microsoft office 2010 in your ssf practice – ross l...

Microsoft Office 2010 in Your SSF Practice – Ross L. Kodner, Esq.

2012 Wisconsin Solo & Small Firm Conference ©2012 Ross Kodner, All Rights Reserved

Top Tips: Microsoft

Office 2010 in Your

SSF Practice –

Smarter Word, Saner

Outlook: Tips, Tricks

and Tools

Faculty:

Ross L. Kodner, Esq.

MicroLaw, Inc.

1

2012 Wisconsin Solo & Small Firm Conference October 2012



Your Faculty:

Ross L. Kodner, Esq.

CEO / President

MicroLaw, Inc Milwaukee Based, Continent-Wide

E-Mail: [email protected],

Web: www.microlaw.com

♦Marquette Univ. Law School, 1986 (Law Review)

♦Founded MicroLaw, Inc. in 1985

♦Legal Technologist, Educator, Author – Over 500 articles, 1300+

CLE sessions since the mid-1980’s

♦Technolawyer Legal Technology Consultant of the Year 1999,

Contributor of the Year 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006

♦Founder/National Coordinator, HelpKatrinaLawyers.org

♦Over 1400 law offices assisted across North America

♦Frequent author and speaker nationwide on legal technology

subjects

♦Chair, Wisconsin Law & Technology Conference 2002-2005;

Founder and 1st Chair, Wisconsin Solo & Small Firm Conference

2006

♦Co-Chair and Founder, National Solo & Small Firm Conference

2006-2007, Honorary Chair 2008

♦Chair, Milwaukee Bar Association Technology Committee, 2002-

2007

♦Chair, ABA LPM Section Computer & Technology Division and

Member, TECHSHOW 1997- 2001 Board, Co-Chair, LegalTech CLE

Planning Board 1999-2005

♦Co-Author: “How Good Lawyers Survive Bad Times” (ABA LPM

Publishing, 2009/10/11/12 - tinyurl.com/howgoodlawyers)

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Big Firm-Like

Outlook with

Hosted

Exchange

Maine State Bar Association CLE: Tightwad Technology

Tightwad Technology: Better Use What You Already Have ©2008 Ross Kodner, All Rights Reserved

Technology for Tightwads: Free and Cheap Tools to Power Your Practice ©2008 Ross Kodner. All Rights Reserved

Tightwad Technology: 30+ FREE AND CHEAP TOOLS AND WEB SERVICES ©2008 Ross Kodner, All Rights Reserved

Chicago Bar Annual Law Practice Management and Legal Technology Conference

Tightwad Technology: Buying the Right Stuff, Getting it Cheapest and Free Tools & Tips ©2009 Ross Kodner, All Rights Reserved

Legal Technology CLE for the Rest of Us By Ross Kodner

Tightwad Technology for Tough & Trying Times: Better Using Word, Windows, Acrobat, Outlook ©2009 Ross Kodner, All Rights Reserved

2009 Louisville Bar Association CLE

Tightwad Technology for Tough & Trying Times: Better Use What You Have! ©2009 Ross Kodner, All Rights Reserved

Ross L. Kodner, Esq. – 2009 Oklahoma Bar SSF Conference


2009 Colorado Bar CLE – Ross L. Kodner, Esq.

Tightwad Technology: Better Using Word, WordPerfect, Acrobat & Outlook ©2009 Ross Kodner, All Rights Reserved

2009 Wyoming Bar Annual Meeting – Ross L. Kodner, Esq.


2009 IICLE Legal Tech Seminars – Ross L. Kodner, Esq.


2009 National Solo & Small Firm Conference – Ross L. Kodner, Esq.


Your Daily Bread – Better Using Microsoft Office 2010 – Ross L. Kodner, Esq.


Microsoft Office 2010 in Your Practice - Ross L. Kodner, Esq.

2011 MSBar Legal Tech Conference ©2011 Ross Kodner, All Rights Reserved

Microsoft Office 2010 in Your SSF Practice - Ross L. Kodner, Esq.

2011 MoBar SASFC ©2011 Ross Kodner, All Rights Reserved


2012 AAEPA Fall Summit ©2012 Ross Kodner, All Rights Reserved





Hosting Microsoft Exchange

Server is Cheap and Easier

• Cheaper and easier than setting up Microsoft’s “Outlook Engine” in your own office

• A cloud approach that makes eminently good functional and economic sense for small firms

• You use Outlook as you normally would, including integrating it with your practice management system and document/email managers like Worldox . . .

































