When working on a motion, bankruptcy petition or just doing some research we often find ourselves flipping between screens. Some lawyers keep their windows set to a size that allows more than one document on the screen at a time, others use programs to let them flip around using hot keys.But with inexpensive technology comes better solutions to increase productivity. That’s why so many lawyers use multiple monitors to keep their workflow in check and make their lives easier.

Consider this – you’re working on a motion and need to get some research done. On one screen you’ve got your word processor of choice, and on the other you’ve got Westlaw (or Lexis or FastCase or LoisLaw or whatever). You can see both screens at full size at the same time, allowing you to get the job done more quickly.

Or you’re preparing a bankruptcy petition. One screen’s got your bankruptcy preparation software, the other has the client’s documents that have been scanned into your computer. Your desk is clean, your work moves ahead without a hitch.

How many monitors is enough? Well, that depends on you. For me, the limit is 2 – one laptop screen and a widescreen monitor capable of keeping two windows open at 95% each. I find that having more monitors gives me free reign to indulge a lack of concentration and maximize the potential for distraction. Sure, you can have a bunch of screens sitting around and look like you’re controlling a lunar landing. But why?

The brain can do only so many things at once without losing steam, and trying to multi-multi-multitask will only slow you down.

The convenience of using two or more monitors is astounding, but at some point too much is too much.
So, how many monitors do you use?

[Source Legal Practice Pro]

As part of our weeklong legal efficiency-fest, we’re discussing the Getting Things Done productivity system in the context of a law firm. Each day this week, we’ll write guest posts at prominent legal blogs exploring the system in more detail.

Yesterday we painted an overview of Getting Things Done for the legal practitioner. As GTD adherents will say, becoming an organizational “black belt” takes a lot of time. And utilizing all components of the system may not work for you. But several of the techniques, such as the ones I’m presenting this week, are those that by themselves can really impact your productivity.

Dealing with “Stuff”

In GTD, “stuff” has a specific definition: “anything you have allowed into your psychological or physical world that doesn’t belong where it is, but for which you haven’t determined the desired outcome and the next action step” (from “Getting Things Done”, Chapter 1).

In other words, stuff is anything you have to deal with that requires a plan of action, from the trivial to the complex. The problem most people encounter when they attempt to get organized is that they don’t think about their stuff and transform it into actionable plans. For example, recording a to-do called “work on matter” will not help you move forward with your work, as there’s no clear result from the activity. It’s too vague.

Capturing “Open Loops”

To achieve the stress-free part of the GTD system, one of the most vital components is capturing information. If you don’t get your stuff out of your head and collected into a capture system, your mind, consciously or sometimes less that consciously, keeps track of all of the incomplete items in your life. These incomplete items are referred to as “open loops”, and can distract you from the present moment, sap energy, and cause stress.

A huge part of GTD is embracing a capture system and eliminating all “open loops” from your psyche. Find a system that inspires you, whether a 3×5 index card system, portable notebook, dictation device, (or shameless plug, Rocket Matter’s beautiful new task functionality) and get everything out of your head.

GTD recommends a process called a “Mind-Sweep”, where you spend twenty minutes to an hour writing out each thought, idea, or project that is in your head. Capture everything from the mundane “need more dental floss” to the wishful thinking “reduce carbon footprint”.

A Well-Written Next Action Item

Once your stuff is captured, it needs to be described so that acting on it will have a measurable outcome. Before, with the “work on matter” vague to-do item example, a task with a cloudy description will not drive you forward. “Review Westlaw for similar case precedents”, however, will.

The Next Action is the “next physical, visible activity that needs to be engaged in, in order to move the current reality towards completion” (from “Getting Things Done”, Chapter 2). Other examples might be “Call client to discuss amendment to operating agreement”, “Research web-based legal software tools”, or “Draft Motion to Dismiss for Smith Matter”.

Using action verbs to describe physical steps are crucial to describe your Next Action items. Verbs like “Call, Draft, Review, Find, Print, Email, Research” – all of these are ideal ways to describe your stuff, so that it transforms from the vague blob of an idea to a results-oriented description.

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned for tomorrow, where we’ll explore organizing, the “two minute rule” and “Do it, Defer it, and Delegate it.”

