Features
Technology at Work: A Review of Syngence Services
Late last year, an old case was resurrected after an appeal resulted in our winning summary judgment being overturned. With the equivalent of 54 Bankers Boxes' worth of documents loaded on CDs as TIFF images without any associated indexing or coding, we were faced with the weighty task of processing those documents in a very short amount of time. The key issues were cost and functionality. We quickly needed usable data that could be manipulated, at a price acceptable to our client. Upon investigating our options regarding either manual or automated coding, we were introduced to the Syngence services by American Legal Copy ' our reprographics vendor in San Diego. We decided to give Syngence a try because their Syndex automated indexing service promised a basic database of information in a matter of days and their Synthetix-related content search feature intrigued us.
Features
<B><I>Practice Tip</B></I>Choosing a Storage Format, Part II: The World of DVDs
In the March issue of this newsletter, I wrote a column about the different methods of storage formats available today. In this month's column I would like to show you how a technology originally developed for the entertainment industry ' the DVD, can help you manage the ever increasing data storage requirements of today's businesses.
'How Technical Should I Get, and When?'
Last month, part one of this two-part article asked the question: 'How technical should I get, and when?' This time, we'll consider the same question as it applies to the trial itself: How technical you should get in selecting presentation media, and ultimately displaying it to the jury. We'll also explore some best practices for bringing technology into the courtroom with you, and some popular myths and misconceptions about how jurors view 'fancy' or 'slick' presentations.
Features
On the Job: Managing a Department of One?
Lawyers tend to embrace the solitary work style. Marketing professionals, on the other hand, can feel overworked and isolated if they have solo responsibility for shepherding a firm's marketing program. When you are a department of one, how do you manage to get your firm's work done and still preserve your sanity and sense of balance?
Features
Learning From Client-Driven (Literally) Marketing
Seems like the brand name Segway' keeps popping up in unusual places. According to the company manufacturing them, 'The Segway Human Transporter (HT) is the first of its kind ' a self-balancing, personal transportation device that's designed to operate in any pedestrian environment.' To me, they look like pogo sticks on wheels. How does this relate to law firm marketing? The product's manufacturer is making maximum hay out of non-traditional, client-generated marketing.
Features
Marketing Campaigns That Stand Out
'Let's hire a dumb lawyer.' Five words you're likely never to hear. Lawyers may come in all shapes and sizes, and their styles may run the gamut from presidential to ruthless litigator, but one thing you expect them all to be is smart. A dimwitted attorney is as desirable as an accountant who's bad with numbers, an architect with poor spatial perception or a management consultant who thinks ROI is the French word for king.
Blogging For Law Firms: Not Why, But When and How
Blogs have made it into the mainstream. Dear Abby, earlier this month, offered her opinion to teens on whether or not to blog. A Google search for 'blogs' garnered 1,680,000 results. A similar search just for 'web logs + law firms' offered 18,100 matches. For law firms, blogs seem a natural progression in using the Web for marketing and communications purposes. Once firms were considered behind-the-times if they didn't have a Web site. Then the next great 'must have' wave brought us e-zines, e-letters and e-mail alerts. Now, the race is on to launch law firm blogs.
Features
Custody Dispute Reaches International Levels
Courts in Texas and New York became embroiled in an international child custody squabble in which New York's Appellate Division, Third Department, awarded sole custody to the mother, rejecting the lower court, the law guardian, the wishes of the children and a prior custody agreement.
Selling the Marital Residence: What Are the Tax Implications?
The marital residence is frequently the most valuable asset found in most divorce cases. Issues of valuation, possession and sale will all involve tax implications. The residence may include a houseboat, a house trailer or the house or apartment that the taxpayer is entitled to occupy as a tenant-stockholder in a cooperative housing corporation. It does not include personal property that is not a fixture. Treas.Reg. '1.121-1(b). Any gain represented by the difference between the present market value or sales price and the adjusted basis will have tax consequences.
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