Business Law Today: ABA - Business Law Today

Business Law Today
July/August 2001 (Volume 10, Number 6) Database software

Face it: The most powerful programs take the longest to learn. The less powerful programs can be learned quickly. We are lawyers, not programmers - this technique is supposed to free up time for legal work, not consume it. We would like to avoid having to rely on programmers. Cost is important, but time is more expensive than software. Let's consider some alternatives:

Microsoft Access. The big daddy, standing where DbaseII stood in the 1980s. It will do anything. Manuals and how-to books can be several inches thick. Good for industrial strength applications, big cases with thousands of documents and an in-house programmer within earshot. www.microsoft.com. Cost: $200-$300. Where to buy it: computer-office supply stores.

FileMaker Pro. Owned by Apple Computer; recently released a Palm Pilot link. Those who use it say it's easy to learn. Very powerful, but manuals not as thick as Access. Probably the best choice for heavy duty work on the MacIntosh platform. www.FileMaker.com. Cost: $200-$300. Where to buy it: computer-office supply stores.

HanDBase. Originally a Palm Pilot program, recently packaged with a Windows Desktop front end included at the shareware price of $25. A true relational database for less than industrial strength applications. Weak on printing reports. Runs under Windows 9x, Palm Pilot and Pocket PC. Easy to modify databases on the fly. Outstanding technical support. www.ddhsoftware.com. Download from publisher's Web page.

CaseMap. Designed for litigation, but can be modified for transactional work. Fields are pre-defined, but can be modified. Runs well on networks. Industrial strength - but you use it their way. Cost: $400-500. www.casesoft.com. Where to buy it: from publisher - see Web page.

ThinkDB. A new entry in the Palm Pilot and Desktop area. Some like it better than HanDBase. Runs best on new computers. Can synchronize data with databases created in Access. Cost (Palm and Desktop): $40. www.thinkingbytes.com. Download from publisher's Web page.

Summation. Industrial-strength litigation support software at its best in document intensive cases. Flexible database fields can be configured to manage transactional documents as if they were exhibits. www.summation.com. Contact dealer - some provide training. See Web page.

All of these programs are excellent, and none of them is perfect. The author is not a programmer and prefers HanDBase for most transaction and case tracking, and uses Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel to print sorted and filtered reports. The increase in features available in modern case management software suggests that it, too, can be implemented for use in transaction management.

There are many other fine programs not mentioned here.

ABA Section of Business Law