Author Archives: Ben Stevens

Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts for Your Mac

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keyboard shortcutsTouch pads and mice are nice, but using keyboard shortcuts can dramatically increase your productivity. The more of them you know, the more time you can save and the more productive you can be. Consider these 7 time saving keyboard shortcuts:

  • COMMAND + W closes the current tab on your web browser, as well as open documents in Pages / Word / etc.
  • COMMAND + H hides the current application and all of its windows.
  • COMMAND + 1 takes you to the first tab open in your browser (CMD + 2 takes you to the second one, and so on)
  • OPTION + DELETE deletes entire words so you don’t have to hold down the delete key forever.
  • CONTROL + COMMAND + D defines any highlighted word, opening the dictionary, thesaurus, wikipedia, and other helpful resources.
  • CONTROL + COMMAND + V pastes your copied text without including its formatting.
  • CONTROL + OPTION + COMMAND + EJECT quickly shuts down your computer.

Source: “If You Have A Mac, Memorize These 13 Keyboard Tricks” by Carina Kolodny, published at The Huffington Post.

The Mac Lawyer in Chicago This Week for ABA TECHSHOW

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techshowIf you are an attorney interested in legal technology, you need to be in Chicago this week for ABA TECHSHOW. From the Expo Hall to John Dean to informative CLEs to Rick Klau, there is truly something for everyone. This marks the 7th consecutive year that I’ll be speaking at ABA TECHSHOW, and my topics this year include:

  • iGadgets and iGear for the iLawyer (with Jeff Richardson) – Come learn about the best and latest gadgets to use with your iPad. 
  • The Business Case for Going All Mac (with Randy Juip) – See how going All-Mac can affect not only your P&L, but your balance sheet as well.
  • Lone Wolf: Being the Only Mac in a PC Firm (with Randy Juip) – While more and more attorneys are going “all Mac”, many Mac-lovin’ attorneys find themselves as lone wolves in all PC firms.

You can follow both me (@TheMacLawyer) and Jenny (@MrsMacLawyer) on Twitter to stay up to date about TECHSHOW. We hope to see you there.

Tips to Make Your iPhone Run Faster

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iphone speedRegardless of what iOS you use, you should consider the following tips to make your iPhone run faster:

  • Get rid of things you don’t need. Look to see what you’re using (Settings > General > Usage) and consider removing clutter that you don’t use.
  • Clear your browser’s cache. Improve performance by clearing your iPhone’s browser’s history, cookies and other data (Settings > Safari (or other browser) > Clear History > Clear Cookies and Data.
  • Delete old text messages. Heavy SMS users can free up some space by deleting old conversations that are no longer needed. Open a chat, tap and hold on a sent message until “More…” appears, choose the messages you want to delete or tap “Delete all.”
  • Turn off auto app updates. If speed and performance are your top priorities, this might be a good idea. Go to Settings > iTunes & App Store > Push all of the buttons to the left to turn off automatic downloads.
  • Turn off location services. This tip will improve speed, increase battery life, and provide privacy. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > turn off for apps that don’t need to know where you are.
Source: “5 Awesome Tricks That Will Make Your iPhone Run Much Smoother” by Zach Epstein, published at Yahoo! News.

Are iPhone Owners Luckier Than Other Smartphone Owners?

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lucky iphoneProtectCELL released data that indicates that iPhone owners may be “luckier” than other smartphone users. Specifically, it found that iPhone users are roughly 46 percent less likely to need a replacement device, for any reason, versus other smartphone users. This determination was made from research measuring the cause and frequency of mobile replacements for both smartphones and tablets across ProtectCELL’s two-million-plus plans sold.

Other interesting findings from this study showed that iPhone users were less likely to break their device, but far more prone to misplacing their phone. According to ProtectCELL, iPhone owners are 11 percent less likely to report a broken or damaged device as compared to other smartphone users, but 65 percent more likely to request a replacement due to their device going missing.

Thanks to ProtectCELL for their analysis of these statistics. You can learn more at the ProtectCELL blog.

Resource for Attorneys Considering Using Macs for Business

Posted on by Posted in Mac vs. PC, Office Management, Online Resources, Software, Switching to Macs
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Standing Out in a PC World - Using a Mac in the OfficeIf you are an attorney who is still on the fence about whether to use a Mac in your law practice, you are in luck. The March-April 2014 (TECHSHOW) edition of Law Practice magazine features an in-depth exploration of this topic by three of the most knowledgable folks on the planet (at least two of them are, and I’m rounding up to include myself).

A tremendous amount of hard work went into this article (mainly by Randy and Larry), as we wanted to provide a comprehensive study at this subject, as it’s one that comes up over and over. The topics covered in this 2,500 word article include:

  • iPhone and iPad integration
  • Ease of use and workflow
  • Using Your Mac in a PC world
  • Software (compatible, virtualization, and remote desktop)
  • Resources for Mac-Using attorneys

If you are questioning whether you should take the plunge, this article should be a huge first step in helping you analyze the factors to consider.  If you know someone else who is thinking about using Macs for business (even if they are not a lawyer), be sure to share it with them.

