TurboLaw Tips

TurboLaw and Pocket PCs

More and more often, we’re hearing questions along the lines of “Can I use TurboLaw on my PocketPC?” And the answer to this question is “Yes, and No.”

Yes, you can take your TurboLaw documents and edit them on your PocketPC by using the “pocket” versions of Microsoft Word and Excel (these typically come with any new Windows-powered PocketPC). Remember, TurboLaw documents are just Word (and occasionally Excel) documents – so once TurboLaw has created them, you can do whatever you like with them.

The “no” part of the answer comes from TurboLaw itself – there is no PocketPC “version” of TurboLaw that you can run on your PocketPC. So you can’t create new forms on your PocketPC – you can only edit existing ones. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, however – merging information into documents is a job for a full-fledged computer, not a tiny device with a 3 inch screen and no “real” keyboard to speak of. While you might want to occasionally enter client information into TurboLaw from your PocketPC, you would never want to make a habit of it. Imagine trying to fill in one of the Case Interview Wizards, while typing all of that information on a tiny “thumb” keyboard. Your thumbs would fall off after just a few screens!

However, since the documents are really the “heart” of TurboLaw, you’re not losing out on much by only having the documents on your PocketPC. With the right attachments (e.g. a small hand-held printer), you could make changes to a motion right on your PocketPC and print it out right in the courtroom – and it would certainly look better than a hand-written motion! Never mind that you could do the same to a financial statement, a complex court form, or really any other document that TurboLaw provides.

If you have feedback regarding your own experience with TurboLaw documents on your handheld device we would love to hear from you. Just e-mail: keith@turbolaw.com.

TurboLaw and Office 2007

With the introduction of Microsoft’s new Office 2007 system, we have some new tips for working with TurboLaw and these new programs.

TurboLaw Toolbar

Microsoft Office 2007 no longer uses “toolbars” in the classical sense anymore. Everything is part of a “ribbon” now, and there are different “tabs” that show different “ribbons” at the top of your screen. The TurboLaw Toolbar, along with ALL add-in toolbars (e.g. Adobe, WorldDocs, etc.) has been moved to the “Add-Ins” tab. Simply click on the “Add-Ins” tab to see all of your old toolbars, including TurboLaw’s toolbar. (Watch this space for an announcement when we update the TurboLaw toolbar to become a “ribbon” of its own.)

Here’s what the TurboLaw toolbar looks like in Word 2007:

Add-Ins Tab

Macros

Almost every option in the new version of Office 2007 has been moved from its place in previous versions. The Macro Security Center is no exception. This Microsoft article explains where the macro security section is now. Fortunately, the new default setting allows YOU to choose whether you want to enable or disable macros in documents.

User Templates

It is possible to modify any of the “template” forms provided with TurboLaw to suit your own needs. These modified templates are known as “user templates.” This option can be used to create your own derivative forms, or to create entirely new forms that do not currently exist in TurboLaw. You can also modify documents that you use frequently; for example, if you make a certain edit to a form every time you use it, you could make that edit part of a new template, and then you would not have to make that edit each time you created the form.

Creating Your Own Template

To create your own template, simply click on the “File” menu in TurboLaw, and choose “Manage User Templates.” This screen displays all of the templates you have created. To create your own template, click on “New Template.” From this screen, you can select the TurboLaw document on which you would like to base your custom template. You can choose the appropriate state, area of practice, and category by using the drop-down boxes at the top of the list. Then, simply click on the template you would like to modify. You must give your custom template a different name from any other document in the same category.

Warning: You must give your template a name that is different from any other template in that category. TurboLaw will not allow you to create a template that has the same name as another template.

In addition, you cannot change the name of your template once it has been created, so you are advised to name your template carefully.

Once you have named your template, you can click “Create User Template.” If you have checked “Show Instructions” (which is “on” by default), you will be shown some instructions before your template is created. It is important to remember these instructions when you are creating your template.

