Legal Humor
| "It took man thousands of years to put words down on paper, and his lawyers still wish he wouldn't." |
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Mignon McLaughlin
American Writer |
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Updates Review
Legislative Update
Our Texas Jurisdiction Leader reports that more than 7,000 bills have been filed so far for this legislative session. While the legislature can no longer file bills and joint resolutions, they can still file local bills, emergency appropriations, or bills that have been declared an emergency by the governor.
We're watching every one of them for their possible affects on ProDoc forms.
Major Updates Coming this Year
The two remaining major updates you can expect from us this year are:
- August for new legislation effective August 31, 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.
Early May WebUpdate
WebUpdates enable us to provide you with changed forms almost as quickly as case law or agency changes outdate them. Our WebUpdate a few days ago included:
- Real Estate - We added the old HUD-1s back to this volume alongside the revised versions. We received a significant amount of negative feedback about the new forms. HUD is very clear that the new versions we previously shipped you are the current versions and the old version is now outdated. However, HUD allows the use of the old HUD-1 through the end of the 2009. So, unless HUD changes directions, the new versions will be mandatory for everyone January 1, 2010. We also corrected a formatting error in Promissory Note.
- Litigation - We updated the Application to Appear Pro Hac Vice (Form 9-826) to match the updated agency forms. We also changed the Federal Court Motion to Abstain and Remand (Form 9-817) to match the new requirements that specify the removal of the judge's signature line.
- Adoptions - We updated the Acknowledgment of Paternity Inquiry Request form to match the agency form.
- Business Organizations - This WebUpdate contained several significant changes including:
- We added the Business and Public Filings Division Payment Form to the volume.
- We updated forms titled Statement of Abandonment of Assumed Name to include the addresses of the entity's registered office and principal place of business; a table listing the counties in which the assumed name was filed and the dates of filing; and minor format and text changes to match the agency form.
- We updated the Application for Registration (Foreign Entity) to include changes to various agency forms primarily to General Information.
- Federal Criminal Defense - We updated the Deposition Subpoena pursuant to an update from the Administrative Office of the US Courts.
Past Updates
The April CD update was significant and we hope that you have installed it by now. To determine if you did, open ProDoc and look in the extreme upper left corner. If you see ProDoc Version 5.23 your ProDoc is current. If you see a lower number you need to install that update. If you cannot find the install CD, call Tech Support at 800-759-5418, option 3.
Visit here for more details about this update.
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ProDoc Moving to Greater Reliance on WebUpdate
In order to provide them to you by August 31, we expect to be feverishly working on recoding ProDoc forms for legislative changes until nearly the last moments of August. Therefore we expect to deliver to you some, and probably many, of the changes via WebUpdate after the update CD ships.
Since this update will rely heavily on the WebUpdate process we recommend that:
- 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.
- 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: Does ProDoc have a Designation of Guardian form and does it have a Funeral Directive? I use one in every will.
A: We have four Declarations for Guardianship in our Small Estate Wills. Two each under the man's and woman's estate planning documents. Two are for the individuals and two are for the minor children. We do not have a stand-alone funeral form; however, the funeral language is covered in both wills in this volume.
Q: How are you going to stay ahead of the curve on the Blood Search Warrant issue?
A: We have 32-61 Motion to Suppress Blood Test in our DWI section of the Criminal Defense volume.
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 mainly use the HUD-1 Settlement Statement forms. The revised format for the HUD Settlement Statement is absolutely ridiculous! Having the separate page for GFE is totally unnecessary. We never receive a Good Faith Estimate from the lender or the borrower and having this extra page to compare the GFE and the actual costs is ridiculous. This page needs to be deleted as well as reference to GFE on Page 2 of the HUD form.
A: Good news and bad news for you... The good news is that we have added back the old HUD-1 forms. The bad news is that the new forms, with the GFE, are mandatory as of January 1, 2010.
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: I really wish you would password protect ProDoc like you do SOS. There is too much client information you can get to without a password in ProDoc for today's confidentiality requirements.
A: We added your suggestion to our list of suggested enhancements to consider for future ProDoc upgrades. That has not been previously suggested so thanks for the input.
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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Updating Your Computer for the Future
This year you will see two significant upgrades in ProDoc.
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.
This saves you time and creates professional looking certified mail labels every time.
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.
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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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Vent—Tell Us What's on Your Mind
This is your opportunity to
what's on your mind. Email us your suggestions and other feedback.
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