Category Archives: Offline Resources

As my readers are aware, I attended the inaugural MILOfest last week in Orlando, FL, where I presented a session called "Computing in the Clouds".  Overall, I thought that the seminar was superb and that it offered something to everyone, from the novice to hardcore Mac-using attorneys. 

Since I returned, I have wanted to post my thoughts on the conference, but it’s been a busy week in my office.  Although belated, my thoughts on some of the other sessions are:

• Justin Kahn demonstrated many tips and tricks which can make Adobe Acrobat even more useful to lawyers.  He covered everything from OCR to bookmarks to indexing to portfolios to creating PDFs from webpages to redacting to Bates stamping.
• Gerry Oginski explained why lawyers should use video in their marketing efforts, and after hearing his presentation, I am convinced to try this myself in the new year.  If you want to see how Gerry uses this in his own firm, check out his channel on YouTube.
• Jack Newton from Clio discussed the "10 Things that Every Lawyer Should Know about SaaS" and explained why web-based software is ready for prime time and everyday use in law firms.  You can view one of Jack’s previous presentations on this subject here.
• Larry Port from Rocket Matter then stressed the importance of using standardized repeatable processes in your office to the extent possible, including Getting Things Done concepts and agile techniques.  You can learn more about these topics here.
• Elise Hunt demonstrated the many ways that BeeDocs’ Timeline 3D can help attorneys tell stories and convey their context efficiently and effectively to help listeners retain information.  She also gave attendees a "sneak peek" at coming features.  This is truly a "must have" application.
• Grant Griffiths (a/k/a the "BlawgFather") explained that blogging is a way for attorneys to build relationships not only with potential clients, but also with other attorneys.  He advised to "write for the human search engine and the online search engines will find you."  Grant then wowed the audience by showing the many features that makes Headway Themes the premier platform for blogging lawyers.
• As mentioned above, my presentation was called "Computing in the Clouds", and I showed how it is possible to run your law practice using web-based (SaaS) software, such as DropBox as part of a document workflow, Evernote as a digital filing system, and Gmail for email.  I also discussed the possibility of replacing traditional servers in small firms with a SaaS program like DropBox or SugarSync.
• There were several other excellent presentations, including Victor Medina‘s "50 (or so) Free Apps in 50 (or so) Minutes" and Tomasz Stasiuk‘s "Beyond Paperless | The Anywhere Office".  Unfortunately, I had to leave to catch my flight home, but I heard great things about Albert McMurry from Omni Group‘s "Focus Your Graffle on This!" and Mark Merenda‘s "Branding & Your Mac."

If you were unable to attend MILOfest 2009, you should begin making plans to attend next year.  In the meantime, you can read the blog posts from Gerry Oginski and Larry Port to get their thoughts about the seminar.  Also, several people (including me) were covering the presentations via Twitter, and you can read the numerous tweets here.

Finally, I want to publicly thank Victor Medina for organizing such a great seminar and including me as a small part of it.  Also, thanks to all of the attendees that took the leap of faith to attend this first year.  I enjoyed getting to catch up and spend time with friends that I hadn’t seen in a while, including Brett Burney, Kern Lewis, Julie Kiernan, and many others.

As you probably have heard, MILO Fest 2009, will be held next Thursday, November 5, 2009, through Saturday, November 7, 2009, at the Disney World Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, FL.  If you are a Mac-using attorney (or if you want to become one), then you should attend this the Mac-focused conference for attorneys.

Some of the topics include: SaaS Roundtable, Branding with your Mac, Running Your Practice in the Cloud, Social Media Business Development, Stupid iPhone Lawyer Tricks, Creating Kick-Butt Legal Presentations, and Video for Lawyers on a Mac.  The scheduled slate of presenters is outstanding, and it looks to be a great conference.

If you want to learn more about or register for MILOfest 2009, click HERE.  I hope to see you there!

I have been asked to serve on the Advisory Board for the "Mac Track" at the 2009 ABA TechShow by track leader, Reid Trautz.  The focus of this track is to help lawyers better understand how Macs can be useful in their law practices, and we are currently in the process of discussing potential topics for next year’s sessions. 

I want to hear from YOU, my loyal readers, as to what subjects / topics are most interesting to you, and which ones would make you more likely to attend TechShow and the Mac Track?  You are welcome to submit your ideas as comments below or by emailing them to me at Ben@StevensFirm.com.  Thanks in advance for your help with this project.

Last week I attended the American Bar Association‘s TechShow 2008, and I had the pleasure of speaking at both sessions of the inaugural "Mac Track."  At the first session "Digital Detente: Using Macs in a  PC-Centric Legal World," and my co-presenter was Ben Weinberger.  The second session was "How Lawyers Practice Law and Serve Clients with Macs … Really!" and my co-presenter was Jeff Richardson.  Both sessions were virtually standing room only, and the attendees seemed to be fairly evenly divided between those who currently use Macs in their practices and those who are considering doing so.  The feedback I received from those in attendance was very positive, and I hope that the Mac Track will return next year and include even more sessions.

