CaseSoft FYI - August 2004
Regular readers of our Client FYI email newsletter are likely to notice the visual overhaul in this month's edition. This change is part of a larger retooling of our website and other corporate materials. Hope you like our new look.
We're very pleased to announce the release of our fifth product -- DepPrep .. an electronic tutorial designed to make witness deposition preparation far easier. Additional details on DepPrep and a special offer can be found below.
Another development that we're pleased to unveil in this month's Client FYI is the new CaseSoft Webinar Center we'll be using to provide you with enhanced training options. Our inaugural webinar is scheduled for August 31. You'll find details on the Webinar Center and Enrollment Information for the no-charge session below.
CaseSoft FYI August Contents
1. Announcing New CaseSoft Product - DepPrep
2. Acrobat & CaseMap - Bell Curve Article Reprise
3. New Training Options - Announcing the CaseSoft Webinar Center
4. Attend Inaugural CaseSoft Webinar - What's New in CaseMap 5
5. TimeMap Certification Webinar for Legal Assistants
6. Using the "Mark Me Up" ReportBook
1. Announcing New CaseSoft Product - DepPrep
We’re very pleased to announce the release of our fifth product, DepPrep.
DepPrep is a witness preparation tool -- an electronic tutorial that makes it easy to groom witnesses for their depositions. DepPrep handles the bulk of the scutwork, leaving you free to focus on the critical issues.
DepPrep certainly isn't intended to eliminate the interaction between witness and counsel as deposition approaches. Rather, we think you'll find that it enhances the time you spend with a witness. Beta users report that witnesses who spend 30 minutes with DepPrep are ready to make the most out of their interaction with counsel.
Click to obtain a full-featured trial version of DepPrep
Purchase a DepPrep License by 8/31/04 and save almost 50%.
An individual DepPrep license is normally $149. Purchase DepPrep with a credit card by 8/31/04 and you can have DepPrep for $79. DepPrep is backed by our year-long total satisfaction guarantee. Put DepPrep to work with your witnesses and if you don’t love the results, contact us for a full refund.
Click to purchase DepPrep at the $79 special price
Steeply discounted Organizational Licenses are also available for DepPrep. One small investment means everyone at your organization can put DepPrep to work with witnesses and even training new staff members on the deposition process. For example, a 20-50 litigator DepPrep Organizational License is available for $999. For details on DepPrep Organizational Licenses, please contact your CaseSoft Account Representative or write sales@casesoft.com.
Beta User Feedback on DepPrep
DepPrep results from a joint development effort by CaseSoft and attorney David A. Hirsch, co-author of the monthly Tech Audit column in the ABA Journal. David authored the content. We at CaseSoft worked with David to organize the presentation material and to create the electronic tutorial.
Here are samples of feedback on DepPrep from attorneys using a beta version:
"I have used DepPrep with several witnesses and concluded they were more comfortable and better prepared at the time of their depositions as a result. There is an obvious qualitative improvement of the witness' understanding of the deposition process because of DepPrep. They just make better witnesses. They better understand the deposition process after reviewing DepPrep for 30 minutes than if I work with them for a longer time."
"My practice has been to sit the client in front of a workstation where I set up DepPrep and then meet with the client afterward. When I meet with the client after they review DepPrep, I can concentrate on the wedge issues of their testimony, confident they already know what depositions are about."
2. Acrobat & CaseMap - Bell Curve Article Reprise
If you're not using the free "Send to CaseMap" Plug-in for Acrobat, you're really missing out on an incredibly easy (and did we mention free) way to cull facts from PDF files and organize them in CaseMap. Click to learn more and obtain the Acrobat Plug-in
Similarly, if you're not using CaseMap 5's Acrobat Bulk Importer, you're missing out on a great way to link CaseMap to 100s of PDF files in literally one minute. This new feature is built directly into CaseMap 5.
The June Client FYI email included an article entitled "The Bell Curve & Document Indexing/Imaging" that reviewed when and how to use CaseMap to index all case documents and described how Acrobat & CaseMap can be integrated. We received numerous positive reactions to The Bell Curve and, as such, we've created a PDF version you can obtain below.
Click to view PDF version of The Bell Curve & Document Indexing/Imaging
Hope you find this article interesting. We've written a number of other think pieces that you may find of interest ...
Click if you would like to review our other articles available as PDFs
3. New Training Options - Announcing the CaseSoft Webinar Center
We're pleased to announce the grand opening of the CaseSoft Webinar Center. We're in the midst of creating a series of classes that we expect to offer on a regular schedule each month, thereby dramatically expanding the training options available for you, our clients.
