60 Tips in 60 Minutes

Presented by Joe Longley, Craig Ball, and Tom Mighell

October 28, 2010

Joe’s Tips

· Research the defendant’s website – what 3^rd parties are allowed access to online through passwords? Look for statements against interest – “hot shot service,” claims handling, competence, ability, special features

· Choose your venue wisely.

· Google, social network and Westlaw check the parties, your opponent, and yourself.

· Theme of the Case (“a deal is a deal” or “conduct vs. contract”)

· Hitler had a lifetime appointment – avoid Federal Court.

· Local Counsel (the diminishing importance of 214 lawyers outside of 214)

· A Request for Disclosure should be in your first pleading.

· Discovery (ROGs, RFPs, RFAs, Notice of Corporate Rep Depo and DC, as well as 3^rd Party DWCs) should always be served with the petition.

· Court assignments – Google and Westlaw check the judge.

· The right to open and close is better than two eyewitnesses! Use it every chance you get.

· Exploit all potential conflicts facing opposing counsel representing more than one party – but do not move to disqualify. Allow them to become mature.

· Rejoice when the Defendant’s Answer contains boilerplate requests and defenses (such as Rule 13 groundless claim; request for attorney fees, no mitigation, comparative responsibility)

· Immediately seek entry of a standard protective order protecting confidentiality of sensitive documents – such as the standing order for the Western District. Make sure the burden to maintain confidential status is clearly on the proponent claiming such status.

· Immediately (same day) meet objections and claims of privilege with a request for a Privilege Log.

· Immediately (same day as Privilege Log received) file a Motion to Compel Discovery – attaching your opponent’s objections, claims of privilege and privilege log as exhibits.

· Listen to the answers given when you are taking a deposition. Always pause when you hear the words “grassy knoll.”

· Make your opponent work. Amend your pleadings freely. Tailor your tasks to the reporting requirements of the opposing insurance carrier. Be a squeaky wheel.

· Voir Dire – make the jury comfortable. Start with easy questions of common experience with a little humor (“Anyone here ever had a problem with an insurance company? Let me rephrase that – anyone who has not had a problem with an insurance company?”)

· No Rolexes, tattoos, diamonds, fancy clothes, monogrammed garments, unneeded lawyers, assistants, spouses or onlookers in the courtroom. Less is more.

· How far is it to the Alamo?

Craig’s Tips

· iGoogle (www.google.com/ig)

· Gmail (www.google.com/mail)

· Google Calendar (www.google.com/calendar)

· Google Docs (http://docs.google.com)

· Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts)

· Google Fast Flip (http://fastflip.googlelabs.com)

· Alltop (www.alltop.com)

· 6 Google Tips You’ll Love

o Track packages

o Unit conversion

o Convert currency

o Movie times

o Flight status

o Phonebook

· 3 Super Search Tips

o Site:[name of site][query]

o Exact: +[query; Exclude: -[query]

o Filetype:[file extension] query

· Great Apps!

o Dragon Dictation – Free

o Genius Scan – Free

o American Airlines – Free

o GoodReader – Free

· Flying is tough enough without getting a bad seat! Seatguru.com (www.seatguru.com)

· Skype (www.skype.com)

· How to get more bids on Priceline – BiddingForTravel (www.biddingfortravel.com)

· Totally free “bridged” conference calling – Free Conference Calling (www.freeconferencecalling.com)

· Miss the Quick Launch Bar in Win7? You can enable the Quick Launch toolbar in Windows 7. To do so, right-click a blank area of the taskbar and choose Toolbars, then New toolbar. In the Choose a folder window that appears, type the following text into the Folder field: %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch. Click Select Folder. You'll see the Quick Launch toolbar appear in truncated form at the right of the taskbar. To modify this appearance, unlock the taskbar (right-click in an empty space on the taskbar, then clear the Lock the taskbar check box). Drag the taskbar where you'd like it. Right-click the Quick Launch toolbar and disable two options: Show text and Show title. This will make the toolbar look as it did in previous Windows versions.