Originally posted on Blog for Profit: GTD For Legal: Capturing and Transforming “Stuff” into Next Action Items.

SaaS Case Management for the Small Firm

Case Management software is to lawyers as a point of sale system is to a retailer: it is the most integral part of their business. Since it is perhaps the most important piece of software used to manage a law practice, surprisingly I’ve often seen that once an attorney decides which software to use, he or she hardly ever re-evaluates the decision and looks at a replacement or upgrade. Attorneys rely on practice management software so completely — and it represents the very essence of their practice — that they cannot even fathom anything different.

ADVERSE TO CHANGE

One reason many are reluctant to change is because of the immense investment of time and resources already spent in installing the current software and the large amount of information entered into the current system. An attorney’s case management software is his or her lifeline; every case, every client and every transaction is stored in the current program. That being said, it is perplexing that such little effort is spent keeping up with advances in technology. All of these factors result in the usage of out-dated software, often times woefully inadequate to the firm’s needs, but nonetheless a required part of daily operations. Unfortunately new programs, such as Rocket Matter, are not seen as viable replacements when the real reason for not upgrading is the fear of something “new,” and the idea of transitioning data instills a fear of missing information and years of work lost.

SILVER LINING

What attorneys are missing is a brand new class of case management programs which, while they seek to replace older programs, also seek to solve many of the concerns law firms face when dealing with digital client data: security, mobile access and backup. As one of the newcomers to this market, Rocket Matter has embraced the new software-as-a-service model of delivering software from the Internet.

What this means is the application itself is not stored on an office computer (called client-side applications), but instead on servers hosted by Rocket Matter. This offloads the responsibility of having to maintain and upgrade a server, because the software is accessed on Rocket Matter’s servers from any computer with an Internet connection. All data between a user’s computer and Rocket Matter is encrypted with 128-bit secure SSL, the same encryption used by many major banks and financial institutions for online transactions. Another advantage of SaaS is that any upgrades to the software are handled by the software provider directly on its servers, thus negating the necessity for users to perform software updates and installations on each of the firm’s computers or servers.

As a SaaS application, Rocket Matter handles another major issue for law firms which store confidential and sensitive client data: security. Rocket Matter stores confidential client data not only at their physically and electronically secure offices, but in multiple offsite, secure and geographically diverse locations. As a result, Rocket Matter solves one of the inherent problems with client side case management programs: client data is only as secure as the law firm has made its office. Rocket Matter is also beginning to work with independent security specialist firms to conduct periodic audits of its system, something most law firms are incapable of doing on their own internal systems.

PRACTICAL USAGE

My legal practice focuses on personal injury and workers’ compensation claims. Handling approximately 50 cases, mine is a small plaintiff’s firm that has been using Rocket Matter exclusively since December 2008. Prior to this, we used Daylite for our case management needs. The transition between Daylite and Rocket Matter was a fairly painless one. We simply exported our Daylite data into a comma-separated file, and Rocket Matter had our data imported within 24 hours of the initiation of our service. Just as data can be imported into Rocket Matter, all of a firm’s data can easily be exported to an Excel Spreadsheet anytime, thus providing those with a desire to have a physical copy of their data at all times with a means of “holding” their information on their own systems.

The graphical interface of Rocket Matter is very reminiscent of the majority of modern Macintosh programs. It is readily apparent that a great deal of time was spent deciding which information will be on the “Dashboard,” the first screen one sees when logging into Rocket Matter. Only information most likely to be used is displayed on any given screen within Rocket Matter. This reduces the information overload that plagues many case management software programs. As my friend, colleague and fellow Rocket Matter user says: “One of the best things about RM is that it is so easy to learn and easy to use. There is virtually no learning curve, because it works the way you do. My staff was up to speed on RM almost immediately.”

Just like other modern client-side programs, search boxes are auto completing, a feature which is normally only provided in client-side applications. Part of the beauty of using Rocket Matter is that despite being dependent upon the Internet for access, the amount of actual broadband use is quite small. Even those users with a slow cable or data connection are capable of utilizing all of Rocket Matter’s features just as easily as those with high-speed DSL or T1 connections. As a result, accessing Rocket Matter from a mobile computer connected via cellular 3G access is still quite acceptable.

