PDF for Lawyers

Should you buy the Neat Receipts scanner?

I have to admit being intrigued by the Neat Receipts folks, which I first began noticing whenever I was connecting through major hub airports.  Their scanners typically sell for about $200, and they pitch their product in a way that has to resonate with the average business traveller.  If you're on the road constantly then you probably have lots of paperwork to fill out, mostly receipts.  The idea of having a scanner that would easily capture those little pieces of paper, and then populate your expense reports seems too good to be true.

I would have been tempted to buy one, but they didn't have a Mac version when I first encountered them.  By the time they did come out with a Mac version, I had enough time to come to my senses.  Even if the scanner worked flawlessly, I already have a Fujitsu ScanSnap M1500 (and I've used the Windows version).  The ScanSnap has a very small footprint and can be used to scan large batches of documents, as well as small scraps of paper like business cards and receipts.  It's only $200 more and it comes with a full version of Acrobat (normally a $299 purchase).  True, the ScanSnap has to be powered on its own, and its not something you'd toss in a travel bag.  But, seriously, can't you just wait til you get home and scan all your receipts?  Do you really need to carry around a slick little tech toy just to have immediate scanning gratification?

A few months ago I learned that the Neat Company was making its 'receipt organizing' software available for Mac users as a standalone product.  Even though they sell the scanners, they were willing to let Mac users try their software if they had a ScanSnap (there is no software-only deal for Windows users).  I plunked down the $79 and downloaded the software and set it up with my ScanSnap.  It worked okay, but it often made mistakes in reading the numeric values on the receipts.  If I was ever in a position to need automatic calculation of receipts maybe I'd be more inclined to put up with the hiccups.  But, for me, the only thing I need to do with receipts is scan them so if I need to prove I bought something later on I can.  I've had no problem using my scans to do this.

I had dismissed the idea of the Neat Receipts scanner completely until I read this review yesterday by David Pogue, the technology columnist for the New York Times.  I have a great deal of respect for Pogue, and almost always agree with him.  This time I'm not sure.  Maybe he's right and the Neat Receipt scanner really is a wonderful piece of magic for folks who have lots of receipts.  I gather he's using the Windows version, which the Amazon reviews suggest (to me, at least) is better than the Mac version (not surprising since the Windows version has been out longer).

But, then again, I wonder if Pogue knows about the ScanSnap.  I bet if he did then his enthusiasm for the Neat Receipts scanner might be diluted a bit.  I have been using ScanSnaps since they came out.  I had been looking for a basic scanner that was reliable and would allow me to scan batches of documents easily.  Every ScanSnap I've had has been a workhorse.  I consider the ScanSnap to be ridiculously cheap considering how powerful, reliable and flexible it is.  The fact that it comes with a full version of Adobe Acrobat makes it a steal.

I understand that some people are always looking for some 'holy grail' technology and certainly the Neat Receipts scanner will seem like that to most people.  And maybe it is a great tool.  If you are only going to scan receipts and you have a Windows computer then you might love it as much as David Pogue does.  Not everyone loves their Neat Receipts scanner, but you'd be hard pressed to find people that don't absolutely adore their ScanSnap (just check the Amazon comments if you need confirmation).  Windows version, or Mac version.  They both rock!!!

Article Links: Fujitsu Scanap 1500 (Mac version)

          Fujitsu ScanSnap 1500 (Windows version)

          Neat Receipts (Mac version)

          Neat Receipts (Windows version)

Update: After I posted this I got a message from someone alerting me to a service called Expensify, which is a new company that came in 2nd in the TechCrunch Demo contest.  It's free to try, and seems pretty cool as a really convenient and simple way to keep track of lots of expense reports.  If I travelled a lot and needed to do expense reports I'd try this before I bought a specialty scanner.  In fact, I might try this anyway.  If anyone else has tried it I'd love to hear their comments.  You gotta love their slogan: "Expensify - Expense reports that don't suck!"

Important security updates now available for Acrobat and Adobe Reader

Adobe is recommending that users of Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9 update their software to address certain security flaws.  Click here for more information, and to access the necessary downloads.

iPhone 3Gs as a portable scanner that creates PDFs

For years I've toyed with the idea of getting a portable document scanner like the Fujitsu S300 for those few times when I'm in court and need to copy a few pages of a case record.  The local state court here in New Orleans charges $1.00 per page, which is of course ridiculous.  But the real hassle is that it takes an incredibly long time to get the copies made, and then pay for them.  Hence my motivation to find a way to scan a few pages here and there.

The problems with using the Fujitsu are: (1) it costs $240, which means I'd have to do a lot of scanning to justify it, and (2) it has to be hooked to a computer, which means I'd be lugging a lot of hardware just to do a few scans.  And that is why I've never been able to justify buying that scanner.

