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Texas
April 2010
 
Legal Humor

A lawyer had a jury trial in a very difficult business case. The client who had attended the trial was out of town when the jury came back with its decision, which was for the lawyer and his client. The lawyer immediately sent a telegram to his client, reading "Justice has triumphed!"

The client wired back, "Appeal at once!"

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Updates Review

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.

March WebUpdates
The WebUpdate we released in March was:

  • Lipman's Wills & Trusts - We added the new 60-3 form – a memorandum to send to clients regarding estate tax repeal and the impact on their plans. We also revised the transmittal letter (form 60-1) with minor grammatical changes.

April WebUpdates
We provided the following WebUpdate in April:

  • Real Estate – We're correcting a reference from 41.02 to 41.002 of the Texas Property Code in one form

June Update
We will send you the following updates via CD:

  • AdoptionsWe're revising the Notice of Intent to Claim Paternity form to match the updated agency form.  And, based on customer requests, we're adding more space in which to type in the name of an alleged father in the termination section of the volume.
  • Business Organizations – When registering an LLP, you will now be able to list the number of general partners in the LLP at the time of registration pursuant to a change by the Texas Secretary of State.
  • Business Transactions Solutions – We're updating the Directors', Officers' and Principal Shareholders' Questionnaire form per an update from the author, Alan S Gutterman.
  • Family Law – We're updating the Qualified Domestic Relations Order for the Employee Retirement System of Texas. We're making the inclusion of the social security numbers of the parties optional to match regulation changes by the agency which administers the plan.
  • Foreclosures – We're enhancing the coding of two forms, the Authenticated Claim of Creditor and the Warranty Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, to make them work better with other forms.
  • Guardianship – We're adding three new forms to the volume: Notice to Interested Parties - Probate Code 633, Affidavit of Compliance - Probate Code 633, and Guardianship Referral to Harris County Probate Courts (Harris).
  • Litigation - We're revising the Motion - Federal - Pro Hac Vice, with Order form to match updated agency form.
  • Real Estate – We're modifying a reference from Texas Business and Commerce Code to the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
  • Probate – We're updating the Affidavit of Heirship for a Motor Vehicle form.
  • Lipman’s Wills & Trusts – We're revising approximately 100 forms with numerous enhancements, including:
  1. We're modifying and improving the fee agreements so that you now have more options available when creating these forms.
  2. We're adding a new form that revokes your client’s existing revocable trust. The form comes in six different versions depending on who created the trust that is being revoked.
  3. We're revising the deed forms so that you can now draft an unlimited number of deeds at one time. Each of the deeds will be sent to a single output file, with one letter following the other.
  4. We're improving and renaming the forms that were previously called Memorandum Regarding Transfer of Accounts. We're reworking the forms so that they are now letters from your client to the financial institutions. And, you will now be able choose to draft an unlimited number of these letters at one time. Each of the letters will be sent to a single output file, with one letter following the other.
  5. You will now have the option to draft trust agreements without withdrawal rights in all of the irrevocable trusts that contain Crummey withdrawal rights.
  6. We're modifying the language regarding the creation of pet trusts so that other provisions relating to the early termination of uneconomical trusts will not apply to pet trusts.
  7. We're removing the Widow and Orphan format settings from every form. There will be places where the forms previously looked better than they do now, and you will find that certain provisions, notary acknowledgments especially, start on one page and end on the next. However, the formatting has been improved a great deal, especially for users of Microsoft® Word.
  8. We're enhancing most of the wills and revocable trusts so you will now have the option to include several different types of clauses for payment of taxes and expenses.
  • ProDoc/SOS Database Enhancement - We will also release a database enhancement to make your ProDoc more stable and reliable.

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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: I have the ProDoc Wills & Trusts package.  I want to get rid of the page break that leaves spaces between sections.  Can you help me with this?
A: We will release an update soon that contains formatting changes to the Lipman’s Wills & Trusts volume that solve this problem for you.

Q: When are we going to be able to sync SOS with a blackberry, iPhone or other Windows-based phone?
A: We had hoped to release an SOS update this summer that enables SOS to sync with Microsoft® Outlook. If your smart phone syncs with Outlook, you would then be able to sync your device with SOS using Outlook as the intermediary. Unfortunately, we're having to delay that feature until early next year.

Q: When will you have forms that are compatible with Mac and Mac software?
A: (We are asked this question every month so we repeat the question, or a variation of it, monthly.) We are working now to develop a web-based version of ProDoc that runs on any operating system. Watch for that feature to debut around mid-2011. Mac users will be able to use the web-based version while PC-based users will be able to continue with the present computer/server-based version if they wish. Mac users will be able to use the web-based version while PC-based users will be able to continue with the present computer/server-based version if they wish. We have tested an verified that ProDoc runs on a Mac using Parallels™ and a Microsoft Windows® operating system.