· Enable God Mode for Windows (Windows 7 and Vista) – Create a folder, and name it: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8#54-465E-825C-99712043E01C)

· E-Discovery Web Resources

o Electronic Discovery Law (www.ediscoverylaw.com)

o EDD Update (www.eddupdate.com)

o Electronic Discovery Reference Model (www.edrm.net)

o Craig Ball’s website (www.craigball.com)

· Stock photo for presentations, marketing, or anything else – iStockphoto (www.istockphoto.com)

· Great business cards, online! Overnight Prints (www.overnightprints.com)

· Convert videotape to digitized video on DVD for $9.95 per tape (www.apmstudio.com)

· Ted Talks – Ideas worth spreading: (www.tedtalks.com)

· AccuRadio – the next generation of radio (www.accuradio.com)

· Windows Shortcut Keys (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449)

· Can changing fonts save you money? Printer.com says shifting from Arial to Century Gothic cuts printing costs by almost a third!

· Become more efficient by customizing the Office Quick Access toolbar

Tom’s Tips

· Creating a Research Workflow, Part 1 – Google Reader (www.google.com/reader, free)

· Creating a Research Workflow, Part 2 – Instapaper (www.instapaper.com, free)

· Creating a Research Workflow, Part 3 – Evernote (www.evernote.com, free)

· Access your files from anywhere using Dropbox (www.dropbox.com, 2GB free)

· Sending large files:

o YouSendIt (www.yousendit.com, 100MB free)

o Drop.io (http://drop.io, 100MB free): Note: the day after this presentation, Drop.io was bought by Facebook. The service is currently closed, but can be expected to open up again after the Facebook purchase is complete.

· Still writing out your notes? Use LiveScribe (www.livescribe.com, $179)

· The iPad For Litigators – how can lawyers use the iPad?

· Tom’s Recommended iPad Apps

o Pages

o Penultimate

o smartNote

o WritePad

o Elements

o Office HD

o Evernote

o Instapaper

o Fastcase

o Expensify

o Dragon Dictation

o Dropbox

o Mindmeister

o GoToMeeting/Webex

· iPad Apps for Everyone

o Gizmodo’s Essential iPad Apps (http://j.mp/daTO9g)

o The 25 Best iPad Apps (http://j.mp/aRyg8D)

o The Best iPad Apps (http://j.mp/aONQ9Z)

o iPad Apps Making Headlines (http://j.mp/dgoc9X)

· Make filing email a breeze – SimplyFile (www.techhit.com, $49.95)

· Delay Email Delivery in Outlook

o Options > More Options

o Click Delay Delivery

o Click Message Options

o Under Delivery Options, select “don’t deliver before”

o Click delivery date and time

o Click Send

· Easily add new contacts to with Copy2Contact (www.copy2contact.com, $45)

· Meeting scheduling made simple

o Tungle (www.tungle.com)

o WhenIsGood (http://whenisgood.net)

o Doodle (www.doodle.com)

o TimeBridge (www.timebridge.com)

· Host your meeting on the Web for free (www.dimdim.com, free)

· Do you have a Discovery Response Plan?

· Develop your Web presence – have a Home Base (a website or blog), but also create outposts like LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter to draw people back to your Home Base.

· Keep up with legal technology podcasts

o Kennedy-Mighell Report (http://j.mp/ELEsb)

o Digital Detectives (http://j.mp/9xkDni)

o Law Technology Now (http://j.mp/11dY8k)

o ESI Bytes (www.esibytes.com)

o ESI Report (http://j.mp/a1TtKh)

o The Digital Edge (http://j.mp/daHHcG - iTunes link)

· Create your own cloud – wireless devices that create your own wireless network

o Verizon MiFi

o Sprint Overdrive

o Droid X (and soon most Android phones)

· The last password you’ll ever need – LastPass (www.lastpass.com, free)

· All your travel plans, all in one place – TripIt (www.tripit.com, free)