Last summer I wrote a short article for the El Paso Bar Newsletter entitled "Do You Need A Palm Pilot to Practice Law?" This article was republished in the Lubbock Bar Newsletter in November 2000. Since then many lawyers and judges have asked me what my favorite Palm Pilot feature was. There are many valuable and time saving functions in a handheld computer but, since I am a word-merchant, my favorite is provided by a piece of software called Documents To Go Preferred 3.0 by DataViz. This software allows me to transfer any document or spreadsheet that I have on my desktop computer onto my Palm Pilot.
I have gone online to the Texas Legislature's Website and downloaded the statutes I need saving them to my word processor. Then I use Documents To Go to hotsync the statutes into my Palm Pilot. The formatting is excellent. Once the statutes are in my Palm Pilot, I can search them by word string and I can even set up a list of bookmarks for instant reference in trial, hearings, etc.
I also have several legal memoranda and cases stored on my Palm Pilot that I have indexed (book marked) for recurring use.
There are two ways to deal with the documents that you archive on your handheld. You have certain documents that you can edit/modify on the go and you can save other documents that are not changeable on the go (probably best for statutes).
A great feature of Documents To Go is the ability to "beam" not only the document to other palm computers but also a viewer-reader to persons who do not have the software. They can then read the document you "beamed" but they cannot hotsync it back into their desktop. The "beaming" function allows sharing between lawyers, but better than that, just look at the lawyer on the other side of the docket when in open court you "BEAM" that memorandum to the judge. You may hear loud comments about ex parte but my question is - - - why doesn't the protesting lawyer have a palm computer that can receive the same brief? Anyway, the beamer can supply a hard copy.
That troublesome contract that you've been working on can be saved at the office, and reviewed, edited, massaged, expanded etc. on your palm device while you are on the airplane, beach, or anywhere else. Do you think it would impress your sophisticated client to not only hand her a copy of that contract, but also beam it to her so she can read it on her Palm Pilot on the plane trip home? Then at her office she beams it to the CEO who is impressed with the El Paso lawyer who prepared it in a way the CEO prefers for his own time saving habits. You can accumulate documents in one place and keep them in your pocket or purse. No need for multiple bulky folders that can be misplaced when you are on the go.
It is a simple matter to add a keyboard to your palm computer that is almost as comfortable as the one at the office. There are several models to choose from. The main issue with keyboards is, 'How Small do you want it, ie where do you want to carry it?' I have a GoType keyboard which is not the smallest, but it is small and does everything I need.
Every time you synchronize or launch the Documents To Go program on your desktop computer, it checks to see if any of your desktop documents have been modified since you last synchronized.
If any documents have been modified, the document will be listed as "Modified" in the Documents To Go program. When you synchronize again, Documents To Go will automatically update your Palm Organizer with the latest revision from your desktop. By the way, you do not need to launch Documents To Go in order to update your documents on the Palm Organizer. You can simply synchronize and the documents will be updated automatically.
Documents To Go can be used on Palm VII, Palm V, Palm Vx, Palm III, Palm IIIc, Palm IIIe, Palm IIIx, Palm m100, Handspring Visor Solo, Handspring Visor, Handspring Visor Deluxe, IBM WorkPad, Sony Clié, and any other devices running the Palm OS 3.0 or greater.
Windows version: Word 7 (95), 8 (97), 2000; WordPerfect 6, 7, 8, 9; Word Pro 96, 97, 98, Millennium; Excel 5 (95), 8 (97), 2000; Quattro Pro 1, 5, 6, 7, 8; Lotus 1-2-3 wk4, 97, 98, Millennium; Generic Text files and Palm "Doc" format.
Macintosh version: Word 6, 8 (98); ClarisWorks/AppleWorks 4,5 (word processing and spreadsheet); Appleworks 6* (word processing and spreadsheet);
Excel 5, 8 (98); generic text files; and Palm "Doc" format.
* Note: Synchronization back to the desktop will be as AppleWorks 5
DataViz Price List for the Professional Version. Single User, $49.95, 5-User $199.95, 10-User $349.95, and 30-User $899.95. You can get better prices if you shop on the internet. I paid $39.00 for my single user Windows version. There is a free trial version on the DataViz website that you can download and use to see if you like the software.