Someone left a copy of the Robb Report in the library over the weekend, and just flipping through it and seeing ads for Prada sunglasses, $90,000 wrist watches, and learning that I could be golfing in Bermuda in just two hours made me remember that there are people out in this world with more dollars than sense. When I flipped through the magazine, I found a great ad on page 253 for Avantair (also here on page 22-23), a private aircraft provider, that featured a plaintiff’s firm of Robb & Robb, LLC out of Kansas City and with perhaps one of the most outlandish reasons for hiring a firm ever…

“Avantair allows us to be more productive and efficient as a law firm.”

Now granted, this may work as a selling point for a plaintiff’s firm, and this firm probably doesn’t bill back this cost directly to its clients, but could you imagine a BigLaw firm putting this claim in their response to an RFP?

“To improve efficiency and productivity, we have our own fleet of private aircraft standing by so that we can be more responsive to our client’s needs.”

Imagine a GC choking on that response! I know of firms that won’t allow their partners to accept free upgrades to first-class because they might accidentally be seen by clients that are sitting back in coach. And, firms where even business-class is discouraged for domestic flights. In BigLaw, the ads would read something like:

“Flying Southwest and Jet Blue may mean we can’t get to you in an hour, but you’ll love our bill at the end of the month!”

Although, the next time I present at a conference that discusses how to make law firms more efficient and productive, I’m bringing this ad as one potential method that probably no one in the room had thought to try.

We’ve all probably received those “continuation notices” or “reminder notices” from vendors that look amazingly like an invoice statement. After a while you get used to seeing them, and quite frankly you just get a little numb to the practice. It isn’t until you see someone else’s comments after they were confused by these ‘notices’ that you remember what a slimy advertising stunt these notices are. Take this comment from yesterday by a public librarian who came across a notice from West:

Our little public library received what seemed at first look to our accounting clerk to be a bill from WEST entitled “reminder notice – library update – – action required” complete with what initially seemed a customer number – but closer inspection showed this was “not an invoice” & the customer number was accompanied by an “offer #” It was for Quinlan’s Zoning Bulletin.
If memory serves me right from my law library days, this was originally a Callaghan publication that was at one time part of the subscription to their Zoning & Land Use set.
Our little public library never owned that publication nor had our Town in the past decade.
What’s most amusing is the “reminder – new edition” part – West has recently released an updated edition of the title below… Hmm, isn’t that what a “newsletter, twice monthly” does … twice monthly?
The “reminder notice” looked so hokey, that I initially considered it was a scam company posing as the West Publishing I remember – (w/ some very wonderful Reps back then I might add) but a Thompson Reuters tm at the bottom assured me this was in fact THE West Publishing Co…
I hardlyyknew yer!

To be fair, West puts in big letters that it is “not an invoice”, and there are some other publishers out there that are much worse about this type of marketing of their products. The fact that it seems that West is expanding this practice to public libraries seems to be a little strange, but not all that unexpected (one commenter wondered if vendors were going to start sending these to High School libraries next.) These types of ‘confusing’ (I’ll stop a little bit short of ‘deceptive’) practices are probably going to be more the norm in the future, especially with the fact that print subscriptions are being cut in significant amounts by law firms and even at academic libraries. So, once again, be vigilant in reviewing your invoices. I’ll warn my kids’ elementary library to be on the lookout for any strange looking “reminder notices” from certain publishers that are looking to expand their client base.

Ready or not… the folks at WestlawNext seem to think that the iPad and other touch-based, tablet-style computers are here to stay and will be making a significant impact in online usage in the next 18-24 months. Mike Dahn, WestlawNext VP of Product Development, gave a few snapshots to a group of Houston law librarians yesterday of the upcoming WLN App for the iPad, and it looked pretty good. The app is supposed to be out in the Fall of 2010 and offer a lot of the functionality (touch, scroll, flip, and rotate) that the iPad users see in other products.

Mike admitted that the iPad isn’t really a great platform for “creating content” (such as writing a 20 page brief), but that it is a great platform for conducting legal research and reading the material. Some of the screenshots we saw show a dual-column format that is set up to mimic how you would read the text in a book. Unlike the web-browser version of dual-column (where you might have to scroll up and down each column because it ran off the bottom of the screen, the iPad version should format exactly to the screen and allow you to then turn the page using your finger.

It seems that more and more programs are going to be “app-based” (what we used to call software), and if we’re going to get into the same issues that caused us to get off of Westlaw and Lexis’ software based programs. I’d bet that some of those legacy software programs are probably still on the base PC install at some firms. (Go check your “Research Applications” tab on your Windows “Start” menu to see if they’re still there!)

