The 60 Technology Tips in 60 Minutes plenary session was one of the most popular parts of the program. The presenters reviewed 60 useful and practical technology tips covering everything from gadgets to software and hardware, the web, and more. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation from this session is available in PDF format (size: 1.79MB).

For those that were not able to attend the conference, Bar-ex Communications taped several sessions. On-line versions of these sessions, including video replays of the presentations and access to written materials in electronic (PDF) format will be available shortly on www.bar-ex.com.

practicePRO has limited quantities of the exhibitor promotional materials package that was given out to all attendees. If you are interested in receiving this package, please contact practicePRO Coordinator, Susan Carter, at 416 596 4623 or practicepro@lawpro.ca.

praticePRO Tech Tip #3: Text Selection Made Easy
In certain situations, selecting passages of text precisely with the mouse can be difficult. Probably the best examples of these situations are when you are working with information in a tightly packed table, or trying to select a large piece of a very long document or Web page.

Here is a handy trick to help you select text in these situations. First you must place the insertion point where you want the selection to start. Do this with a single left click of your mouse in this exact location.

Next, you need to get the end of the passage you want displayed on the screen. Use your scroll bars or other appropriate keys to move to where you want the selection to end. While moving to the end point, be careful not to click anywhere in the document you are working with as this will move the initial insertion point.

When you get to the screen that displays the end point, and while holding down your Shift key, do a left click with your mouse in this exact location. All text in between the two insertion points will be selected. You can then cut or copy the selected passage as you desire.

This trick works in most Windows applications.

Significant Stats: 1 in 7 LPIC claims is caused by procrastination
Procrastination is the single most common time management problem, and is the second most common cause of claims against lawyers in the LPIC claims portfolio.

Procrastination accounted for 4,608 claims (15.3 per cent of all claims) between January 1, 1989 and July 31, 2000. These claims cost LPIC almost $52.5 million.

If procrastination is an issue for you, please visit practicePRO's online Coaching Centre for help in dealing with this problem. The modules in the Overcoming Procrastination workshop will help you to overcome procrastination and work smarter, not harder. Modules 1-8 will help you organize and prioritize. Modules 9-15 will provide new time management skills. Modules 16-18 equip you to delegate more effectively. Modules 19-21 will help you think differently about your work and give you a sense of control over your time. You'll find the online Coaching Centre at www.practicepro.ca

practicePRO tech tip #2
E-mail: The subject line is key

E-mail tends to be a very common, casual and quick way to communicate. In 1999, more than 400 billion e-mails were sent in the United States (compared to just over 200 billion pieces of regular mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service).

The problem with e-mail is that senders tend not to take very much time in drafting their messages. Many use short forms or partial sentences. Subject lines often do not properly describe the contents of the message.

Next time you are drafting the subject line for and e-mail message, carefully consider how people will use this information. It is what people will first see when they receive the message. It will likely play a big part in their decision to read the message at that time. Later on, it is also what people will use to find the message if they keep it. And it will stay with the message if it is forwarded to someone else, or sent back to you as a reply.

For example, what tells your more: "letter" or "Second draft of reporting letter for you review"?

The subject line is very important. Take time to put a reasonable description of what the message is all about. It will help to get your message read.

If you want to receive basic and practical legal technology tips by e-mail on a biweekly basis sign-up for practicePRO Tech Tip at www.practicepro.ca/pptip.asp

practicePRO Tips: The Key to the Cursor
By Dan Pinnington

This is the first in a series of practicePRO Tips columns from Dan Pinnington, practicePRO's new director. Look for more practicePRO Tips, designed to help lawyers make the most out of their hardware and software, in upcoming issues of LPIC News and on the practicePRO web-site at www.practicepro.ca.

Even the most experienced computer users often take the long road when it comes to editing text and moving quickly through a document. They're either clicking their way through using the mouse, or using the arrow keys to move the cursor around a document, one character or line at a time.

But there is a faster way: This tip highlights a few simple keyboard shortcuts that will let you move around a document much more quickly, and with far fewer keystrokes.

First, an explanation of the syntax for describing keystrokes for those that are not familiar with it. Simply remember that a plus sign (+) between two or more keys means that you press those keys, in the order they are listed, almost simultaneously, moving from left to right. You may already know this, although you may not realize it.

For example, a capital B would be described as Shift+B. Everyone knows you must press the Shift key first.

Now for the tip.

When you are editing a document, remember the following shortcuts to jump a whole word, or even a whole paragraph, with a single press of an arrow key:

• Ctrl+Right Arrow will jump the cursor forward a whole word at a time;
• Ctrl+Left Arrow will jump the cursor backwards a whole word at a time;
• Ctrl+Down Arrow will jump you down a whole paragraph at a time;
• Ctrl+Up Arrow will jump you up a whole paragraph at a time.

