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Using Vision' Court Rules To Streamline Docket Control
My firm, Shartsis, Friese & Ginsburg LLP (SFG), San Francisco, is a mid-size law firm that specializes in litigation, real estate, business transactions and other commercial areas of law. Prior to 1999, before I began working here, our firm used a calendar system that required manual calculation and research of court rules and statutes, which was extremely time consuming. The Calendar Coordinator at that time was aware of, and had used, CompuLaw's Vision program and initiated the purchase and use of the program at SFG. I was hired soon after the installation and, having had several years of experience with the Vision program, was able to work quickly to streamline the attorneys' calendars. Vision has rule databases that can be purchased and incorporated to make the calendar program nearly-completely automated. A human still needs to input the dates, for example, a trial date that the Vision system uses to compute with, but many hours of research and entry are saved on every matter maintained in the Vision program.
Using this program has increased productivity and lessened the error margin quite a bit. CompuLaw has an entire department of lawyers that keeps the rule databases current, and they send updates to their clients regularly. The major changes are sent quarterly and if they find the need, additional changes are sent throughout the year. CompuLaw rule databases are user-friendly ' you can understand the summaries of the rules provided, even if you do not have a law degree, which many calendar clerks do not. Prior to using CompuLaw's system, there was no way of easily tracking and watching for rule changes. Our calendar clerks were required to manually recalculate dates when the rules changed, ie if the number of days changed as per the change in oppositions and replies to motions in the state courts. With CompuLaw rule databases incorporated in the Vision program, when the rules change, CompuLaw's databases are updated, and they automatically adjust the dates in our system. Afterwards, a report tells you what has been changed. I calendar hundreds of cases so this is a very valuable tool.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent Trolls
With trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.