As you may recall, I've been an Office Lens fan for a while now. When we switched to Office 365 in my program earlier this year, I began telling everyone I worked with that they had to get Office Lens. Because we are on the road a lot and away from scanners, etc., Office Lens really helps us make copies of client documents. I use it a lot in the County Recorders' offices when I need to get old deeds, for example.
But, there was always a problem for us Android users. It wouldn't save to a work or school account. You had to have a personal account to save to. I was always willing to overlook this problem, but it was hard to explain this quirk to some of my colleagues. And to be fair, it never should have been a problem for us Android users. This hasn't been a problem for iPhone users for nearly a year.
Yesterday though, I opened Office Lens and saw the notification I'd been waiting for: Office Lens is now able to connect to my work or school account. Being the grumpy person I sometimes am, I muttered something along the lines of, "it's about time" then scanned the deed I was looking at.
But when I got back to my office and saw my deed waiting for me in my work OneDrive folder, I realized that, yeah, this is actually a big deal. Now, a big quirk that made Office Lens clunky for me and my Android friends was gone, which meant I could be much more full-throated in my encouraging my colleagues to start using Office Lens.
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
Monday, August 29, 2016
If You're Not Using Quick Parts and Auto Texts, You're Wasting Time and Money
It's an old adage that, as attorneys, our stock in trade is our time and advice. Accordingly, wasting time on technology is not only wasting time, it is wasting money and resources. If you have technology in front of you that can save you time and you don't use it, then you are wasting your time. Quick parts in Microsoft Word is one of those technologies that not everyone is aware of that is sitting right in front of them. So let's learn a little bit about quick parts.
First, in Office 2016, it feels like they have made quick parts and auto text harder to find. If you go to the Insert tab on the ribbon, you'll find them under the text group. If you have too many items on the ribbon or less screen real estate you might only see the icon. I've circled what you're looking for in this picture:
As you can see, if only the icon is displaying, you have to already know about quick parts to find it. At least, that's how it seems to me. Here's a better picture of just the icon you need:
Now that you've located it, what do you do with it? If this is the first time you've even looked at that icon, there's not much to do.
Yet.
While Microsoft does some fantastic work and there's a reason that its suite of office products is basically the standard everywhere, it hasn't yet figured out how to read your mind. It doesn't even use the type of machine learning that can pay attention and figure out how it can save your time. Instead, we still have to tell Word what can save us time.
Let's start with something simple. Something we lawyers probably use on a regular basis: a pleadings signature block. Including formatting and margin settings and tab stops, here's what mine looks like:
As you can see, there is some special stuff going on here that a simple auto correct is not going to be able to cover. It uses a specific single spaced style. The left margin is set to slightly less than 4 inches, and I use a custom tab stop to line up my phone, fax, and email. Doing all of this from scratch every time is tedious at best, likely to produce the occasional typo, and a waste of time. You could keep a master signature block somewhere I suppose and copy and paste from it, but even that's tedious to me.
This is where quick parts and auto text shine. On my system, I have this set as an auto text. This way, when I start typing "respectfully submitted", Word asks if I want to insert my signature block:
Isn't that helpful? Now, anytime I want to put in my signature block, I just start typing it and Word asks if it can do all the hard work for me. If only everything in life worked this way; I get out the cutting board and my kitchen asks "Can I go ahead and instantly make your favorite meal, a nice paneer curry with naan and jasmine rice? It will be exactly the way you like it, of course."
Of course, this culinary example illustrates a potential problem with using auto texts. What if I didn't want curry but was getting out the cutting board to chop up a carrot for my kids? I could ignore the prompt and just keep going. But what if I wanted to type respectfully and hit enter. If I do that, it will assume I want my signature block.
This is the potential problem with auto text: it can make assumptions you don't want it to make. So you either have to use specific names that are unlikely to have you pressing ENTER afterwards, or you need to use a different method. Fortunately, Word provides that different method with quick parts.
Quick parts functions similarly to auto text in that both insert blocks of formatted text. But the way you access them is different. Auto texts appear when you start typing the name you've given the auto text. Quick parts do not. Instead, with quick parts you start typing the name of the quick part and hit F3. OR, you click on the quick parts icon and choose the block of text you want.
With quick parts, your quick parts show up immediately in the quick parts icon. Auto texts do not show up like this, which can make them a touch slower to access if you don't remember what you named the auto text.
Now for the part you've probably been waiting on: How do I actually make the darn things? It's surprisingly easy.
First, type and format the text you want turned into a quick part.
Second highlight that text.
Third, click on the quick parts icon. In the menu that comes up, if you want to save the item as a quick part, choose the "Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery..." option. If you wish to save it as an auto text, choose Auto Text and then select the "Save Selection to Auto Text Gallery..." option.
It will then open a window that looks like this:
By default, it will suggest a name that is the first couple words of your selection. You can change this to whatever you want. The name you give it though is going to be what you type in your document to get it to automatically add the auto text or quick part text. You can then select whether you want to save it as a quick part or auto text. You can categorize your selections (perhaps signature lines, discovery, pleadings, etc.). Lastly (at least as far as this post is concerned) you can choose whether to save this in your normal.dotm file or another setting. I almost always choose normal,dotm so it is available regardless of what document I'm typing in.
Click on OK, and you now have your quick part or auto text ready to use.
I do not recommend going out and setting up a bunch of these in a rush just to get started. Instead, be conscious of what you're typing for a week. If you find yourself typing the same thing a couple of times in a row, then go ahead and add it. If you try to think of everything in advance, odds are you will forget what you named your quick part and will forget to use it.
So, get out there and start saving yourself some time and stop wasting resources on typing the same thing for the 100th time this month.