Details on our inaugural session appear below. Other sessions we expect to offer beginning in September include "TimeMap Tips and Tricks," "TextMap Tips & Tricks," and "Integrating Adobe Acrobat & CaseMap" We expect these and other sessions to run at least twice each month.
Our Webinar Center classes will be additional training offerings, not replacements for either our one-on-one live CaseMap phone training sessions or our in-person CaseSoft Academy sessions. We expect most Webinar Center classes to be no-charge, though it's likely we'll also be offering a number of fee-based courses.
If you have topics you would like to see covered in a webinar, please write us at suggestions@casesoft.com.
4. Attend Inaugural CaseSoft Webinar - What's New in CaseMap 5
Sign up for our inaugural webinar -- What's New in CaseMap 5. This session is being presented by CaseSoft President, Bob Wiss, on Tuesday, August 31 at 1600 ET (-4MGT). We expect the course to last ~30-minutes. It will review such new CM5 features as PDF reporting, the Acrobat Bulk Importer, and ReportBooks.
To sign up for this session, click the link below. Once you're at the CaseSoft Webinar Center, select the checkbox next to the course name and click the Enroll button.
Click to enroll in the What's New in CaseMap 5 Webinar
We're expecting a big turn out for this session. As such, if multiple people from your organization would like to attend, we would appreciate it if you gather around a PC or in a conference room with a projector and laptop instead of each signing up to use a separate Webex connection.
5. TimeMap Certification Webinar for Legal Assistants
We're working on a TimeMap Certification Course for Legal Assistants that will be held via our new Webinar Center, making it practical for legal assistants from all venues to become TimeMap certified.
Those who complete the course and the required certification exercise (sending us a completed timeline from an actual case for a critique) will receive TimeMap Certification.
The first several TimeMap Certification Webinars will be conducted at no-charge. If you would be interested in attending one of these sessions, please contact Sherri McGee at smcgee@casesoft.com. Once we finalize the course and get dates scheduled, we'll email you the specifics on registering.
6. Using the "Mark Me Up" ReportBook
ReportBooks are an important new aspect of CaseMap 5. A ReportBook is a compilation of any number of saved CaseMap case analysis reports packaged together with a cover page, a table of contents, and report-specific title pages. It takes just three clicks to generate a ReportBook.
ReportBooks can be printed or even PDFed using CaseMap 5’s built-in PDFing functionality. Each time you print or PDF a ReportBook, the reports it contains are based on the most current data in the case file.
While you can create ReportBooks from scratch, each CaseMap 5 case file already offers a series of pre-built ReportBooks. One of the defaults is named Mark Me UP. This ReportBook makes it very easy to get clients involved in the case preparation process. It's designed to let you get early case analysis following an initial client interview into the client's hands for review.
The Mark Me Up ReportBook contains three reports: a Cast of Characters, a Fact Chronology, and a Document Index. It also includes an Introduction that explains the contents to clients and asks for their assistance in editing report information.
Click to see a "Mark Me Up" ReportBook generated using the Hawkins Example Case
The ReportBook available at the link above was created using CaseMap 5's built-in PDF capability that works even if you don't have a full Acrobat license.
Please print and study this sample work product. Pay special attention to the default Introduction. You can edit the Introduction and the report layouts as you see fit. The key thing to remember is that each new CaseMap 5 case file has a Mark Me Up ReportBook that you can create as paper or PDF in literally three clicks.
Following your next client interview, why not enter your notes re people, facts, and documents into CaseMap and use the Mark Me Up ReportBook to send your client a wonderful work product?
7. Attending LawNet 2004 Next Week in Phoenix? See Us There
Are you attending the LawNet conference in Phoenix next week? If so, please be sure to stop by and see us at Booth 515.
Please also plan to attend the CaseSoft Peer Group meeting where CaseSoft President, Bob Wiss, will be speaking. This session will be held on Tuesday, August 24th from 8:30 am to 9:30 am in the Grand Sonoran A Room.
8. The CaseSoft Academy Visits Boston, Chicago and Seattle
Looking to get the very most out of CaseMap and TimeMap? Consider attending one of our advanced CaseSoft Academy classes.
Click to learn more about upcoming CaseSoft Academy dates and review class agendas
To book seats in any CaseSoft Academy class, please contact your CaseSoft Account representative, write sales@casesoft.com or call us at 904.273.5000.
We're also glad to conduct custom on-site training sessions at your offices.
Click to learn more about In-Person CaseSoft Training at Your Offices
If you’re interested in discussing an in-person training class at your office, please contact your CaseSoft Account Representative or write us at support@casesoft.com.
Thanks for reading! Enjoy the last few weeks of Summer!