CLIENT MATTERS

In Rocket Matter, cases are referred to as “matters.” As with most case management programs, Rocket Matter allows each matter to be relationally connected to other attorneys working on the matter, as well as opposing counsel and user customized relationships. In a typical personal-injury case, we will have a matter that has relationships with a liability insurance adjuster, a medical insurance adjuster, opposing counsel, the judge presiding over the case, and any other attorneys or paralegals assigned to work on the matter. The calendaring system in Rocket Matter allows attorneys to delegate tasks to any of the staff working on a particular matter, as well as verify whether a particular staff member is available for an event during scheduling.

Though the feature is not used by my firm, Rocket Matter includes an extensive billing and expense tracking suite, with the usual compliments such as time capture for matters and profit reporting.

One of the most intriguing additions for Rocket Matter is document management. Released in the past few months, Rocket Matter now allows users to upload documents to a matter and add “tags” to each document for indexing purposes. These tags work much the same way Facebook tags work for pictures — users simply input a tag they want for a particular document and the document is then searchable by that tag.

MOBILE ACCESS

Perhaps the most helpful aspect of having a Web-based contact management program is the ability to access data from any computer, phone or device with Internet access. Unlike most client-side applications which require VPN setup, Web site setup and/or limited access to calendaring and/or contact information, Rocket Matter provides full access to the entire program no matter from where a user logs in with no further customization.

Due to its 128-bit SSL encryption, there is no worry about the security of the transmission of a firm’s data. Rocket Matter also offers a mobile portal to access only contact information if a user is on a particularly slow connection or he or she just needs contact information.

My entire firm has iPhones and we’ve never had a problem accessing Rocket Matter from out of the office, even at AT&T’s slower EDGE speeds when 3G was not available. Additionally, when our firm’s attorneys are traveling, they use Macbook Pro’s with AT&T Express Cards to access the Internet through AT&T’s 3G network and there is no perceptible difference when accessing Rocket Matter between the 3G network than when we are back in our offices accessing the Internet.

PRICING

Rocket Matter costs $59.99 per month for the first user, $49.99 for the second through sixth, and $39.99 for the seventh through 20th. A fully functioning case management and billing solution is available for a small firm of six attorneys and paralegals for a little over $300 per month, or $4,000 per year. While this may seem like a large sum, to properly compare Rocket Matter’s cost to comparable client-side software, one must factor in the cost of software updates (included in Rocket Matter’s price), server and desktop setup, configuration of Web-based access to servers, IT maintenance and training. Factoring in all of these hidden costs of standard client-side software results in Rocket Matter fitting much more nicely in today’s budget conscious balance sheet for law firms.

Regardless of whether your firm embraces it or not, Internet-based SaaS applications such as Rocket Matter are likely to replace standard client-side applications. Both Google and Microsoft are focusing the majority of their research and development monies to SaaS, and Microsoft has been experimenting with actually having Windows run in this manner in future versions. Rocket Matter is simply one of the first of these applications to make it into the legal software market, although it most certainly does not feel like a 1.0 version. If you have a small to medium-sized firm and are looking for reliable, secure, mobile and easily implemented case management software, you cannot do better than Rocket Matter. You can purchase Rocket Matter or get a free personal tour by Rocket Matter staff at www.RocketMatter.com.

Finis R. Price III is a practicing trial attorney in Louisville, KY, and Co-Founder of TechnoEsq Presentations, where he works with other attorneys in creating trial and other litigation presentations. He is a member of the Kentucky Justice Association’s Board of Governor’s and is a faculty member with Solo Practice University, a virtual university assisting attorneys in their practice.

MILO Chat Weekly – Episode 12 – “I Also Get A WHOOP!”

Old regular crew: Ben Stevens, Finis Price, Grant Griffiths, and Victor Medina

We’re back and bringing the funny.