First, in Office 2016, it feels like they have made quick parts and auto text harder to find. If you go to the Insert tab on the ribbon, you'll find them under the text group. If you have too many items on the ribbon or less screen real estate you might only see the icon. I've circled what you're looking for in this picture:
As you can see, if only the icon is displaying, you have to already know about quick parts to find it. At least, that's how it seems to me. Here's a better picture of just the icon you need:
Now that you've located it, what do you do with it? If this is the first time you've even looked at that icon, there's not much to do.
Yet.
While Microsoft does some fantastic work and there's a reason that its suite of office products is basically the standard everywhere, it hasn't yet figured out how to read your mind. It doesn't even use the type of machine learning that can pay attention and figure out how it can save your time. Instead, we still have to tell Word what can save us time.
Let's start with something simple. Something we lawyers probably use on a regular basis: a pleadings signature block. Including formatting and margin settings and tab stops, here's what mine looks like:
This is where quick parts and auto text shine. On my system, I have this set as an auto text. This way, when I start typing "respectfully submitted", Word asks if I want to insert my signature block:
Isn't that helpful? Now, anytime I want to put in my signature block, I just start typing it and Word asks if it can do all the hard work for me. If only everything in life worked this way; I get out the cutting board and my kitchen asks "Can I go ahead and instantly make your favorite meal, a nice paneer curry with naan and jasmine rice? It will be exactly the way you like it, of course."
Of course, this culinary example illustrates a potential problem with using auto texts. What if I didn't want curry but was getting out the cutting board to chop up a carrot for my kids? I could ignore the prompt and just keep going. But what if I wanted to type respectfully and hit enter. If I do that, it will assume I want my signature block.
This is the potential problem with auto text: it can make assumptions you don't want it to make. So you either have to use specific names that are unlikely to have you pressing ENTER afterwards, or you need to use a different method. Fortunately, Word provides that different method with quick parts.
Quick parts functions similarly to auto text in that both insert blocks of formatted text. But the way you access them is different. Auto texts appear when you start typing the name you've given the auto text. Quick parts do not. Instead, with quick parts you start typing the name of the quick part and hit F3. OR, you click on the quick parts icon and choose the block of text you want.
With quick parts, your quick parts show up immediately in the quick parts icon. Auto texts do not show up like this, which can make them a touch slower to access if you don't remember what you named the auto text.
Now for the part you've probably been waiting on: How do I actually make the darn things? It's surprisingly easy.
First, type and format the text you want turned into a quick part.
Second highlight that text.
Third, click on the quick parts icon. In the menu that comes up, if you want to save the item as a quick part, choose the "Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery..." option. If you wish to save it as an auto text, choose Auto Text and then select the "Save Selection to Auto Text Gallery..." option.
It will then open a window that looks like this:
By default, it will suggest a name that is the first couple words of your selection. You can change this to whatever you want. The name you give it though is going to be what you type in your document to get it to automatically add the auto text or quick part text. You can then select whether you want to save it as a quick part or auto text. You can categorize your selections (perhaps signature lines, discovery, pleadings, etc.). Lastly (at least as far as this post is concerned) you can choose whether to save this in your normal.dotm file or another setting. I almost always choose normal,dotm so it is available regardless of what document I'm typing in.
Click on OK, and you now have your quick part or auto text ready to use.
I do not recommend going out and setting up a bunch of these in a rush just to get started. Instead, be conscious of what you're typing for a week. If you find yourself typing the same thing a couple of times in a row, then go ahead and add it. If you try to think of everything in advance, odds are you will forget what you named your quick part and will forget to use it.
So, get out there and start saving yourself some time and stop wasting resources on typing the same thing for the 100th time this month.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Change Computers Without Losing Your Word Settings
In our office, we recently upgraded our computers to Windows 10 and jumped from Office 2010 to Office 2016 and Office 365. The new computers now have solid state drives (which are crazy fast) and I couldn't be happier.
One of the things I'm happiest about is that even though I got a new computer and the latest version of Microsoft Office, I didn't have to start over with a blank copy of Word. I was able to transfer all of my quick parts, auto corrects, ribbon settings, and macros from my old computer to my new computer. The best part, it wasn't too hard to do.
First, let's get all of our ribbon and quick access toolbar customizations from the old computer. In Word, go to File => Options => Customize Ribbon. In the box that pops up, you'll choose the drop-down in the lower right labeled Import/Export, which is circled below. Then, choose Export All Customizations.
Save this file on a flash drive or in some other location that you can access on your new computer. Then, on the new computer, open Word and go to File => Options => Customize Ribbon. Again choose the Import/Export drop-down circled in the picture above and this time choose Import Customizations. Select the file you saved in the previous step and you will now have the same ribbon and quick access toolbar setup as on the old computer.
Of course, you will also want to bring over your Normal.dotm file from the old computer. This is where you basic page setups reside, including your default styles and your macros. To do this, open your file explorer and navigate to the following path: C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates. Obviously, you'll replace [user name] with the user name for your computer.
One important note, if you navigate to your user name and don't see a folder labeled AppData, it simply means that you are not currently viewing hidden folders. The AppData folder is hidden by default to prevent accidentally changing it's contents. To view it, navigate to the Users\[user name] folder. Then, go to the View tab on the ribbon and check the Hidden Items box:
Once you get to the Templates folder, you'll need to copy the Normal,dotm file. Then, on the new computer, navigate to the same folder and replace the Normal.dotm file on the new computer with the one from the old computer.
Next, you will want to copy all of your quick parts and other building blocks from the old computer. This time, on the old computer you'll navigate to C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Document Building Blocks\1033\16. That last number could be 10 or another number depending on which version of Word you are using. In this folder, you'll need to copy the Building Blocks.dot and the Built-In Building Blocks.dot files to take them to the new computer. Again, on the new computer, navigate to the same folder and paste in the files you just copied.
Lastly, let's copy over your auto-corrects. On the old computer, navigate to the following folder: C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Office. In that folder, look for all the files named MSOXXXX.acl. The X's will be numbers. Copy all of the files that match that description and transfer them to the same folder on the new computer.
