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Major Updates Coming this Year
The major updates you can expect from us this year include:

• June for new legislation effective July 1, 2009,
• September for new legislation effective October 1, 2009, and
• December for new legislation effective January 1, 2010.

We expect that you will receive these updates from us via both CD and our WebUpdate process.

Future WebUpdates
Our resources now are focused on getting ready for our June legislative update. The legislative updates are always a challenge for us for two reasons:

1. Our commitment to you is to provide you the new form updates necessitated by the new legislation and
2. Many significant bills are signed by the governor at the very end of June or the early days of July.

Our Florida team is analyzing the bills and preparing for alternative scenarios depending on the final disposition of these last minute bills.

Past WebUpdates
Here is a review of the WebUpdates we recently provided to you:

• Real Estate - We updated the FARBAR contract. We also added the old HUD-1s back to this volume alongside the revised versions. We received a tremendous amount of negative feedback about the new forms. HUD is very clear that the new versions we shipped last month are the current versions and the old version is now outdated. However, they are allowing the use of the old HUD-1 through the end of the year. So, unless HUD changes directions, the new versions will be mandatory for everyone January 1, 2010.
• Family Law - We added four new Supreme Court forms - two Parenting Plans and two Supplemental Proceeding forms for persons in military service. And, we revised other forms pursuant to the Florida Supreme Court update resulting from Senate Bill 2532 (passed in the 2008 Legislative Session) and incorporating the concepts of time-sharing and the parenting plan, along with other minor revisions. Finally, we added a statutorily required arbitration clause to the fee agreements.
• Federal Criminal Defense – Contains an update to “Deposition Subpoena in a Criminal Case” pursuant to changes by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
• UCCJEA – Contains an update pursuant to new Florida Supreme Court decisions.

• Certified Mailer Feature - We updated this feature so it correctly calculates your certified mail rate after the USPS new postage rates went into affect May 11.

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If It's Working for You... Share It
It's a challenging landscape today in Florida for attorneys. We know that many of your colleagues, and perhaps you, are struggling and greatly concerned about the future.

Chances are you may not even think of whatever you are doing as that special. But, if you find that your revenues are holding relatively steady in today's economy, you're probably doing something right that others would like to know about. It might be something like: an effective client development program, an alternative billing system that appeal to clients, internal procedures for effective client communications, systems that have boosted your firm's productivity, etc.

If you're willing to share your methods, even if they don't seem that special to you, please and we will follow up with you for more information.

And, on behalf of all Florida attorneys who may benefit from your generosity... thanks in advance for sharing!

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Since this update will rely heavily on the WebUpdate process we recommend that:

1. Each computer/server/laptop with a ProDoc installation should have Internet access. If all your computers are on a network, only the server needs access to the Internet for the WebUpdate.
2. You provide for high-speed Internet access. Some of our updates are quite large and a dial-up connection may be impractical. And, a dial-up connection requires that you establish your Internet connection before opening ProDoc in order for WebUpdate to work—easy to forget to do.

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Customer Questions from the Last WebNotes
The following questions were from ProDoc customers like you in response to last month's ProDoc WebNotes.

Q: We are receiving an error message in Word indicating the ProDoc macros have expired as of March 09.  How can we eliminate this message every time we open Word?
A: This is an easy fix. Open ProDoc. Then click on Customize - Options - Word Processor. Then click on Install a ProDoc® toolbar in Microsoft _ _ _ _ _. If you are asked if you want to replace an existing toolbar, click yes. This process will update the macro and you'll no longer see the error message.

Q: What options do I have to transfer my data from another program into SOS?
A: We do not have a feature for importing data into SOS from other programs. One fairly rudimentary process for transferring basic names, addresses, and phone numbers is to use the sync function from the other program to a Palm-based operating system device (if you have one) and then sync that data back into SOS. Other than that, many new SOS users transition to SOS by continuing to use their old system for existing customers and all new customers are entered into SOS.

Q: Would love TIL to have prompts to input proper numbers with calculators. Would also love to have more options; i.e. principal reductions and stepped interest with calculators.
A: The TIL (Truth-In-Lending) features are on our long-term enhancement list but they are relatively low priority. We've also considered adding an amortization chart generator and payment calculator features but, in the meanwhile there are many free sites on the Internet for these purposes. Check out some of your options at: vertex42, Mortgage Calculators, MyAmortizationChart.com.

Q: We’ve noticed when using the Inventory (Ancillary) in the Probate forms that it does not have a Certificate of Service at the end of the document.  There is a Certificate of Service on the regular Inventory form.
A: Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The FLSSI form that we are using for the Inventory does not contain the Certificate of Service, but it looks like we added it pursuant to Probate Rule 5.340(d), which requires that a copy of the Inventory be served on the Department of Revenue. We're not sure why we did not also include it on the Ancillary Inventory. We will add it to our enhancement list to consider for a future update. By the way, form 3.920, the Proof of Service of Inventory, mentions service on the Department of Revenue in addition to other interested parties, so you may find that helpful.

Q: With regard to your family law pleadings, the case style is not correct for me. Pursuant to Ch. 61, the header should be "In re the marriage of XXX, Wife/Mother and XXX, Husband/Father"
A: The caption style is generated based upon the way that you answer some of the document assembly questions in ProDoc. When asked if you want to use Petitioner/Respondent references in the caption, select No. Then when asked to select the Designation of the parties in the caption, select Husband and Wife.

