Corporate Spyware Audit Tool

Here is a useful tool to help you assess the risks facing your law firm network or PC's....

http://www.webrootdisp.net/entaudit/start.php

Legal Technology and Legal Services Resource Guide

Do you need a source for a particular type of legal technology software? If so, you might want to get a copy of the LawTechnologyNews Resource Guide for Fall/Winter 05. I got mine at LegalTech in NY. I imagine you could contact ALM or LTN directly to get a copy. I think it is a terrific resource for legal technology products and legal business services.

New Phishing Tactic

Please be aware that there are continued attempts by criminals sending emails posing as banks and asking people receiving the email for their bank account information. It might be wise to attempt to block emails from senders such as these using one of your email filters if you have this capability within your law firm. One of the security firms which might be able to provide more information on this, as they were quoted on the TechWeb site, is a company based in San Diego named Websense.

IT Security Awareness continues to grow as a corporate imperative

Yet another indicator that companies are increasingly aware of data security risks and taking appropriate precautions to protect the enterprise can be found within the results of a recent survey. See the results by clicking here.

New Version of IE

As you may know, Microsoft has announced version 7.0, but what it will really be like is a bit of a mystery. More details can be found here.

Blogging Books

Do you want to learn more about how to set up a legal blog -- types of available software, templates, service providers, etc... ? If so, there are a wealth of books on the topic, and one of these might be of interest to you.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/073820756X/egovlinks/103-1077658-4410212

Use of Open Source Software Within Law Firms

Recently, there was an article within Technolawyer which discussed the potential use of Linux within law firms (stability, support, availability of software to run on the operating system, etc.).

Open source as a term itself is often not entirely understood. While open source software indeed is generally available at no charge, there is indeed a license associated with open source software and provisions which must be complied with. One common provision is that one might need to include a comment such as "based on the program xxxxx". Another is a requirement to display a copyright notice in a prescribed manner if the open source package is used in a particular way. Another common provision is a warranty disclaimer if an open source package is used in a certain way (of course, the entire concept of a warranty for something you are not paying for is I suppose a topic one could discuss independently).

I am no expert on the topic, but it is worthy to mention that when one accepts any software license, including that for "free" open-source software, be sure it is thoroughly reviewed, understood and complied with.

Costa Rica

You might be surprised to learn that they too are now a big player in the offsource outsourcing arena. Click here to read the article and see why.

Example of trial presentation custom animation

For an example of an animation which might be of use and value within the context of a trial or pre-trial negotiations, please visit the following URL: http://www.xerdict.com/vehiclecrash.ppt.

For another example of an animation which is recreating a crime scene, please visit the following URL: http://www.xerdict.com/CrimeRecreation.ppt.

Enterprise Anti-Spyware Tools

Symantec and McAfee launched enterprise tools to fight spyware at the RSA Conference. These are designed to be improvements, for organizations, over the current set of antispyware tools such as AdAware and SpyBot currently widely used by organization and individuals alike.

The companies plan to integrate these capabilities into other similar products such as anti-virus software, spam blockers, etc.

For more information on these new products, please click here.

Google Maps

Do you currently have or need to put a map to your law firm onto your website? If so, you might want to consider the new Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/). The ability to use your mouse to scroll about the map without redrawing the entire screen is a really nice and unique feature.

Vendor Management Organizations

As we know, law firms tend to implement a number of external software programs in order to meet the business needs of the firm. This typically includes software for time and billing, document management, e-discovery, trial presentation, and many other types of functions.

CIO Magazine recently published a strategy for managing vendors which they spoke of what many large companies are doing to manage vendors -- forming VMO's (Vendor Management Organizations).

To learn more about this emerging strategy and to see if this might be beneficial within a law firm, please review this article by clicking here.

Team 48

Hey, was the #48 smokin' this weekend or what? Won the Shootout and then got the outside first row spot for the 500. What a weekend !!!!!!!!!!!! If only the #17 could have done anything this weekend, it would have been perfect.

If you have no idea what this is referring to, visit:

http://www.lowesracing.com/

http://www.roushracing.com/

Alternative email program evaluations

If you would like to consider email clients other than Microsoft's (Thunderbird, etc), a recent article in the Washington Post which describes a few alternatives might be of interest to you. I use Outlook but from what I read, and I am certainly no expert, other programs might be able to offer some additional features and/or security controls which might be of some interest to those in the process of selecting an email program for their law firm or other enterprise.

The article is available by clicking here.

Trial Presentation Software

Did you know that packages such as Sanction provide a tremendous feature set including the ability to show multiple screens, layer annotations and other images on top of existing files to illustrate and highlight specific areas of an exhibit incrementally on a single screen, show video depositions with the text running along in synch at the bottom of the screen, post up images of documents, and use features such as magnifying glasses and panning.

Powerpoint's custom animation features are also very useful in helping to illustrate accidents or any time-motion events (workings within an engine, flowcharts, etc) which may have occurred as part of a litigation and require a step-by-step presentation to a client, judge or jury.

Voice over IP

This technology is gaining momentum at the enterprise level, according to the mobilepipeline website. If you are looking into some of the trends/issues related to using the technology within a business, you might want to read this article which is available at:
http://www.mobilepipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=59301811

E-Discovery (Voice Mail)

Many of us have seen articles recently on the need to retain email messages on servers for the purposes of complying with government regulations or as part of the discovery process for lawsuits.

I recently however saw a few articles / references to voice mails also being added to the list of potential areas of data which might need to be retained for the above reasons. According to the article, since voice mail messages are also stored on servers and backed up, it is reasonable to demand these during the course of investigations or lawsuits.

Thought this might be of interest to those of you responsible for voice mail systems to be sure the backup plans/data retention plans for this media is appropriate given the potential need to restore/hand over this information.

E-Discovery (Voice Mail)

Many of us have seen articles recently on the need to retain email messages on servers for the purposes of complying with government regulations or as part of the discovery process for lawsuits.

I recently however saw a few articles / references to voice mails also being added to the list of potential areas of data which might need to be retained for the above reasons. According to the article, since voice mail messages are also stored on servers and backed up, it is reasonable to demand these during the course of investigations or lawsuits.

Thought this might be of interest to those of you responsible for voice mail systems to be sure the backup plans/data retention plans for this media is appropriate given the potential need to restore/hand over this information.

ABA Tech Show 2005

This show will be held March 31 through April 2, 2005 in Chicago. It is the only legal technology show sponsored by the ABA. For further details please visit their website by clicking here.

New version of Firefox

There is a new version of this open source browser scheduled to be released in June (originally in March but recently the date was pushed back). The new version, 1.1, should be releasing the initial beta product in April in anticipation of a June release date.

White Paper on Legal Extranet Technologies

ITLA recently published a white paper titled "The World of Intranet, Extranet and Portal Technology." The paper contains an article by Xerdict which provides a case study on the benefits, features and construction steps for building law firm client portals. There are other articles within the paper all relating to legal extranets, collaboration systems, content management systems and related technologies.

The article is available by clicking here.