Delaware Employment Law Blog

Thanks to iPhone J.D. for alerting us to this new app from Lexis Nexis.  Lawyers, you can now get your case law on the go.  According to iPhone J.D.,’s thorough review, the app doesn’t yet give us access to statutes (odd) but it is free, which is a good thing. 

I continue to be amazed by some of the less-than-best writing practices of my friends and colleagues.  Many of these practices relate to the ways in which they format documents. I recognize that many of these practices derive only from habit—not bad intentions.  But that doesn’t make them any less annoying.  And what makes them more annoying is the irrational devotion they garner. 

What are these habits, you ask?  Truth be told, there are too many to list here.  But there is good news—I am not alone.  There are others who feel strongly about the importance of documents done right. 

Minnesota bankrupcty court judge Robert Kressel is one such sympathizer.  Recently, he issued Order Preparation Guidelines for attorneys appearing before him.  The Guidelines spell out a variety of writing misdeeds that Judge Kressel wisely abhors. 

I have two thoughts about these Guidelines.  First, they offer terrific advice that everyone should follow.  Second, they demonstrate how helpful style guides can be and make me wish that there were more such guides in place—both in the judicial system and in the workplace.  

All of the guidelines are great, really.  But a few stand out for me.

The first guideline, for example, instructs parties to submit PDFs that have been converted directly from Word or WordPerfect—instead of by scanning printed paper copies.  Amen!  Why in the world anyone thinks it is somehow better to print a document and then hard scan that document to PDF positively escapes me.  Print to PDF, people.  Please, I beg you!  As Judge Kessler points out, it saves tremendously on the size of the PDF.  And it also provides a far better looking final document, as well as a searchable document.  A document that is printed to PDF (as opposed to scanned) can also accept comments made with commenting tools in Acrobat, such as highlighting and adding “sticky notes.”  (See my previous posts on the topic of PDFs for better documents for additional inspiration).

Judge Kessler also reminds lawyers to “limit the use of capital letters to proper names.”  I’ve discussed the “ALL-CAPS disease” before but it bears repeating.  For those of you who have held tight to this habit, please consider resolving to abandon it in the new year.  Words that are typed in all capital letters are very difficult to read.  For an excellent explanation of the phenomenon, see Robin Williams’ highly instructive and enlightening book, The PC Is Not a Typewriter. 

There are other resources for those who are open minded and ready to make some positive changes to their document-formatting habits.  Ms. Williams’ book is a fantastic place to start.  (The book is closer to a pamphlet than War and Peace and serves as an excellent desk reference.)  The Seventh Circuit has published an excellent and extensive set of guidelines for briefs (pdf).  One of the sources cited in the court’s guidelines is Ruth Anne Robbins’ journal article, Painting With Print (pdf), which is far more detailed and a truly outstanding scholarly work.  Finally, specific to the legal profession but applicable for all professions is Matthew Butterick’s blog, Typography for Lawyers. 

So, wonderful readers, go forth into the new year with standards set high and paragraph alignment set to Left (please, no more justified paragraphs!).  These are resolutions that, if kept, truly would help make the world a better place, one document at a time.

[Hat tip to the Lawyerist]

Judges Order Re Writing Mistakes in Court Filings

Follow me on Twitter . . . @MollyDiBi

I host a bi-monthly “lunch and learn” for the staff in my department; attendance is voluntary.  In advance of the meeting, attendees suggest and vote on the session’s topic.  Topics range from software-specific, like Adobe Acrobat or PowerPoint, to soft skills, such as time management, and just about anything else they find relevant and productive. At the most recent session, we had a mixed bag of topics but ended with a quick review of some grammar and usage “troubleshooting tips.”

This particular topic was at my suggestion and was urged not by anything I’d been seeing in their writing but more by the stories circulating the legal blogs over the last few weeks. Let me say that these stories are almost hard to believe, not because I have a hard time imagining legal writing that is just plain bad—trust me, that’s the easy part.  But I do have a hard time imagining the court that actually responds in the ways described in these stories. 