If you want to select or block a larger portion of text, add the Shift key to the above combinations:

• Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow will jump the cursor forward a whole word and select the text at the same time;
• Ctrl+Shift+Left Arrow will jump the cursor backwards a whole word and select the text at the same time;
• Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow will jump you down a whole paragraph and select the text at the same time;
• Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow will jump you up a whole paragraph and select the text at the same time.

After blocking the words, sentences or paragraphs you wanted to select, you can copy, move, or reformat as you wish.

These shortcuts should help you edit you documents much more quickly. For help remembering them, write them on a Post-it and place it on the side of your monitor.

The technology factor: It's here to stay
Since launching practicePRO in 1998, LPIC's consistent message to you and the other 17,000 or so private practitioners in Ontario has been that the practice of law is changing and becoming more complex. That continues to be the case.

Competition, globalization, consumerism and technology are forcing profound change on law, lawyers and legal practice. What's more, the pace of change is dizzying and the need to act - and react - is urgent. Time waits for no one, not even lawyers.

And of all the forces propelling change, technology is arguably the most pervasive. Embracing technology puts you in the driver's seat. Turning a blind eye is terminal. To put some dimension on this reality, just look at the many faces that technology takes in our personal and professional lives:

For starters, there are e-mail, cellular phones, wireless internet purchasing and personal digital assistants. In law practice, we're now dealing with electronic filing in practice areas such as securities, secure document transmission facilities and real estate, legal specific software for both practice management as well as specific practice areas.

Then there's the internet, which offers a myriad of portals to endless streams of information and data and its little sibling the Intranet, and web-specific tools such as web casting, and screen scraping or personalizing of information from the Web. Add to this list the use of voice-activated software, multi-media presentations, and the fact that all of these facilities are being built to go faster, to be more specialized, to integrate across a series of systems or applications, to be customized and to be more secure or confidential if necessary and you have a force to be reckoned with.

With technology also comes an additional challenge: the need to "think" and "do" in new ways. Some lawyers are responding to the call for change: To practise well and meet clients' needs are their objectives. But many practitioners are not there yet. Although the bulk of law offices use computers in some way, the "new thinking" and the "new doing" has been slow to develop.

Recognizing the vital role that technology plays, this, our first issue of lpic:news in 2000 focuses on technology and the practice of law. We introduce you to the revamped Techno Info section of the practicePRO website and showcase some of the tools and resources you'll find online. We also review some of the many uses of the internet for lawyers, and update you on how LPIC is helping you make better use of technology. Our goal: To inspire you to action.

Techno Info: Your door to the net world
In keeping with the practicePRO website's raison d'etre - to be an aggregator of information - Techno Info is largely a compilation of websites that offers insights into how technology is applied in law practice.

The many sites we recommend visiting are grouped in nine topics as follows:

• Resources @ Technology Associations
• Technology Shows
• Technology Initiatives for Ontario Lawyers
• Books & Online Magazines
• Other Resources on Legal Technology
• Computer and IT Lawyers
• LawStation
• Y2K Update & Toolkit
• Lawyers Who Walk the Tech Talk

Technology Initiatives

IJP: The Integrated Justice Project
A system to file and share information electronically among those involved in criminal, civil and family law systems (e.g., police officers, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, court staff, correctional staff). Currently in development and expected to be completed in 2001, it is a collaborative effort by the ministries of the Attorney General, Solicitor General, Correctional Services along with EDS Systemhouse Inc., DMR Consulting Group Inc., KPMG LP and Teranet Land Information Services Inc. For more information, visit: www.integratedjustice.gov.on.ca.

BAR-eX: The Lawyer's Portal
A web-based online community that is being built to offer access to a broad range of information and services related to the practice/business of law (e.g., information on regulation, precedents, practice related news and announcements, discussion forums, chat rooms, bulletin boards, government information services, education services, secure document transmission, LSUC member directory). BAR-eX invites input and feedback from members of the Ontario bar with respect to additions to its current complement of services. For more information, visit: www.BAR-eX.com.

Books & Online Magazines

The lawyers' challenge: Risk management and legal practice in the new economy
The core of what lawyers do in the new century, providing good advice and advocacy to clients with legal problems, remains as important today as it ever has been.