Time will tell if the coolness factor, and the usability factor make this a long-term situation, or if we are seeing a flash-in-the pan type products that will loose their shine the first time that the IT department tells the user that they’ll have to fix the problem with the iPad themselves because the iPad is not supported by the firm. WestlawNext seems to be betting that the iPad and other tablet-based devices are here to stay. I think they may be on the right side of that bet. I wonder how long it will take Lexis and Bloomberg to also place a bet on iPad apps??

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that “the more I know… the more I know I don’t know.” Apparently, I could use that quote on just about anything I post on this blog. Over the weekend I was catching up on some reading when I found a reference to something called the Public Library of Law (PLoL), powered by Fastcase. After a few emails back and forth between myself and Fastcase’s Ed Walters, I found out that this free resource has been out since the first quarter of 2008. I’m not sure how I’ve missed it for so long, but it just proves the first sentence above!

Ed Walters gave me a brief explanation of why Fastcase launched this service:

We launched PLoL in February 2008 as a resource for non-lawyer researchers.  We saw lots of journalists, business owners, students, and pro se litigants signing up for free trials of Fastcase, and thought there should be a simple, free resource for them that fit their needs.
The idea was to empower people to educate themselves as best they could — not in place of a lawyer, but more likely before or in conjunction with professional legal help.
We wanted to build a library for law like WebMD was for medicine.
Nobody uses WebMD instead of going to a doctor, but it can empower people to take better care of themselves in conjunction with their doctor.
At its launch, it was the biggest free law library on the Web (a claim we need to update with the launch of the terrific material on Google Scholar).

After signing up for a free account and playing around with PLoL for a while, I found it to be pretty straight-forward, and I liked the format of both the search results, and the layout of the text of the case, especially when compared to Google Scholar. (I still don’t like how you cannot do a specific citation search on Google Scholar, but I might be ‘unique’ in using that feature to pull cases.)

The Public Library of Law hosts the cases through the Fastcase database, but the statutes, regulatory and other materials pass you through to the state or federal websites which host those individual materials. According to the site, here is a list of what you can find on PLoL:

  • Cases from the U.S. Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals [hosted on PLoL]
  • Cases from all 50 states back to 1997 [hosted on PLoL]
  • Federal statutory law and codes from all 50 states [via State or Federal websites]
  • Regulations, court rules, constitutions, and more! [via State or Federal websites]

PLoL is also a way to promote the main product in the stable and that’s Fastcase. When you click on links to material that is outside of this range, you get a pop-up message pointing you to the Fastcase “pay service”.

Also, when you do a search on the database, it will bring you back a message of how many results are available on PLoL, and an additional message that lets you know that there are a lot more results available if you move up to the full Fastcase subscription.

One of the features that I saw on PLoL that I think would be very valuable is an RSS feed of new decisions for each state, federal district, or US Supreme Court. Many of us would like to know when new decisions are handed down, and putting that in my RSS reader is a giant plus in my book.

The Public Library of Law isn’t something that you’d want to hang your legal research hat on, but for a freebie product, it isn’t half-bad. Like Ed told me, PLoL isn’t really set up for lawyers or power-user legal researcher types… but rather for non-lawyers to get a streamlined view of cases and access to other primary legal resources. For someone that may not have access to research tools like Fastcase or Casemaker through their bar associations, and Google Scholar doesn’t really do the trick, then having a product like PLoL out there can be a useful legal resource.

________________
Post Links:
Public Library of Law (PLoL)
RSS Feed for PLoL
Fastcase
Google Scholar
Casemaker

[Note: Jason Wilson from rethinc.k talked with me last night about ‘delinkification’ (the placing of links at the bottom of a blog post rather than linking directly within the post itself. I told him I would try it here and see what the overall reaction is to this format.]
________________
Post Links to the Post Script:
Jason Wilson’s rethinc.k
Nicholas Carr’s Experiment in Delinkification


Over the last three and a half years after my divorce, I haven’t gone out much: no bars, no happy hours, no mixers. Lots of week-ends at home and working at my career. And watching lots of YouTube.

A few months ago one Sunday, I spent about 3 hours watching some YouTube videos on how to flirt by Dating Coach Dave Wygant. Seriously, you can find anything on YouTube.

