News and tech sites around the 'net are buzzing with Apple news after CEO Steve Jobs announced a number of new products at his MacWorld 2008 keynote yesterday. The announcements included the diminutive MacBook Air, a revamped Apple TV, and a new wireless backup device called Time Capsule. As impressive as these new devices are, however, a less trumpeted announcement from a much smaller company may be of more interest to Mac-based lawyers: MacSpeech has launched Dragon NaturallySpeaking for the Mac.

MacSpeech, developer of the popular Mac voice recognition software iListen, licensed Dragon NaturallySpeaking from its Windows developer Nuance Communications and ported it over to the Mac. NaturallySpeaking is the top selling Windows speech recognition software and by far the most popular voice recognition software in use by respondents to the 2007 ABA Legal Technology Resource Center Technology Survey.

MacSpeech will be selling the Mac version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking for $199, but registered users of iListen can get it for $99 (or just $29 if they purchased iListen in 2008).

Good news for Mac-using lawyers: Microsoft has finally set a release date for Office 2008 for Mac. The ubiquitous productivity software, which Microsoft announced would be delayed last month, is now set to begin distribution in the United States on January 15, 2008 -- the first day of MacWorld Expo San Francisco.

Office 2008 for Mac, the first major update to Office on the Mac since 2004, will include many of the features seen in Office 2007 for Windows including support for the Open XML file format. It will run on both PowerPC and Intel based Macs and will be priced at $400 for the basic edition or $240 as an upgrade from Office 2004. Can't wait until January to make your purchase? No problem: customers who buy Office 2004 between today and January 15th will be able to purchase the 2008 upgrade for just the cost of shipping.

Also from the LTRC: Microsoft Office 2007 - Things to consider before making the switch, FYI: MacIntel.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has launched the Coders' Rights Project, devoted to the legal rights and responsibilities of software programmers and developers who are involved in exploring technology through techniques such as reverse engineering and vulnerability testing and reporting. The project's Web pages include FAQs on reverse engineering and vulnerability reporting along with information and court documents on EFF's coders' rights cases, such as the recent Boston case, MBTA v. Anderson.

On Tuesday Mozilla released Ubiquity, an amazing command-based interface for navigating the Web and creating mashups. Check out the video below. -M

Recently, the LSTech e-mail list participants were asked whether or not they had posted material on YouTube. Many had, and Eva was nice enough to document that conversation on her blog, so that you can quickly go look at the videos of those who responded. For those of you who haven’t posted material on YouTube but [...]

The 2007 fall edition of the ABA Intellectual Property Law newsletter reports that “The 2007 Patent Reform Act addresses many different aspects of patent law including those related to prosecuting, protecting, and litigating patents.  If passed, it will be the most important change to U.S. patent law since Congress passed the 1952 Patent Act.”

According to the reference website answers.com, “the Patent Reform Act of 2007 would align American patent law with the patent laws of the rest of the world. Amongst other things, the proposal would change the current United States policy that gives priority to the application that claims the earliest invention date, regardless of which application arrives first.”

First to file and first to invent are legal concepts that define who has the right to the grant of a patent for an invention. The first to file system is used in the majority of countries, with the notable exception of the United States, which operates a first to invent system.

The New York Times reports that, "Microsoft, Intel and Cisco Systems have been lobbying for changes for more than five years. They say they have been under siege from lawsuits seeking high royalties on small features."
In light of these proposed changes, the LTRC has researched some of the software and legal technology offerings that are unique to the practice of Intellectual Property law.  They are as follows:

IP Case Management
Dennemey and Co. Intellectual Property Management Software http://www.dennemeyer.com/DIAMS-XErelease3/
Intellectual Property Application Service Providers
Trademark Web Serviceshttp://www.tmwebservices.com/
AspenGrove IP Workflowhttp://www.ipworkflow.com/ or http://www.aspengrove.net/

