Disability Law

Part 5: Small Law Firm Technology I Use In My Douglas County, GA Personal Injury & Workers' Compensation Practice

By Jack E. Clay

Digital Dictation Works

A few years ago, I changed to a digital dictation system. Personally, my dictation goes in spurts. However, I am a firm believer that an attorney that dictates is much more efficient than an attorney that types or hand writes his or her own documents. It has taken me a long time to get comfortable with the idea of dictating complicated briefs and articles instead of writing them. I will tell you that I dictated this whole article. While I believe I may be a better writer if I type or hand-write my documents, I find I am a quicker and clearer writer when I use dictation. I use a hand-held dictation unit by Olympus. The model number is DS4000. Once again, it was an investment to purchase the hand-held dictation unit and transcription software for my staff. It has paid for itself many times over.

My hand-held dictation system will hold up to 100 different dictation files. Also, I have eliminated the use of tapes in my office. My dictation system has never (knock on wood) deleted a dictation file. More importantly, all I have to do is place my dictation unit into a cradle which is attached to my computer. Then, the project will appear on my employees? computer screens to be transcribed. Another advantage to using electronic dictation is that it maintains a record of dictation you have done forever. I will often review the dictation I have done with a staff member. I can cue the dictation module to the exact place at which there is a mistake or if something needs to be added to the document.

Some of the other technological items that I use in my practice include USB thumb drives and a Dell projector. Thumb drives are useful in that they can be carried to and from court. Recently, I purchased an HP DV9000 series laptop. The laptop is fast and efficient. It has 2 GB?s of RAM, a fast processor, and 200 GB?s of hard drive space. I tend to keep my laptop computers for many years, so it is important for me to make an initial purchase of a laptop that has good specifications and that is easily upgradeable.

I decided to purchase a projector to view documents, pictures, and other evidence. It is a wonderful tool. I would recommend a projector with at least 2500 lumens. I have used my projector at trial and mediation on numerous occasions. If there is any natural light that cannot be eliminated where you are using your projector, you and others will appreciate having a bright projection to view.

Full post as published by Georgia Law Blog on October 07, 2007 (boomark / email).