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Legal Humor
| "I used to say that, as Solicitor General, I made three arguments of every case. First came the one that I planned as I thought—logical, coherent, complete. Second was the one actually presented—interrupted, incoherent, disjointed, disappointing. The third was the utterly devastating argument that I thought of after going to bed that night." |
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Robert H. Jackson
Supreme Court Justice |
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Be Sure You Installed that December CD Update
In addition to providing you valuable updates; installing the update you received in December keeps your ProDoc current so it does not timeout on you in the future.
If you are not sure if you installed it, open ProDoc, go to Tools→Registration→Show Installed Volumes. If the dates in the Date column display 12/15/09 (or newer), you are current. If they show an earlier date you need to find the December CD and install the update right away.
If you cannot find the CD or you cannot find the KeyCode to install the update, call the Tech Support team at 800-759-5418, option 3, for assistance.
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Updates Review
Coming Updates
2010 Updates
We will continue our commitment to provide you updates to ProDoc forms as agency changes and case law changes dictate. We will also ship form changes we make as a result of customer suggestions and enhancements we make in both ProDoc and the automated forms.
January 2010 WebUpdate
We have sent,or will send, the following WebUpdates this month:
- Real Estate1 – We're updating the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) Sellers Disclosure of Property Condition to match the revised official form.
- Family Law1 – We're updating the IRS Request for Copy of Tax Return to match the revised official form.
- Litigation1 – We're updating the federal civil cover sheet pursuant to the revised form for the Northern District of Texas.
- Lipman’s Wills & Trusts - We're updating numerous forms to account for the repeal of the estate tax. In particular, you will now have the ability to draft the husband and wife wills and revocable trusts so that all property passes to a QTIP Trust, with any disclaimed properties passing to a Bypass Trust. We're also adding new charitable lead trusts, 2503(c) trusts, decanting provisions, and more.
- Business Organizations – We're adding 44 new series LLC forms. We're also updating numerous forms pursuant to revisions by the Texas Secretary of State.
December WebUpdate
After we shipped the December CD update (link below) we also provided the following WebUpdates:
- Real Estate1 – We added 13 new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac forms and we updated the HUD-1 forms.
- Family Law PowerPack - We updated the child support calculator based on the revised tax charts from the Office of the Attorney General and we WebUpdated those to customers who subscribed to the Family Law PowerPack. We also updated the child support calculator files for handheld devices (Windows® Mobile™ Pocket PC operating system and the old Palm® operating system only). Go here for instructions on installing those files on your hand held device.
- Federal Criminal Defense - We revised the Waiver of Rule 5 and 5.1 Hearings (AO Form 466A) pursuant to an Administrative Office update.
- Lipman's Wills & Trusts - We modified the husband and wife tax-planned wills and revocable trusts adding an alternate disposition should the first spouse die when there is no federal estate tax in effect. These changes were made pursuant to the expiration of the federal estate tax for the year 2010.
December CD Update
Our December CD update was a significant update and for that reason alone you should have installed it. Additionally, you cannot install any of the above WebUpdates, or any future WebUpdates, until you install the December WebUpdate. If you need assistance doing so, or if you need the KeyCode to install the December CD update, call our Tech Support team at 800-759-5418, option 3.
Visit here for more details about the December CD update >>
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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: When will you support the Mac OS X operating system?
A: When we rewrite ProDoc we will do so in a language that is not dependent of the operating system – it will run on Windows and Mac operating systems. We expect to begin that project soon and should release the new and improved ProDoc in about two years. In the meantime, we recently completed testing of using ProDoc on a Microsoft® Windows® operating system running on Parallels Desktop® for Mac and we recommend that as an interim option for Mac users.
Q: We are thinking about having a service back us up every night and also about getting a new computer. If I have to save all the information in ProDoc will it be able to be converted to new computer?