Q: My computer went nuts and I had to reinstall all of the software programs that I had installed in it. Can you send me a CD so that I can reinstall ProDoc? Thanks
A: No problem. We already directed our Tech Support team to get in touch with you and get you the installation program.

Q: I find it frustrating that the basic formatting from document to document within a library and from library to library is not consistent. Having all the basic formatting in a group of documents to be consistent looks more professional and then I only have to “proof” the “nuts and bolts” of the information that I have entered.
A: We try as hard as we can to make everything consistent throughout the forms in all of our volumes in Texas. Some of our volumes, however, are licensed from the State Bar of Texas1. In those volumes, we have to match the formatting provided by the state bar. Unfortunately they are not consistent in all of their publications which means we are also not consistent. (You can modify the formatting in the master templates in ProDoc. By doing so, that document will turn out the way you prefer each time you generate it. Learn how to edit the ProDoc master templates.)

Q: (TX) We are in search of forms which pertain to Summary Judgment Practices & Procedures. Does ProDoc have those forms available to us? Where would I find them in our program?
A: If you do a search for forms by going to "File" then selecting "Find Forms", you can type in the search term "summary judgment". You will find the forms in our Litigation volume. Those in chapter 2 are for general litigation. The forms found in chapter 24 are relating to a collections action.

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Who to Call for Billing/Customer Support Issues
We have a special team dedicated to Customer Support issues for ProDoc customers. Call 800-759-5418. This is the "ProDoc only" phone number for obtaining Sales information (option 1), Customer Support (option 2), Free Technical Support (option 3), and Free Training (option 4) and it is dedicated exclusively for ProDoc customers. Call this number and you work with the teams that are the most knowledgeable about ProDoc.

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ProDoc Customer Support: Printing ProDoc Forms Lists
Even experienced ProDoc users are often surprised to find out that forms they assumed were not in ProDoc are actually in there. With the hundreds, and maybe thousands, of ProDoc automated forms available to you, perhaps you too find yourself overwhelmed with the task of finding the form you need in ProDoc. We do provide a form-find feature in ProDoc but many users report that they prefer to print their own copies of the forms lists. So, we invite you to learn how to print ProDoc forms lists.

Learn the different ways to print ProDoc forms lists >>

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Practice Tip: "Do Something! Request an Introduction"
Allison C Shields of Legal Ease Consulting offers ideas and strategies for taking the next step when you identify a potential client, strategic alliance, or referral source you want to court. Follow her succinct six-step process to grow and develop your client base with confidence.

Read Do Something! Request an introduction >>

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Tech Tip: Enter an Email Address on a Blackberry the Easy Way
You know how Microsoft® Outlook enables you to enter a few letters of the email address and it automatically suggests one or more email addresses - saving you time and typing errors? Xobni™ Mobile with Xobni One service does the same thing on your Blackberry. Xobni One provides a powerful index and search capability for your email messages in Microsoft Outlook.

Learn more about Xobni One >>
Learn more about Xobni Mobile >>

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Tech Tip: Integrate Elite Calendar Manager with Microsoft Outlook
If your firm uses Thomson Reuters®' Elite® Calendar Manager product, a new feature enables it to integrate with your Microsoft Outlook Calendar. Elite Calendar Connect for Microsoft Outlook 5.0 enables you to view your litigation docket in Outlook and on your smart phone after syncing the data. You can also configure Calendar Connect so you receive only the events pertinent to your cases.

Learn more about Elite Calendar Connect for Microsoft Outlook 5.0 >>

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Tech Tip: Protect Your Data in Case Your Laptop is Stolen
Preventing unauthorized eyes from perusing your laptop data is a good thing - right? But, how do you do so if your laptop is stolen or you go through customs, for instance? The answer is to encrypt your laptop hard drive so only you can read what's on it. There are many products available to you for this purpose but here are a couple for you to research.

Read about BitLocker Drive Encryption (comes free with Microsoft Windows Vista® and 7® >>
Read about TrueCrypt (a freeware product for the rest of us) >>
Review this comparison of disk encryption software >>

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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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ProDoc, a Thomson Reuters company - 962 Coronado Boulevard - Universal City, Texas 78148
Phone: 800-759-5418

ProDoc® and SOS® are registered trademarks of West Publishing Corporation. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.

1 This document assembly system is not a product of the State Bar of Texas and is not endorsed by the State Bar. The material in this system is provided by Thomson Reuters under a license from the State Bar of Texas, which took no part in producing the system. The license agreement between Thomson Reuters and the State Bar of Texas contains specific disclaimers of the State Bar's Liability with regard to the system and its contents, to which interested persons should refer. The material in this system is also contained in the Texas Family Law Practice Manual, 2nd Ed., The Texas Collections Manual, 3rd ed., The Texas Real Estate Forms Manual, the Texas Foreclosure Manual, 2nd ed., and the Texas Pattern Jury Charges, published by the State Bar of Texas and are intended for use in conjunction with those publications.