Review: Lawyer Log: Just A Few Key Features Short Of An Indispensable Program

Posted by: dgoldring on Dec 07 2006 - 651 views

 

As many of our regular readers know, I am a practicing attorney, primarily I litigate cases in Federal court.  Keeping track of all of the filings, motions, hearings and other matters in each case can be a challenge, so I am always on the lookout for software that will simplify this paper chase.  I was particularly encouraged when I saw Lawyer Log, a purported case status tracking program for the Pocket PC.

Installation and Registration: Lawyer Log does not offer a free trial.  This is unfortunate, as many Pocket PC users tend to shy away from programs with no trial period.  Nonetheless, once you purchase the program, simply download the file to your desktop and install it on your Pocket PC via ActiveSync.

The Main Screen: The main screen consists of a list of the cases you have entered into Lawyer Log, which is perplexingly referred to as the "Sue List".  I’m not clear as to why this term was used instead of a more conventional term, such as "Pending Cases" or even just "Docket".  From here, you can enter a new case, view a full list of cases, search for specific information, and more.

Entering Data: Cases are organized in Lawyer Log by the nonsensical heading, "Sue #".  Typically, this field would be used to enter the case name or caption.  I entered the case name here and this seemed to work fine, but a longer name may not fit.  This led me to realize, however, that many of the fields are not labeled correctly, or do not necessarily convey all of the information I need.  For example, although it allows you to set a reminder for the next hearing date, it does not allow you to reference the next briefing deadline, discovery deadlines, or motions deadlines.  This program would be much improved if it contained customizable fields so that it could easily convey the specific information I need, instead of the information the program thinks I need.  Additionally, although you can enter limited client contact information, you cannot link this with your existing contacts, this means you must enter all of the data again. 

List Mode: In list mode, Lawyer Log conveys all of the information about a particular case on one line.  Unfortunately, this information utilizes considerably more space than one screen allows, requiring a great deal of scrolling.  Additionally, this display is also not fully customizable.  Several of the fields shown are not relevant to my cases, while other information which I could use is not present.  With some work, this could be a powerful tool, which would display all of the important information about all of your pending cases at a glance.  Unfortunately, the lack of customization and large format display renders this screen virtually useless.

Alarms: One useful feature of Lawyer Log are the alarms and reminders.  Simply set an alarm for each entry, and a reminder will pop up on the screen that day.  This is a useful tool to help manage your time more effectively.  Each morning, simply glance at Lawyer Log and see how your day will look.

Export: Lawyer Log also has an option to export an entry to an email, appointment, contact, task, or document.  This could be a useful way to tie Lawyer Log in with a PIM program such as Pocket Outlook, Agenda Fusion, or Pocket Informant.  Unfortunately, it would not work for me.  When I selected one of these options, instead of creating an appointment (for example) containing all of the information in my entry, it simply opened a blank appointment screen.  Again, this would require entry of the data all over again.  Additionally, it would not open into Agenda Fusion or Pocket Informant.  It could only use the default programs (likewise, it would not open into Flexmail or SoftMaker Office).  A small amount of work could turn this afterthought of a feature into a powerful resource.  It is a shame that more work was not put into ensuring that this feature would work as expected.

What is Missing: There are two important features which would have made Lawyer Log considerably more functional.  First, it needs a today screen plugin, which would allow you to view all of your important case-related information at a glance.  Even better would be the ability to tie this information into an existing plugin such as SPB Diary or SBSH Pocket Breeze.  Additionally, this program does not include an option to enter data from your desktop and sync to the Pocket PC.  Any program which relies so heavily on data entry should have a desktop version.  Again, in order to maximize functionality, many desktop versions can now be loaded onto a USB thumb drive making them completely portable.  While a today screen plugin would be a nice addition, leaving out the ability to enter data on the computer and sync it later is a critical failure.

Conclusion: I had high hopes for Lawyer Log.  This was exactly the type of program I had hoped to find when I started using my Pocket PC; a program which can store and convey all of my important case-related information from any location.  While it initially showed a great deal of promise, I was sorely disappointed by its lack of customization and weak features.  It simply did not live up to my expectations.  Nonetheless, I remain optimistic that the developers of this program will continue to move it forward (maybe incorporating some of these suggestions).  By updating the user interface, and adding (or improving) several key features, this could easily become one of the most important programs on my Pocket PC.  I anxiously await version 2.0.

Vital Statistics:

Name: Lawyer Log

Version: 1.0

Developer: Nomad Electronics 

Available From:   JAMM Store

Price: $19.95

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