Part of me loves the idea of a court that takes legal citations very seriously and part of me cringes.  I mean, everyone makes mistakes.  I am hopeful that I don’t make the “mistakes” that the lawyers in the stories below made.  But everybody has bad days, right?

In any event, here are a few stories that scare me enough to review Garner’s The Redbook: A Manual of Legal Style, by Bryan A. Garner one more time before I file that brief.

#1:  Bad Writing Can Cause Public Humiliation

Although public humiliation may seem like the least terrifying of the three reasons listed here, it also seems like the worst.  It’s the most likely to happen; after all, what are the chances that your writing is going to get you tossed into jail?  It’s a bit difficult to imagine (thankfully).

But having a judge be so irritated by grammatical and typographical errors that he red pens the document and publishes it on the official court docket for all the world to see is much closer to reality, making it all the more horrifying.  A federal judge in Florida, apparently, was just that irritated over errors in an attorney’s brief.  The errors ranged from “excess spacing” to typos to incorrect capitalization to word choice.  Here’s one example, cited by the ABA Journal: “[the plaintiff] had attended on filing” this action, instead of saying the plaintiff had “intended” to file an action

#2:  Bad Writing Can Lead to Monetary Fine

The ABA Journal brings us a great story about a Wisconsin lawyer who was fined $100 for submitting a brief that contained an incorrect citation, which led the court on a wild goose chase to hunt down the case that should have been cited.  I’ll confess, this strikes me as nothing more than justice at work.  Erroneous case citations are enough to drive even the most even-tempered to the edge.

#3:  Bad Writing Can Result in Jail Time

Carl Smith, an attorney is Missouri was charged with criminal contempt and sentenced to 120 days in jail for language used in court filings.  In his papers, Smith said that certain events indicated a “personal interest, bias, and purported criminal conduct” by and between the judge, the prosecutor, and other court officials. The ACLU is one of several organizations that came to Smith’s defense, claiming that the punishment of an attorney based on his legal filings would have a chilling effect on free speech in the justice system. 

If these stories motivate you to polish up your writing skills, you can get a great start by checking out our post on the 10 Funniest Writing Blogs, 20 Online Dictionaries, and Top 30 Blogs on Writing.

The Top 100 Employment Law Blogs is back and updated for 2009. Ok, so it’s the Top 110 this year. There were just too many great blogs that 100 wouldn’t do the trick. The list, of course, is totally subjective and based only on my personal opinion. One criteria that I did use this year, though, was a most-recent-post criteria. Blogs that hadn’t posted more recently than September weren’t eligible for the list. If you write a blog that addresses with employment-law issues and I’ve missed it, please let us know by posting a comment.

[Updated Nov. 13] Alterted by their comments and duly impressed with their sites, I'm going to add two more to the list--really, what difference will 2 more make, we've already got 110.

Social Networking Law Blog

Overtime Advisor

I give a lot of presentations. And I take them seriously. Which may explain why my slides often get noticed as being “different” than many of the other presentations my clients see. I subscribe to the style of presenting advocated by Cliff Atkinson, known as Beyond Bullet Points.  Nancy Duarte and Garr Reynolds are two other visionaries in the field of visual communication who lead by example. In short, the principle theory behind my slide design is to present only one idea per slide and to present it with images instead of words.

And, while I could go on for many posts about the topic of effective presenting skills but I’ll save that for another day.  Instead, I’ll refrain from the evangelical sermon and, instead, offer a tiny bit of practical help.

One of the bigger stumbling blocks involved in this type of presenting is where to get the graphics you’ll use instead of words on your slides.  There really are an unlimited number of ways to create images for this purpose. 

Of course, you can simply purchase them from stock photo sites.  I use Shutterstock to buy images and buy a one-month subscription to save on the cost. 

You also can surf the web to find images.  Google Images works great for this and so does Bing’s image search. But beware of “borrowing” images—just because they’re available online does not mean that they’re publicly available.  You must determine if you're lawfully able to use the pictures that you find. Dave Paradi recently listed 10 excellent government sites that offer bunches of beautiful photographs for free!