Once your template has been created, it will be opened in either Microsoft Word or Excel (as appropriate). You can then edit the TurboLaw template as needed, to make your own derivative template. Simply use the “Edit Document” button to “un-lock” the document, and make any changes you need. Then, lock the document again by clicking the “Edit Document” button again before you save the form.

Warning: Use caution when deleting the gray form fields in your template. These fields are often “linked” (also known as “referenced”) by later portions of the document. If you delete the “source” (the gray form field), the links later on will display the text “Error: Reference source not found!” (the error may not appear until you print your document). To prevent this from happening, use caution when deleting form fields, and always print a draft copy of your template to check for these errors.

Always remember to “lock” your template by using the “Edit Document” button before you save it. Many TurboLaw documents will not fill in properly if they are not in the “locked” mode.

Warning: Editing templates requires some advanced word processing skills. If you are not familiar with Word’s “table” feature, you may find working with templates difficult. We recommend consulting the on-line help for Microsoft Word, or you may find one of the many Word guidebooks helpful. Most are available at your local bookstore.

Modifying Your Template

You can modify any template you have created by double-clicking on its name from the list of user templates. Once your template is open, the rules for editing it are the same as when you first created it.

Deleting a Template

If you have created a template which you do not need anymore, you can delete it by selecting the template name from the list of templates and clicking the “Delete Template” button.

TurboLaw Toolbar Help

Because Microsoft Word sometimes takes it upon itself to hide or delete the TurboLaw toolbar completely, we have added the a Help Center article to help people re-install their TurboLaw toolbar. This article includes a convenient download that will install the toolbar for you – you don’t need to do anything else.

To view the article and get your toolbar back, click here.

“Blue-Ribbon” Help Center Articles

The TurboLaw Help Center contains a wealth of information on all sorts of situations and problems that people have encountered in the past. Here are some of the most popular and helpful articles:

Article TL00280 – Message “#VALUE” appears in Financial Statements

Article TL00220 – “{FORMTEXT}” appears in documents

Article TL00243 – “Error! Reference Source Not Found” appears in documents

Article TL00205 – Form fields are erased when document is printed

Article TL00204 – Error message “TurboLaw was unable to open the database…”

Article TL00138 – Unexpected error 4160 “bad file name”

Article TL00097 – How to enable macros

As always, you can search the entire TurboLaw Help Center by clicking here, or by using the “Search here for help” box in TurboLaw.

Those Pesky Macros

Almost every TurboLaw user has run into “macros” at some point. Macros are used in TurboLaw to help with creating, editing, and saving documents, so making sure that they are active and working is very important.

Most of the time, you won’t need to fiddle with your computer’s macro settings. This is because when TurboLaw is installed, it gives you a prompt to “enable macros,” and gives you the choice of “always trusting macros from this source/publisher.” Because TurboLaw macros are digitally signed for your protection, you can click “always trust,” which tells your computer to always enable the macros automatically. In most cases, this is all you need to do – however, digital certificates do expire, and some versions of Microsoft Word will ignore this setting, so you may run into problems later on.

To avoid problems, we recommend setting your computer’s macro security level to “medium.” The medium setting allows you to choose whether to enable macros or not. This puts control squarely back in your hands – which honestly is where everyone likes it.

To make the change, open Microsoft Word (or Microsoft Excel if you will be working on one of our few Excel-based forms, such as the Divorce Financial statements, or the Real Estate HUD forms) and click the “Tools” menu. Point to “Macro,” and then click “Security.” Then, simply change your security level to “Medium.” You will have to close Word (or Excel) for the changes to take effect.

Once you have done this, you will receive a prompt about macros whenever you open a document that needs them. If it is a TurboLaw document, you can safely click on “Enable Macros.”

The Dream of the Paperless Office

or “How to Use TurboLaw to create PDF files”

The concept of the “paperless office” – like the flying car before it – has long been around. And just as steps towards developing flying cars have been made (try to imagine traffic jams in three dimensions!), so also have practical steps toward realizing the “paperless office.” Some of these advances have come thanks to the PDF file format.