Source: “Standing Out in a PC World: Using a Mac in the Office” by Randall A. Juip, Larry Port & Ben Stevens, published in the ABA’s Law Practice magazine.

Rocket Matter Announces Exciting New Features

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Rocket MatterThe older I get, the more I am reminded of how quickly time flies. It’s hard to believe, but Rocket Matter is now six years old. I received a call one afternoon in 2007 from a guy named Larry Port, whom I’d never met. He introduced himself to me and said that he wanted to get my thoughts on some software he was developing.

Over the course of the next several months, Larry let me know what he had planned for his product, which would come to be named Rocket Matter. I was very impressed with both him and his product, and when it was launched, my law firm was on board as “user #2”. During the next six years, Rocket Matter would become the leading mobile time and billing and legal practice management software for law firms.

Today, Rocket Matter announced its “Boldy Go” release, which features “Advanced, Galactic Interdimensional Search” capability (as shown below). This complete overhaul of its Global Intelligent Search allows users to quickly and easily locate any matter, contact, client, tag, or billable activity in the entire system from any screen at any time. This release also features a new advanced search page to allow users to build and save custom queries across those same entities, as well as custom data fields.

One of the features that I’ve always loved was the speed and ease of navigating within Rocket Matter. Now, it’s possible to find even more types of information just as quickly, which increases productivity. “Boldly Go” also includes over a dozen other suggested tweaks from legal professionals, including having the Client Portal and Copy2Contact integration enabled by default.

Larry Port said “So far in 2014, we’ve rolled out Box integration, and now our newly revamped search. We have a lot more exciting stuff coming down the pike to make life for attorneys a whole lot easier.” The best just keeps getting better. If you haven’t checked out Rocket Matter lately, take a look – and tell them that The Mac Lawyer sent you!

2014-03-01 Rocket Matter GIS 1

 

5 Great iOS Apps for Lawyers

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mobile appsAll professionals these days are trying to make work life easier on themselves with the help of technology, attorneys included. The rise of mobile devices and various productivity applications that are available for smartphones and tablets has definitely made some parts of the job easier and more convenient.

Every lawyer who wants to stay ahead of the curve needs to embrace technology and use such tools such as these iOS apps for lawyers to his or her benefit. If you own an iPad or iPhone, you should consider:

Fastcase

The is a must-have for any lawyer. Fastcase gives attorneys access to a huge legal library and research system, right on their mobile device. Its search functions are very fast and accurate and you’ll be able to gain full access to just about any state and federal case through the app. This is great for when you need to look up a case on the fly outside of the office. You can even use it in the court room to get a quick glance at various legal information you might need at any time.

TrialPad

Now this is an application that is specifically made with the working lawyer in mind. It is a tool that helps you to effortlessly organize your case presentations for the courtroom and have them with you at all times. Using TrialPad, you can annotate your case files, create presentations, highlight text, and much more. And best of all, it all fits on your mobile device, allowing you to leave all of the bulky case folders at home. It’s an app that no law firm should be without.

iJuror 

Here is an app that lets you analyze and evaluate your jury in a very in-depth way. It allows you to rank jurors, keep tabs on their responses when being interviewed and produce reports on your findings while interviewing the jury during the selection process. The interface is very user-friendly and allows you to color code information related to various jurors so that you can keep tabs on them very easily.

Dragon Dictation 

If you like to take notes verbally, then this is the perfect app for you. It’s absolutely one of the best dictation apps available that is able for accurate and quick translations of your words into written notes. You will have to spend some time working with the app in order to get it to work as well as possible, because it needs to recognize your speech and get familiar with the way you talk in order to perform at its best. It’s very easy to use and can save you a lot of time when you want to make clear and accurate note of your thoughts in a hurry.

Circus Ponies Notebook

When it comes to note-taking apps for the courtroom, this is probably the most complete one available for iOS users. This app allows you to replace all of your file folders, litigation transcripts and any other cumbersome paperwork with your iPad. It allows you to keep all of your pertinent data organized well and the great search function lets you pull up anything you might need to reference in a matter of seconds.

About the Author: This guest post comes from Archie Ward a recent MBA grad and legal marketer. She has been working lately with the team at Carter Capner on some marketing strategies, as well as discussing some of the best apps for law firms.

The Mac Lawyer Discusses Legal Technology & Marketing in Asheville, NC

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ashevilleToday, I had the pleasure of giving presentations on legal technology and marketing at the Managing Your Practice In A Noisy, Changing World conference in Asheville, NC. My sessions were on the following subjects:

  • Technology: Small firm technology, including hardware, software, and iPads and iPhones
  • Marketing: Small firm marketing, taking a comprehensive look at use of the simple all the way up to how to implement social media for the small firm

Of course, these are two of my favorite subjects, and the attendees were very engaged and appeared to enjoy both sessions. Thanks to Tom Grella and the staff of the 28th Judicial District Bar for inviting me to speak at this conference. If you are interested in having Ben Stevens present at a conference, you are welcome to send him an email at Ben@SCFamilyLaw.com