One seriously underestimated tool is PowerPoint.  I use it constantly to create my own images—everything from simple stick-figure drawings to more substantial 3d graphics.  If you don’t believe that this is possible for mere mortals (i.e., non-designers), just have a look at the wonderfully instructive blog, Slides that Stick for some excellent tutorials.  You may be amazed!

One of the greatest resources, though, is right at your fingertips—or, even better, they are your fingertips!  Pick up a pen and start drawing. Don’t be “fancy”—really, it’s best if you just avoid even attempting anything that will look even close to “artistic.”  Just stick with the basics.  You’d be surprised at how well you can communicate using those same skills that you picked up as a toddler.  Need inspiration? Check out Dan Roam, who just won the World’s Best Presentation Contest at Slideshare.net—using, you guessed it, simple marker drawings! 

Have you ever wanted to carry the entire Delaware code in your pocket? Have there been times you’d wished you’d had Title 19, Delaware’s labor statutes available when you’re not at your computer or near a law library?  Well, if you are the owner of an Apple iPhone, now you can.  The entire Delaware code is now available as an app via the iTunes store for just $19.95.  That’s insanely inexpensive compared to the price of the multi-volume book set you’d have to buy to get the Code in print.  The app gives users access to the full Code in a searchable format, making it easy to find that obscure cite in a flash.

Of course, law firms have been very reluctant to the adaptation of the iPhone, so many lawyers who have iPhones also have to lug around a Blackberry to check their work e-mails.  Still, a Blackberry is substantially less bulky than a couple of shelves worth of hard-bound legal books. Oh, what will technology give us lawyers next?

In case you’re not yet an iPhone user, you can always search the Delaware Code for free online, made available on the State of Delaware’s website.

The U.S. Supreme Court has taken another step towards “digital enlightenment.” The Court’s website now includes links to pdf files containing the United States Reports, volumes 502 and later.  The U.S. Reports contain the final and official version of the Court’s decisions, typically three to five volumes per Term. Each volume is between 800 and 1,200 pages long, making each pdf file very large.  Large, but packed with valuable information, including, according the Court’s site:

In addition to all of the opinions issued during a particular period, a volume may contain a roster of Justices and Court officers during that period; an allotment of Justices by Federal Circuit; announcements of Justices' investitures and retirements; memorial proceedings for deceased Justices; a cumulative table of cases reported; orders in cases decided in summary fashion; reprints of amendments to the Supreme Court's Rules and the various sets of Federal Rules of Procedure; a topical index; and a statistical table summarizing case activity for the past three Court Terms.

For those who are familiar with Adobe’s Acrobat can create a tremendous resource for themselves by saving these files locally and creating an electronic index for super-quick searches later.  This appears to be yet another mile marker in the road to more easily accessible legal references.

Yesterday, I posted my thoughts on typos in cover letters and resumes.  Although I am in the camp of thinkers who believe that resume mistakes are big red flags, I also believe that we are keepers of our own destinies. So, instead of complaining about the lack of proofreading and editing skills, I’ll point you to a great article on this very same topic.  Lisa A. Mazzie has an outstanding article, titled, Be Wise: Revise, posted at the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Wisconsin Lawyer.

The article includes a Sample Revision Checklist,which is on the simple side but an excellent way to make sure your writing hasn’t lost its focus—especially as that filing deadline approaches.  The checklist is a great reference for new associates starting this fall. 

[H/T to Legal Writing Prof Blog]

And if you really want to improve your writing skills, the blogosphere contains a jackpot of resources. Start with our list of The Top 30 Blogs on Writing.

HR Superstar, John Ingham, (as in John Ingham's Strategic HCM Blog), has alerted his readers to another helpful search tool.  (In case you missed it, yesterday I posted about 3 new ways to search online).  And this tool is specific to Human Resource professionals.  As per his post, Halogen Software has a widget that enables users to search across not only Google and Bing, but also across a variety of HR blogs, as well.  First check out John's blog and then check out the new HR Search tool!

Technology can help to make us more productive. I’m a big fan of technology, so long as it’s free, integrates easily into my current set up, and requires no training to use! All easy requests, right?