By following these steps, your new version of Microsoft Word on your new computer will be just like your old version, which will let you get up and running fast.
One of the things I'm happiest about is that even though I got a new computer and the latest version of Microsoft Office, I didn't have to start over with a blank copy of Word. I was able to transfer all of my quick parts, auto corrects, ribbon settings, and macros from my old computer to my new computer. The best part, it wasn't too hard to do.
First, let's get all of our ribbon and quick access toolbar customizations from the old computer. In Word, go to File => Options => Customize Ribbon. In the box that pops up, you'll choose the drop-down in the lower right labeled Import/Export, which is circled below. Then, choose Export All Customizations.
Save this file on a flash drive or in some other location that you can access on your new computer. Then, on the new computer, open Word and go to File => Options => Customize Ribbon. Again choose the Import/Export drop-down circled in the picture above and this time choose Import Customizations. Select the file you saved in the previous step and you will now have the same ribbon and quick access toolbar setup as on the old computer.
Of course, you will also want to bring over your Normal.dotm file from the old computer. This is where you basic page setups reside, including your default styles and your macros. To do this, open your file explorer and navigate to the following path: C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates. Obviously, you'll replace [user name] with the user name for your computer.
One important note, if you navigate to your user name and don't see a folder labeled AppData, it simply means that you are not currently viewing hidden folders. The AppData folder is hidden by default to prevent accidentally changing it's contents. To view it, navigate to the Users\[user name] folder. Then, go to the View tab on the ribbon and check the Hidden Items box:
Once you get to the Templates folder, you'll need to copy the Normal,dotm file. Then, on the new computer, navigate to the same folder and replace the Normal.dotm file on the new computer with the one from the old computer.
Next, you will want to copy all of your quick parts and other building blocks from the old computer. This time, on the old computer you'll navigate to C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Document Building Blocks\1033\16. That last number could be 10 or another number depending on which version of Word you are using. In this folder, you'll need to copy the Building Blocks.dot and the Built-In Building Blocks.dot files to take them to the new computer. Again, on the new computer, navigate to the same folder and paste in the files you just copied.
Lastly, let's copy over your auto-corrects. On the old computer, navigate to the following folder: C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Office. In that folder, look for all the files named MSOXXXX.acl. The X's will be numbers. Copy all of the files that match that description and transfer them to the same folder on the new computer.
By following these steps, your new version of Microsoft Word on your new computer will be just like your old version, which will let you get up and running fast.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Glad To Be Back
It's been a little more than a year since my last post. It's a bit of an understatement to say that my life has been a bit busy during that time. While I'm not going to go into the details, I've not had time to devote to this blog. While life's still crazy both in and out of the office, there have been a number of things I've wanted to blog about in terms of legal technology, and so, I'm going to try to post here more frequently.
As a preview, over the next week or two, I'll be posting about how to keep your Word settings when changing computers, using styles, using quickparts and auto-text, and the intersection of management and technology.
Stay tuned, I hope to have more coming soon.
As a preview, over the next week or two, I'll be posting about how to keep your Word settings when changing computers, using styles, using quickparts and auto-text, and the intersection of management and technology.
Stay tuned, I hope to have more coming soon.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Office Lens for Android: A Free Scanner Worth Getting
Since becoming the managing attorney in my local legal services office, I've found less and less time to devote to things like blogging. Now that I'm in the swing of things, I hope to be able to get back to it more.
Our legal services office covers seven counties in rural Southeastern Ohio. If the area covered by our office were a state, it would be the 48th largest. As a result, I'm on the road. A lot. And I don't want to carry a scanner around with me everywhere I go. So, I started looking for a free scanner app for my phone.
My choice: Microsoft's Office Lens. It allows you to take a picture of the document you want to scan and automatically straightens and crops it. It let's you save it to your OneDrive account as either a pdf file or word document. Moreover, if you choose to save it as a word document, it is automatically editable.
I have not had a chance to use it a lot, but what I've seen so far I like. And at free, it is a good price. I suggest giving it a try.
Our legal services office covers seven counties in rural Southeastern Ohio. If the area covered by our office were a state, it would be the 48th largest. As a result, I'm on the road. A lot. And I don't want to carry a scanner around with me everywhere I go. So, I started looking for a free scanner app for my phone.
My choice: Microsoft's Office Lens. It allows you to take a picture of the document you want to scan and automatically straightens and crops it. It let's you save it to your OneDrive account as either a pdf file or word document. Moreover, if you choose to save it as a word document, it is automatically editable.
I have not had a chance to use it a lot, but what I've seen so far I like. And at free, it is a good price. I suggest giving it a try.
Friday, June 12, 2015
Quick Parts in Word - USE THEM!
For those Microsoft Office 2003 power users out there, you might know everything there is about Word 2003, but the Ribbon in 2007 and later frustrated you. If, like me, you resisted the change to 2007 or later, you might not have taken the time to learn all the advances in 2007 and later versions. Instead, you relied on macros and auto-correct to do most of your work.
If that's the case, you might be entirely unaware of Quick Parts. Quick Parts allow you to enter large blocks of text with formatting in a matter of a few clicks. Even better, it is incredibly easy to create Quick Parts; they are much easier than macros and auto-correct.
If you haven't done so, I highly recommend that you make them a regular part of your practice. Create Quick Parts for your signature block, court captions, your standard deposition notice language, your standard notice of appearance language, all of those stock objections you raise on every response to a request for production. And the list just goes on.
To learn more about them, I recommend checking out this article from the ABA.
If that's the case, you might be entirely unaware of Quick Parts. Quick Parts allow you to enter large blocks of text with formatting in a matter of a few clicks. Even better, it is incredibly easy to create Quick Parts; they are much easier than macros and auto-correct.
If you haven't done so, I highly recommend that you make them a regular part of your practice. Create Quick Parts for your signature block, court captions, your standard deposition notice language, your standard notice of appearance language, all of those stock objections you raise on every response to a request for production. And the list just goes on.