Last week, I was able to put his advice to the test: a friend dragged me out to a Happy Hour. So I decided to experiment with my newly learned skills. Amazingly, despite the fact that this man was talking to two different women, at the end of the evening, he came over and asked for my number instead of theirs. Why? Because after 48 years of being alive as a female, I have finally learned how to flirt.

SO. Why should you care about this?

It is my professional opinion, after working at three of the largest law firms in Houston and with some of the most renowned lawyers in Texas, that lawyers are of a general type: nerdy.

We were the smartest kids in class–outliers. So we never learned how to talk to people (or maybe we talked too much). Some of us lawyers are better at it then others; others are naturally gregarious. Some of us are natural marketers.

But for the most part, most of us have ABSOLUTELY no social skills. Meaning, we have no idea how to begin and maintain a relationship.

So give David Wygant a listen. You might learn something.

Just tell him I sent you.

I was sitting at home reading the bios on my twitter followers when one of them caught my eye and made me want to learn more about her and the story she is trying to tell via twitter and blogging. Her story isn’t all that novel … she has an altercation with a neighbor, is assaulted, asks for justice, and finds that the justice system doesn’t want to take her case – something similar has probably happened to you or someone you know. What is interesting is that instead of throwing up her hands at the situation and waiting until her broken jaw and torn ear heals; she is going online and telling her story to anyone that will listen. Why? I can only take an existentialist guess at this point, but I imagine that she is using these social media tools as a way to deal with her anger and frustration, and in the slim hopes that someone will come across her story and help her find the justice she desires.

NOTE: As I am writing this blog, I have reached out to her to discuss her blog, but have not heard back from her yet.  Everything that I am writing today is based solely on what I have read from her blog, and found out about her through her social media postings before and after the incident. Until I hear directly from her, I’m keeping everything as vague as I can.

From reading the blog posts about the assault, I can see from the writings that this is someone who is very passionate about life. She writes her posts in a very, very personal manner, and give almost a frame-by-frame account of what she experienced (both physically and mentally). I immediately assumed that she is an artist of some type, so as I do a simple Google search to see if there is more, I’m not surprised to find out that she’s a chef, trained in New York City, but originally from the Southwest United States. However, as I peel more of the layers away on her “online biography” of social media information, I find more than just a person that is telling a single story about her life. I suddenly find myself getting to know the person behind this story through all of the bits of information that has been left online.

No longer is she merely an assault victim trying to get me to read her story through connecting with me via Twitter. Now she is someone that studied abroad; graduated with honors from a top US business school; worked as an Investment Banking Analyst before the financial meltdown pushed her out of one profession and into another, and; has somehow made it through life without ever owning a television. Although I have only just learned this person even exists, within a few minutes I feel as though I already know more about her than I do some of the people I work with in my office. I find myself wanting her to succeed in either getting the District Attorney to take up her case, or at least find some comfort in knowing that people are reading her story and understand her frustration.

At this point, I am feeling as though I may be crossing a line. Am I being emphatic or am I being a voyeur? I’m so interested in learning more about the person behind the story and the researcher in me takes over. There is so much information out there on that is not related to initial story that caught my eye, but it is all the background information that I am finding that makes me want her to find the justice she desires. No longer is she just a blog… now I see her as a real person… but, I’m wondering if I ethically crossed a line in my desire to learn more about her, and scared by the fact that the information was so easy to find. I sat down with my wife, tell her this story, and ask her if I am being a too much of a voyeur. Without hesitation, she tells me that I am, but that she loves me anyway. Then she quickly pulled up her Facebook account and un-friended me.

There is just so much personal information that we leave out on the Internet. A little bit here (twitter), a little bit here (blogs), some more here (LinkedIn), and a pinch more here (Facebook or Google yourself). Put it all together and without ever meeting someone you can piece together enough information that you feel as if you have already met. So I sit here on Memorial Day, coming to grips with the ethical issues of researching social media information while at the same time hoping that someone I have never met finds the justice she desires or at least some type of solace through the telling of her story.

I read a great quote that explained the difference between a Librarian and an Archivist while reading Marilyn Johnson’s book This Book is Overdue.

Q: How can you tell the Archivists from the Librarians?
A: Different Gang Colors.

So, with that little joke aside, I have to tell you that my heart warmed a bit yesterday when I read the Washington Post article on David S. Ferriero, the 10th Archivist of the United States (AOTUS) and the very first to actually be a professional librarian!! And, on top of being a real librarian… he also blogs!! See Ferriero’s blog “AOTUS: Collector in Chief” where he details some of the projects going on at the National Archives. And, in case David happens to read this post, there is an open invitation to guest blog on 3 Geeks anytime you want!!

