Scheduling and e-mail.

Time is of the essence in any successful law practice. Technology helps make you more efficient.

Organization and communication are at the core of successful lawyering, and, as in all aspects of the practice, personal computers are having a great impact.

This article discusses two uses of PCs in an effort to nudge the plaintiffs' bar, in particular small firms and sole practitioners, to make full use of the power that technology is unleashing.

Scheduling and calendaring

The contemporary lawyer stands or falls on his or her capacity for time management. Two discrete tools have emerged for holding it all together: the task (or "to do") list and the calendar. Plotting one's time with reference to immutable events such as a trial date or a statute of limitations is at the heart of survival and success in today's legal environment.

If the key to successful legal practice is time management, the lock is the personal computer:

Using your computer for calendaring tasks will

allow you and your office to become better organized.

You'll know when critical deadlines

are coming up, and other staffers will know

your schedule because it's in the computer.

You can't pile papers over your computer

screen, so setting the "alarm" feature on your

electronic calendar gives you a "tickler" that

automatically notifies you of important dates.

And the computerized calendar will give you a

clear record of events should you ever, for example,

face formal accusations of missing a filing

deadline in a case.(1)

Automated solutions to the problem of time management are now within every practitioner's reach. At a relatively low price, excellent comprehensive personal information management systems (PIMs) are available to integrate case data with the calendar. The major word-processing programs now come packaged with calendar and scheduling systems.

The Internet is replete with freeware and shareware calendars and schedulers to satisfy every taste and style. Because of speed, efficiency, quality, and cost, there is no longer any good reason not to turn to the PC as the primary resource for organizing one's time.

With the abundance of choice, it is difficult in one article to address all the possibilities available. Rather than do this, what follows is an effort to stimulate interest in exploring what is out there.

Fully integrated legal PIMs

For as little as $250 to $350, a lawyer can buy an excellent law office-specific PIM that will address calendaring and scheduling needs, integrate client information and case files into calendar and task lists, and provide basic timekeeping.(2)

Both Amicus and Time Matters offer the small practitioner relatively inexpensive but sophisticated calendaring systems.(3) Both are user-friendly, capturing relevant information easily and reproducing it in convenient daily, weekly, or monthly calendars. Task lists can easily meld into the calendar.

Each system connects to word-processing programs and to case- or client-specific information fields, such as names, addresses, and telephone numbers. Each has a convenient date calculator to quickly find and post deadlines. Each can send relevant information to billing. Each can be customized and personalized to various degrees, Amicus primarily by case type, Time Matters in virtually every field. On opening the program, each alerts you to pending deadlines and events.

The pros and cons of these two systems must inevitably be resolved on the basis of personal preferences. Some matters to take into account in addition to price are

* ease of use--Amicus is slightly superior overall;

* flexibility--Time Matters is slightly superior overall;

* networking--Time Matters is slightly superior; and

* layout capability--Amicus is better.

Word-processor PIMs

One need not invest in law-specific programs to take advantage of computerized calendaring and scheduling. WordPerfect Suite 8 comes with the CorelCENTRAL program, and Word 97 comes with the Outlook program. Even the free Netscape Communicator program comes with an attractive and easy-to-use calendar program and task list.

With a click of the mouse, every pending calendar event or task can be entered and stored. These calendars can be retrieved in seconds and printed out as often as necessary for distribution to the staff. There need never be any question as to where you are or what you are doing.

These calendars can all connect directly to individual client files, which are basically electronic Rolodexes. A user can easily make journal entries, link to a word-processing file, and prepare and send an e-mail or fax. Each day can begin with the publication of the day's events and distribution of pending tasks. To varying degrees these systems can be personalized.

Of course, because these systems are not designed specifically for law offices, they lack many of the amenities of law office-tailored PIMs. They do not tie directly to time-tracking systems, do not calculate due dates, and lack the capacity to track dates and events by case in a highly organized fashion. But they are certainly superior to the old-fashioned wall calendar and pocket agenda and are available to anyone who purchases a word-processing program or uses an Internet browser.