First to Filehttp://www.firsttofile.com/
FoundationIP - a web-based intellectual property management system for attorney firms and corporations.http://www.cpaglobal.com/software/foundationipAdditional ResourcesIntellectual Property Software Resources - http://www.ipmenu.com/ipsoftware.htm
Findlaw Software Guide - For a list of IP software products with descriptions:http://marketcenter.findlaw.com/scripts/browse/5/365/378/NO
PatPDFDownloads patents from the US Patent and Trademark Office, and converts them to PDF.http://www.patentpapers.com/
Simulation Software for the USPTO Registration Examination.http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=13515-3
ABA Section of Intellectual Property Lawhttp://www.abanet.org/intelprop/home.html

Google Patent Search
http://www.google.com/patents

Patents Online LLC, the company that operates the free patent-search site FreePatentsOnline.com has launched a more feature-rich companion site targeted at law firms and IP professionals. Called SumoBrain, the new site is designed for professional users who need more features, including higher limits for PDFs, alerts and portfolios, as well as the ability to order documents in bulk. Features of SumoBrain include:

• On-line search accounts with document downloads, collaboration tools, and other advanced features.
• The ability to purchase whole data sets and data feeds, including custom analytics for inhouse data warehousing.
• Custom projects to meet specific corporate/law firm demands.
• Advanced search capabilities, including fielded searching, word stemming, proximity searching and search term weighting.
  

The company says its subscription pricing will be low as compared to competitors. A notice on the site's subscription page says that it is currently accepting new sign-ups only by invitation, which can be requested through the site.

Jurors do it. Litigants do it. But when happens when experts do it? The "it" in question is blogging, and the issue is what impact it may have on a trial. While I've seen several articles dealing with jurors blogging or litigants blogging, I had not seen any about experts blogging -- until now. I wrote a piece,
Expert Blogs: Loose Lips Sink ... Trials?, for the e-newsletter of IMS ExpertServices. The article surveys lawyers and experts on the dangers, or not, of expert witnesses with blogs.

As Kate mentioned in an earlier post, I spent most of last week in Johannesburg, South Africa on a site visit with the Southern Africa Litigation Center, which is using the Pro Bono Net template to support their work providing technical legal assistance and litigation support to advocates in the region who are working on [...]

The first two volumes of the 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report, the new-for-2008 Baseline and Budgets (Vol. 1) and Law Office Technology (Vol. 2), are now available.

In 2008 the findings of the ABA Legal Technology Survey Report will be published serially in six volumes, including Baseline and Budgets (May), Law Office Technology (May), Litigation and Courtroom Technology (June), Web and Communication Technology (June), Online Research (July) and Mobile Lawyers (July). Highlights from the first two volumes include:  

• The 2008 survey observed a significant migration of respondents’ use of desktop computers to laptops.  Use of laptop computers jumped to 83% in the 2008 survey from 69% in the 2007 survey for solo respondents and to 73% from 59% for respondents from firms of 2 to 9 attorneys.

• The availability of Smartphones/BlackBerrys has increased considerably. In 2008 76% of respondents reported the availability of smartphones or BlackBerries at their firms, up from 55% in the 2007 survey and 49% in the 2006 survey. 

1. File Server availability has increased in this year’s survey to 85% from 73% in 2007.  This figure was nearly doubled for solo respondents, to 51% from 28%. Dell (59%) and HP/Compaq (17%) were the most-named brands, with 19% using custom servers. 

• Proceed with caution!  While only eight percent of respondents report that their firms have experienced a security breach, 47% report that their law firm technology has been infected with a virus, spyware or malware.  However, no significant business disruption or loss resulted from the infection for 53% perhaps due to diligent backup practices; more than four-fifths (82%) of respondents report that their firm has a backup strategy.

We’re following the lead of the legal profession by going paperless - the 2008 survey reports will be published solely as PDF e-products and available for immediate download. Each of the six volumes begins with a trend report that summarizes the notable results and highlights changes from previous years, followed by detailed charts and tables.

The survey is an annual project of the ABA's Legal Technology Resource Center, which provides lawyers, bar associations, law schools, and other legal organizations with information on technology and its use by the legal profession.

