President's Corner

Elite to Unveil Knowledge Portal

ELITE Information Systems Inc. plans to unveil its Elite Knowledge Portal at its Connections 2000 Elite User Conference, Oct. 11-13, at Orlando's Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort. Designed to simplify access to law firm information and resources, the portal incorporates technology from Elite, EasyAsk and AltaVista. Users can phrase questions in simple English to search repositories of information, such as internal and external Web pages; financial databases, document management systems, and original documents, explains Elite. The company will also debut its Outlook Digital Dashboard, that allows users to view Elite and other firm data from within Microsoft's Outlook.

Information: Reader Response 360.

Conversion Software

CrossEyes Reveals Code

LAWYERS forced to migrate from Corel's WordPerfect to Microsoft Word can stop whining about the lack of reveal codes in Word, with the release of CrossEyes, from Levit & James. An interface for Word that reveals the underlying code structure, it allows users to see all the coding that affects the formatting of text, says the Leesburg, Va., company. The coding appears in a window at the bottom of a document, clearly showing all the formatting that defines how a Word document behaves, says L&J.

The company also debuted Stylizer, an editing tool that allows Word users to reformat documents, with application of styles. It also allows automation of routine formatting tasks.

Information: Reader Response 354.

Practice Software

Amicus, Juris Now Integrate

GAVEL & GOWN Software Inc., based in Ottawa, and Juris Inc., of Brentwood, Tenn., report that Amicus Attorney case management software now integrates with Juris 1.4 time-and-billing program. The integration allows the two programs to share critical information, the companies explain. Time entries recorded in Amicus are transferred to Juris for billing; and client and file information opened in Juris can be transferred to Amicus, reducing the need to re-key client details. Amicus can schedule appointments, manage "to do" lists, track people, draft documents, and more, says G&G.

Information: Reader Response 361.

Word Processing

Office 2001 for Macintosh Hits the Shelves

MICROSOFT Corp. promises that Office 2001 for Macintosh, the latest edition of its popular Office suite of word processing and other tools, will be available this month. It features a new interface, as well as support for key Apple technologies, and offers increased compatibility with Office 2000 for Windows, the Mac OS and other Mac applications. Other new features will improve the ability of Windows-based PCs to open Macintosh-generated files, reports Microsoft.

Information: Reader Response 362.

Online Services

Recovering Lost Palms, Laptops and Cell Phones

DID YOU leave it in the cab? On the plane? Now there's a chance your Palm organizer, laptop or cell phone isn't lost for good. A new service, Returnme.com, offers hope to the klutzy and distracted.

Currently, the new service charges $9.95 for 11 tags that can be placed on just about any object. The stickers include an important word that can increase your chances of recovery: "REWARD." (You write in the amount you want to offer.)

Tags include your personal code and a toll-free number as well as Web site that finders can use.

When an item is found, Returnme.com organizes the pick-up of the lost item by a FedEx driver, at no cost to the finder, who is automatically entered into a sweepstakes. The reward is paid by the item's owner, of course. "We make our glorious profit by charging you just the FedEx charge, plus a handling fee of $14.95 per item," says ReturnMe.com L.L.P., based in New York City.

Information: Reader Response 363.