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the value that a professional librarian (one with a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science), or whether the phrase “Professional Librarian” is an oxymoron. It was nice to run across this interview with the AOTUS where he specifically states why he thinks being a librarian brings value to the position he hold. Ferriero being a professional librarian “has provided me with a certain set of technical competencies around organization of information, but more importantly, thinking about an experience with users and how users interact with information. I’ve been in libraries through the introduction of technology up until current time — with the Internet digitization and creating digital content — and thinking about how we exploit technology for the same purposes and the user environment.”

Ferriero talks about what librarians are best at… and that is not just focusing on technology or just focusing on information, but rather finding that balance between the technology and information based upon the needs of the users. In addition, because Ferriero is an archivist, he is bringing the history of the United States out of the storerooms and basements across the country out into the public in a way that preserves our history and through the use of technology, digitization and user environment allowing not just a few select Historians access, but rather allowing nearly unlimited access to all. I really enjoyed reading Ferriero’s speech at his swearing in ceremony where he promised to work to make the National Archives “the best Agency in government.” Librarians of the world should sleep well knowing that one of our own is heading up the massive collection and directing the future of the US National Archives.

I just finished reading Jason Wilson’s one act screenplay “parody” called “Two Sisters” that he posted on his blog (now titled “rethinc.k“. I give it “two thumbs up… waaaay up!!”

The story follows Westie and her little sister Lexi as Lexi finds herself out on the town after a few too many drinks. Westie gives Lexi a few “life lesson” tips but in the end, they both learn they are linked together more than either of them would like to admit. So, go over to Jason’s blog and read the “Two Sisters” screenplay. (Note: it is “R” rated for language and one very suggestive picture.)

I’d like to make my suggestions on who should play the roles in the movie based on the “Two Sisters” screenplay:

Two Sisters – Suggested Cast Members:


Westie – Megan Fox
Lexi – Lindsey Lohan (might have to wait until ankle monitor comes off, but would be a great comeback role!!)
Policeman – Jason Segal
Lois – Tila Tequila
Microsoft – Jon Favreau
Fastcase* – John C. Reilly
Casemaker* – Will Ferrell


*I’ve suggested a re-write that Jason change the roles of Fastcase and Casemaker to male roles.

Many of us have repetitive tasks that we do each day. Whether it is entering standard cataloging data, research collection language, or updating client records data, many times the information has to be typed in by hand. I’ve been using a product called Macro Express for over ten years now to help with those projects that call for repetitive data entry.
Here’s one example of a project I worked on recently where Macro Express cut my overall time to complete the project by about a factor of five.

We had a brand new practice group join us, and brought with them about 60,000 files that had to be entered into our records management system. The only thing we had to help us was a spreadsheet with the basic information on the files that the former firm graciously provided to us. As many of us know, the life cycle of client matters begins and ends in the Records Department. So, we had to open the matters, have the matters assigned a matter number, and then input the records information to begin the life cycle of the matter. It would be great if we could just dump the spreadsheet into the records system, but after evaluating the process, it was determined that there were too many issues and potential problems that came along with messing with the back-end of the records system. So, it was determined that the safest way of doing this was to enter the information, one at a time, by hand. We were looking at a two or three week project, and the potential for numerous hours of overtime to get the information loaded and the matters opened.

Enter Macro Express….

Macro Express allowed us to set up a “routine” of copying and pasting information directly from the spreadsheet into the records system. After tweaking the process a little, we were able to automate the process and speed up the data entry to about five times the normal process. The project was finished in a little over a week, using just one person and no overtime was needed. Because the process was automated it meant that error rates like typos or missed fields were cut to nearly zero. Occasionally we’d loose our network connection to the records system, but we put in a ‘check’ for that in Macro Express to stop until the connection was re-established.

I estimated that Macro Express saved about 80 hours of hourly employee time, and probably 20 hours of overtime. All for the total price of about $40.00 for the standard version. So, if you’re looking for a product that can really have a positive return on investment, then Macro Express is the tool to look at. You can see some other features that Macro Express offers by viewing some of the video tutorials. There are a lot of advanced features that can also be created using Macro Express if you have a techie person on staff that likes to tinker around with Macros and has some basic programming knowledge. Even at the basic level, there are a number of things that Macro Express can help automate and streamline some of those repetitive processes that you or others in your department have to do.

Give Macro Express a try. There’s a 30-day evaluation period where you can try it for free. This is one of those products where you will have wished you would have had on previous projects.