As it turns out, there are three new options that actually fit that bill. Each of them are new ways to search the Internet. If you haven’t given them a whirl, you should give them a try. After all, who couldn’t use the efficiency boost? Here’s a quick rundown:

The first on the list is a brand new search option. Microsoft has introduced its new search engine, Bing, which Microsoft hopes will be in real competition with Google.

Google introduced a new feature of its own--Google Squared, which is the second item on my list of three. Whereas Google Search returns search results in a linear list, Google Squared returns search results in a matrix designed for comparison. Unlike Microsoft’s new option, Google Squared isn’t a brand-new option, but it is a new twist on a classic.

The third new search option is my favorite. Spezify is a visual search engine that searches not only the Internet but also returns results from Twitter and social-networking sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn. It even returns images. And results are displayed in small, colored text boxes. Additionally, it displays what it’s determined are “related words” (i.e., related to your search terms). Pictured below are the results from a search for “harassment training.” Don’t know what to search for? Try your name and see what comes up. You may be surprised—especially what images are returned!

Swine Flu is a concern for many employers right now. Employers want to provide employees with up-to-date information about the steps that can be taken to prevent the spread of the swine flu.  Employers also want to prevent the spread of panic where not warranted.  We posted previously with resources for employers. There is a new resource from the EEOC and it takes a different and important approach.  The EEOC's new guidance addresses how employers should manage ADA concerns as they may arise in the context of the swine flu.

May an employer require entering employees to have a medical test post-offer to determine their exposure to the influenza virus?

Yes, in limited circumstances. The ADA permits an employer to require entering employees to undergo a medical examination after making a conditional offer of employment but before the individual starts work, if all entering employees in the same job category must undergo such an examination.

Example A:  An employer in the international shipping industry implements its pandemic influenza preparedness plan when the WHO and the CDC confirm that a new influenza virus, to which people are not immune, is infecting large numbers of people in multiple countries. Because the employer gives these medical tests post-offer to all entering employees in the same job categories, the examinations are ADA-compliant.

For additional resources, see: Information for Employers on the Swine Flu

A perennial favorite at the ABA TechShow is a one-hour segment titled, 60 Sites in 60 Minutes.  During the presentation, the speakers present 60 of the latest and greatest sites on the Internet.  There are sites dedicated to improving your legal practice and your productivity in general.  There are also some wacky websites that fit into the "just-for-fun" category. Despite the name, there are over 100 websites listed on the ABA Techshow's site.  The list included some of  my favorite sites that I use regularly.  Here are a few:

Staying Up to Date

1.  To keep tabs on all the best legal blogs, nothing beats Alltop (Law).  Alltop has blog listings for nearly every topic under the sun, including topics of interest to employers, from Careers, to eLearning, to HR, to Corporate Responsibility, to Electronic Discovery.

2.  TechnoLawyer BlawgWorld Newsletter (www.technolawyer.com) is my favorite e-newsletter for keeping up to date with everything technology-related relevant to legal practice.

 Technology Tools

1.  File Genius (www.filegenius.com) enables users to transfer large files securely.

2.  SlideShare (www.slideshare.net) is an invaluable tool for anyone who presents to an audience.  For free, you can upload and share your PowerPoint presentations and Word documents and then share them, either by invite, or with the world at large.  Add audio and you've got an instant webinar.  It's also a great resource for inspiration when you've got presenters-block.

Marketing With Ease

Constant Contact (www.constantcontact.com) is an easy-to-use, subscription-based, e-mail marketing program.

Because Nothing Beats a Little Competition

Typeracer (www.typeracer.com) allows you to "race" online opponents in a battle of the keyboards.  A word of warning, typing as fast as you can type may be a little addictive for those with a competitive spirit. I raced three times and, each time, finished at 73 wpm.  Although I was pretty happy with the score, it's paltry when compared to some of the fastest keyists, who can type more than 160 wpm!