Q: When I was working with a colleague I noticed that his ProDoc looked really different from mine. Are there multiple versions of ProDoc available?
A: The different look in your two ProDocs is because one of you is using the Quick Start Assistant (QSA) to generate your documents. It simplifies the process but it prevents you from using many of the time saving features available to you in ProDoc. Let's assume that it is you that is using the QSA. To change to the Quick Click Menu method (much more efficient), do the following: Open ProDoc, click on Customize and then on Options. On the Options and Settings page, choose Miscellaneous Personal Settings in the Personal Settings area, and then click the button by Quick Click Menu (Advanced). Click OK to exit. You'll now be able to use additional time-saving features like default answer sets, forms sets, etc.

Q: Spacing/formatting issues, particularly in estate planning docs in Lipman’s, are a frustration. The wills, and trust documents frequently look very odd, with unnecessary spaces of 1/3 to ½ page sprinkled throughout the documents. What can be done to fix this?
A: This happens in Microsoft® Word only and is a formatting issue. There is a relatively easy fix on a document-by-document basis. Open the completed document, go to Edit, Select All (which highlights the entire document), then go to Format, Paragraph, Line and Page Breaks, and uncheck everything. You may need to double click on each box that is shaded green. You may also want to go back through the document and highlight certain provisions that you want to keep together. After highlighting any paragraphs you want to keep together, reverse the process and recheck Keep Lines Together and Keep with Next.

Q: I am using ProDoc for the first year of my law firm.  If I cancel my subscription at the end of the year, will the documents that I created this past year be deleted?
A: All the documents you draft in ProDoc will stay with you in the event you end your ProDoc subscription. Word processor documents will be in either .WPD, .DOC, or .RTF (depending on your word processor) and graphic forms will be in .PDF format. You can find those documents in the location specified in your ProDoc Options & Settings. The default location for this location is C:\Clients

Submit your ProDoc question(s) >>

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This is a heads-up for you to prepare for those changes.

• Upgrading your computer operating system - If you are using ProDoc on a Windows® 98, Windows® NT, or Windows® ME operating system, you will need to upgrade it. We're releasing an enhancement to the ProDoc database that only runs on Windows® 2000, Windows® XP, or Window® Vista.

FYI, XP has reached the age that free service is no longer available for it. And, after early next year Microsoft will probably end all XP service except for providing critical updates for another year afterwards.

Internally, we are testing ProDoc on the new Microsoft 7 operating system that is a candidate for release and our team has good words for it - they like what they are seeing much better than they like Microsoft Vista.

• Moving to broadband internet service - You should have high-speed Internet access. Some of our updates are quite large and a dial-up connection will probably require a very long time to download the update. A dial-up connection also requires that you establish your Internet connection before opening ProDoc in order for WebUpdate to work.

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Customer Support: Fast and Professional Certified Mail
The ProDoc Certified Mailer feature makes it easy to print labels for certified mail.  You only need a printer and certified mailer forms.  You can select contacts from your database to include in the mailing and add contacts that are not in your database.  The program does the rest.

Read more about using the ProDoc Certified Mailer feature >>

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Practice Tip: Smaller Firms Think Outside the Box on Billing
Midsize and small firms, as well as solo practitioners in a wide range of practice areas, including patent law, animal law, business law and bankruptcy, are responding to the tanking economy by doing everything from adopting flat rates and packaging legal services to bartering their work in limited situations. This article comes to us in Law.com

Read Smaller Firms Think Outside the Box on Billing >>

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Tech Tip: Controlling Spam in Your Inbox
Spam is the bane for everyone with an email account and a number of small firms tell us they need a way to control it. Here are several proven options for you to consider:

• POPFile -This is a free program that classifies email for you prior to it arriving in your inbox.
• MailWasher - The free version of this product enables you filter spam, view emails without fear of opening a virus, and even bounce back unwanted emails.
• SpamAid - It's low cost and it is a Microsoft Outlook® add-on designed to help you control spam.
• MyMail - If you want to reduce spam but are concerned spam filters hijacking important email, this may be the solution for you. The sender must verify him/herself before your email is delivered, something that spammers are not able to do.
• Sendio - Like MyMail, Sendio is a sender verification program that should enable valid email senders to email you without the fear of their email being hijacked by a spam filter.

There are many other options available that you may wish to research. Use a search term such as spam blocker review and you will find plenty of sites that contain reviews of various spam blocking options.

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Tech Tip: Save Money on Mobile Computing
Wi-Fi is great when you've found a hotspot. Aircards, however, offer greater roaming ability - and are expensive. If you have a Verizon wireless phone you have a free software option that enables you to gain internet access for your laptop computer through your cell phone. If you have an unlimited minutes plan, this solution means virtually free mobile Internet access.

• Learn about VZAccess Manager >>


• Download the free VZAccess Manager >>

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Tech Tip: Free Screen Capture Software
There are times you need to capture an image on your computer and the Windows Print Screen function just doesn't cut it. This is particularly true if you need just a small portion from the screen and you don't have image editing software to crop the screen capture to just what you need.

If it is a standalone image you can always right click on the image and save it. However, we are talking here about capturing a section of information from a web page in an image format that you can use elsewhere. That is when you need a screen capture tool. Here are a couple of freeware options for you to consider:

• ZScreen - This product enables you to capture full screen, window, and full screen images.


• ScreenHunter - This nice little free product has several handy features but the free version does not seem to have an adjustable region capture function so you capture only what you want on the screen.

Read reviews of other screen capture software products >>

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