Now, thanks to the improved camera on the latest iPhone, there is another option that is perfectly acceptable, and costs only $10.  I've been testing an application called DocScanner, and I now report that it does a perfectly acceptable job of creating PDF images using the iPhone 3Gs. And let me emphasize that I am not suggesting that it would do as well with the iPhone 3G, because I think you need the focusing ability of the new phone to get acceptable images.  Here is an example of a receipt that I was able to 'scan' using the application. As you can see it's very good quality:

DocScanner lets you create multi-page PDFs simply by continuing to take pictures.  Once you're done you can choose to save the resulting PDF to your iPhone, or you can email it to yourself or anyone in your address book.

The process of creating the PDF can be slightly tricky the first few times you do it, but once you get the hang of it you can do it without much hassle.  The images as displayed on the iPhone seem low quality, but when you email them to yourself and examine them on a full computer screen the quality is usually quite impressive.  

Obviously, the trick is to get a good photo, which means having plenty of light and also holding the camera steady while you take the picture.  In that vein I might suggest that you also try these two applications: iFlashReady (which adds light to a dark image), and NightCamera (which is a sort of self-timer for the iPhone that delays taking the picture until your hands are most steady). So, if you use these applications to take pictures, how do you get them into DocScanner?  Easy. DocScanner lets you use images from your Cameral Roll.  So you'd just take the pictures of the pages you want to have, then apply the light adjustment (if needed) and then use DocScanner to convert them to PDFs which you can then join together into a multipage PDF that can be emailed or saved.

So, if you've been looking for a good way to create PDF scans of a few pages here and there you may have the solution you're looking for.  If you own an iPhone 3Gs, that is.  As I said, I don't think it will work very well with the older iPhones.  And I wouldn't try to do more than a few pages with it because I think it would get kind of frustrating.  For small jobs like receipts and expense reports, though, it's perfect!

Deposition notices = junk mail?

Recently, it was revealed that the carbon footprint of junk mail is equivalent to 480,000 cars.  I reflected on this dispiriting fact while opening my office mail the other day.  Especially the bulging envelope with two deposition notices.  While there are steps you can take to reduce the volume of junk mail you receive it's hard for a devotee of paperless like me to ward of paper deposition notices.  Still, it is kind of ridiculous when you think about it.

The case that spawned the offending paper is based in federal court, which means that the notices aren't even filed in the court.  If they were required to be filed, they would have to be filed in electronic format and the service would be accomplished electronically.  If only lawyers knew how to scan print the documents to PDF and send them by email!

Well, actually, they should!  Again, because we're talking about a federal court case the lawyers are converting their pleadings to PDF when they file electronically.  So why aren't they sending the notices as PDF attachments to an email? Probably because they don't think the rules allow for it.  So, how about we amend the rules?  

But before we go off on a discussion about that, how about this idea:  How about if attorneys in federal court cases agree from the inception of a case that they'll accept service of deposition notices by email?  Or --better yet-- how about if we send the notices as calendar appointments which can quickly 'accepted' and moved into an electronic calendar?  Doesn't this make perfect sense?

I'll bet that it does to some attorneys, and not so much to many others.  Those that have monthly billing quotas are probably snorting at the mere suggestion of these notions.

How to go paperless - a case study.

There's a great article in ABA Law Practice Today entitled 'Our Paperless Office,' about how one law firm transitioned to being almost completely paperless.  Anyone who is thinking about making the switch should read this article.  There are a couple of key points made in the article that are worth emphasizing:

1. The law firm spent time planning the transition
2. They opted to use PDFs as their digital format 
3. They implemented the process for new cases first 
4. They created a written procedure for scanning
5. They adopted a file-naming procedure that began with the date and then a description 
6. They developed a redundant and comprehensive backup system. 
7. They used Adobe Acrobat Professional to manipulate their PDFs  

Obviously, I believe in using Adobe Acrobat, but it's worth pointing out that many lawyers try to save money by using various third-party tools to do some of the things that Acrobat can do.  That's fine if you are just toying with the idea of going paperless.  But if you're really committed to going paperless then you have to use Acrobat as your main PDF tool.  

And you could use the free Notepad tool to do word processing, but you wouldn't do that if you were serious about creating professional looking documents.  Saving money is obviously an important goal, but chintzing out on an important software tool is going to cost you: time, money or maybe even an important advantage.

One last thought about this article:  the authors explain that they "continue to open a physical file folder for each new matter."  I predict that in one or two years they will discontinue this practice.  The cost of storing paper is too high, and there is really no point to it. But it's not unusual behavior for companies that make the switch.  For some reason, we cling to the notion that keeping the paper is 'something we are supposed to do.'  

Maybe it's a primitive urge that's welded into our DNA.  But, whatever it is, evolution will eventually route around that pesky inefficiency.