There were over 2,000 attendees at this year’s TechShow, and over 800 registered for the CLE seminars.  I was able to attend several other sessions, and some of the better ones were:

• Showtime at the Courthouse: A Demonstration of Courtroom Tech Toys by Paul Unger, Nils Jensen, and Judge Christina Habas
• Technology for the Paperless Mobile Lawyer by Bruce Olson and Reid Trautz
• Beating the Startup Blues: A Tech-Survival Guide for the New Small Office by Carolyn Elefant and David Masters
• 7 Technology Must-Haves for Superlative Client Service by Debbie Foster and Nerino Petro
• Drafting Bills Your Clients Will Rush to Pay by Steve Best and David Bilinsky
• The Virtual Law Office: Is ‘Software-as-a-Service’ Ready for Prime Time?  ::  Dennis Kennedy and Dan Pinnington
• 60 Tips in 60 Minutes by Barron Henley, Brett Burney, and Sharon Nelson; and
• 60 Sites in 60 Minutes by Tom Mighell, Reid Trautz, and Craig Ball

In addition to the seminars themselves, it was great to be able to spend time and network with such leading legal technologists as Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog, Adriana Linares of LawTech Partners, and Dominic Jaar of Bell Canada.  If you are able, you should make an effort to attend next year’s TechShow, as I’m sure that you will find it helpful and informative.

I just returned from the "Using Macs in Trial 2" seminar in Dallas, Texas.  The seminar was well attended, with roughly double the number of people that were at the first one.  I want to extend my deepest thanks to Kern Lewis, Rafe Foreman, and their firm for organizing and sponsoring this seminar.  It was obvious how much time, planning, and effort was spent on their part with regard to this seminar, and the result was fantastic for those of us fortunate enough to attend.

If you are a Mac-using lawyer, you should make every effort to attend the next one, whether you are a "trial lawyer" or not.  I say that because there were numerous tips and tricks to be learned even if you never go to Court, and there were many other non-trial attorneys in attendance who agreed with me.  In addition, the social interaction with the other lawyers has resulted in close friendships each year, which I believe to be invaluable.

A summary of the presenters and the topics they discussed is listed below to give you an idea of what was covered:

• Rick Borstein from Adobe  ::  encrypting *.pdf documents for security; using binders and packages; best method to compress *.pdf files; using Acrobat for presentations; embedding animation, video, and other items in *.pdf documents; effectively using bookmarks and commenting features; and how to create forms.
• Jayson Adams from Circus Ponies’ Notebook  ::  using clipping services feature; creating page bundles; ways to export and sharing Notebook information with non-Notebook users (Mac or PC); effectively using stickers and links; defining page styles and cell characteristics; and a preview of the exciting new features that will be included in version 3.0 which is scheduled to ship in the second quarter of this year.
• Amin Rahmani from Marketcircle and Ben Stevens, The Mac Lawyer  ::  Amin gave a general overview of the features offered in Daylite and Billings, including a preview of the "law template" for Daylite and improved features / options in Billings, both of which are still being actively developed.  I gave a demonstration of how I use Daylite in my office, including the use of SmartLists and Tasks to manage phone messages, tracking incoming and outgoing documents, and other day-to-day practice functions.
• Kern Lewis from Foreman, Lewis & Hutchison  ::  tools and equipment used by him and his firm; brief example of the "pscyho-drama" technique used by Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College; and how to find the story / theme of your case and then translate that information into a Keynote presentation, which can be used during opening and closing statements at trial.
• John Callis from Clarity Legal Software  ::  discussed the many functions and features offered by his DepoSmart and TrialSmart software programs; gave a demonstration of how those programs can be effectively used in trial; and compared and contrasted his programs with other similar programs available to PC users.

I also encourage you to read the excellent guest posts (here, here, here, here, and here) at The Trial Technologist’s View blog from Brett Burney of the eDiscovery Info blog.

As I previously posted, the second "Using Macs in Trial" will be held this weekend in Dallas,
TX.  I am looking forward to hearing the many great presenters scheduled to attend and also to seeing many of my Mac-using lawyer friends from all across the country.

I am pleased to be a last minute addition to the schedule.  The program organizer, Kern Lewis, contacted me last night to ask if I could present a demonstration of how my firm uses the case management program, Daylite, in our office.  I am looking forward to covering that topic and sharing that information with those in attendance.

If you want to get more information about the "Using Macs in Trial 2"
seminar, including the topics, location, cost, etc., simply click HERE.

Just a quick note to thank the Tennessee Bar Association for the great time I had speaking at their annual legal technology seminar.  In particular, I want to thank Steve Weaver of the Music Row Lawyer blog and Dan Berexa TBA Technology Section Chair for their hospitality.

The seminar was great, and I particularly enjoyed getting to hear the presentation by noted legal technology author, Greg Siskind.  You can view his presentation on Internet Marketing 2.0 by clicking here.  Both Greg and I will be speaking at the upcoming ABA TechShow next month, and I look forward to hearing his presentation there as well.

I’m on my way to Nashville, TN today for my two presentations tomorrow at the Tennessee Bar Association’s Law Technology 2008: Marketing, Management and Techology Solutions for Your Firm.  I will be speaking on "Being a ‘Mac’ Daddy in a ‘PC’ World" and "Hardware and Software Options for Mac Lawyers".  I understand that many of my readers are going to be there, and I look forward to meeting you in person and talking with you.  If you see my bright shiny dome, please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself and say hello.