| Attorney Arlo Sommervold of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was representing a defendant charged with stealing hogs during a 1991 trial.
After Sommervold put on a spirited defense, the jury deliberated for a short while and then returned with its verdict. The jury foreman announced, "We the jury acquit the defendant."
Sommervold turned to shake hands with his client, who then asked, "Does this mean I can keep the hogs?"
|
June Update
This update includes our mid-year Judicial Council Forms update as well as our regular enhancements and local forms revisions. Here is an overview of the update:
- Attorney-Client Matters – We updated four attorney fee agreement forms pursuant to California Rule of Professional Conduct 3-410, allowing for the disclosure of personal liability insurance to the client.
- Business Transactions Solution - We updated the Directors’, Officers’ and Principal Shareholders’ Questionnaire form.
- Family Law – We added one new and updated 13 Judicial Council Forms in accordance with the July 2010 changes. We added 29 new mandatory local forms from various counties for alternative dispute resolution, mediation, and fee statements of the mediator or arbitrator. We also updated 63 other local forms for various counties. We updated the FL 685, Response to Governmental Notice or Motion or Order to Show Cause (Gov) form to allow it to be assembled by either petitioner or respondent. Finally, we modified three forms pursuant to customer requests and suggestions.
- Conservatorships – We updated one Judicial Council Form and added another in accordance with the July 2010 changes. We also updated two forms in this volume with minor changes in one form concerning the person signing the document and a minor change to another regarding the reference to a limited conservator. Finally, we modified one form pursuant to a customer request.
- Criminal Defense – We updated two Judicial Council Forms in accordance with the July 2010 changes. We updated five local forms pursuant county updates. We added 10 new mandatory local forms; seven for Yuba County, one for Orange County, one for Riverside County, and one for Amador County.
- Federal Civil Litigation –We updated 20 forms, including two Administrative Office forms with minor changes pursuant to the AO update. Three other changes are pursuant to Central District of California updates. We removed one Southern District of California form and replaced it with a similar form.
- Guardianships – We updated four local forms. We also modified five forms pursuant to customer requests and suggestions.
- Juvenile Law – We updated 13 Judicial Council Forms and removed nine outdated Judicial Council Forms in accordance with the July 2010 changes. We also updated three local forms and tweaked the assembly logic in the proof of service forms.
- Landlord and Tenant –
We added one new Judicial Council Form and updated another in accordance with the July 2010 changes. We added 10 new forms, including various Memorandums of Costs, a 30 day notice to quit, and two new mandatory local forms. We also modified nine forms pursuant to customer requests. Finally, we updated eight local forms in accordance with county changes.
- Lipman's Will & Trusts - We enhanced hundreds of forms in 11 major categories of changes.
- Litigation – We added 15 new, updated 21, and removed four outdated Judicial Council Forms in accordance with the July 2010 changes. We modified 11 forms pursuant to customer requests. We also updated 30 and added 21 new mandatory local forms in accordance with county changes. Finally, we tweaked the assembly logic in one form.
- Probate – We updated 77 local forms and added one new local form in accordance with county changes. We also tweaked the assembly logic in two forms. Finally, we removed one retired form.
- Real Estate –
We added back in a signature line for the settlement agent for the three versions of the HUD-1 forms. We also updated 264 local forms in accordance with county changes (many of the changes affect the Change of Ownership statements and various claim forms). We also made minor assembly logic fixes to five forms. Finally, we added five new forms.
- Worker’s Compensation –
We updated almost 30 forms, added one new form, and removed thirteen Vocational Rehabilitation forms that were obsolete.
- ProDoc/SOS Database Enhancement - We also released a database enhancement to make your ProDoc more stable and reliable.
- Support for Corel WordPerfect® X5 - We updated ProDoc and SOS to support this word processor version.
Read more detailed information about this update >>
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Preparation for Installing the June Update
This update includes a one-time-only database enhancement. As a result, the installation process has special requirements and will take longer. Please read this and the next article carefully before initiating the installation from the CD.
The database enhancement in this update has minimum system requirements that include the most current Microsoft Windows Service Pack for your operating system. If that is not installed on your computer/server, you will not be able to complete the installation of the update.
However, you should have the most current Service Pack installed for your peace of mind. Microsoft Service Packs contain bug fixes and even more importantly, they contain patches to known vulnerabilities in the Operating System. You should have automatic updating turned on but, if not, here is your opportunity to get current.
Here is how to check how current you are with your operating system: On your desktop click Start > click My Computer > click System. On the System window, look for the Service Pack information. If the most current Service Pack version does not display as shown below, be sure to download and install the most current Service Pack before installing the June update.
1Unlike service packs for other Microsoft Operating Systems, SP2 for Vista is not a standalone service pack. It requires SP1 to be installed. If neither service pack is installed on your Vista Operating System, first install the Windows Vista SP1 and then the Windows Vista SP2.
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REALLY Helpful Hints for Installing Your ProDoc Update
The June update is unusual in that it includes an enhancement to the underlying ProDoc database. Please read the following information before installing this update:
Time Your Installation for the Last Task of the Day
This time only, you will need to reboot/restart your computer during the installation process. So, and particularly if your installation is on a network server, we strongly advise that you wait to run the installation until everyone else is off the network.