Delaware has four confirmed cases of swine flu. Employers who operate near the University of Delaware, where the cases were reported, may get questions from concerned employees.  Even employers who do not operate in or around the Newark campus may see the wisdom in being proactive in helping their employees take measures to avoid the swine flu. The go-to web site for employers is PandemicFlu.gov, which provides the latest information from the U.S. government about the disease, where it has been reported, and how to plan and prepare. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued a Swine Flu fact sheet directed towards parents and caregivers.  The fact sheet is a great starting point for reliable information that can be provided to employees about the swine flu.  The CDC has other helpful resources, as well, including a printable poster on Stopping the Spread of Germs at Work.  JAN, the Job Accommodation Network, also has published a fact sheet on the swine flu.  This one is designed to assist employers in considering the needs of disabilities during a pandemic flu outbreak. 

Employers may consider posting or circulating the fact sheets to employees and/or management in an effort to prepare for a possible pandemic. 

The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), has released two new resources on the employment of persons with disabilities. 

Comprehensive Reference for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities

To meet the need for a comprehensive, portable, and easy-to-understand guide for employers who are looking to recruit, hire, and retain employees with disabilities, ODEP just released its new Four-Step Reference Guide. The online version of this valuable resource covers topics such as Incentives & ROI, Recruiting, Interviewing & Hiring, and much more. And be sure not to miss the last three pages, which contain a wealth of links and other resources for employers.   Diversifying Your Workforce, A Four-Step Reference Guide to Recruiting, Hiring & Retaining Employees with Disabilities is available now online and will be available later this year in print.

Employers' Use of Accessible Technology to Improve Employment for People With Disabilities

The second resource is a follow up to last year's Roadmaps for Enhancing Employment of Persons with Disabilities Through Accessible Technology (Roadmaps I).  Roadmaps I affirmed current successful business policies and practices and identified new strategic policies and practices. The Roadmap for the business community identifies the actionable steps that can be taken by the business community to facilitate the widespread adoption of these policies and practices by businesses. Roadmaps I was released on January 31, 2008.

Roadmaps II provides an overview of federally funded accessible-technology (AT), programs; a summary of some of the barriers that affect the use of AT by individuals with disabilities; and recommendations to increase the employment of individuals with disabilities though AT. The report was launched in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the 2009 Annual Conference of AT-Act Programs on April 21.

Related resources:

Two New Employment-Outreach Programs from the ODEP

Honoring Veterans By Supporting Their Reemployment Efforts

National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Have an employment-law or workplace-law question?  You're just about guaranteed to find the answer here. Below are 100 of the best employment law blogs. Actually, 99 of them, with the 100th being a link to a prior post where I chose my 20 most favorite benefits-law blogs.  Alphabetical order.