Comments? Send them to milochat@miloweekly.com

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First, my apologies for this ugly site. My “regular” blog is moving, and I’ve got about 4 balls up in the air regarding my Internet presence (one of which is a new blog focusing on all things Mac, called www.MacLovinJD.com – I hope to launch it soon). For now, MILOWeekly is the best place to post this review while that other stuff settles down. After that throat-clearing, here be the review:

I have been a fan of dictation software ever since my hands got bad. After years of typing and playing the piano, my hands got so bad that prolonged typing produced cramping in my hands and wrists. After a year or two of dealing with the pain, I turned to dictation software (some version of Dragon Naturally Speaking) in my legal work. Dragon had a version of legal dictation software that went nicely with my job, but it lagged behind the newest engine for reasons unknown to me.

When I switched over to a Mac, I searched for comparable dictation software and found the landscape a little barren. Not only was it barren, but what attempted to grow there was weak and sickly. Enter MacSpeech’s Dictate speech recognition software last year. I was a big fan of what MacSpeech was doing and followed the release of that software very closely. The review I wrote was very widely-read and repeated. I have been waiting for an update to the original release. I played with Dictate 1.5 briefly before seeing the Legal version release last week.

I got my hands on a copy and what follows is my review of MacSpeech Dictate:Legal after just a few minutes of playing with it.

Out of the box, it’s already an improvement over both Dictate 1.3 and 1.5 and if included microphones is any indication of value, you can see that MacSpeech isn’t just juicing the legal market for more money with this software. (The Legal version retails at $595 compared with $199 for the “regular” flavor). The included microphone is a much slicker VXI TalkPro Xpress, as compared with a lower, but serviceable, mic from Platronics with vanilla Dictate 1.5.

Setting up Dictate:Legal was a breeze. It imported my settings from Dictate 1.5 (which I had to upgrade from 1.3) and had all of my old profiles. I created a new profile for use with the VXI mic and noticed some new options in setting accents. You can now choose from 9 “American” accents, such as Southern, Latino and Indian. I wanted to play with speaking in accents, but figured that would just annoy my staff and it would be no scientific test on how effective MacSpeech’s accent profiles are.

I went through the training process where I read the same text I’ve read at least 10 times already (uploading different profiles and changing microphones). Already I can tell that something is different under the hood as everything just has a smoother feel to it.

Unlike the plain vanilla version of Dictate (in which everything is blue), Dictate:Legal version is a soft yellow color. I’m not sure what it says about the legal profession to be colored yellow, but it’s a nice change as a way to distinguish the different versions.

Part of the reason why you spend more money on the Legal version of Dictate is so that you can speak in legal terms without causing the speech recognition software engine to go into convulsions. And so, here comes the requisite test of all the legal terms that come to mind at this moment:

First, the Latin terms, de facto corporation, “restitutional liquid or” (res ipsa loquitur), In re, ad hoc, pendente lite, trial de novo, de jure, “pro hockey chain” (pro hac vice)and ex parte motion.

Next, the plain English legal terms: pretrial motions, Joinder of parties, Miranda rights, malfeasance, insolvency, goods and chattels, decedent, deponent, cognizable, arrogation, and remaindermen.

As you can see, the program did very, very well with the English legal terms. It had a harder time with some of the Latin phrases (but who uses ‘res ispa loquitur’ anyways?).

What is also very good about this version of MacSpeech Dictate is the lengthy user manual that’s included as a PDF with the documentation. Learning to use speech recognition software effectively necessarily means learning a different way of speaking. You absolutely have to get comfortable using your voice to control the entire document window, as well as application commands. As MacSpeech says, “the Golden Rule of speech recognition is: when working with text, do not mix your voice with your hands.” The User Manual is an excellent guide and really helps you understand how this program is thinking about speech recognition and dictation in general.

As you can probably guess, I have dictated nearly this entire review. I can report that I have had to do the very, very little post-editing on account of errors caused by the Dictate software. More often than not, the problem is behind the microphone, as I mumble my speech, slur my words, or otherwise change direction in my sentence mid-dictation.

MacSpeech Dictate Legal is available today for $595 as a new purchase, or $345 for current owners of MacSpeech Dictate 1.5, or $395 for current owners of MacSpeech Dictate 1.3.

Is it worth the upgrade? Well, if you were in early adopter of MacSpeech Dictate, it’s probably well worth the additional $400 to get both the upgrade to Dictate 1.5 as well as the benefits of a specialized legal version of the software. I haven’t been working with the software very long, but already I can see the added benefit of having those 30,000 words included in my speech recognition software. The time that I have saved by not having to spell out, or even more detrimental to productivity, typed out legal-specific words is substantial.