To learn more about them, I recommend checking out this article from the ABA.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Google Handwriting Input - Neat, But Not For My Phone
If you use an Android device and are not following The Droid Lawyer, you're really missing out. Jeffrey Taylor always keeps you up to date on using Android in the practice of law. Today's post talked about Google Handwriting Input, which allows you to write instead of typing.
I've only had it on my phone for today, and I must say, I loved it. At first at least. I think that part of it was some nostalgia for my old palm pilot I had in college with its stylus and writing that way. However, on my phone, I think that using the keyboard is still quicker. I will say the handwriting recognition was much more accurate than I would have predicted. There just isn't enough room to get into a flow. And the ability to slide from letter to letter on the keyboard just feels easier. Maybe practice with the handwriting feature would change that, but I'm not sure I've got the patience now to find that out.
I hope to add it to the tablet and see how it works there. The extra room might be a key difference. For now though, as fun as it was to think back on my time at Ohio State, I think I'll be staying with my keyboard. I would encourage everyone to give it a try, because for some, it might be the way to go.
I've only had it on my phone for today, and I must say, I loved it. At first at least. I think that part of it was some nostalgia for my old palm pilot I had in college with its stylus and writing that way. However, on my phone, I think that using the keyboard is still quicker. I will say the handwriting recognition was much more accurate than I would have predicted. There just isn't enough room to get into a flow. And the ability to slide from letter to letter on the keyboard just feels easier. Maybe practice with the handwriting feature would change that, but I'm not sure I've got the patience now to find that out.
I hope to add it to the tablet and see how it works there. The extra room might be a key difference. For now though, as fun as it was to think back on my time at Ohio State, I think I'll be staying with my keyboard. I would encourage everyone to give it a try, because for some, it might be the way to go.
Friday, March 20, 2015
An Easier Way to Find Your Phone using Your Android Wear Device
In the past, I explained a method of ringing your phone using from your Smartwatch using Tasker.
Yesterday, Google made my whole post obsolete. And I couldn't be happier.
Now, you can tell your watch to your phone without using Tasker. According to Google, all you have to do is say "Ok Google. Start. Find my phone". Personally, this did not work for me. It instead brought up the option of opening the Google blog post I described above.
Instead, I use "Ok Google. Start app find my phone", and it seems to work nearly every time. Of course, if you're using Android Wear Mini Launcher, you can just swipe right across the top of the watch one time and find the "Find my phone" app directly.
Launching the app will cause your phone to ring at full volume. Assuming your phone is close enough to be connected to your watch, this is an incredibly easy way to find it. Especially useful for finding that phone buried under the mountain of paperwork on your desk.
Yesterday, Google made my whole post obsolete. And I couldn't be happier.
Now, you can tell your watch to your phone without using Tasker. According to Google, all you have to do is say "Ok Google. Start. Find my phone". Personally, this did not work for me. It instead brought up the option of opening the Google blog post I described above.
Instead, I use "Ok Google. Start app find my phone", and it seems to work nearly every time. Of course, if you're using Android Wear Mini Launcher, you can just swipe right across the top of the watch one time and find the "Find my phone" app directly.
Launching the app will cause your phone to ring at full volume. Assuming your phone is close enough to be connected to your watch, this is an incredibly easy way to find it. Especially useful for finding that phone buried under the mountain of paperwork on your desk.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Plan For the Loss of a Mobile Device Now
I spent a couple of days last week in New York talking with some very smart people about automated document production in the legal profession geared primarily towards pro se individuals and legal services advocates. On the way back to Ohio, I had a layover in D.C. During the flight from LaGuardia to D.C., I took a nap. I placed my tablet in the seat back pocket. Upon waking, I completely forgot that I had done this and left the plane without picking up my tablet.
It wasn't until half an hour later as I was waiting at the next gate that I realized what had happened. Fortunately, I was lucky and was able to get it back without too many problems. But, as I stood there waiting for an answer as to whether my device had been located, I began to think about what to do in the event that my device was lost. It wasn't something I had put much thought in to before. After all, I've lost more wedding rings than mobile devices (true fact).
Today's message: don't wait to think about what to do if you've lost your device. Some things to think about would include ways to locate it using GPS. Perhaps a message on the lock screen containing information about what a good Samaritan can do to return the phone. And, of course, ways to completely wipe all information from the device remotely if it isn't found and returned. This is especially important if it is a device that contains confidential information.
This latter point is worth thinking about a bit. I've pulled that trigger one time just to see how thorough a remote wipe was. It was very, very thorough. Nothing left. I had backed everything up ahead of time because I knew in advance what I was going to do. Odds are, that won't be an option if you've misplaced your phone. So, if you haven't got a backup plan you're following, probably a good time to think about that as well.
It wasn't until half an hour later as I was waiting at the next gate that I realized what had happened. Fortunately, I was lucky and was able to get it back without too many problems. But, as I stood there waiting for an answer as to whether my device had been located, I began to think about what to do in the event that my device was lost. It wasn't something I had put much thought in to before. After all, I've lost more wedding rings than mobile devices (true fact).
Today's message: don't wait to think about what to do if you've lost your device. Some things to think about would include ways to locate it using GPS. Perhaps a message on the lock screen containing information about what a good Samaritan can do to return the phone. And, of course, ways to completely wipe all information from the device remotely if it isn't found and returned. This is especially important if it is a device that contains confidential information.
This latter point is worth thinking about a bit. I've pulled that trigger one time just to see how thorough a remote wipe was. It was very, very thorough. Nothing left. I had backed everything up ahead of time because I knew in advance what I was going to do. Odds are, that won't be an option if you've misplaced your phone. So, if you haven't got a backup plan you're following, probably a good time to think about that as well.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
A Pictorial Guide to Signing PDFs On Your Android Device
You get an email with a .pdf document attached. You're on the road and check it on your phone. Everything is in order, it just needs your signature. You despair because there's no easy way to print it from your phone, sign it, scan it, and send it back. Sure, if you're lucky enough to have Adobe Pro back at the office, you could handle it on your desktop. But, that's far away from where you are now. What to do?
