Criminal Defense Law With An Apple

Hosted by Foreman, Lewis & Hutchison

Date 1 pm Friday February 29 - 5pm Saturday March 1, 2008 (The group will socialize Saturday night so please try to stay until Sunday morning)

Location: Embassy Suites Outdoor World At DFW Hotel - Grapevine Texas (5 minutes from DFW airport) 2401 Bass Pro Drive, Grapevine Texas 76051. The hotel adjoins the Bass Pro Outdoor World in case you want to buy a gun, tent or boat while you are here! Hotel is walking distance to the Grapevine Mills Outlet Mall.

Travel Recommend that you fly into Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport if possible. Dallas Love field is approx twenty minutes away if you want to rent a car or pay for a cab.

Cost: $150 for the Seminar/Meals (Covers a per person charge for use of meeting rooms at hotel, refreshment breaks, Dinner Friday evening (speaker presentation during dinner), lunch Saturday (presentation during lunch), and high speed internet connection in the seminar meeting room). [I know we originally said no cost for the seminar, but based on interest it appears we have far outgrown my conference room and require seminar space from the hotel. There is still no charge for the information/seminar.]

Accommodations: Attendees are eligible for a discounted suite at the rate of $124 per night for Friday and Saturday night. Thursday night accommodations are not subject to the discounted rate and should be shopped for the lowest available rate through the hotel or outside sources such as expedia or hotels.com. Reservations can be made online or by calling 972-724-2600 and asking for the MacLaw rate. Accommodations include a breakfast buffet and a cocktail reception. In-room internet is an additional charge. The Hotel has a complementary airport shuttle.

DEADLINE: The discount rate for hotel rooms will remain available until Midnight February 8th. After that date rate may increase based on availability. The hotel may sell out of guestrooms at any time.

I am requesting that the $150 seminar fee be sent to my office by February 8 so we can adjust the seminar facilities to larger space if needed. Please send a check to Foreman, Lewis & Hutchison 611 S Main, Ste 700 Grapevine, Texas 76051 or call 817-336-5533 and ask for Kristy to pay by credit card.

Seminar Topics:

The seminar is directed to the use of Macintosh computers in a trial focused litigation practice. Some of the topics will be applicable to general law office use of Macs. A favorite portion of the seminar last year was an open discussion / sharing of specific practice based problems and solutions. The seminar should be a wonderful tool for both advanced users and those new to or considering a conversion to a Mac based practice. The use of all programs will be demonstrated in a step by step form - bring your MacBook and work along with the speaker - Topics will include:

The Electronic Trial Notebook / File Organization - Circus Ponies Notebook. [Jason Adams - creator of Circus Ponies is planning to attend! - Worth the trip by itself!]

Adobe Acrobat the less paper practice (there is no such thing as paperless) , scanning, pdf files, bookmarks and annotations, etc.

TrialSmart and DepoSmart - trial presentation of exhibits and depositions [John Callis creator of TrialSmart and DepoSmart will present]

Recording your own video depositions Quicktime, iMovie and iDVD and presenting video at trial.

Keynote/Powerpoint presentations - use bulletpoints to bore your jury at your own risk use anchor images to help tell your story

Case Management using Daylight and alternatives -

Technical Tips every litigator should know: internet via cellphone; wireless networking with co-counsel; portable printers and scanners; projectors, image and video file conversions, dealing with a windows based court staff, and lots of other things to make you look like a techno-nerd.

Continuing Legal Education Credits: the seminar received approval for CLE credit last year from the State Bar of Texas (with reciprocity available in other states per their rules). Similar accreditation will be applied for this year.

WILL THE SEMINAR BE VIDEOTAPED? I don¹t know yet. Even if it is, the CD¹s would not be available for a while so don¹t take the chance COME!

ANY QUESTIONS?? Reply to Lewis@seeyouincourt.com or call me at
817-336-5533

Some of the best blogs belong to people passionate about Macs. I follow all of these Blogs and Sites. Each one provides me with great information and all of these sites are worthy of a bookmark.

Type “Mac Lawyer” in google and the first face (or half face) you’ll see is Ben Stevens – The Mac Lawyer.
Ben knows Macs and if you spend some time on his blog you will find that it is rich with information from a wide variety of sources. It is hands down the best blog for lawyers looking to set up a Mac-Firm.

Sister site to Ben is Home Office Lawyer
This Blog is a great resource. Grant Griffiths blog covers a more diverse area of discussion but they are all areas relevant to me (Macinhtosh’s, Blogs and the Business of being a Lawyer).

I discovered this blog as a link on Ben’s site and it is a must have for Adobe Acrobat users: Acrobat for Legal Professionals. This site covers all things Acrobat and is great to help you realize the full potential of this program.

For simply Apple blogs that discuss all things Apple I visit The Cult of Mac, Apple Insider, Macnn,and Macspark. Finally, there is the Fake Steve Jobs. A comical look at what Steve might say, if he had a blog. Good for a laugh on a lazy Sunday.

There are some really great sources for information on setting up a practice and using a Mac. My first two are, much like any great Mac program, unassuming at first. They are listserves and they give excellent insight on the good, the bad, and the ugly in Macintosh Software and Hardware. A listserve is a membership of a number of people who simultaneously send messages to all members of the group. Usually, a listserve is based on some topic or commonality, here, Macintosh for the law office. You can view the listserve via email or search a topic of interest in past posts on the web.

These listserves are an excellent resource if you are having some trouble with a particular program or seeking a template for a program (such as Filemaker or Daylite). Often times the software developers themselves will post responses to questions or comments. In addition, people posting will provide their own reviews of different products. I have found that the following two listserves are very helpful and cordial to the less tech inclined.

Mac Law. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MacLaw/

MILO (Macs in Law Offices) http://groups.google.com/group/milogroup

Both sites require that you sign-up and provide your email.

Hints: When you first set up, I suggest you enable the “digest” option. This prevents your inbox from getting hammered. Also, if you use Apple Mail, go to “preferences” and set up a “rule” so that you will receive all your list-serve groups in a separate folder.