In my legal career, I've had to veteran attorneys I've considered mentors. The first was the senior partner at my first job. I learned more from him about the nuts and bolts of practicing law and legal thinking than I would have ever admitted to myself when I was there. Funny how time and distance can help you realize things that you were too blind to see at the time.
My second mentor is my current managing attorney. Less skilled at the nuts and bolts - though I think that is a bit of a show on his part - one of the messages he has drilled in has been the importance of knowing your judge. It is much easier to get a ruling you want if you know how your judges tick, and what arguments that each particular judge is receptive to. Perhaps even more important than the substance of the argument is what forms of delivery they prefer.
On August 21, Above the Law had an article about a judge's exclusive use of digital documents. Briefs, motions, everything was done electronically. He had gone paperless on the bench.
My first thought was "wonderful, we've got another convert, even if he is using an iPad". My second thought was of my mentor in my ear asking, "now that you know this about the judge, what would you do differently if he was your judge?"
This is a question I haven't had to deal with yet, but I think it is just a matter of time before this makes its way to my little slice of Ohio. So, I took the question seriously: what would I do differently?
The first thing that comes to mind that I would want to reconsider is the formatting of my briefs and my choice of font. A font that is good for reading in print is not always good for reading on a laptop or tablet. A little extra space between the lines and unjustified alignment are probably better online than in print. A serif font is critical to reading in print, but a sans serif font has usually been the better choice for online consumption reading.
So, one of the real take aways from this post: if your judge is doing his reading on his tablet or computer, do you change your font and typography to match? No answers today, just a question.
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Showing posts with label Trial Tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trial Tech. Show all posts
Friday, August 22, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
USE CHROMECAST TO DISPLAY YOUR LAPTOP'S SCREEN
For those not familiar, Google's Chromecast is a $35.00 dongle that you plug into your television (or any display with and HDMI input) and connect to your WiFi network. Then, other devices on that same WiFi network can "cast" certain apps to the display through the Chromecast. For example, if you are watching Netflix on your phone or tablet, you could cast it to Chromecast and watch it on your television.
It is limited in that you can only display apps that are designed to work with Chromecast. You can't, out of the box, display local files and videos from your mobile devices.
However, on your laptop or desktop, you can mirror your entire screen through Chromecast. This is marked as being experimental, which is Google's way of telling you that you should not expect perfection and that it could very well not work well or at all for you.
To enable this, you first need to install the Chromecast app for Chrome. Once that is done, there will be a new symbol next to your address bar. Click on it, then on the down arrow next to "Cast this tab to..." and choose "Cast entire screen (experimental)".
Now, your television will show what is on your screen. I found that there was a second or two display between what I saw on my laptop's screen and when it happened on the television. I also noticed a slight flickering on my laptop display; however, it was tolerable. The television display was smooth and not choppy.
By doing this, you can display local files (music, videos, games) on your television without the need for wires. Be cautioned that if you are going to display non-local files, you may experience choppiness unless you have a fast internet connection as you will be putting quite a strain on your WiFi connection.
For $35.00, Chromecast can turn your regular television into something closer to a smart TV. In future posts, we'll explore whether this can be used in the court room.
It is limited in that you can only display apps that are designed to work with Chromecast. You can't, out of the box, display local files and videos from your mobile devices.
However, on your laptop or desktop, you can mirror your entire screen through Chromecast. This is marked as being experimental, which is Google's way of telling you that you should not expect perfection and that it could very well not work well or at all for you.
To enable this, you first need to install the Chromecast app for Chrome. Once that is done, there will be a new symbol next to your address bar. Click on it, then on the down arrow next to "Cast this tab to..." and choose "Cast entire screen (experimental)".
Now, your television will show what is on your screen. I found that there was a second or two display between what I saw on my laptop's screen and when it happened on the television. I also noticed a slight flickering on my laptop display; however, it was tolerable. The television display was smooth and not choppy.
By doing this, you can display local files (music, videos, games) on your television without the need for wires. Be cautioned that if you are going to display non-local files, you may experience choppiness unless you have a fast internet connection as you will be putting quite a strain on your WiFi connection.
For $35.00, Chromecast can turn your regular television into something closer to a smart TV. In future posts, we'll explore whether this can be used in the court room.
Friday, January 3, 2014
MY REVIEW OF THE JAWBONE JAMBOX
For the last few weeks, I've been using the Jawbone Jambox, and I think it is worth talking about here.
If you're not familiar with it, the Jambox is a relatively small Bluetooth speaker at less than 6 inches in length and 2" inches in depth and weighing less than a pound. Yet, I've found the sound quality that comes out of it to be clear and rich, containing decent sound at both the high and low ends. I regularly have been using it to play both audio-books as well as streaming music from Spotify and have been happy on both counts.
It has a 3.5 mm stereo jack that you can use to plug in your phone if you like or any other audio output device. However, I have found that using the Bluetooth capabilities to be wonderful. I've been able to walk throughout both my house and the office and still maintain connectivity with the Jambox.
And I think the best part has been the battery life. It boasts one the website a 15 hour battery life. But I've used it for 8 hours straight and it said that it still has 3/4 battery life left.
As far as down sides I've found is that the total overall volume could be louder. And the volume is fairly directional, so that I've found that you really want to have it pointing directly at you. Yet these downsides are not deal breakers by any means. The biggest downside could be the price, which seems a bit steep for a speaker this size.
Now, for the reason for bringing this up on this blog. Where I practice, I find myself in relatively small domestic relations court rooms on a somewhat regular basis. Rooms where the sound output of the Jambox would be sufficiently loud to be heard throughout the court room. I often have situations where I want to play a voice message left on my client's phone or the audio from a video they took on their phone. The Jambox would be an ideal way to play these things directly from my client's phone for the court and have better sound quality than the phone's speakers.
Over all, I've been exceptionally happy with the Jambox, and I think others who like to use their phone to play audio will find it's ease of use and quality make this a useful device for some offices.
If you're not familiar with it, the Jambox is a relatively small Bluetooth speaker at less than 6 inches in length and 2" inches in depth and weighing less than a pound. Yet, I've found the sound quality that comes out of it to be clear and rich, containing decent sound at both the high and low ends. I regularly have been using it to play both audio-books as well as streaming music from Spotify and have been happy on both counts.
It has a 3.5 mm stereo jack that you can use to plug in your phone if you like or any other audio output device. However, I have found that using the Bluetooth capabilities to be wonderful. I've been able to walk throughout both my house and the office and still maintain connectivity with the Jambox.
And I think the best part has been the battery life. It boasts one the website a 15 hour battery life. But I've used it for 8 hours straight and it said that it still has 3/4 battery life left.
As far as down sides I've found is that the total overall volume could be louder. And the volume is fairly directional, so that I've found that you really want to have it pointing directly at you. Yet these downsides are not deal breakers by any means. The biggest downside could be the price, which seems a bit steep for a speaker this size.
Now, for the reason for bringing this up on this blog. Where I practice, I find myself in relatively small domestic relations court rooms on a somewhat regular basis. Rooms where the sound output of the Jambox would be sufficiently loud to be heard throughout the court room. I often have situations where I want to play a voice message left on my client's phone or the audio from a video they took on their phone. The Jambox would be an ideal way to play these things directly from my client's phone for the court and have better sound quality than the phone's speakers.
Over all, I've been exceptionally happy with the Jambox, and I think others who like to use their phone to play audio will find it's ease of use and quality make this a useful device for some offices.
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