Great how-to program for lawyers

The Illinois Bar's 2007 Solo & Small Firm Conference had tremendously useful tips for lawyers in firms of all sizes. Along with Nerino Petro, I co-chaired the technology track and spoke at several events. Here are some preliminary highlights. I will be filling in details shortly.

E-discovery:

• Top cases on ediscovery summarized--how we got here
• The practical problem: how do you meet your burdens without bankrupting both parties?
• Practical tips for using the new rules to greatly reduce the discovery burden

Virtual IT department:

• Using several remote access tools to manage your computer remotely (Dave Yavitz)
• Practical tips from an IT guy who gets the business side on how to simplify (John Ahlberg)
• Ethical concerns of using remote services--better read that privacy agreement (Judge Bob Moss)

Vista v. Mac v. Linux shootout:

• Vista: more stable than XP, a little better design, 3d-party software not ready yet
• Mac: great, slick, but expensive. Some software won't run on it, but very little
• Linux: example, Zonbu PC. Cheap, does what you need, no IT hassles

PowerPoint

• How-to tips (text callouts, diagramming, timelines, etc.) to be posted soon (some already below)
  
• Detox your slides--no clutter, abandon bullets where possible, use plain backgrounds.
• Use the evidence in PowerPoint, not characterizations
• Increase throughput by using summaries, like timelines
• Think strategically. Ask what the goal is and let that drive the presentation

60 tips/gizmos and gadgets -- too many: will add my favorites soon

Several other presentations I saw, all good. Will be adding them too.

I'll continue to revise this post somewhat over the next few days.