by Traverse Legal, reviewed by Enrico Schaefer - May 3, 2006 - Uncategorized
One of the best parts about my job is the fact that I get to play with technology. Most lawyers and law firms don’t have the heart or stomach to not only implement technology but to use it once it is implemented. Technology is simply a vehicle. It is the process that goes on to the technology which makes the difference and provides efficiency. We are constantly integrating the latest and greatest technology into our law firm model. I feel like a kid on the biggest play ground in the whole world.
One of the best new tools which I have had an opportunity to play with is gotomeeting.com. I have run a significant number of meetings with clients, co-counsel and staff through gotomeeting.com. I cannot begin to tell you how powerful it is to be looking at the exact same document at the exact same time you are discussing language or issues. Just like the commercials say, you do not have to travel to be together in the same virtual room. Better still, my clients are blown away by the power and depth of our discussions when we are literally typing out a comment on an Adobe PDF together in our virtual meeting.
The next best thing to being there is gotomeeting.com. I would encourage any attorney to subscribe to this service which is $49.00/month or $468.00/year
Another tremendous tool which I was thoroughly surprised with is Mindjet MindManager Pro 6 at mindjet.com. Essentially, this is decision tree software which allows you to solidify such things as: client choices, strategy diagramming, and workflow. It seems silly and simple. However, we all face the same problems with clients. It is hard to describe for them what their two or three options might be on a particular issue, and what the advantages and disadvantages would be of each of those options. With the Mindjet software, you simply diagram each option out, assign it a priority number (1-5) and then list advantages/disadvantages to each approach. It is like a super charged graphic outline which makes decision making incredibly easy for the client. I also use this software to show virtual workers how to structure a contract when they are doing the initial draft. The outline contains levels and sublevels. You simply create a level for each contract term and then identify the essential point on each term. Again, it turns out that this is way more powerful than an outline. Why? Because you can drag and drop the flowchart diagrams all over the place. This is way easier than editing an outline. Because it is graphical, it is more visual and easy to understand for everyone involved. It is highly recommended.
It is days like today where I really envy Dennis Kennedy at DennisKennedy.com. For those of you who don’t know, Dennis Kennedy is one of the top, if not the top, technology gurus practicing law today. He gets to play with technology all the time and, on my best information, probably gets paid good money to do it. I don’t get paid for it, but I sure enjoy it.
As a founding partner of Traverse Legal, PLC, he has more than thirty years of experience as an attorney for both established companies and emerging start-ups. His extensive experience includes navigating technology law matters and complex litigation throughout the United States.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney Enrico Schaefer, who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing Business, IP, and Technology Law litigation attorney.