Hosting Microsoft Exchange

Server is Cheap and Easier

• Microsoft Hosts Exchange for $4/user/month with 25 Gb of storage (or $10/month including Office 365) – the very best hosting deal available!

































Microsoft Themselves Now

Does Exchange Hosting

• GoDaddy.com is one of the biggest, cheapest Exchange hosting sources for small firms

































Microsoft Themselves Now

Does Exchange Hosting

• Microsoft doesn’t include Outlook licenses but charges only $4/month/user for massive 25 Gb mailboxes!

































Microsoft

Word 2010 for

Lawyers: Less

Pain, More

Gain

































A Painful Past: Word and

Your Sanity

• Is there anyone here who hasn’t experienced severe mental anguish when trying to create documents with Microsoft Word in your practice?

• Have you experienced gut-wrenching, stomach-turning angst when trying to perform seemingly simple tasks such as creating the top line of a pleading caption or using automatically numbered paragraphs?

• Well, there’s good news . . .

































So Whose Fault is it?

• First, you’re not alone and

• Second . . . IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT! • That’s right – blame Microsoft, blame Word – they

deserve it! • In my opinion Word 2003 is the most poorly designed,

utterly byzantine, illogical piece of software programming in the history of the universe, but I digress . . .

• I think Word 2003 could be legitimately classified as an international weapon of mass document destruction

• Perhaps the way to defeat Al Quaida would be to force them to format documents using Word for weeks on end?

































But There’s Hope at the End of

the Word Processing Tunnel

• And the answer to your Word woes is right in front of you, available right now, drum roll please . . .

• Yes, it’s called Microsoft Word! • But that would be first, Word 2007 and now 2010, not 2003 • Word 2010 is a 180 degree about-face from the torturous Word 2003 in

virtually every respect • Gone are the seemingly random distribution of functions across pull-

down menus • In fact, gone are ALL the pull-down menus! • Gone is the illogical array of functions that required more time to

decipher than to use • Gone is the inane and useless Help functions that were so obtuse, you

needed Help to get Help

































Dispelling a Myth….

• Everyone wonders – do you need Windows 7 in order to use Microsoft Office 2010?

• Answer: ABSOLUTELY NOT! It runs perfectly under Windows XP Pro

































Maximizing Chances for Word

Success (or for “less failure”)

• First and most important – if you’re coming from a WordPerfect background you MUST stop trying to use Word as if it were WordPerfect! Yes,

“Using Word like

WordPerfect is a recipe for a major mess in formatting”

































Making the Move – How

Should Your Firm Do It?

• The key to any successful (read: “relatively painless”) transition to a new version of Word is having a plan – yes, that four letter dirty word of law practice management.

• Microsoft has an excellent online reference to the Word Migration process – it offers step by step considerations from moving your settings, and all your accumulated customizations to Word 2010

• Let’s take a look . . .

































Microsoft Gives GREAT Migration Advice

































Making the Move – Four Key

Areas for Attention

• Be sure to focus on four key areas, whether moving from WordPerfect or an earlier version of Word:

1. Document any macros you have and plan on winnowing the list to the ones you actually use, then decide how to re-create them in Word 2010 (or use a new Word feature to replicate the function)

2. Move your AutoText and AutoCorrect entries so they’re there for everyone on Day One

3. Move your styles and/or create new styles for everything from pleadings, to letters to contracts so formatting is one click away

4. Be sure your approach to letterhead/correspondence setup is ready to roll in Word 2010

































Top Tips: Working Smarter

in Word 2010

• Now we’ll shift gears and talk about the top tips and new features of Word 2010 – what makes it good enough for this old WordPerfect devotee to embrace it and not hate it?

• The answer is a radical new interface that is so rational and intuitive, other software publishers will likely copy it (perhaps even Corel?)

• And also . . . Kind of important . . . It’s MUCH easier to use!

• Let’s dig in and take a look . . .

































The Cataclysmic Shift: Pull-Downs are

STILL Dead, Long Live the Ribbon!

• The first thing you’ll notice in Word 2010 is the improved version of Word 2007’s “Ribbon”

• There are several Ribbons that contain most of the features you’d want to access, in a single-click

• No more games of “hide and seek” with pull-down menus and sub-menus and more sub-menus . . .

































Let’s Explore the Ribbon, Shall We?