1. Affirmative Action Blog Spot
2. Alaska Employment Law
3. Boston Employment Lawyer Blog
4. California Employment Law - Fight Harassment
5. California Labor & Employment Law Blog
6. California Labor and Employment Law
7. California Workforce Resource Blog
8. Canadian Employment Law
9. Charles A. Krugel, Labor & Employment Law, HR Law
10. Colorado Employment Law
11. Compliance Training Blog (California)
12. Connecticut Education Lawyer & Attorney
13. Connecticut Employment Law Blog
14. Daily Developments in EEO Law
15. Delaware Business Litigation Report
16. Delaware Employment Law Blog
17. Discriminations
18. Diversity Insight
19. Doorey's Workplace Law Blog (Canada)
20. Drama, Conflict, Despair & Victory at Work
21. E-Legal Lawyer
22. Employee Free Choice Act
23. Employer Notes
24. Employer's Law Blog
25. Employer's Lawyer
26. Employment & Labor Relations - Porter Wright
27. Employment Advisory
28. Employment Law @ Work Updater
29. Employment Law Bits
30. Employment Law Blog by Jill Pugh
31. Employment Law Colorado
32. Employment Privacy Law (Littler)
33. Employment Rights Blog
34. Fair Labor Standards Act Law
35. Federal Sector FMLA Blog
36. Florida Employment Law Blog
37. Florida Special Needs Lawyer
38. FMLA law
39. George's Employment Blawg
40. Georgia Employment Law Blog
41. Greater Valley Forge HR Law Link
42. Gruntled Employees
43. HR Briefcase: Labor and Employment Law Blog
44. HR Lawyer's Blog
45. HR Legal News
46. Human Rights in the Workplace
47. Immigration Law for Employers
48. Jottings By an Employer's Lawyer
49. Juz the Fax
50. Kentucky Employment Law Notes
51. Labor & Employment Law Blog
52. Labor & Employment Law Blog (Shepphard Mullin)
53. Laconic Law Blog
54. Lancaster Employment Law Blog (Pennsylvania)
55. Lisa Law View
56. Los Angeles Employment Lawyer Blog
57. Manpower Employment Blawg
58. Maryland Employment Law
59. My Disability Blog
60. National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund
61. New Jersey Employment Lawyer & Attorney - Steinberg Law Offices
62. New Jersey Fox Rothschild HIPPA
63. New Jersey Fox Rothschild Wage and Hour
64. New York Disability Lawyer & Attorney - Turley Redmond & Rosasco
65. New York Employment Lawyer Blog
66. New York Public Personnel Law
67. Nolo's Employment Law Blog
68. Northern Exposure (Canada)
69. Northwest Labor and Employment
70. OFFCP Blog Spot
71. Ohio Employer's Law Blog
72. Oregon Law and Employment Law
73. Pennsylvania Employment Law Blog
74. Pennsylvania Family Medical Leave Act
75. Pennsylvania Labor & Employment
76. Privacy (Proskauer Rose)
77. Quirky Employment Law Questions
78. Quitamhelp
79. RFID Lawyer & Attorney
80. Rush on Business (Iowa)
81. Storm's California Employment Law
82. Strategic HR Lawyer
83. Suits in the Workplace
84. Texas Non-Compete Law Blog
85. Thoughts from a Management Lawyer
86. Trading Secrets
87. Transgender Workplace Diversity
88. Virginia Non-Competes
89. Wage & Hour - Development & Highlights
90. Wage and Hour Lawyer & Attorney - Yezbak Law Offices
91. Wage Law: California Wage & Hour Law Weblog
92. Washington Labor, Employment & Employee Benefits Law Blog
93. What's New in Employment Law?
94. Whistleblower Law Blog
95. Whistleblower Lawyer Blog
96. Word on Employment Law
97. Workplace Privacy Counsel
98. Workplace Prof Blog
99. WorkplaceHorizons
100. Top 20 Employee Benefits Blogs

Delaware Employment Law Blog is pleased to add the following 50 blogs to its "Best of" Blogroll.  The common premise among these blogs is the idea that well-rounded employees are happier employees and happier employees perform better for their employer, who, in turn, enjoys more success overall.  In other words--wellness and work-life balance are valuable principles, which should be considered high-ranking goals among employers.  

Here's the list, alphabetically:

1. About Working Moms
2. Alliance for Work-Life Progress
3. Business Week’s Working Parents Blog
4. Chief Home Officer
5. Corporate Voices
6. Corporate Voices for Working Families
7. Discovering Your Inner Samurai Blog
8. FunnyBusiness
9. Half Changed World
10. How She Really Does It
11. Hybrid Mom Insider
12. Institute for Women’s Leadership
13. Jugglezine
14. Kathy Lingle's Work-Life Blog
15. Moms Rising
16. Motherlode
17. Mothers Movement
18. Newly Corporate
19. On Balance
20. Progressive States
21. Sloan Network
22. Sue Magazine
23. The Anti 9-to-5 Guide
24. The Juggle
25. The Lattice Group
26. The Women’s Initiative Blog
27. The Work/Life Balancing Act
28. The WorkLife Monitor
29. Women for Hire
30. Women on Business
31. Women's Leadership Exchange Blog
32. Women's Rights Employment Law Blog
33. Work from Within
34. Work+Life Fit, Inc
35. Working Mother
36. Work-Life and Human Capital Solutions
37. WorkLife Law Blog
38. World at Work
39. YourOnRamp.com
40. Christina's Considerations
41. Corporate Wellness Quotes
42. Employee Corporate Wellness Programs
43. Employee Wellness USA
44. Employee/Corporate Wellness Programs
45. Meditation At Work Info
46. My Meditation Coach: Improve your workforce!
47. Wellergize
48. Wellness Corporate Insights
49. Wellness.com
50. Workplace Wellness

Can a "paperless office" really be achieved?  Maybe not.  But the digital office is very possible.  For me, it's been a reality for more than five years.  Every element of my legal practice is digital--I even save my legal research in PDF.  When I posted about the reasons that I prefer to download legal research to PDF, I got a lot of interesting feedback and lots of questions about how to implement a digital office. 