Fortunately, the Adobe Reader app for Android phones (maybe for iPhones, but I don't know since I'm Android all the way) makes this exact scenario a thing of the past. With the Adobe Reader, you can sign your .pdf documents easily and free of charge from your Android powered devices. Today, I'm going to walk you through how to do that.
First, make sure you have the Adobe Reader app on your device. Then, open up your .pdf file in Adobe.
Now, tap in the middle of your document, which will change the bar at the top to look like the following:
Choose the pen (the last tool on the right), and you'll receive a toast message telling you to tap on the screen at the location you want to insert your signature. I'd choose right on the signature line.
Once you've tapped where you want your signature to go, you'll be taken to a screen where you will be asked to sign your name. Simply do that. Sign your name. You can modify the look of it with the controls at the top. When you're done, tap the check mark.
After a brief dialog asking you to give your signature a name, you will be taken back to your document, but it will have your signature added in now on the signature line.
So, why would you ever use this? Well, for starters, it eliminates the scenario described at the top. IT saves trees. Moreover, if you have a document you want a client to sign, you can have them just sign your phone.
Fortunately, the Adobe Reader app for Android phones (maybe for iPhones, but I don't know since I'm Android all the way) makes this exact scenario a thing of the past. With the Adobe Reader, you can sign your .pdf documents easily and free of charge from your Android powered devices. Today, I'm going to walk you through how to do that.
First, make sure you have the Adobe Reader app on your device. Then, open up your .pdf file in Adobe.
Now, tap in the middle of your document, which will change the bar at the top to look like the following:
Choose the pen (the last tool on the right), and you'll receive a toast message telling you to tap on the screen at the location you want to insert your signature. I'd choose right on the signature line.
Once you've tapped where you want your signature to go, you'll be taken to a screen where you will be asked to sign your name. Simply do that. Sign your name. You can modify the look of it with the controls at the top. When you're done, tap the check mark.
After a brief dialog asking you to give your signature a name, you will be taken back to your document, but it will have your signature added in now on the signature line.
If you want to modify your signature's appearance on the page, simply tap on it. You will be given options to modify how it looks as well as to re-size it and move it to a different place on the screen.
You now have a saved document with your signature on it, ready to return by email, print, or whatever else you want to do with it. Even better, when you go to sign something else, it will remember your signature and give you the option of simply inserting it.
So, why would you ever use this? Well, for starters, it eliminates the scenario described at the top. IT saves trees. Moreover, if you have a document you want a client to sign, you can have them just sign your phone.
Friday, February 20, 2015
Not Every New Feature is Immediately Useful, but That Doesn't Mean It Should Be Dismissed as Frivolous
I read this article on LifeHacker this morning about how you can turn on your phone's flashlight using by telling Google to turn on the flashlight. Still not quicker than just hitting the flashlight button on the phone in my opinion. Same with toggling WiFi and Bluetooth.
I had this same reaction back when I looked at the Commandr app. I just don't see this new feature as being at all useful or important.
However, after giving it a little more thought, that's not at all fair. Commandr and the deserved accolades it got made it clear that there was interest in voice functionality. This new step from Google is pushing the ball forward. Yeah, the current iteration of what it does might not be all that impressive, but that doesn't mean the next step won't be.
My point: just because the newest feature or idea seems frivolous to you, that doesn't mean it won't be the genesis of the feature you're using everyday six months from now.
I had this same reaction back when I looked at the Commandr app. I just don't see this new feature as being at all useful or important.
However, after giving it a little more thought, that's not at all fair. Commandr and the deserved accolades it got made it clear that there was interest in voice functionality. This new step from Google is pushing the ball forward. Yeah, the current iteration of what it does might not be all that impressive, but that doesn't mean the next step won't be.
My point: just because the newest feature or idea seems frivolous to you, that doesn't mean it won't be the genesis of the feature you're using everyday six months from now.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Got an Android Phone? Get Lollipop As Soon as Possible
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4. It's my first Samsung phone, and it hasn't been bad. I'm not a fan of the TouchWiz overlay that Samsung puts on top of the Android operating system, but it has served me well. However, I've been waiting patiently for a few months now to get the update to Lollipop and it still hasn't come. So, rather than continue to wait, I decided to install a development version of a custom ROM called CyanogenMod. In all honesty, it was the best decision I think I've made so far in 2015.
CyanogenMod is pretty close to being the stock Lollipop experience. No TouchWiz, no bloatware, no middle layers between you and the operating system. It is wonderful.
So, why is is so much better. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it just looks better. It really, really does. I'm not one who gets caught up in form; I want functionality. But the look of Lollipop is simply wonderful.
The real benefits though do come in function. For example, the built in ability to have trusted devices and trusted locations. If my watch is connected, it knows that I must nearby and so unlocks my phone so that I don't have to put in my pattern lock. If I'm at the house, it knows it, and I don't have to put in my pattern. This feature alone has made my wife somewhat jealous.
Additionally, the way notifications pop up on the screen at the top when you are in other apps. They poke down, let you see what is going on, but without being intrusive.
Multiple profiles are available if you're sharing the phone with others or want different setups (work and personal).
Battery life is better than what it was prior to switching to CyanogenMod.
Now, the recent apps feature shows your Chrome tabs mixed inn with recent apps, a huge plus for me.
The status bar and navigation drawer are even more useful.
The change from KitKat to Lollipop was one of the biggest changes I recall seeing on my phone. It's wonderful.
So, if you're anxious, give CyanogenMod 12 a try. For the Galaxy S4, their nightly builds are good enough to be your daily workhorse. At least they are for me, and I feel like I ask a lot of my phone. Yeah, it will void your warranty and all that business, but, it is completely worth it in my opinion. Lollipop really is that good.