Technology, however, poses two categories of new challenges for lawyers today. The first challenge is to a large extent an administrative challenge - the changed nature of information and information transfer. Our profession, which evolved with text and paper as the embodiment of much of the value we offer clients, is having to deal with a wide variety of new issues, including:

1. Information from clients, information from opposing counsel, and evidence all incorporating sound, images, and movies, as well as text. This includes critical information which may never have been reduced to paper.
2. Information that can be permanently copied into and out of any jurisdiction at the speed of light.
3. A new spectrum of security, confidentiality and privilege issues relating to the impermanent nature of electronic information, including such issues as hacking, encryption requirements, virus protection, mis-addressed e-mail, and the like.
4. The need for a new set of technology related vocabulary and skills on the part of legal practitioners to remain able to service the needs of clients carrying on business in the world of the Internet.

The second category of challenges relates to the business of practicing law, and the shifting nature of lawyer client relationships. New technologies offer lawyers an unprecedented opportunity to deliver better service and therefore better value to clients at lower cost than ever before. The impact of these technologies has been the erosion of the billable hour, though, and this change is seen as a threat by many practitioners. In fact, these changes are excellent opportunities for the profession to continue economic success while filling the profession's vital role in society.

In addition to the erosion of the billable hour, technology is offering a suite of opportunities to interact and collaborate with clients in different ways, including by e-mail, video-conferencing, instant messaging, intranets, extranets , and all without having any concerns about long distance charges, location or geography. These opportunities enable lawyers to help clients in ways never before possible, but also have potential to erode the independence that forms the backbone of the solicitor client relationship.

In "The Effective Use of Technology in the Practice of Law" we have tried to identify and explain these challenges, and to offer some guidance as to how lawyers can take advantage of the opportunities that they offer. Lawyers have an obligation to themselves, and to their clients to understand and to manage these challenges. The book has a detailed glossary and Table of Contents, and is designed to be dipped into for specific information as much as read as a whole.

(This summary of the book, "The Effective Use of Technology in the Practice of Law" was provided by the book's author, Jonathan Barker.)

Print or online: Two technology guides for lawyers

Law Office Technology is Canada's leading guide to technology software, hardware and services of importance to the Canadian legal profession. The goal of the publication is to provide Canadian legal professionals with timely and practical news, information and advice regarding those technological developments most likely to improve law office productivity, enhance competitiveness and increase the bottom line. For information, contact Law Office Technology via e-mail at services@canlawtech.com or call editor Sandra Kidd at (905) 542-3931.

LawTech Canada is the premier technology information source for Canadian legal professionals - devoted exclusively to the provision of information regarding hardware,software and technology service solutions of importance to the members of Canada's legal community. All LawTech Canada publications are available exclusively by download from www.canlawtech.com, at no cost to qualifying members of the Canadian legal community.

Lawyers Who Walk the Tech Talk

Living in a Complete Practice Model
By Joy M. White

Mark Tamminga practises in a very specific area of real estate law: mortgage enforcements on behalf of financial institution clients. His firm, Gowling, Strathy & Henderson, is one of Canada's largest. But when it came time to automate his practice group's work 10 years ago, "our practice niche was too small to merit the attention of a commercial developer, but our practice was large enough in absolute terms to merit a substantial in-house development effort." That's what led him to dive into designing his group's matter management system, which has evolved into an all-encompassing Access 97 database. The system has become such a comprehensive tool for both lawyers and clients that "in effect, the system is where everyone lives."

Says Tamminga, "Everyone in our practice group knows that if something isn't in the system -- even if you think you've done it -- it has not been done."

Today all the facts about each file are available to everyone with access to the database; almost all the documents necessary to complete a file are generated directly from the system, using the same data.

"The database and document assembly engine combination come very close to a complete model of our practice," says Tamminga.

As a result of implementing the system, Tamminga has gotten the paper off his desk and into the computer system. "At any given time there are 500 to 800 open matters, with 6 to 10 lawyers in the system at any time. Because the facts captured in the database are complete (and I built in an array of business rules and controls to ensure that the data are, in fact, complete), we rarely refer to a paper file. When a call comes in inquiring about a given matter, we just call it up onscreen and start talking in complete, well-informed paragraphs about where the file is and how it got there." The system gives them complete command of the status of each matter.

An interesting aspect of the system's ongoing evolution, Tamminga finds, is that clients are now driving its design: As the implications of the technology become clearer to them, they increasingly tell him what they want and need to see as output.

"Clients are requiring increasingly detailed status reports. Again, because the data have all been sucked out of the paper files and distilled into Access, reporting is simple. And any field in the database can be used as the basis for a report. So if a client wants to know, for example, how many mortgages are in default in a given region, we can do a report by postal code and rank the report list by mortgage value.

"What has driven our most recent system changes are the client reporting requirements and the need to capture the data that they find useful-which are sometimes different from what we, as lawyers, find useful in the conduct of our practice. A system like this has to serve our internal practice management purposes as well as the constant need to keep clients current. It tells us what to do and the client what we have done."