• There are eight or nine Ribbons, depending on what Word Add-Ins you install (such as Adobe Acrobat)

• This is the new “Home” ribbon – the main editing

screen ribbon that gives access to the editing and formatting functions in Word 2010

Font and Text Appearance Paragraph Appearance Functions

Applying Styles and Creating New Styles

































The Insert Ribbon: Tell Word to “Stick It”

• This is the second Ribbon – click “Insert” to access it . . .

• The Insert Ribbon lets you insert everything from

pictures, to “Quick Parts” (think “Lego” building blocks), date/time, page breaks, live web links, and the all-important access to headers and footers

Insert Pictures Files in your Document

Headers, Footers, Page Numbers

Quick Parts to build documents from “blocks”

































The Page Layout Ribbon: Get it Right

• This is the third Ribbon – click “Page Layout” to access it . . .

• The Page Layout ribbon adjusts everything from the

margins and how page breaks are handled to the layout of paragraphs and line spacing in your document

Setup the layout of all the pages

Setup the layout of paragraphs

Deal with line spacing setttings here

































The References Ribbon: Note It

• This is the fourth Ribbon – click “References” to access it . . .

• The References ribbon lets you work with footnotes and

endnotes, insert citations in a document, and mark cited legal authorities to build a Table of Authorities neatly organized by legal reference section

Deal with footnotes and endnotes here

Insert cites into your pleadings and briefs

Insert Captions, Indices and a Table of Authorities

































The Mailings Ribbon: Send It

• This is the fifth Ribbon – click “Mailings” to access it . . .

• The Mailings ribbon lets you setup envelopes and labels

(with TONS of supported types) as well as full access to creating and running mail merges (i.e. Holiday Card labels!)

Setup envelopes and any kinds of labels here

Full access to mail-merge functions and insert Address Blocks

































The Review Ribbon: Work It

• This is the sixth Ribbon – click “Review” to access it . . .

• The Review ribbon lets you spell-check, and is the master

control area for using “Track Changes,” adding Comments (think digital post-its), doing document comparisons and protecting final docs from being edited

Deal with spell-checking here

Master control for commenting and track changes

Document comparisons finally work!

































The Other Ribbons: Add-Ins and Acrobat

• This are the seventh and eighth Ribbons

• The other ribbons let you access Add-Ins like metadata

removal software and the full range of Adobe Acrobat functions (if it is installed …. And it should be!)

































So Where are the “File Menu”

and “Help” Functions??

• A big improvement over Word 2007 is the inclusion of an actual File menu (instead of the cryptic Office button) and a Help function under the File menu where it belongs!

































The New File Menu in Word 2010

































The New Help Menu – A Big Improvement

































Cool Word Features You Need to

Use: Styles and QuickStyles

• Compartmentalize your WordPerfect knowledge about “codes” so you can make room in your head for the idea of “styles”

• A “style” is a collection of multiple formatting functions all rolled into a single-click approach – it’s actually much easier than using WordPerfect code-based system for altering text appearance

• Word comes with standard styles and you can make your own on the fly – for everything from pleadings to client letters to contracts . . .



































• Click in the Styles section of the “Home” ribbon and see the “standards”

• You can mark text and click “Save as a Quick Style” to make your own



































• When you make a QuickStyle, it couldn’t be easier – highlight the text that is formatted the way you want, select “Save as a New Quick Style”, name it, then re-use often!

































Cool Word Features You

Need to Use: Play With Lego

• Quick Parts is seriously useful – every day!

• You can create “Building Blocks” (“Lego” – get it?) that you can select and insert anywhere in your document

• These can be everything from a letterhead layout to clauses to build a contract or trial brief – any chunk of text can be saved, then inserted anywhere, in any doc



































• To use Quick Parts and create a collection of Building Blocks (“Lego Pieces”), select a chunk of text you want to turn into one in any source document

• Then go to the Insert ribbon and click on Quick Parts

• Select “Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery”



































• Next, you’ll be asked to name and save your new Building Block for later recall



































• Then when you’re in a document and want to insert your Building Block, click Quick Parts and click on the item in the list and it will pop it into your document

• Think of the possibilities for creating a clause library for each area of practice?

































Cool Word Features You Need

to Use: Comparing Docs

• Document comparison in Word 2003 was useless

• In Word 2010, it’s incredibly capable – no more third party change managers needed?

• Find it under the Review ribbon – and see three panels – the two docs you’re comparing and the redlined version – it’s about time!


