I’m going to give the software a few more months worth of use and report back whether it’s all worth the investment. However, in the meantime, if you have been holding off purchasing speech recognition software for the Mac because it did not include a “legal” version, your wait is over. MacSpeech Dictate Legal is here and it is very, very good.

Posted by Victor J. Medina
www.MacLovinJD.com

Web-based software is continuing to gain in popularity and usage among attorneys. My firm uses several of these in our daily practice, including Rocket Matter (case management / time & billing), gMail (firm email), and Evernote (electronic filing / storage system). If you hear the terms “the cloud” and “SaaS” but aren’t quite sure what all the fuss is about, you can find out everything you need to know in the following article:

Understanding “The Cloud”: The Pros and Cons of Web-based Software for Attorneys

If you’ve attended a technology CLE or read a technology publication over the last year, chances are good you’ve at least heard of “the cloud” or cloud computing. Cloud computing is a term that’s used to describe a spectrum of services, software, and infrastructure delivered over the web rather than installed on a user’s computer or server.

One of the better-known forms of cloud computing is software as a service (or “SaaS”). SaaS aims to mirror (or even improve on) the experience of traditional software without requiring the user to buy expensive software licenses, struggle with complicated installations, or manage upgrades and updates.

SaaS has proven both popular and controversial among attorneys. While some have adopted it wholeheartedly and swear they’d never go back, others have chosen to steer clear, claiming the risks outweigh the benefits.

To help you better understand SaaS and to decide whether it has a place in your practice, here are a few of the pros and cons:

The Pros:

* It “just works.” With SaaS, you avoid the headaches of installation and maintenance. As long as you have an Internet connection and a web browser (like Internet Explorer), using your software is as simple as logging in. Furthermore, most SaaS products have been built with usability as a high priority, making them easy to learn and use.
* Mac friendly. Because SaaS products operate through the web browser, they usually run just as well on a Mac as they do on Windows.

* Lower up-front costs. Add the price of software licenses, new servers and other hardware, and the hourly rates of the consultants needed to put it all together, and buying traditional software can be tremendously expensive. Most SaaS products require a relatively low monthly fee for each user and can be cancelled at any time.
* Mobility. Traditional software is tied to the computer it’s installed on. If you don’t have your computer with you, you don’t have your software. With SaaS, your software is available anywhere that you have an Internet connection–your home, a relative’s home over the holidays, even the train via a Smartphone. This can be particularly helpful if you’re forced from your office due to a natural disaster like a flood or hurricane.

The Cons:

* Lack of control. You, and your data, are at the mercy of your vendor. If the vendor suddenly goes out of business or goes offline for any reason, you could find yourself without access to your client files and unable to work. Similarly, the security of your data is entirely in the hands of your vendor–a significant concern for attorneys.
* Internet is a necessity. If your web connection goes down, you lose access to your software and your files. If you live in an area where your web connection is unreliable, SaaS may not be a realistic option.
* Lack of features. Most SaaS products are newcomers to the legal market, and as such their features are limited. Traditional software developers have spent years–even decades–adding features and functionality to their products.

If you’re ready to learn more about SaaS and want to know what kind of questions to ask when evaluating a SaaS vendor, visit the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center’s FYI: Software as a Service (SaaS) for Lawyers.

Source: Joshua Poje, ABA Legal Technology Resource Center

You should make plans now so that you don’t miss out! If you want to find out more about MILO Fest, you can click HERE for dates, location, pricing, and much more, and if you’re ready to register, you can click HERE. If you want to learn more about MILO or join, simply click HERE. I hope to see you all at MILO Fest later this year.

TechnoEsq is extremely excited to be present at MILOfest and I am absolutely thrilled at the opportunity to speak to fellow Mac using lawyers. I think this will be THE conference for Mac using lawyers and think MILOfest will be the start of something great MILO has to offer.

The latest MILO Chat Podcast was released a while ago, but I missed posting it. On this episode, “Bringin’ the Funny Today.” As usual, this podcast features your faithful hosts, Victor Medina, Ben Stevens, and our own Finis Price.