PDF stands for “portable document format” and is a publicly available standard for creating files that reproduce paper documents. This standard, coupled with free “viewer” programs available on the Internet, allows just about any computer safely to view PDF files. PDF files are a quick and easy way to make electronic copies of documents that can be shared (via email or other means) with nearly anyone. Combined with TurboLaw’s picture-perfect forms, PDF files can be a lawyer’s – and paralegal’s – very good friend.

Forms can be quickly created on the computer and saved in PDF format for storage or transmittal to other parties, or filed on-line as with federal courts, never once requiring printing on paper.

The most commonly used software for creating PDF files is Adobe Acrobat Professional, which must be purchased, but there are free alternatives. To empower our customers, we offer our “Free CD” with several free programs, including “PDFCreator,” that complement TurboLaw. (You can also download PDFCreator by clicking here.)

To create a PDF file from an open TurboLaw document, click on the printer button on the TurboLaw toolbar. Change your printer selection to “PDFCreator” and click “Print.” Poof! A PDF file is created to be saved on your computer; it can be archived, emailed or filed on-line with some courts and agencies. TurboLaw documents converted to PDF files are easily emailed to opposing counsel and clients for review, even if the recipient does not have TurboLaw installed on his own computer.

Once you start working with PDF files, you may find fewer and fewer reasons to print things on paper – save for signing documents – and that’s getting pretty close to the “paperless office.” Now, about that flying car…

Productivity with Technology

Productivity with Technology: Figuring out what’s possible is the hard part

Of course, we run into similar situations all the time. TurboLaw has a lot of features that many people never use – because they don’t know it’s there. So if this article has inspired you to find the “hidden” treasures in TurboLaw, may I recommend perusing the User’s Manual?

Tips from Microsoft

Here are some tips straight from Microsoft:

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/compshortcuts.mspx

These are all keyboard shortcuts, which allow you to complete common tasks without taking your hands away from your keyboard – and that is often much faster and easier than using your mouse.

TurboLaw Update & Firewalls

Recently, a lot of users of TurboLaw have reported errors while checking for updates. Typically, the message is “Error &H80072EE7 (-2147012889) – The remote server name could not be found.“

This problem is caused by an Internet Firewall on the user’s computer. The firewall software has “blocked” TurboLaw update, and is not allowing it to access the Internet. (There is a PSC KB article describing this symptom: TL00215.)

Firewall software can be a double-edged sword in some ways – it protects your computer from viruses, worms, trojan horse programs, remote attacks, and so on; but at the same time, it can block legitimate programs on your computer from working.

Here are some basic instructions to allow TurboLaw Update to access the Internet through your firewall, for both Norton’s “Internet Security” firewall, and the new Windows Personal Firewall.

Norton Internet Security

  • Open Norton Internet Security
  • Click on “Personal Firewall”
  • Click the “Configure” button (should be towards the right)
  • Click the “Programs” tab (at the top of the window)
  • Find “update.exe” or “TurboLaw 2.0 Update Utility” from the list of programs and change the setting from “Block All” to “Permit All”
  • Click “OK” to save the changes

Windows Personal Firewall

  • Open the Control Panel
  • Click on either the “Security Center” icon, or the “Windows Firewall” icon
  • If you clicked on “Security Center,” click on “Windows Firewall” under the heading of “Manage Security Settings for:”
  • Click on the “Exceptions” tab
  • Find “TurboLaw 2.0 Update Utility” from the list, and make sure it is checked. (If you do not see this entry, you will have to add it to the exceptions list – the file you will need to add is typically called “C:Program FilesTurboLawupdate.exe”.)
  • Click “OK” to save the changes

As usual, your milage may vary – and you may want to consult your firewall’s product documentation or your local IT person before making any changes.

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