Use: “Final” and Format Eraser

• Two handy tools to use • “Mark as Final” locks the

document so only you can alter it (or unlock it) (find it under the Review ribbon as “Protect Document”

• The Format Eraser is a godsend – “wipe” it over text and it removes the formatting – the text takes on the appearance of the surrounding body text – big timesaver! (Font section of the Home ribbon)

































Useful / Indispensable Word

Tools, Add-Ins and Resources

• Let’s get a rapid peek at my recommended Word add-ins, tools and web resources

• Every Word user in every law office should be using these tools with both Word 2003 and Word 2010

• Taking any other approach is truly doing things the hard way

































Useful / Indispensable Word Tools,

Add-Ins and Resources

• The Payne Group’s series of “Assistant” products (www.payneconsulting.com) are all terrific – RATING: Indispensable

Metadata Assistant ($89) lets you view and remove hidden metadata – critical!



































• The Payne Group’s series of “Assistant” products (www.payneconsulting.com) are all terrific

• I heartily recommend this company known for being the top international legal Word experts – RATING FOR ALL: Indispensable



































• Payne’s $79 Numbering Assistant replaces Word’s screwy automatic paragraph numbering with a system that actually works – your staff will thank you!

• RATING: Indispensable

































• Payne’s Forms Assistant are like document setup macros on steroids

• Automated approach to setting up standard document formats across all your PC systems.

• RATING: Crazy to do this manually - INDISPENSABLE



































• Payne’s Redaction Assistant – securely redact text so the recipient cannot turn it off and view the privileged or confidential information underneath – RATING: Indispensable for litigators

Redaction Assistant lets you

securely hide privileged or irrelevant info



































• Levit & James makes the indispensable CrossEyes and very useful CrossWords tools

• I heartily recommend this company as well – especially for its Reveal Codes addition to Word – sorely needed!

• www.levitjames.com



































• Just plain magic. No need to pine for Reveal Codes with Levit & James CrossEyes (available for Word 2003, coming soon for Word 2010)

• $30 utility which adds most of WordPerfect’s Reveal codes to help you rapidly fix uncooperative documents RATING: Indispensable for ALL WORD USERS!





































Useful / Indispensable: Microsoft Word 2010

Compatibility Update for Office 2003

• Office 2010 uses the same new file format introduced in Word 2007 (.docx, .pptx, .xlsx)

• For Office 2003 users to read these files, they ALL need to download and install the free Microsoft Office 2010 Compatibility Pack for Office 2003 users

• Just do this if you’re using Office 2003 – you need it!



































Useful / Indispensable: Microsoft Word 2010

Saves in Word “97-2003” Format Too

• Alternatively, if you’re sending to a Word 2003 (or earlier version) user, you can save your Word document (or PowerPoint or Excel file) in the older “97-2003” format . . .

• But still, advise the recipient to update their system with the previously mentioned Compatibility Pack – they’ll need it!

































Useful / Indispensable: Posting to

Your Blog with Word – Very Slick

• You can now post directly to your law practice blog using Word’s new “New Blog Post” function

• Find it under the “Office Button”, then “New Document”, then “New Blog Post”



































• Setup your blog account to allow Word to “see it” and login using your ID and password

• Then type your blog post and click “Publish to Blog” from the specialized “Blogging Ribbon” that appears

• Easier formatting than using your blog’s built-in and usually crude editor



































• And here’s the result – a perfectly formatted blog post all done from within Word 2010

• This should encourage you to post to your blog more often – no more manually logging into and navigating through your blog’s site management system

































Useful / Indispensable: Allen Wyatt’s

WordTips

• Allen Wyatt’s WORDTIPS is an incredibly useful resource with a strong “how to do _____” emphasis

• I visit regularly and subscribe to his free “Tips” emailings – you should too

































The Word 2010 Bottom-Line….

• Using Word is a fact of life in contemporary law practice

• While Word 2003 continues to victimize law firm’s everywhere, Word 2010 is an absolute breath of fresh air

• Could it be that Word 2010 is as “good” as WordPerfect? In many ways it is, and in some ways, it is actually superior

• And remember, you’re hearing this from a long-time WordPerfect devotee . . .

• It’s time for lawyers to “work smart” and use Word 2010 intelligently in their practices

































Thank You! For Assistance With

Microsoft Office, I’m Happy to

Help

Ross Kodner, Esq. MicroLaw, Inc.

Automating Lawyers Worldwide Since 1985

Phone: 414-540-9433

[email protected]

www.microlaw.com







2012 Wisconsin Solo & Small Firm Conference October 2012

microsoft office 2010 in your ssf practice – ross l...

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