A: You should have absolutely no problem with moving all of your client and case data from your old computer to your new one. We suggest that you call our Tech Support team at 800-759-5418, option 3. Remember that your work product is saved to a different non-ProDoc and permanent directory on your system. Our tech support team can also assist you in locating that directory and copying it to your new computer. And, backing up your computer daily is a great idea. Here is a Tech Tip to tell you about the process. I also recommend that you get our Tech Team to assist you in setting this up initially.
Q: Why do I need an update CD? You guys charge 50 bucks each time when my ProDoc is updated automatically each time.
A:
All updates are included as part of ProDoc subscription so we charge no additional fees for any ProDoc updates. We send the CD for two VERY IMPORTANT reasons:
- The WebUpdates are fine for small, incremental changes but this update was quite large and so the download file would be quite large as well. This is a problem for some of our users so we continue the CD updates for now – but only two to three times a year.
- Installing the CD update extends the ProDoc time out period. Forget to install a couple of updates and you will find that ProDoc times out on you and you cannot use it until you reregister it – a bit of a hassle.
Q: I would like to (need to) get a new phone and am unable to get the one I want (Sprint Palm Pre - Web OS) because it will not sync with SOS. Are you planning to make SOS compatible with more [smart] phones?
A: We will soon begin programming an enhancement to SOS that will enable it to sync with Microsoft Outlook since smart phones sync with Outlook. We expect to release this update mid-year 2010. At that time you should be able to sync your new smart phone with SOS using Microsoft Outlook as the intermediary.
Q: The Department of Family and Protective Services is supposed to devise a Chapter 34 Family Code form, the Authorization Agreement for Nonparent Relative. I’m eager to see how soon they do and how similar it will be to ProDoc’s form. Once that form is out, will ProDoc adopt it as the template for us to complete?
A: Yes we will adopt the official form when it comes out. But, we received so many requests for it that we decided not wait any longer. We devised our own version, which shipped in the December CD update, for your use until the official version debuts.
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ProDoc Customer Support: Revising Finished Documents
It can be frustrating to assemble several documents for a case, only to find out later that one or two of the answers were wrong or have changed. Certainly, you could go through an entire assembly process over again to change the answers and generate a new document. But, there are easier ways to do so in ProDoc.
Learn how to efficiently revise finished documents in ProDoc >>
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Practice Tip: How to Think Paperless
According to Eric T Cooperstein, "... the paperless office is not just about creating an electronic replica of your existing file cabinet. A paperless office allows you to think differently about how you access and use documents, increasing your efficiency and productivity." As you might expect, he then goes on to explain eight ways in which he boosted his practice's efficiency and productivity through going paperless.
Read How to Think Paperless by Eric T Cooperstein >>
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Tech Tip: Archiving Microsoft® Outlook Email into PDF Files
Handy as email is, it can be a headache to keep case related emails associated then with their respective cases. One simple answer is to simply convert those emails into PDF files that you can then save in the respective case files on your computer or server.
An excellent tool for bulk conversions is the PDF Portfolio features in Adobe® Acrobat 9 Pro. Another cheaper option is simply to use your own PDF-maker software to manually make PDFs of every email and save the PDF in each case file.
Read about the Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro PDF features for archiving emails >>
View a video on archiving emails as PDFs in a PDF Portfolio >>
Read about a simple method to save emails as PDFs >>
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Tech Tip: The Best Laptops from $400 to $1,500
If you're planning to finally buy a laptop computer or to upgrade your laptop computer this year, here's a resource you'll want to check out. Mark Spoonauer, editor-in-chief of Laptop Magazine and Laptopmag.com, oversaw 130+ notebook and netbook reviews in 2009.
Best on those reviews, he recommends six specific products covering the price range from $400 to $1,500.
View information about the six recommended laptop computers >>
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Tech Tip: Navigating to the Right Folder with Fewer Key Strokes
Having a well-organized file system on your computer or server makes it easy to find quickly what you need. But, it also probably means
numerous clicks to actually navigate to the file you want to access. QuickJump saves you time by helping you open or save a file with just a few key strokes. And, for larger firms, your system administrator can centrally configure and administer this application.
Read more about QuickJump from TechHit >>
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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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