President's Corner

BlackBerry Phone Combo

L: Mike Lazaridis, president and co-C.E.O. R: Jim Balsillie, chair and co-C.E.O.

The palm-sized unit weighs 4.7 ounces, and integrates BlackBerry's capabilities (wireless organizer, e-mail, Web browser) with the convenience of a built-in phone. It features R.I.M.'s "thumb typing" keyboard, navigation trackwheel, a large screen, and a headset jack for the phone services. Both the screen and keyboard are backlit for easy reading and typing in low light.

Software applications are pre-loaded on request, it notes. The "always on, always connected" unit can support GSM/GPRS networks in North America, and incorporates Java 2 Micro Edition as its core operating system. In the U.S. both AT&T and VoiceStream are accepting orders for the unit. In Canada, R.I.M. and Rogers AT&T Wireless plan to market the device.

Reader Response no. 280.

Litigation Support

Doar Inaugurates Digital Courtroom

Sam Solomon

And Solomon and his gang helped produce graphics for Effective Use of Courtroom Technology, which has just been published by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

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DOAR Inc., a litigation support and trial services firm located in Lynbrook, N.Y., has opened its new digital court facility designed to help judges, court administrators, law students and professors with hands-on training, says Doar.

It includes a high-tech courtroom, three mock jury rooms, three conference rooms, and a ³boardroom.² The facility offers Web-casting, digital video capture of proceedings, and videoconferencing with remote participants. Plasma ~screens support display of graphic presentation materials.

Funding for the facility was obtained from the Town of Hempstead, via a $2.85 million Industrial Development Bond, the company reports.

Reader Response no. 282.

Litigation Support

Daticon Introduces Discovery On Demand

DATICON Inc., of Gales Ferry, Conn., has introduced Daticon Discovery OnDemand, an electronic data discovery program targeted to corporate counsel.

The system includes both hardware (a pre-configured Compaq Evo desktop computer, flat screen monitor, CD and CD-Recordable drives, keyboard and mouse) and software.

Users of all skills levels can convert documents into a searchable, image-enhanced database for easy retrieval in an office. It converts documents from more than 250 file types (including Microsoft Outlook or Exchange; Lotus Notes; spreadsheets; word processing; presentations), without the time-consuming and expressive process of opening, printing and scanning, the company explains.

The proprietary software unifies the conversion process in a single interface that accesses "native" (original) applications for complete accuracy of information, it says.

The program captures metadata, maintains e-mail and file attachment relationships, and eliminates duplicate files, the company reports.

Optional services include Bates numbering, and text overlays for image prints.Once converted, files can be printed, burned onto CDs or as saved in ASCII for integration with Daticon Virtual Partner or other litigation software, the company reports.

Reader Response no. 281.

Practice Tools

Law.com Joins ALM Family

TWO developments from San Francisco-based law.com online service. First, it announced the spin-off of its practice management/litigation support business into a stand-alone entity, RealLegal L.L.C.

Second, law.com has been acquired by American Lawyer Media Inc. (the publisher of Law Technology News). The Web site now will feature expanded content and services from ALM.

Reader Response no. 279.

Firm Administration

CampusShip Now Sailing

ATLANTA-based United Parcel Service has launched UPS CampusShip, a Web-based, UPS-hosted shipping service that helps your firm's employees ship packages from their desktop, yet retains centralized administrative control.

Staff in all offices of a firm or company can process and ship UPS packages from their computer desktops or laptops, UPS explains. Users can print shipping labels, track packages, manage an address book, and e-mail shipping notifications to recipients.

The system helps administrators control procedures and costs. The customizable program can require that users fill in specific fields (such as client matter codes) before it will allow the form to process, thus simplifying billing and improving accuracy of shipping charges.

Reader Response no. 282.