Legal Technology – Ten Must-Have Web Sites for Solo Practitioners

I came across this article and found the recommendations to be really useful. I already use Skype. But, by far the most useful and easiest to use would be zillow.com the easiest way to get an estimate of property values and comparison of property values of comparable properties in the neighborhood.

Ten Must-Have Web Sites for Solo Practitioners

By Rick GeorgesSpecial to Law.comMarch 12, 2007

Picking the best of anything is difficult. However, I decided to take a stab this month at the Web sites I use most frequently during a typical day of practicing law. Im not including the obvious ones: legal research and general search sites. Im aiming to point to sites that create a new source of information on the Web, and that leverage the interactive Web 2.0 space.

Here goes:

GoToMyPC is a remote-access Web application that permits me to access my office host machine anytime I like. It allows me to run updates, check my calendar and contact changes created by my secretary, and, in general, prevents running to the office to maintain the server, or to practice law. Its the solo lawyers best friend, runs flawlessly and costs only about $20 a month per machine.

There are conflicting views about the new property valuation site, Zillow.Com, which is a

mashup of Google Maps and property valuations and other information culled from public records. My take on this is that the range of values is a good starting point for looking at a residential property, and is better than no information at all. This is a great reason why Web 2.0 is going to change the landscape of real property law. I use it all the time in my residential transactions practice.

What if sending transcribed memos or notes was as easy as picking up the cell phone or telephone? Enter a new free beta called Jott. Remember that name, because I predict that lawyers will be using this service all the time. Just call Jotts toll-free number, speak your message and Jott will transcribe it and e-mail it to you. Sweet, simple and utterly addictive. Jottcasting, jottmumbling — whatever you call it — is cool, cool, cool.

What? Too lazy to pick up the phone? Joopz allows text messages to be sent directly from the Joopz Web site. Joopz is a Web-based text messaging service that enables “Web texting” — two-way communications from the Web to any mobile phone in the U.S. and Canada … and back

By way of full disclosure, I am a Law.com affiliated blogger. Simply put, I dont get paid to blog, but I get the exposure provided by the best law-related Web site in the world. Im not pandering to my publisher when I say that the Legal Technology page is one of the resources I check every day for tips, software, advice and education about my law practice. There are tons of free and trial software packages available for download, and the editors highlight the best law technology blogs on a regular basis.

Im amazed Im getting such use out of the ScanR application. In the past, there never seemed to be a scanner around when I needed one. I have flatbed scanners at home and at the office. But they dont fit in a briefcase, do they? Enter a great new Palm application, ScanR, that uses the Palm camera as a portable scanner. Just shoot a picture of a page and e-mail it to the ScanR people. They convert it into an image and make it available at the Web site. Very nice.