This week, we looked back at this year’s ABA TechShow, considered netbook options for Mac users, and discussed other exciting topics. Our picks of the week were: BoinxTV from Boinx Software, Curio from Zengobi, and Birdhouse by Sandwich Dynamics.

You can enjoy this week’s episode, Volume 11, sponsored by Rocket Matter, right now, as follows:

* Subscribe via iTunes
* Listen or download .mp3 file directly

If you are an advertiser and are interested in sponsoring the MILO Chat Podcast or if you have any questions or comments, you are welcome to submit them below or send an email to milochat@macsinthelawoffice.com.

As most of you know, TechnoEsq posted a review by Victor Medina of the early version of MacSpeech back in March 2008. That review has now become the most read post on TechnoEsq, probably due to the overwhelming demand by attorneys and law firms for dictation software. Earlier this year, MacSpeech released the latest version of MacSpeech Dictate version 1.0. As most of you know, MacSpeech’s Dictate program is powered by the same dictation engine as the windows application Dragon NaturallySpeaking produced by Nuance. Unfortunately, MacSpeech Dictate uses the Dragon NaturallySpeaking dictation engine number 9.0 instead of the latest 10.0 Dragon NaturallySpeaking users are raving about. As a result of this, it can be said that MacSpeech Dictate in some respects lags behind the Windows version of the dictation software. However within the past month and a half, MacSpeech has released version 1.5 which is a major update to Dictate. This update, costing upgrade users $55 and $199 for new users, is perhaps the greatest update in an application without moving to the 2.0 version of software ever seen. As a result of this, I highly recommend paying for this nominal upgrade fee.

What makes this new upgrade worth $55 is the update of MacSpeech Dictate’s speech recognition engine to the 10.0 engine. This engine is the same one utilized by our Windows brethren running Dragon NaturallySpeaking. As a result of this upgrade, MacSpeech claims an improved speech recognition of 20%, however I feel this is probably an understatement as I have seen an almost 50% increase in speech recognition. As well as improved accuracy, many of the insufferable bugs which were previously present in version 1.0 of Dictate have completely disappeared. These include random letters being generated at the end of sentences, problems in going back through dictation for editing as well as an improved speed difference which is very welcome.

As a practicing attorney, I do utilize a legal transcriptionist for dictation. When using Dictate 1.0 I was growing increasingly irritated with the bugs mentioned above and found myself going back to my transcriptionist because it was just too hard to deal with these issues. However after the upgrade to dictate 1.5 I have gone back dictating to my transcription less and less. This is directly correlated to the improvements with the new speech recognition engine and the bug fixes.

This is not to say that using a program such as MacSpeech Dictate does not have its faults. Obviously, it is very difficult to when there is any sort of background noise, especially other speakers. While a human being may have no problems in isolating the intended user’s speech, MacSpeech Dictate and any program used for dictation have a difficult time in determining which speaker is to be listened to and whose words are to be transcribed. On this note, I’ve spoken with a number of other attorneys who have attempted to use MacSpeech Dictate as well as other dictation programs who have had limited success in having their speech recognized effectively. More often than not, this is a result of using subpar microphones and headsets in the dictation process. MacSpeech has consistently stated that in order to achieve the best transcription percentages, it is imperative to use either the included headset with MacSpeech Dictate or one of the recommended microphones on MacSpeech’s website.

As a test of the microphone’s effect on dictation, I have attempted to use my Blue Snowball, a microphone far superior to the headset included with MacSpeech Dictate, for dictation. Using this other microphone, I noticed an immediate decline in accuracy. This is likely due to the location of the microphone in relation to my mouth and Dictate’s profiles in what type of microphone it is used to receiving audio from. Thus, don’t assume using a superior microphone or headset to the one included with Dictate will work better.

Setting up Dictate is extraordinarily easy. After running the installation program and loading the data CD which comes with the program, you are led through approximately 3 to 5 minute reading lesson in which Dictate learns the nuances of your speech. After this training, Dictate is literally ready to go. You can open up any application such as Microsoft Word, any basic text editor or the built in word processing program within Dictate and begin dictating immediately.