That capability is what most impresses Tamminga's clients. "We have used the system to dazzle clients a bit, but in the end they don't really care about being awestruck. They just want the work done, and this type of matter management database does it at fixed cost. That's what really pleases clients.

"And at our end as well, we find that the cost of doing business is much reduced."

What sets this matter management system apart from others? Tamminga says it's the friendly interface and ease of use, which leads the practice group's lawyers and clients alike to understand the system's possibilities. "Even the most technically maladroit should be comfortable asking why a screen behaves in a certain way, because if the function of the software isn't obvious on its face, it's poorly designed. That's why users of the software are the best idea generators."

(Ms White is a writer and editor in Chicago. This article first appeared in Law Practice Management, Vol. 25, No. 8, November/December 1999 as part of a longer article "TechTools @ Work: How Lawyers Are Using A Few of Their Favorite Things, " authored by Ms White. Reprinted by Permission. Copyright © 1999 American Bar Association. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or downloaded or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.)

Netting Valuable Info from Surfing the Net

Net know-how
Gone are the days when lawyers had a monopoly on legal information and knowledge. Today just about anyone can get information or data that's relevant to their situation - for free, via the internet. In fact, it's not unheard of for clients to tell lawyers about the legal precedents they may want to consider as part of the cases they're handling. And if that isn't enough to make you sit up and take notice, there's always the competition: Chances are they're plugged into the net world and making best use of this time-saving and cost-effective gold mine of knowledge.

Welcome to the world of E-lawyering - using the Internet as an avenue for developing clients, maintaining an office and practising law.

Net power
The beauty of the internet is that it opens doors more quickly and economically than just about any other tool at your disposal. It lets you assemble, from your desktop, information you need - from all corners of the world. It lets you access information that is often hard to retrieve in hard copy, either because it would take days to find, involves huge costs or may not even exist in traditional print. It puts, at your fingertips, a powerhouse of legal and non-legal resources to:

• gather information to build your case or position;
• challenge your opponent or a witness;
• strengthen your negotiating position;
• communicate more intelligently on a technical subject;
• demonstrate savvy and share information with clients.

Net site-seeing
Using one of the many powerful search engines, such as Yahoo, Alta Vista, Lycos or Infoseek, is a good way to start site-seeing. Consider making these sites part of your "net work":

• locating service sites to locate people you are looking for e.g. potential parties, defendants, witnesses, ex-employees
• sites that catalogue experts in every field, their curriculum vitaes, their writings, their experience as witnesses, their experience in their industries, their professional status
• government information sites to retrieve or update regulations, standards, directives, policies, working papers, patents, copyrights, trademarks
• industry sites for standards, guidelines, policies, papers, new developments and trends
• corporate sites of your clients and their competitors for their structure, purpose, objectives, customers, products, services, sales, directors & officers and their bios, their counsel, required disclosure, annual reports, news releases, quasi confidential information about suppliers and strategic partners
• parody sites about opponents - it depends who they have upset - to monitor attempts to spread misinformation or infringe marks or disclose material inside information or manipulate a stock
• medical sites to understand about injuries, ailments, diseases, diagnoses, treatment, views on survivability, databases, services that access testing, practice guidelines, drug indexes, to identify experts
• financial database sites for press releases, insider trading reports, information about Board members, large purchases of stock
• SEDAR, the Canadian Securities Administrators site for the filing of domestic public corporations' public filings e.g. annual reports, quarterly reports and others that describe a company's business, geographic reach, analysis of competition
• news sites (local/regional/national or international) to stay abreast of and inform clients of news reports, industry developments, to monitor commentary about clients, partners or opponents, and to find out about weather, sports, and just about anything else
• technology news sites - legal and non-legal related for use in communicating with clients, prospects and managing your own practice
• business strategy and management sites for information to share with clients and incorporate into law practice

Want to learn more?
For more information about the Internet and how it works, consult one of the many books about the Internet such as The Internet Handbook for Canadian Lawyers (soon to be out in the 3rd edition) by Drew M. Jackson and Timothy L. Taylor, or, if you are ready to go online visit www.whatis.com. It has 2000 definitions and explanations about the Internet, computers and information technology.

New CBAO section to serve lawyers in IT and E-commerce
Lawyers looking for information technology and e-commerce law now have a new resource: CBAO has created a new section, the CBAO - Information Technology and E-Commerce Section, chaired by Alan Gahtan.

This new section serves the needs and interests of existing and future Ontario IT law practitioners through the following activities:

• organizing educational seminars and conferences;
• hosting networking sessions;
• planning joint programs with industry groups;
• publishing a Section newsletter; and
• mmenting on new legislation affecting information technology or electronic commerce.

For information visit www.gahtan.com/cbao.