President's Notes

by Judd Kessler, Esq.

There's no one right way to do most things.It's a mix of professional techniques and your own style, isn't it?

Where do you provide flexibility in your business? Is it in how clients can contact you (email, fax, phone, in person, by using a form on your website)? Are you flexible, but within a range, on some things (like office dress code)?

For Abacus, supporting our customers' preferences means putting lots of flexibility into our products. You can use AbacusLaw as it appears right out of the box, or you can change things like fields in data screens, the choice and order of your graphical software icons, background colors, report formats, where you take/use data (desktops, laptops, PDA's) and much more. If we've missed something, let us know. Just email newseditor@abacuslaw.com . We'd love to hear from you.

You've probably heard about Vista, Microsoft's new operating system. You may be considering installing it on your office and home PCs. Abacus recommends that you keep the operating system you're currently using (ideally XP), getting Vista only on new PC's that you purchase from here on. We're pleased to report that v2006 Classic and Gold work on Windows 2000, NT, XP and Vista machines.

Read our assessment of Vista

In this issue

Whether driven by the need for legal assistance by the under-served,
or the ethical imperative to ensure equal access to justice, attorneys
who use AbacusLaw make a difference by giving of their time and
talents to pro bono work. As we prepare an overview of this area
of legal service, we invite you to contribute a brief but representative
example of your own case or project work, for us to share. Please
click here to respond.

Use the Rules feature in AbacusLaw to automatically calendar your deadlines

Class: Advanced E-Class – held privately
When: After "Introduction to Names & Matters" training
What You’ll Learn: How to calendar rules for your specific state

Class Outline:

• How your state-specific rules work
• Codes and descriptions
• Calendaring a rule for a matter
• Printing calendars for matters
• Viewing rule events on the calendar
• Editing rule events
  

Click here to learn more about e-classes

Training your staff and clients on appropriate office conduct (especially what NOT to do) is vital to proper professional office behavior. Hiring a consultant to provide this important training can be expensive and time consuming. Through special arrangement with Workplace Training Network, Abacus is able to offer you a DVD 3-pack of video content and related materials at a great discount.

The videos feature live action dramatizations to make the training informative and entertaining. It's the perfect tool for in-house training, and provides all the material you'll need to cover this subject in client training sessions. To see a sample clip and how to take advantage of this offer, click here>>