One comment in particular caught my attention because (1) it raised a great point about a particular annoyance when downloading research; and (2) the annoyance is really easy to fix. Ernie Svenson, who writes two great blogs, Ernie the Attorney and PDF for Lawyers, agreed that PDF is the way to go when downloading research.  But he did have one reservation.  Here's Ernie's comment:

I COMPLETELY agree! First, I agree that Ray Ward is a wonderful writer and a very thoughtful person. But, I had the same reaction to his suggestion of saving research in .doc or .wpd format.

Why would anyone save research in an editable format? The only valid concern I've heard is the idea that it's a little trick to copy text when the case is in dual column format. My practice is to tweak the output settings when the PDF is created; so I pick 'print in single column' format when I have LEXIS or Westlaw output to PDF. That makes it easier to read, and easier to copy text.

The point Ernie makes is an excellent one.  If you haven't yet begun saving your research to PDF from online databases, such as Lexis or WestLaw, you may not have had this experience.  For those of us who have, it's more than a little annoying. 

From the PDF version of the case, you can copy text and paste it into a Word document to save the hassle of retyping it.  (This is one of the reasons why some lawyers favor the Word version over the PDF--so they can copy and paste the text.)  Truth be told, you can copy and paste it from Word, too.  But, if you just select text (the blue text in Figure 1, below has been selected using the Select tool), and paste it into a word-processing application, such as MS Word, you'll get the result shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1

Figure 2

When you copy and paste text from the PDF, it retains all of the line breaks as manual paragraph returns.  So, unless you can place the copied text in the same format, column width and all, as the original document, you'll have to go through and manually delete all of the hard returns.  (Or use the Find and Replace feature in Word, which still requires some effort). 

So Ernie's solution is to download the case in single-column format--as opposed to dual column like I did above--and avoid a lot of this headache.  But there's another, even better solution.  (Better only because it's more flexible--it works even with a case you already have that is in dual-column format). 

Here's the alternative.

In the PDF, from the main toolbar, select Advanced, Accessibility, and Add Tags to Document.  (Shown in Figure 3).  "Accessibility" has to do with how individuals with disabilities are able to access electronic content with assistive devices.  That's not the function that we use it for here but it gives us great results.

Figure 3

A process will run and, when it's finished, a panel will open containing a "Recognition Report."  (Shown in Figure 4).  You don't need to do anything with the Report, so you can close the panel with the left-pointing arrow. 

Figure 4

Now, when you copy and paste the text, the "tags" you just added to the document will "know" where the actual line and paragraph breaks are and, like magic, the pasted text will reflow automatically!

For the original post, see

Making the Switch to Digital: Legal Research

Free tutorials on basic business principles abound, thanks to the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies.  Jane Hart has posted an incredible list of links to 100+ Free Sites for Learning about Business.  She describes the list as:

[A]n alphabetical list of websites for learning about all aspects of business - strategy, management, leadership, marketing, finance, accounting, economics, as well as business skills.

It includes a range of sites suitable for both business studies education, workplace learning, and for educators, learners and managers alike.

The sites include both formal and informal learning resources - games, podcasts, blogs, videos, books, PDFs, as well as online courses, communities and other general resources.

The blog is based in the U.K. but the links aren't country-specific and include a tremendous variety of great resources for employers.

And, in case you didn't know, Delaware Employment Law Blog has tons of free resources, too.  You can check them out on the Internet Links resources page, or watch some of the helpful videos we've posted, or any of the posts that discuss new resources for employers.