Freeware and shareware calendars

For those who have not yet upgraded in WordPerfect or Word or who wish to explore alternatives to the relatively similar packages offered by the word-processing giants and Netscape, the Internet is replete with possibilities. Cranking up the search engine should produce many interesting possibilities. A random sample might include the following:

* Above & Beyond 98. This program describes itself as "a powerful but simple PIM... [with the] option to split tasks, dividing large time-intensive tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces as your schedule permits. Sequencing is a powerful project management feature that ensures dependent tasks are always scheduled in the correct order. Additional features include pop-up calendars, alarms, timers, a contact database, world time zones, LAN scheduling, e-mail, AutoPilot, and Meeting Maker."(4)

* AMF Daily Planner and PIM. This package is a "network-compliant, Internet-enabled PIM [that] includes a drag and drop interface with a perpetual scheduling calendar that goes up to the year 9000. It boasts a beautiful 3D, professional look. Store up to 30,000 entries in the phone book, which includes Yellow and White Pages and full searching capabilities .... Create business letters and schedule appointments through simple drag and drop. Use the built-in e-mail client to e-mail your contacts with just one click. Create... envelopes and labels with multiple fonts and colors. Set up to 1,440 alarms per day, and set alarms in the future."(5)

* Calendar Quick. This program allows easy entering of important recurring and nonrecurring tasks, and it instantly provides a list of events and actions for day-today use. Additionally, it creates calendars and time lines to track tasks. By integrating it with other Windows applications, you can easily transfer any schedule displayed to your favorite word processor or desktop publishing program via the Clipboard. Other functions include project management, work group management, and advance planning.(6)

The long and short of it is that, free of cost, you can find a calendaring system to suit your personality, schedule, and practice needs. There is no excuse for avoiding computer-based calendaring. Even with earlier versions of word-processing programs, a lawyer can easily develop practical calendaring systems. For example, with my WordPerfect 6.1, I had a master calendar with hyperlinks to case calendars.(7)

E-mail

E-mail is rapidly becoming the communications medium of choice in commerce, including the everyday practice of law. The facility, speed, and low cost through which information travels over the Internet is profoundly affecting the way we do business, whether in communicating with clients and expert witnesses, sharing ideas with other lawyers around the country, or transmitting files and documents.(8)

For starters, e-mail provides a ready source of news and information, not only of a general nature, but also focused on law. For example, the New York Times offers daily news via e-mail,(9) and Microsoft-NBC will send "news alerts" directly to your e-mail box.(10)

You now may enjoy periodic reports from the National Law Journal via the free Law Journal Extra Litigation Express,(11) and receive notice of Supreme Court arguments from Willamette University College of Law(12) and synopses of opinions as soon as they are published via the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School.(13)

On a more personal level, e-mail can be a convenient means of bonding with clients, reassuring them that you are working on their cases, and keeping up their confidence in you.

Zap out a few electronic messages toward the

end of your workday. Send a few sentences to

clients to let them know you are at trial and

when they can expect a call from you. E-mail

is not the be-all and end-all to effective communication,

but you might be surprised how

these brief messages comfort the recipients.(14)

E-mail can help foster similar confidence from referring lawyers with little effort, through effective use of calendaring or case-management software that reminds you when an update letter is needed and generates a standard letter for e-mail transmission.

Whether contacting clients, other lawyers, or expert witnesses, you can "move" cases by attaching files to e-mail for the fastest possible delivery. Compatibility issues among different word-processing programs are rapidly being overcome through conversion programs.(15)

Perhaps more important for small-firm and sole practitioners, e-mail provides a network of peers through various forums and list-serve and user groups, easy access to expertise that might not otherwise be readily available. I urge everyone to use ATLA NET,(16) ATLAs online service that has subject area forums through which you can ask questions and learn from more experienced lawyers via e-mail.

I regularly use the law office technology forum and expert witness forum as a source of information on improving my practice or for leads for developing new cases.

ATLA NET's Small Office Practice Section forum is often replete with tips on issues that come up nearly every day. Without it, I would not have access to peers in the same way as my big-firm adversaries. Civil rights and employment law forums provide substantive and procedural tips and can occasionally be a source of forms to expedite case preparation. As a minority practitioner, I also look to the Minority Caucus forum as a source of mutual support on issues of common concern to minority practitioners.

One exciting aspect of all this is that the technology is really just in its infancy and many lawyers have not yet begun to broach the potential of this medium. This is fertile ground for innovation by the plaintiffs' bar, but it requires serious attention and commitment to the technology by members of the organized bar.(17)

As rich a resource as it is for the lawyer, e-mail is not without its problems. Many complain about "e-mail overload," the barrage of messages that download, particularly for those of us who subscribe to various list servers.

The filtering capacity of the Eudora Pro program is a ready remedy to this ill,(18) although with the help of the delete button, I find this to be a petty annoyance at worst. One can always use alternative e-mail addresses or aliases; free Web-based e-mail accounts are readily available?

A much more serious problem is that of confidentiality, which cannot be guaranteed over the Internet without the use of encryption.

We may anticipate litigation arising from intercepted e-mail and potential breaches of attorney-client privilege arising from such interception. Is a lawyer who transmits confidential information that is intercepted and thereafter used to a client's disadvantage liable for professional negligence? I am sure that none of us wishes to be the test case.