CyanogenMod is pretty close to being the stock Lollipop experience. No TouchWiz, no bloatware, no middle layers between you and the operating system. It is wonderful.
So, why is is so much better. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it just looks better. It really, really does. I'm not one who gets caught up in form; I want functionality. But the look of Lollipop is simply wonderful.
The real benefits though do come in function. For example, the built in ability to have trusted devices and trusted locations. If my watch is connected, it knows that I must nearby and so unlocks my phone so that I don't have to put in my pattern lock. If I'm at the house, it knows it, and I don't have to put in my pattern. This feature alone has made my wife somewhat jealous.
Additionally, the way notifications pop up on the screen at the top when you are in other apps. They poke down, let you see what is going on, but without being intrusive.
Multiple profiles are available if you're sharing the phone with others or want different setups (work and personal).
Battery life is better than what it was prior to switching to CyanogenMod.
Now, the recent apps feature shows your Chrome tabs mixed inn with recent apps, a huge plus for me.
The status bar and navigation drawer are even more useful.
The change from KitKat to Lollipop was one of the biggest changes I recall seeing on my phone. It's wonderful.
So, if you're anxious, give CyanogenMod 12 a try. For the Galaxy S4, their nightly builds are good enough to be your daily workhorse. At least they are for me, and I feel like I ask a lot of my phone. Yeah, it will void your warranty and all that business, but, it is completely worth it in my opinion. Lollipop really is that good.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
The Beginner's Illustrated Guide to Tables of Authorities in Word
Okay, by now we all are aware that
Microsoft Word can help manage the table of authorities in your brief. Yet, how many lawyers actually use this function let alone understand how it works?
How many legal assistants understand it? How many times have you tried to use
this function only to give up and go back to doing it by hand and hoping it all
worked out well?
I understand. I don't think it is a well-documented feature. Yet, once you know how to use it, you will not go back to doing it by hand.
So, let’s dig into an image intensive look at how to
actually let Word create the table of authorities for you. This will be a lengthy post, but I think seeing screen shots of
what to do will make it easier to figure out what to do.
First, write your brief. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, try to
mark your authorities as you write. It will make your life more complicated. I
typically mark my cases for inclusion in the table of authorities when the text
of the brief is finished and I’m cleaning up all of my citations. I might make
some minor edits, add a paragraph here or there after I do this, but I’m not
adjusting the order of citations.
Once you brief is finished, start at the top of your brief and
find the first citation. Highlight the entire citation. Go to the References
tab on the ribbon and click on “Mark citation”.
On this screen, you will also need to ensure that you have
the correct category selected for this citation. Since this is a case, I have
selected Cases. Ignore the other areas of this window for now and choose the “Mark”
button.
After you click “Mark”, you will be taken back to your
document.
If you weren’t showing paragraphs marks (you didn’t have the pilcrow
selected on the Home tab) you may be surprised to see a completely different
looking document. It will look something like the below. Of note, the highlighted
information is the information added, but don’t worry, it won’t show up when
you print. Unless you know what you’re doing, DO NOT EDIT THE ADDED
INFORMATION. Editing it will affect how your table of authorities is built.
Repeat this process for every new citation you come across.
Of course, eventually, you will come across a short citation or an id.
citation. In that case, you will highlight the short citation and choose mark
citation as before.
This time, when the window pops up, simply click the case
name in the short citation list that the citation you are adding points to.
So,
in my example, I’ve highlight an Id. in my document, but it points to the
Marbury case, so I choose Marbury from the short citation list. If the short
citation is not a case but a statute, make sure you look in the correct
category. Once highlighted, choose Mark.
Once all of your citations are marked as set out above, go
to the point in your brief where you want to insert a table of authorities. Put
the cursor on that spot. Then, go to the References Tab on the ribbon and
choose “Insert Table of Authorities”.
For now, we’re just going to insert the table.
So, make sure you have “All” selected under categories. If you only wanted to
insert some of the categories, you could do that here. Note, it will only insert
categories that actually have items in them. So, if you have no Rules, it won’t
display an empty Rules area. Next, choose “OK”.
And, as you can see, you now have a wonderful looking Table
of Authorities.
Now, let’s say you have added other pages or moved some items
around. No problem. Prior to finalizing your brief for printing and saving,
turn off the option to show formatting (again, the pilcrow on the home page).
Next, right click on your table of authorities and choose “update field”.
It is important that you
not be showing formatting marks when you do this. I’ve found that the length of
the information added by mark items for the table can do weird things to the
page numbering IF you have it showing when updating fields. So, if your page
numbers seem off, that may be why.
That’s it. It really isn’t that hard. And the time and
headache it can save with manually checking the page numbers and updating it
when you make little edits more than make up for the time it takes to actually
follow this process.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Feeling a Lack of Ambition? Hang Out with Some Legal Tech Folks
With the ending of the holiday season and all of the spectacle and business that comes with it, I was feeling somewhat exhausted and burnt out. My ambition for taking on new projects and learning new stuff was low. Fortunately, that all changed last week.
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend and present at the Legal Services Corporation's Technology Innovation Grant annual conference in San Antonio. The conference brought together advocates and legal tech types from across the county to talk about how to better use legal technology to help not only legal attorneys but their clients and the thousands of people across the country who can't afford an attorney and that a legal aid program is unable to assist.
Hanging out with that crowd, picking their brain, and listening to their ideas was just what the doctor ordered. The amount of enthusiasm, creative thinking, and energy was infectious. Ordinarily, I find conferences and social events to be draining. While I was physically exhausted after 2 1/2 intensive days or tech, I left San Antonio with more mental energy than I've felt in several months.
So, if you're feeling a lack of ambition, find a group of legal techies and hang out with them. Ask them what new project or thing has them excited. I don't think it is possible to come away not feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world.