Lawyers still don't seem to appreciate the power of PDF.  I've posted some thoughts on the benefits of moving towards a digital office, using Adobe Acrobat.  Even if you aren't [yet] committed to making the switch to almost-paperless, there are ways that you can (and should) be implementing Acrobat and the PDF format into your everyday legal practice. 

I was reminded of this by Raymond P. Ward, at the (new) legal writer in his post, Owning Your Downloaded Legal Authorities.  Mr. Ward made my list of the Top 30 Writing Blogs and for good reason--his blog is a valuable resource for legal writers.  As highly as I regard Mr. Ward and his normally sage advice, I must disagree with him a little on the argument he made in his post.  But just a little.

Ward advises readers to take a few extra steps when conducting online research to save time and effort later.  Agreed.  Next, he advises that, when downloading a case from LexisNexis, Westlaw, or other online legal database, attorneys should save the case "in a word-processing format (Word or WordPerfect), not PDF." 

He explains that, by downloading the case before printing or saving it, you are able to reformat the document, cleaning it up for easier reading, and annotate the case for later reference.  All excellent ideas.  But these ideas can be better executed in Acrobat PDF, rather than Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. 

Here are some of the reasons Ward urges readers to save research in a word-processing format:

1. If you find the case difficult to read, re-format it. Change the type face or enlarge the font size.
2. Delete all the headnotes having nothing to do with why you downloaded the case, saving only the pertinent headnotes. This simple tip not only saves you the trouble of wading through dozens of useless headnotes; it also saves paper when you print a hard copy.
3. While you’re at it, delete the lawyers’ names. Every little bit of clutter-elimination helps. And nobody will mind except the lawyers’ mothers.
4. Use Word or WordPerfect to highlight the parts that are most important.
5. Instead of writing in the margins of a hard copy, use Word or WordPerfect to insert comments. That way, your comments will be saved on your electronic copy.
6. Edit the document header to add all information needed to cite the case. This will later save you the trouble of printing an entire 24-page case when you only need one page with one juicy quotation.

Each of these objectives can be accomplished in Acrobat with ease and, in many cases, with more functionality.   The most obvious way to accomplish any of the cited features is to save the document to Adobe PDF and then, if you later find you want to edit the document in MS Word, simply export the PDF to Word, an easy trick when using Acrobat 9.  But let's go through how you can accomplish Ward's suggestions without converting PDF to Word.

Continue reading "Making the Switch to Digital: Legal Research" »

Military caregiver leave, which was amended to the FMLA in January 2008 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, provides unpaid leave to employees who need to take time away from work to help care for a covered family member who became ill or was injured in the line of duty. This leave can be critical to these employees.  But what about when the employee is the service member?  There are ways that employers can offer assistance to employee service member, as well. 

Employment can play a major role in the recovery of wounded and injured service members. To support these brave men and women in their return to civilian life, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), has launched two employment-related outreach programs for returning service members and their employers—REALifelines and America’s Heroes at Work.

Recovery & Employment Assistance Lifelines (REALifelines)

The DOL's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS), developed the REALifelines program, which is managed by the DOL's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).  The program creates a personalized network to ensure that wounded and injured service members are trained for rewarding careers in the public and private sectors. REALifelines provides wounded and injured service members—and their primary caregivers—the opportunity to meet face-to-face with a Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program specialist who provides guidance on how to secure employment and achieve economic self-sufficiency.

America’s Heroes at Work

The DOL’s second initiative, America’s Heroes at Work, focuses on the employment challenges of returning service members living with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which are two of the most common injuries among today's service members.  America’s Heroes at Work offers a variety of educational resources devoted to workplace best practices for returning service members with TBI and PTSD. Materials include fact sheets, Web-based training tools, educational presentations and more—all designed for employers, workforce development professionals, service branches, key military support systems, veterans’ service organizations and One-Stop Career Centers.

These two programs are representative of the ODEP's ongoing efforts to give the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces practical assistance in their transition back to civilian life.  Employers who employ service members or the family of service members should not hesitate to take advantage of the many initiatives made available by the DOL and ODEP.