Tip of the Week Blog
May 2007, Week 3 Merging Excel Data Source Into Word For Staff... Getting the formatting right when you use an Excel data source for mail merge can be extremely frustrating. There are ways to correct the formatting by using switches in the field codes, but it can be a time-consuming and frustrating exercise. Fortunately, there is an easy way to circumvent the use of switches and still have your data appear as you would like it. 1. With the main document open, click the Tools menu 2. Select Options. 3. On the General tab, select Confirm Conversion at Open 4. Click OK When you select an alternate data source such as Excel, it will ask you to choose the type of data source. When presented with the choice, select MS Excel Files via DDE. When you merge the document with the data source, the formatting from the Excel data source will be retained. Ethics: Which Half Are You In? In the past several years, many law firms and paralegal associations alike have come to the realization that all employees in a law firm setting are in need of ethics training just like the attorneys that work for them.
Reprinted with permission from The Payton Company. To be continued in the following weeks.... | ||||||||||||||||||||||
May 2007, Week 1 Someone Sent Me a Microsoft 2007 File. What Do I Do? For Staff... Microsoft Office 2007 has been released and is already on a lot of computer desktops. If you haven't received one already, it's just a matter of time before you receive documents written in Word 2007, spreadsheets charted in Excel 2007 or presentations prepared with PowerPoint 2007. Is your Microsoft Office version ready to handle this? A new version of Microsoft Office means new file formats and file extensions - therefore documents written with Office 2007 programs won't open directly on computers running Office 2003, XP, 2000 or Office 97. What's the alternative for users who won't immediately migrate to Office 2007? Well, there's absolutely no reason to worry about such issues. Microsoft has created some useful document converters, viewers and other useful add-ons. Get the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. The Compatibility Pack will let you read Office 2007 documents in Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003. So you can open a .docx file with Word 2003 or .pptx with PowerPoint 2003. Download Office 2007 Compatibility Pack Legal Technology Resource Guide If you know you need to upgrade or purchase technology for your firm, but aren't sure where to find what you need -- or even figure out WHAT you need, go to Legal Technology Resource Guide. A client decided she needed to have a "real" IT person (and not her partner's college-age son who was handy with computers) after the system crashed. Yes, they had religiously backed up their data on a weekly basis. However, when they went to retrieve the data, it was blank. Apparently, no one had checked to ensure that the back-up data was recoverable. A very expensive lesson. At least once a month, try to restore a couple of documents from your back-up tapes. It only takes a couple of minutes, but could save your practice. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
February 2007, Week 4 Organizing Your Work Environment - Quiz For Staff... SELF-TEST 1. Is your desk and work space organized enough that someone can literally walk in and find whatever they need? YES / NO 2. If you had a temp or floater sitting in for you, would they know what to do and who to contact? YES / NO 3. Do you know how to successfully complete a large and intricate project? YES / NO 4. Think franchise - is your system of operating easily understandable and transferable to someone else? YES / NO If you answered "No" to any of the questions, then you need help organizing! Go to our Organizing article to get a few ideas. As Time Goes By... If you didn't know, the change to Daylight Savings is happening earlier this year. Actually, you need to change your clocks on March 11 (three weeks earlier than usual) and end on November 4 (1 week later than usual). This affects you because your computer is affected. Don't Be a Nitpicker... We all occasionally forget common manners - but it can hurt your practice. The same true scenario from last week with an added insult: A paralegal was asked to draft a cover letter ("due yesterday") for a name partner. He quickly drafted the letter and sent it out with the important documents. However, he was scolded a few days later by the partner because the salutation was followed by a comma instead of a colon. The insensitive partner further admonished him that in the future, he should consult the 'secretarial manual.'
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January 2007, Week 2 Organizing YOUR Way ('Everything Out' Types) I'm an Everything Out person - I like to see my files, notes, and to do's in front of me. As you can guess, this can get very disorganized and messy. I'm reading a book right now that's helping me and I'll pass their tips along: 1. Do a desktop survey to determine if you still like and/or use the items kept there. Remove any that doesn't serve a purpose. From How to be Organized in Spite of Yourself by Sunny Schlenger and Roberta Roesch (pp 129-141). What Going On With Vista? For Administrators... Windows Vista is coming, whether we like it or not. Microsoft's newest operating system is quickly becoming a reality and will be on the market and in new computers within a couple of months. Does your office need to worry about that? Do you need to upgrade? I am not an IT expert, but I have looked into the issue since I need a new laptop myself. From what I can see, Vista is a good operating system but (like any product) does have its flaws. I'm going to buy a new laptop that is Vista capable and contains a free upgrade. However, I won't upgrade until much later in the year. Like any new software product, there will be bugs and I'm going to wait until the major ones are worked out. But that's just one business owner's opinion... Contact Management Managing client and business contacts is key for any lawyer, but especially for the mobile lawyer. The best place to have your contact information is on your phone. If you don't have one already, then consider getting a smartphone, such as Palm's Treo 680. Having constant access to your e-mail is no longer a luxury. If you rely heavily on communicating by e-mail, another option is one of Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices, which have decent phone features, but mostly excel at processing e-mail. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
January 2007, Week 1 Make 2007 Your Best Year Ever!For Staff... It's a New Year and time for resolutions! I don't know about you, but I always make one resolution -- not to make any resolutions. But this year, let's try something different. Not resolutions, but business goals. What do I mean? Some suggestions:
I'm sure you can think of a few of your own. Give one a try and work on improving yourself and your firm in 2007!
Not Enough Time to Do All the Reading?
For Administrators... I purchased a program recently that is going to help me keep up on my reading (which is always behind). It's a software from Natural Readers and is a text-to-speech software. It reads text aloud from email, webpages, Word, pdf, and e-books. Best of all, it will convert to mp3 files to download on an MP3 Player. And the voices don't sound computer generated. By the way, I don't receive anything from the company for this tip. I just think it's a valuable time-saving method for anyone that might need it. Texas Supreme Court Tips (Continued)
From Andrew Weber of The Weber Report. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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