Corel's Suite 7 - how sweet it is.

Several major software vendors bundle different programs together as suites. A suite usually includes word-processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation-graphics, and calendaring programs. One benefit of a suite is that the menus, the keyboard commands, and the look and feel of the programs are similar. This means we can learn to use all the programs in the suite more quickly.

However, when it comes to legal-specific applications software packages--such as case-management, calendaring, name and address lists, and litigation-support software--we are forced to navigate our way around new products and their command structures. What a pain.

Of the big three software companies--Microsoft Corp., Corel Corp./WordPerfect, and IBM/Lotus Development--only Corel seems to have studied the computing needs of the legal profession. Corel has created a special suite to ensure that lawyers get the tools and features needed to practice law more efficiently and productively. This column discusses why Corel's WordPerfect Suite 7--Legal Edition is a useful product for law firms of all sizes. (Suite 8--Legal Edition should be available by the time this column appears.)

Corel's WordPerfect Suite 7--Legal Edition includes applications software: Corel WordPerfect 7 (word processing), Corel Quattro Pro 7 (spreadsheet), Corel Paradox 7 (database), and Corel Presentations (slide show graphics). The package also features legal-specific software.

In addition, the suite includes Corel Address Book, Netscape Navigator 2.02, American Heritage Concise Dictionary, 10,000 clip art images, and 1,000 fonts. That's a lot of software, and all of it is available on just one CD-ROM.

Lawyers use WordPerfect for several reasons. For example, in my office the staff have memorized the WordPerfect keystrokes. And for many of us, WordPerfect's "reveal codes" function is essential to formatting or reformatting documents. This is especially so with documents scanned and put through the optical character recognition (OCR) conversion process, which requires that other software's inappropriate or incorrect formatting codes be removed or changed.

Here are some of the newer features of WordPerfect:

* storage and retrieval of related documents as a group under a single name (for example, you can save a retainer agreement, a letter to a new client explaining your office procedures, and an initial demand letter to the defendant as one document on your computer);

* use of clipboards to save text, formatting codes, and graphic images;

* ability to create quality electronic stationery, pleading papers, and forms that can be printed automatically, simultaneously as your documents are printed;

* use of Ctrl-Shift-F5 to insert paragraph numbers anywhere in a document;

* use of Quick Characters list capability to insert often-used special characters;

* organization of files by client and matter; and

* ability to spell-check documents against a list of words that includes legal terms.

Most lawyers have not taken to using spreadsheets, but with Quattro Pro as part of the suite and because the command and menu structures of the programs included in the suite are similar, you may find more reasons to use this program. For example, you can track costs advanced and specials using the spreadsheet program.

Paradox has been one of the leading database programs for several years, and, again, once you use the suite for word processing and case management, it will be easy to start tinkering with and using the database program.

The Presentation program allows you to create slide presentations. More and more of us are using our in-house-created slide presentations during trial. This graphics program also enables you to tell prospective clients about your firm, and adjusters and opposing counsel about the facts, specials, and value of your case.

Now to the legal-specific features. Corel's c Suite 7 includes the following:

HotDocs 4, a document assembly software product from Capsoft Development Corp., lets you substitute variable references for client-specific information on your existing forms.(1) HotDocs creates these revised forms, or templates, within the Corel WordPerfect program.

The templates can then be used to create new client-specific documents, and the new information and documents become part of a HotDocs database. The information and forms can then be accessed and used with other standard forms.

For example, to create a standard letter or template to notify a new client that you've accepted his or her case, input the client's name and address, the date and location of the incident, the name of the defendant, and other information. That information is inserted automatically into both the letter and a database. The next time you write to the client or referring counsel, you will not need to reenter the information you entered when you created the first letter.

CompareRite 5.5, from LEXIS-NEXIS, compares drafts of a document and highlights any changes. The program generates a complete report and pinpoints the exact location of any differences in the drafts' text, footnotes, headers, footers, and foreign language characters.

FullAuthority 5.5, another LEXIS-NEXIS product and Suite 7 feature, locates all the case citations in a document and creates a table of authorities automatically. FullAuthority alphabetizes and sorts citations into categories: cases, statutes, and books and law review articles. The program also corrects underlining, punctuation, and abbreviation errors in citations.

Black's Law Dictionary is also available as part of the suite. The dictionary enables you to easily check the spelling and definitions of more than 14,000 legal terms and abbreviations.

NexLaw allows you to use clipboards to save text, formatting codes, and graphics images for later use, so you can create professional-looking stationery, pleading papers, and forms.

Corel Amicus Attorney 1.7 is the one product that makes all the parts of Suite 7 work together. This program, available from Gavel and Gown Software, Inc., is a case-management product that comes in both Windows and Mac versions.(2) Amicus Attorney creates automatic reminders of deadlines and overdue actions, logs settlement discussions and negotiations, and files information by client and client's matter, among other tasks.

Suite 7 manages and stores documents according to the file structure set up in Amicus Attorney. When a document is opened in the case-management section of Amicus Attorney, Suite 7 automatically opens and edits or creates a new document. When a new client record is added, the information is automatically added to the address book, where it can be accessed by a single user or anyone in the firm.

By focusing on the legal profession and integrating all these products into one suite, Corel Corp. has taken steps toward helping lawyers cope with using new software and helping them be more productive and responsive to client needs.(3)

Paul Bernstein is a practicing attorney and law office automation consultant in Chicago. He is the author of Computers for Lawyers, an ATLA Press publication. Mr. Bernstein can be reached on the Internet at [e-mail]. Opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not reflect an endorsement of any product by TRIAL or ATLA.

Notes

(1.) Capsoft Development Corp., 732 East Utah Valley Dr., Ste. 400, American Fork, UT 84003, [phone].

(2.) Gavel and Cown Software, Inc., 184 Pearl St., Ste. 304, Toronto, Ontario M5H 1L5, Canada, [phone], fax [phone], http:/www.amicus.ca.

(3.) For more details, call Corel at [phone], or visit its Web site at http://www.corel.com.