Transparent “help” windows are available to the right of the application you are dictating into which provide the most common available commands for that program. There is a slight learning curve in learning the miscellaneous text editing and movement commands, however these helper windows are essential as you begin dictating. I typically recommend individuals use these windows in the beginning and then as they get used to the commands close them to save on screen real estate.

If you follow the instructions in terms of speaking clearly as well as in complete sentences you’ll notice a marked improvement in the accuracy of the programs transcription. Most users have difficulty when they pause and stop either waiting for the program to catch up with their speech or when they are speaking very slowly for the transcription program. This speaking in fits and starts causes serious problems for dictation programs as they use percentages and likelihood of words appearing next to each other in order to determine what words you used and in what context you used them. Navigation is as easy as stating “Train the Word”, “Insert before” or “Insert After” and the word which you are offering two. Dictate will then go back through the cache of words that it has transcribed and locate the word you are looking for and begin the command which you have instructed it to perform. At that point you can simply state “Go to end” and proceed with the dictation.

A welcome new feature in version 1.5 is the ability for Dictate to go through any document files which you give to it and go through them for words it is unfamiliar with to add to its dictionary. This is particularly useful for lawyers as Dictate does not have a specific lawyer application. Thus much of the legal jargon and medical terms attorneys use can be easily and quickly added and immediately available for Dictate to understand.

As mentioned previously, Dictate is able to transcribe your speech into any program which you have open on your computer, including social media sites such as twitter and Facebook, as well as mail and any other program which accepts text input. You can also use Dictate for complete control of your computer going even as far as opening and closing programs and control of the cursor. One reader of TechnoEsq.com has commented that due to certain disabilities he is forced to use Dictate for complete control of his computer which he is able to do quite effortlessly.

Probably my only complaint with Dictate is its inability to import a dictation file from a digital recorder or other audio file. This feature was available in the previous MacSpeech dictation program iListen, which has its origins with MacSpeech however this ability was not included in any of the versions of Dictate for unknown reasons. My suspicion is that the microphone quality of portable dictation recorders is not up to par with the type of microphone used with Dictate and that this causes an unacceptable number of recognition errors.

If you need any assistance, MacSpeech has even put up videos covering such topics as installing the software, phrase training, text macros and editing documents. These are great for those users who want to see what Dictate can do prior to purchasing the software.

Overall the upgrade to version 1.5 is most welcome and is well worth the $55 upgrade for previous users of Dictate and $199 for new users. The speed increase and amazing accuracy this upgrade provides is second to none. If you’re willing to speak clearly and think prior to actually speaking, MacSpeech Dictate can work wonders at replacing or at least augmenting your transcriptionist in your practice. As you suspected, I dictated this entire review using MacSpeech Dictate version 1.5 and only used the keyboard for inputting those commands within the quotation marks which were not able to be dictated.

We welcome any comments from current users of version 1.5 or any users of version 1.0 have who have recently upgraded. I will make the disclaimer that MacSpeech did provide a review copy of version 1.0 and version 1.5 of Dictate to TechnoEsq.com however as with all product reviews this played no part in our opinion concerning the application.

As David suggests, at TechnoEsq Presentations we also try and persuade our clients, other attorneys, from using too many words in a presentation and letting the visual aspect of the presentation speak for itself. We often have to convince our clients of this by comparing and contrasting with and without bullet points, but eventually they begin to understand our philosophy behind creating presentations and appreciate the difference it makes in their demand and mediation presentations as well as at trial.

If you want to learn more about how to effectively use presentations, first throw PowerPoint away and then read a book such as Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. A lot of TechnoEsq Presentation’s philosophy on presentations was borne out of reading this among other authorities on presentations. Garr has a new Online Streaming video on Presentation Zen so you can watch a video on creating more effective presentations at your leisure, the online video and DVD are available here. we highly recommend either purchasing the book ($19.79), Online Streaming Video ($25.19) or the DVD ($26.99) of Presentation Zen. You can also read his blog at Presentation Zen.

For future reference, TechnoEsq Presentations doesn’t create PowerPoint presentations… we create presentations using myriad programs from TrialSmart, Sanctions and Apple’s Keynote; we just happen to export them to PowerPoint when requested. It’s like putting the body of a Hyundai on a BMW frame…why you would want to do it is beyond us, but we do as we’re paid.