Microsoft 365 has been slowly rolling out Loop, the collaboration tool, in business subscriptions. Challenging tools like Notion, Loop has the advantage of already being in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem used by many law firms. Loop lets you create collaborative clauses, checklists, and other disembodied elements not tied to a particular email or document. Update it in one place and…
Styles in Microsoft Word can help improve everything from formatting to editing a document. Styles can be applied to make better templates, improve navigation, generate an automatic and hyperlinked Table of Contents, and make self-updating and numbered headings painless. What are the advantages of using Styles in Microsoft Word and how do you use them? Styles in Microsoft Word are…
Legal pros understand the importance of efficiently managing long and intricate documents. Yet, many Word users may not have fully explored the myriad of tools available in the View tab of the Microsoft Word ribbon. This often-overlooked section is a treasure trove of features designed to enhance your document navigation and review experience. From adjusting your document’s layout to using…
If your firm or office is using Dropbox, then you should be aware that they have recently added some particularly useful automation tools that can help you keep your files organized without effort. Automations include categorizations, file renaming, and file format conversions. To invoke the automation options, open Dropbox and add a new folder. When you add the folder check…
Lawyers take notes. Lots of notes. Client notes, research notes, brainstorming, checklists, ideas, reminders and the list goes on. Taking notes on paper is comfortable and efficient, but extremely limited. Handwritten notes on paper cannot be searched or repurposed. They are difficult to share or use for collaboration. Paper notebooks begin to proliferate like bunnies. In our multimedia world paper…
There are many problems with using an existing word processing document and opening it to use as a “template”. For one, if you are syncing with online file storage and you forget to rename the document with “save as” you will overwrite the old file. Further, you may fail to remove or edit confidential information from the previous file.
A recent Reddit thread posed the question “what are some examples of best practices you employ in your daily routine or have learned from more senior attorneys?”. The following is a summary of the responses, edited for repetition and some negative advice removed. In some cases, more senior attorneys submitted their thoughts. These are helpful suggestions whether you are a…
Every week subscribers receive the ICYMI enewsletter from the NCBA Center for Practice Management. The newsletter highlights tips, tools, trends, and techniques to help your law practice. The following are a few popular links from the past issues of the newsletter. How to Create a Fillable Form in Microsoft Word (9/8/2023) If you haven’t embraced document assembly tools but would like to…
When Google’s generative AI Bard was released, it was less capable than competitors like ChatGPT, Claude2, and Microsoft’s Bing Chat. However, with the introduction of the DeepMind project named Gemini, there are many enhancements including the ability to reason in Google Workspace products like Drive and Gmail, as well as the release of the Google NotebookLM, a “smart” notebook. Google’s…
Search engines like Google, generative AI applications like ChatGPT, and automation tools like Zapier serve distinct purposes and have different capabilities. The key is choosing the right tool for specific business needs and use cases, rather than trying to replace one with another. With an understanding of the unique capabilities of each, organizations can combine these technologies to enhance productivity….