Prudence suggests that we encrypt communications with clients and experts to avoid such a possibility. The standard for encryption is PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), which is readily available and relatively easy to use.(20)

Alternatively, a disclaimer or warnings to clients may be in order? In any event, e-mail should be avoided altogether if the materials discussed or transmitted are sufficiently sensitive as to raise a serious security issue.

A final area of concern from increased use of e-mail by lawyers is potential exposure to liability from the inadvertent creation of lawyer-client relationships by virtue of giving advice by e-mail. It may be wise to develop a standard disclaimer such as "Nothing in this message is intended to be used or construed as legal advice. No lawyer-client relationship is implied or intended."

The purpose of technology should be to simplify, not complicate, our lives. The PC can do this in the areas of time management and communications. By overcoming resistance and the last vestiges of computer phobia, we can be better and more effective practitioners.

Notes

(1.) Paul Bernstein, Case Management: Back to Basics, TRIAL, June 1997, at 75.

(2.) Automated Business Consultants (ABC), http://www.automatedbc.com, discounts the Amicus program to $250, and the advertised single-user price for Time Matters 2.0 is $350 (www.timematters.com or [phone]). The price of Abacus Law has been lowered in order to compete with Amicus, and, as we went to press, the price was about $300. More expensive programs, which include basic features and often highly sophisticated and useful add-ons, include Case Master III for Windows or DOS (discounted at ABC to $850 for a single user); Juris (including comprehensive timekeeping and accounting, starting at $1,600 for a single workstation, http://www.juris.com./public/priceit.htm); and Saga (starting at about $3,000, http://www.sagasys.com/ prod01.htm).

(3.) There are other, albeit higher-priced, programs worth exploring, including Compulaw's Vision Docket and Abacus. See Ronald E. Kaplan, Reaping the Benefits of a Computerized Calendar System, http://www.compulaw.com/kaplan.htm, which discusses some features of Abacus and Compulaw.

(4.) http://www.download.com/PC/Result/Title Detail/0,4,0-43741,501000.html.

(5.) http://www.download.com/PC/Result/Title Detail/0,4,0-26227,501000.html.

(6.) http://www.download.com/PC/Result/Title Detail/0,4,0-21268,501000.html.

(7.) See Robert LeRoux Hernandez, Using the Computer to Level the Playing Field, TRIAL, Jan. 1998, at 36.

(8.) For e-mail programs, Eudora Pro is widely recognized as the best. See, e.g., Dana Shultz, Eudortz Pro: World-Class E-mail, http://www.ds-a.com/ eudora.html. Personally, I am satisfied with the free program that comes with the Netscape Communicator browser.

(9.) Contact New York Times Direct via http:// www.nytimes.com/partners/iib/services/signup.html.

(10.) Go to http://www.msnbc.com/tools/alert/ alermain.asp.

(11.) http://www.ljx.com/ibd/subscribe.html.

(12.) [e-mail].

(13.) [e-mail].

(14.) Paul Bernstein, Working the Net to Your Advantage, TRIAL, July 1997, at 93.

(15.) But see Dana Shultz, Feeling Attached to E-mail, Law Office Technology Home Page, http:// www.ds-a.com/feeling.html. The author points out that apart from security and compatibility issues, "a subtle but crucial technical issue arises: How is the file encoded when it is attached to the message?"

(16.) Go to http://www.atlanet.org.

(17.) "We all must learn to use e-mail and browser software. To make telecommunicating work, of course, bar associations must make using e-mail and electronic telecommunicating mandatory for committee members. Committee chairs and vice chairs must set the standard and make it clear that all who join a committee must either know how to use these technologies or learn how." Paul Bernstein, Getting Down to Business: A Valuable Use of ATLA NET, TRIAL, Feb. 1998, at 82.

(18.) See Shultz, supra note 15.

(19.) See id. for a number of alternative coping mechanisms.

(20.) Stephen E. Hargrove, PGP--How to Use It, VIRTUAL ATTORNEY, Jan. 1998.

(21.) See http://www.legalethics.com/draft.htm. Among models that have been proposed are the following. "E-mail communication on the Internet may not be secure. There is a risk that this confidential communication may be intercepted illegally. There may also be a risk of waiving lawyer-client and/or work-product privileges that may attach to this communication. Do not forward this message to any third party. If you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact the sender." "Do not read, copy, or disseminate this communication unless you are the addressee. This e-mail communication contains confidential and/or privileged information intended only for the addressee. If you have received this communication in error, please call us (collect) immediately at [phone] and ask to speak to the sender of the communication. Also, please notify immediately via e-mail the sender that you have received the communication in error."

Robert LeRoux Hernandez practices law in Malden, Massachusetts. Information about the products mentioned in this article is provided by the author and does not reflect an endorsement of any product by TRIAL or ATLA.