of the simplest things you can do to keep your Mac secure is to keep its software up to data, especially with security updates and Java updates. The app store will automatically tell you when updates are available. Each software updates fixes bugs and holes in your system, so it needs to have the latest software patches to provide maximum security.
  4. Allow Apps From Trusted Sources :: Apple’s OS X now includes a system application called GateKeeper, which ensures applications come from trusted sources. All applications from the app store are signed to ensure they are safe. Most 3rd party apps which are not sold on the app store are signed by trusted developers. Therefore, you should consider enabling at least the second option to protect yourself from untrusted apps.
  5. Disable Java :: Java is full of security holes, and it is generally a pain to ensure that it doesn’t compromise your system. If you don’t use Java, turn it off.  To turn it off, open up the web browser preferences you use. In Safari go to Preferences > Security, and uncheck the ‘Enable Java’ tab.
  6. Use A Non Admin Account :: One of the less obvious tricks to ensure you have the best security for your Mac is to use a non-admin account. If you create a normal user account for yourself, you will still be able to do all the things you need to, but there is an added layer of security to stop any rouge or damaging applications from running. To generate a new account, open System Preferences, select the Users & Groups pane, select the little plus button at the bottom of the list, add a new ‘Standard’ account. While it might be a pain to swap over all of your files from an admin account to a normal user account, the security benefits are usually worth it.
  7. Disable Automatic Login :: If you travel with your MacBook Pro, you might consider disabling automatic login. This will stop anyone from starting your Mac and easily getting access to your files. Within login options of the Users & Groups preference pane, ensure the automatic login drop down box is set to ‘Off’. This ensures you have to type a password to gain access to your user account.
  8. Require A Password On Wake/Screen Saver :: You ought to also consider setting a password to unlock your computer when it wakes up. This means that no one can access your sleeping Mac without a password. This security setting is enabled from the Security & Privacy pane from within System Preferences. Enable the check box to require a password after sleep or disabling the screen saver. You can also have your Mac log you out automatically if you leave it Mac unattended for too long.
  9. Disable Location Services :: This security tip also falls under the privacy umbrella. Location services tells certain applications where you are based on the GPS chip within your Mac. This means that your Mac can be pin pointed from anywhere on the globe. If you don’t want people knowing where you are you can disable this feature. Open Security & Privacy from System Preferences. Select the Privacy tab. The top option from the sidebar should be an option labelled ‘Location Services’. Uncheck the box that says ‘Enabled Location Services’. If you don’t have a device that has location service enabled, such as an iPhone or iPad, you should be ok. I don’t like it enabled as it can tell too many people where I am.
  10. Secure Empty Trash :: The last security tip is regarding emptying the Trash. When you delete any file only the pointer to the file is remove. This means the bits and bytes that make up the file are still present on your hard disk. If some clever apps you can actually read this data and rebuild the file. For the added security when deleting files use the Finder > Secure Empty Trash, menu bar option. This will overwrite the files with blank data so the original files cannot be recovered.

Source: “12 Security Tips For Your Mac” published at Mac Tricks & Tips.

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