Adobe's amazing online services

Yesterday I had the good fortune to get a preview of a new online tool from Adobe called 'Presentation' (which is officially being announced today, probably about now). So what exactly is this new tool?  Basically, think of an online version of Powerpoint built on Flash technology. And how much will it cost you?  For now it'll be free, as are all of the offerings on Acrobat.com.  The Presentation service is not fully-mature yet. But that's actually desirable.  Adobe said they'd prefer to launch early and get user-feedback on features that they want baked in.  One feature that is on the near horizon is the ability to export to Powerpoint, which is obviously important.

'Presentations' is but one of several free tools available on Acrobat.com. If you haven't checked it out yet, you probably should. You'll be very impressed with the writing tool, which is called Buzzword.  Especially if you've been using Google Docs as your online collaborative word processor. I like Google  Docs, but Buzzword is vastly superior in terms of look, feel and versatility.

Clearly, Adobe is trying to position itself as a major player in the area of online collaboration.  You can also hold online meetings using the ConnectNow service in Acrobat.com.  For now, the limit is three people.  But, remember this is a free tool.  And, many impromptu meetings that require screen-sharing don't involve more than three people.

If you have any ideas on how to improve Acrobat.com navigate to ideas.acrobat.com and give them the benefit of your thoughtfulness.  We'll all benefit if Adobe makes this service better.  But, from what I can tell, it's pretty amazing already.

Fujitsu ScanSnap tips & tricks

As many of this site's readers know, I'm a big fan of the Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner.  It's compact, reliable and very easy to use.  Oh, and there are models for both Macs and PCs.  The latest version is the S1500 (or the S1500M if you use a Mac), and it is amazing.  

If you have a Fujitsu ScanSnap you already know how wonderful it is.  So here's some even better news: there's now a special site just for people who want to learn tips and tricks for using the scanner better. It's run by Fujitsu so the advice is straight from the horse's mouth, as they say.

Using Acrobat to put Exhibit stamps on digital documents

Okay, this is a major PDF breakthrough for lawyers.  If you want to be able to stamp your digital documents with Exhibit labels and then have them numbered (or lettered) you need to go read this post right now.  Installing the plug-in is easy as pie.  If you do e-filing in federal court you need this.  If you prepare documents for trial you need this. If you're a lawyer and you use PDFs you need this.

And for his excellent work, I hereby nominate Rick Borstein for the Nobel Prize in PDF Technology!

Why become paperless?

Interesting article on the topic of going paperless [click here]. In addition to the, by now obvious, economic and efficiency benefits, there is the environmental benefit:

"There is a clear environmental need for paperless offices. The paper industry is one of the world’s major polluting industries and one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gases with over 900 million trees cut done annually. The EPA reports that paper is the number-one material thrown away, comprising 40% of our waste stream."

What's your preference, sir?

Remember this joke?  Guy goes into see the doctor, and the doc asks "what seems to be the problem?" The guy says "Doc, it's my arm.  It hurts when I do this." And then the doctor says "well, then don't DO that!"

I mention this joke because it's basically what happens when people fail to make any attempt to set the preferences for their applications.  Technology trainers are constantly hearing lawyers complain that Word wants to auto-correct certain words.  In the attorneys' view the problem is irresolvable; it's a bug in the program that simply can't be fixed.

The tech trainer usually wants to say something similar to what the doctor in the joke says: "if you don't like it when your computer does that then tell it not to."  Then the tech trainer patiently shows the lawyer how to set the preferences for that program.  Every program has preferences.  You knew that, right?

Maybe you didn't.  And, if so, then you wouldn't be alone.

Computers seem to make people dumb. Imagine picking anyone out of a crowd and telling them that they'd get to live in a mansion with a butler for a week.  The first time the butler does something that is annoying or not to their liking, do you think they'd be at a loss as to how to fix the problem?  No, they'd pipe right up and command the butler to do what they want. Even if they never had a butler before.

But these same people when they get a new program seem to think that the designers of the program have configured it just for them.  And so therefore they should expect it to work perfectly in the way that's most natural for them. If it doesn't then they curse the program.

Adobe Acrobat is an amazing program.  If you want to be 'paperless' then you should invest in Acrobat (preferably the Professional version) and you should take the time to learn how to set it up to your liking.  The reason you prefer paper is because you're used to working with it.  The reason you tend to feel less comfortable with PDFs is that they don't behave like the paper you're used to. So what are you going to do about that?

One thing you can do is to set up the preferences to how you like things to be.  Do you prefer to see one whole page from top to bottom when you open the PDF?  Fine, then set it up in preferences.  Maybe you like to view two pages side by side.  That's a preference choice too.  I could sit hear and describe all the preference choices for you, but that's not the optimal approach. You should open up the preferences and see what all your options are. If you have a Windows machine go to the EDIT menu (or select CTRL + K).  If you have a Mac the preferences are under the ACROBAT menu (shortcut: CMD + ,).

If you don't like how your computer acts, then change it.  You have the power.