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend and present at the Legal Services Corporation's Technology Innovation Grant annual conference in San Antonio. The conference brought together advocates and legal tech types from across the county to talk about how to better use legal technology to help not only legal attorneys but their clients and the thousands of people across the country who can't afford an attorney and that a legal aid program is unable to assist.
Hanging out with that crowd, picking their brain, and listening to their ideas was just what the doctor ordered. The amount of enthusiasm, creative thinking, and energy was infectious. Ordinarily, I find conferences and social events to be draining. While I was physically exhausted after 2 1/2 intensive days or tech, I left San Antonio with more mental energy than I've felt in several months.
So, if you're feeling a lack of ambition, find a group of legal techies and hang out with them. Ask them what new project or thing has them excited. I don't think it is possible to come away not feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Tips From Legal Office Guru on Tables of Authority
Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and Happy New Years and all of that. I know I enjoyed a couple weeks away from the office and mostly disconnected. However, now it's time to get back, and I'm looking froward to a new year of blogging.
To get the new year started, I wanted to point out a great post over at Legal Office Guru that discusses common errors in creating tables of authority in Microsoft Word. I'll admit that I've learned the hard way why this article hits the nail on the head.
I hope to have a post up this week doing a walk-through on how to do it right.
To get the new year started, I wanted to point out a great post over at Legal Office Guru that discusses common errors in creating tables of authority in Microsoft Word. I'll admit that I've learned the hard way why this article hits the nail on the head.
I hope to have a post up this week doing a walk-through on how to do it right.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Universal Copy and Paste with Pushbullet
I've mentioned my fondness for Pushbullet in the past. You can easily send links to websites from one device to another, as well as receive notifications from your phone on your desktop. You can even send SMS messages from your desktop.
One of the features I've been using more and more lately is the ability to copy and paste text from one device to another. For example, suppose I'm working on something on my tablet and need to insert a block of text that is on my computer. With Pushbullet's universal copy and paste, I can highlight and copy the text on my desktop. Then, after waiting a second or two, on my tablet, I simply choose paste where I want the text I copied on my desktop to go.
To enable this, on all of your devices you want to be able to do this, simply open up Pushbullet's options and enable Universal Copy and Paste.
One of the features I've been using more and more lately is the ability to copy and paste text from one device to another. For example, suppose I'm working on something on my tablet and need to insert a block of text that is on my computer. With Pushbullet's universal copy and paste, I can highlight and copy the text on my desktop. Then, after waiting a second or two, on my tablet, I simply choose paste where I want the text I copied on my desktop to go.
To enable this, on all of your devices you want to be able to do this, simply open up Pushbullet's options and enable Universal Copy and Paste.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Tasker for Attorneys: Have Your Android Wear Watch Find Your Misplaced Phone
When I have my Galaxy Gear Live connected to my phone, it automatically turns the volume and vibration off on the phone. Of course, if I then misplace my phone under a pile of papers in the office, I can't find my phone. With the volume down, I can't just call it. How can I find it quickly and easily?
Fortunately, Tasker can come to the rescue.
First, get Tasker. Yes, it is a paid app. But it is worth the price of admission for the control and automation it can bring. To increase the usability with your Android Wear Watch, get WearTasker as well.
In Tasker, the first order of business is to create a variable. On the Tasker home page, go to the VARS tab. Add a new variable and call it %FOUNDPHONE.
Next, in Tasker, go to the TASKS tab and create another new task. Give it a name you find useful.
In your new task, add an action. Choose the Variables action category. Then choose Variable Set. The name of the variable to set is %FOUNDPHONE. Set it to 1.
The next action to add is to increase your phone's volume. Select the Audio action category, and choose ringer volume. Set the volume to 7 or higher so that it will ring loudly.
Fortunately, Tasker can come to the rescue.
First, get Tasker. Yes, it is a paid app. But it is worth the price of admission for the control and automation it can bring. To increase the usability with your Android Wear Watch, get WearTasker as well.
In Tasker, the first order of business is to create a variable. On the Tasker home page, go to the VARS tab. Add a new variable and call it %FOUNDPHONE.
Next, create a new task and call it “Kill Ringer”. The only
action that we’ll add to this task is to set a variable. So, add a new action, choose
the “Variables” action category, and choose variable set. The name will be
%PHONEFOUND. Set it to 2. Save this task.
Next, in Tasker, go to the TASKS tab and create another new task. Give it a name you find useful.
In your new task, add an action. Choose the Variables action category. Then choose Variable Set. The name of the variable to set is %FOUNDPHONE. Set it to 1.
The next action to add is to increase your phone's volume. Select the Audio action category, and choose ringer volume. Set the volume to 7 or higher so that it will ring loudly.
Now, add another action. Choose the “Media” action category.
In there, choose “Play Ringtone”. The type should be “ringer” and stream should
be “Alarm”. Under if, the first box should be %FOUNDPHONE, the sign should be
equals, and the third box should be 1. This step is important. If you don’t set
the ringtone to only play when the variable = 1, then it might ring in an
unceasing loop. That would be annoying, to say the least.
The next action we’ll add is a pop up. This way, when you
find your phone, you’ll be able to easily quiet the ringer. Add a new action,
choose the “Alert” action category, and then choose “Popup Task Buttons”. Under
the Text, put in something like “Found my phone”. For mode, choose text. For
task, you’ll put in Kill Ringer. Lastly, set the Timeout (Seconds) slider to
60.
What this does is create a popup on your phone with a button
that says “Kill Ringer”. When you push the button, it runs the first task we
created, which sets the %PHONEFOUND variable to 2, which stops the ringer.
Also, the popup will disappear after 60 seconds.
The last task we want to add is to again set the %PHONEFOUND
variable. This time, set it to 2. This way, if the previous popup disappears
due to the timeout, your phone will stop ringing.
Now, leave Tasker and go to WearTasker. Click the floating
action button at the bottom and choose “Add task”. The task to add will be the
one we just finished creating in Tasker. Save and exit.