Lengthier Installation
This installation will take longer than a typical ProDoc update. This is a one-time occurrence and we ask that you be patient with this process.
Your Computer Server Will Restart - Leave the CD in the Computer
The installation process will continue after the restart so do not remove the CD until you click the Finish button.
Installation Messages
You may encounter system messages during your installation process. Most commonly they are triggered because you have not installed all the Microsoft Windows service packs or you do not have administrative rights on the computer.
If you encounter any messages, please go to www.prodoc.com/install-2010/ to view our list of potential system messages you may encounter, what they mean, what to do about them, and who to call if you encounter problems with the installation.
Potential Issue After You Open ProDoc
The registration code you entered when you installed ProDoc governs how many users in your firm can simultaneous access ProDoc. If your firm received a network license and individual computer licenses (to install ProDoc on a laptop, for instance), it is possible that the registration codes were misapplied during the original installation. For example, if your firm registered a network server with an individual computer license (if your firm requested any), after this installation only one person will be able to access ProDoc at a time. If this issue should arise, call our Tech Support team at 800-759-5418, option 3.
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Customer Questions from the Last WebNotes
The following questions were from ProDoc customers like you in response to the last ProDoc WebNotes.
Q: Is there a projected release date for Small Office Suite interface to any smart phone other than Palm OS?
How about for Outlook?
A: Around mid-2011 we expect to release an enhancement to SOS that enables it to sync with Microsoft Outlook®. With this enhancement, any device that can sync with Outlook will be able to sync indirectly with SOS using Outlook as the intermediary.
Q: After "completing" a document I sometimes have to go back to ProDoc to correct or change an answer to one or more questions. It would be handy if after making that change, I could just go directly to the end of the document without having to go through each of the subsequent questions that need no changes.
A: It sounds as if the issue is that you want to change an answer or two without going through and entire document assembly session again. Assuming that is the case, you find the information about the easy way to change case answers and reassemble the document here.
Q:
Is the update going to run faster? The present version is very slow to load.
A: The updates we have been shipping since April (depending on the jurisdiction) have contained the database upgrade and those installations have been quite slow. Once you have completed the upgrade, the subsequent updates will run as they have in the past. Incidentally, we intend to do away with the CD updates completely later this year so all updates will be handled automatically in the background using our WebUpdate feature. Watch for more info about this.
Q: Can I download ProDoc to an external hard drive and just run the program from there or does it have to be installed onto a specific computer? I only ask because I would like to save space on the drive of my laptop so it will run better. Plus, if my laptop crashes - which it did recently, I would have the files already on the hard drive.
A: Yes, you can install ProDoc on an external hard drive and run it from there. We suggest that you call our Tech Support team at 800-759-5418 for free assistance. They will make sure that the short cut you click on your laptop will open ProDoc on the external drive. And, our tech rep will also help you move your client and case files to the external drive. Understand that under this setup, you will only be able to access ProDoc when you are physically able to connect to the external drive.
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ProDoc Customer Support: Backing Up ProDoc Files
IT specialists tell us that all computer hard drives eventually fail. Talk to any lawyer who has experienced this calamity and they will tell you that it was a nightmare. To protect against such data loss nightmares, you should make regularly scheduled backup copies of important data files.
However, as bad as it is to temporarily lose data due to a computer hard-drive failure, it is not the worst calamity that could happen to you. A fire in your building, a major flood, robbery, etc. could completely eliminate all of your precious client and case data forever. Leaving your back up data on site virtually invites such a disaster as some attorneys have found out the hard way.
So, our recommendation is that you follow the instructions we provide below to back up your ProDoc and SOS data and then back up these and other important files off-site.
Learn how to properly back up your ProDoc files >>
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Practice Tip: Developing the Paperless Habit
Law firms are expressing more and more interest in paperless or paper-less offices. Nerino Petro and Ernest Svenson presented their step-by-step
action plan to this goal at the 2010 ABA Techshow.
Read "Digital Workflow: Developing the Paperless Habit" >>
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Tech Tip: More on Dictating to Your Smart Phone
Last month we covered SpeakWrite, an application that enables you to record your thoughts on your iPhone and upload the audio so it can be transcribed by real typists.
But perhaps you simply want a robust dictation app that enables you to dictate and save for transcription by your secretary. Here's info about two of your options:
Read about JMDictate for iPhone® >>
Read about AudioWav MobileMic for Blackberry® >>
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Tech Tip: Simplified Credit Card Processing
Square™ enables you to process credit card payments from your clients on your iPhone, IPod touch, iPad, or Android smart phone. You don't need a merchant account and there's no contract,
setup fees, monthly fees, or monthly minimum. Square even provides you a free mobile card reader, the use of which further reduces the already competitive
processing fee.
Learn more about Square >>
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Tech Tip: New Ultra Portable in Inexpensive Scanner
Doxie™ is the new, modern paper scanner that's so simple, it'll revolutionize the way you think about sharing and storing docs and photos forever. Doxie is ultra-portable, fully automatic, and integrated with your favorite desktop and web apps – ready to scan and share all of your paper for just $129!
You can scan to Acrobat, iPhoto, Picasa, or right to the desktop with ease. And Doxie scans your documents, business cards, receipts, and photos intuitively – so you can ditch the paper stack and get everything organized. Doxie scans all of your documents, and then makes it easy to store and share.
Learn more about Doxie >>
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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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