For more information, including a sample of the chart and table structure of the survey volumes or the survey methodology, or to order the survey, visit the LTRC Survey Page.

Building a Web Site That Works
The LTRC announced a new, detailed guide for law firms and legal organizations looking to get a website. Topics include developing content, picking a domain, finding a web host, and actually building the site.

It’s Just a Phone with Cool Features, Right?
Security is essential in legal computing, and Smartphones – as “extensions of the modern office” – are no exception. Read the LTRC’s guide to security on the go.

Safeguarding Attorney/Client Privilege
Encryption is a valuable tool in securing your sensitive legal documents and files. Take a look at our FYI: Playing it Safe – Using Encryption.

Electronic Document Redaction and the FTC
How sure are you that the sensitive information in your electronic documents has been properly redacted? The LTRC brings the story of an FTC redaction slip-up and provides some guidance on avoiding a similar embarrassment in your practice.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, over 5 million low-income seniors, disabled veterans, and others with disabilities have not yet filed for their stimulus payment and are at risk of missing out on their payments. Nationally, this amounts to over $1,685,319,300. (Statewide, county, and city break downs are available, too.) October 15 [...]

Does your firm practice Knowledge Management effectively? David Jabbari explains why using a ‘Command and Control’ approach can be limiting.

What hardware and software does your organization own, and where is it located? With our new guide to asset management systems you can enable your organization to streamline purchases, better use existing technology, and save time and money.

Network in the virtual world to further your work in the real world! Come by Common Ground every Thursday night to network and meet with other nonprofits working in Second Life.

The Law Practice Management Section of the ABA released several must have titles in 2008.  The ABA "Lawyer’s Guide" series introduces the fundamentals in a clear and engaging style. This series focuses on the features most commonly used by legal professionals rather than offering instruction on how to use every last feature.  With summer temperatures dropping and Fall fast approaching, we’ve highlighted several titles to kick off your fall reading schedule along with links to the free chapter and table of contents that each offers.

The Lawyer's Guide to Concordance – available to pre-order with a 15% discount, reveals how attorneys and staff can make Concordance the most powerful tool in their litigation arsenal. The Table of Contents reveals that the first five chapters of Part I cover the basics of Concordance and Part II shows you in three chapters how to Organize Your Case.  Five Appendices cover database management and discuss Concordance 2008.  The free “Concordance Basics” chapter gives an overview of the Concordance environment.
The Lawyer's Guide to Microsoft Excel 2007 – also available for pre-order with a 15% discount, is written by a practicing lawyer for other practicing lawyers and will help you put it to work in your own practice. The Table of Contents illustrates the Eight Lessons that the author uses to help lawyers more fully utilize Microsoft Excel.  In just six pages the first chapter discusses “The Basics” of getting started with Excel.
The Lawyer's Guide to Adobe Acrobat, Third Edition is a practical guide to moving from paper-based files to digital records.  The Table of Contents provides a great overview of how this edition focuses on the ways lawyers can benefit from using Adobe® Acrobat 8, to create Portable Document Format (PDF) files.  Chapter One, “Why PDF?” explains in four pages what this file format offers to attorneys.
The 2008 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide is an annual guide written to help solo and small firm lawyers find the best legal technology for their dollar. While leaning heavily toward Dell hardware, it does discuss Apple hardware and software as well as the Ubuntu operating system.  The Table of Contents summarizes and details the contents of this guides twenty chapters.  Chapter One “Computers and Operating Systems” provides an overview of possible system choices for the law office.

Bonus:  In an earlier post, we featured The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.  The authors now have a companion blog to the book located at www.lawyersguidetocollaboration.com as well as a Collaboration Tools Wiki.

Act quickly to take advantage of FREE GROUND SHIPPING through August 31st on all ABA books and CLE products.

See AlsoBack-To-School Reading List

On August 22, 2008, techno.la made the WordPress Blogs of the Day, which features WordPress.com blogs that have gained the most popularity. It’s not quite Alltop, but not a bad showing among the other 3,904,806 or so WordPress.com blogs. -M