WearTasker will update your watch with this task. When you
open WearTasker on your watch, it will have a button with the name of your
task. Pressing it will run the task, increasing your phone’s volume and causing
it to ring.
Now, when you misplace your phone in your office with the volume
low, you’ll be able to quickly and easily find it.
Monday, December 8, 2014
How to Add Bates Stamps using Acrobat Pro
Whether dealing with vast quantities or even a few dozen discovery documents, organization is critical. Bates Stamping documents makes staying organized much easier. However, if you have Acrobat Pro and are still using an actual Bates stamp or machine, you're making life much too difficult.
For those unfamiliar with Bates stamping, it is a system of putting a prefix and incremental number on the bottom right corner of every page. For example, if I received 100 documents from Plaintiff Smith, I might put SMITH 00001 on the first page, SMITH 00002 on the next, and so forth. Physically stamping this way used to be the practice, and I'm sure some still do that.
But, let me show you how I do it.
First, if you haven't already done so, scan all of your documents into a .pdf file. Save the file. I typically will give it a useful name and then add the word "clean" to the end. This tells me that this is my original, unnumbered set of documents. I then make a copy of the file and add the word "bates" to the end. This is the document I'll number. It is also the document I'll be using from here on.
Open that file in Acrobat Pro. From there, on the right side drawer, go to "Tools" -> "Pages" -> "Bates Numbering". Choose to add bates numbers.
This will pop up a new window. Choose to Add documents and select add open files:
Choose the open file you want, then select Ok. Hit Ok again and you will see a new window open up:
Put the cursor in the "Right Footer Text Box" and then click the "Insert Bates Number" button. In the new window, put in the prefix you want to use remembering to put a single space at the end. You can adjust the starting number and number of leading zeroes if you like. Select Ok and then Ok again.You now have a Bates numbered document, which will help with organization.
For those unfamiliar with Bates stamping, it is a system of putting a prefix and incremental number on the bottom right corner of every page. For example, if I received 100 documents from Plaintiff Smith, I might put SMITH 00001 on the first page, SMITH 00002 on the next, and so forth. Physically stamping this way used to be the practice, and I'm sure some still do that.
But, let me show you how I do it.
First, if you haven't already done so, scan all of your documents into a .pdf file. Save the file. I typically will give it a useful name and then add the word "clean" to the end. This tells me that this is my original, unnumbered set of documents. I then make a copy of the file and add the word "bates" to the end. This is the document I'll number. It is also the document I'll be using from here on.
Open that file in Acrobat Pro. From there, on the right side drawer, go to "Tools" -> "Pages" -> "Bates Numbering". Choose to add bates numbers.
This will pop up a new window. Choose to Add documents and select add open files:
Choose the open file you want, then select Ok. Hit Ok again and you will see a new window open up:
Put the cursor in the "Right Footer Text Box" and then click the "Insert Bates Number" button. In the new window, put in the prefix you want to use remembering to put a single space at the end. You can adjust the starting number and number of leading zeroes if you like. Select Ok and then Ok again.You now have a Bates numbered document, which will help with organization.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Use Tab Stops to Line Up Words in Microsoft Word
I've talked in the past about the importance of using the left indent instead of the space bar when adjusting where to start text on the page. This addresses how to align the left margin of blocks of text. But, what about aligning items in the middle of a sentence?
For example, let's look at the top of an affidavit in common use in Ohio:
The goal here is to align the closing parentheses vertically. I've received a number of documents from colleagues where they are almost aligned, but not quite:
The reason for the misalignment is simple. The drafter used the space bar to try to line everything up:
There are a number of problems with this method. First, it will rarely result in having everything lined up vertically unless you are using a monospaced font. As Butterick says in Typography for Lawyers, "There are no good reasons to use monospaced fonts. So don't."
Second, fixing typos can be a pain. If you notice you made a mistake with the space bar method, you will likely have to go back and fix all of those spaces again, which can be a headache.
Lastly, it is time consuming. You end up spending a good deal of time trying to get the alignment close only to end up with imperfect results.
Instead of using the space bar, set tab stops. Here's how I would create the alignment.
First, type in your text and insert a single tab between the last word and the closing parentheses. So, when you're done, you'll have something that looks like this:
Those arrows pointing to the right indicate the press of the tab key. So, how does this help us? Now, when you adjust the tab stop, it will align those parentheses. To do this, highlight all three lines. Then, click on the top ruler to insert a tab stop where you want the parentheses to line up:
This will add a tab stop on your ruler, which I have circled above. Now, your parentheses will all be perfectly aligned.
If you need to edit the location of the parentheses at any point, simply highlight all three lines and click and drag the tab stop in the ruler to the new location.
Using this method will save you time and headache and result in a better end product than using the space bar.
For example, let's look at the top of an affidavit in common use in Ohio:
The reason for the misalignment is simple. The drafter used the space bar to try to line everything up:
There are a number of problems with this method. First, it will rarely result in having everything lined up vertically unless you are using a monospaced font. As Butterick says in Typography for Lawyers, "There are no good reasons to use monospaced fonts. So don't."
Second, fixing typos can be a pain. If you notice you made a mistake with the space bar method, you will likely have to go back and fix all of those spaces again, which can be a headache.
Lastly, it is time consuming. You end up spending a good deal of time trying to get the alignment close only to end up with imperfect results.
Instead of using the space bar, set tab stops. Here's how I would create the alignment.
First, type in your text and insert a single tab between the last word and the closing parentheses. So, when you're done, you'll have something that looks like this:
Those arrows pointing to the right indicate the press of the tab key. So, how does this help us? Now, when you adjust the tab stop, it will align those parentheses. To do this, highlight all three lines. Then, click on the top ruler to insert a tab stop where you want the parentheses to line up:
If you need to edit the location of the parentheses at any point, simply highlight all three lines and click and drag the tab stop in the ruler to the new location.
Using this method will save you time and headache and result in a better end product than using the space bar.
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