Searchin Some internet sites provide a handy source for litigators seeking quick and reliable information.

By Paul R. Kiesel

These are exciting times, considering the recent advances in technology. In 1984, law firms worked on primitive word processing with no memory. Today, attorneys must understand terms like video dram, cache and RAM to be efficient and productive. This monthly column will focus on technology in the litigation law office, its impact and its future, examining what is available, what is efficient, and what really works. Issues of networking, word processing, computer platforms, operating systems, voice recognition, and information management are all important parts of the law office environment. Any entity, process or innovation which may be utilized in the law office can be an important topic, as well as the associated trials and errors in attempting to implement certain technologies. The single most important resource for any lawyer is the Internet. It would be almost impossible to find a repository with more useful, free information. With nothing but a connection to the Internet, an attorney can download applications and application patches (or fixes), perform research, read the daily newspaper, even listen to radio broadcasts from Europe. The Internet is a network of interconnected computers. Various entities own hardware connected to the Internet that comprise its backbone. this is the backbone of the Internet. This hardware includes the wiring and switching equipment that interconnects the computers and manages the seamless communication and exchange of information among them. When a user accesses a web page, the connection is to someone's computer, whether next door or 5,000 miles away. Because computers are getting faster and faster, accessing a computer thousands of miles away to seek and download data enables the user to do things that in the recent past were impossible. Sound and pictures may be easily "digitized", resulting in photographs, sound and text being easily transferred over the common medium of the Internet. A core theme for this column is that the Internet aids lawyers in the practice of law through exchange of information. With all of the information out there, it may seem daunting. There are some suggestions and destinations that every lawyer should have readily available. Almost every major newspaper in the country carries its full daily content free on the Internet. The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post are all readily accessible. These newspapers are all "searcheable," meaning that a word or phrase may be entered and articles pulled up. In fact, the Internet as a whole may be searched for words or phrases. These search mechanisms are known as "search engines." Techniques for their use will be addressed in a subsequent article. The Los Angeles Superior court has a useful web page, providing all county court forms, local rules, court holiday, and probate notes free of charge. Martindale Hubbell also provides free web address to its listings of attorneys and firms. It is fully searchable countrywide. Subscribers to Westlaw who use dial-up access can use their web page instead. After supplying the usual password and matter identifier, attorneys can save time by retrieving documents in their entirey, instead of piecemeal, as with dial-up. For example, using Westlaw's dial-up software, when the user retrieves a case and see it on the screen, that is all of the information that has been downloaded to the computer at that time. After scrolling down the screen, a new screen's worth of information must then be downloaded to the computer, causing significant delay. On the web, when the user accesses a case, the entire case is downloaded as one web page and the attorney can scroll through it in its entirety without any additional downloading delays. Attorneys accessing the Internet through a cable modem or digital subscriber line enjoy on-line research at noticeable levels of speed and ease. The bottom line on the Internet is that it can be a tremendous asset, providing information that previously was either unavailable or required weeks or months of time and energy. Using the Internet on a regular basis is a trial practice can open doors to previously unknown information, or information that attorneys knew existed but was not so readily available. Remember that the solution to computing or information problems is probably only a few mouse-clicks away, free of charge, and immediately accessible.