Today I want to start a semi-regular feature that will serve up short technology-related tips or ideas that might be helpful in a busy law department or corporate practice.
First off is a reference to the great 43Folders weblog on 5 email productivity ideas. We are all deluged with email, and author Merlin Mann presents some helpful thoughts.
The first idea, on limiting the auto-check feature, is why I have always been wary of the BlackBerry. Dennis Kennedy has a great take on that virtual sidearm worn by many lawyers. I liken the BlackBerry to having Cletus from the mailroom pop into your office every 8 minutes with a new piece of mail for you to open right now. I have seen people use the C-Berry in internal meetings while they are talking.
And why the use of “trover?” According to Duhaime’s legal dictionary:
An old English and common law legal proceeding against a person who had found someone else’s property and has converted that property to their own purposes. The action of trover did not ask for the return of the property but for damages in an amount equal to the replacement value of the property. English law replaced the action of trover with that of conversion in 1852.
I like the newer version from the Wikipedia: trover signifies finding.
Hopefully the finding-and-using inherent in weblogging doesn’t involve liberal amounts of trover. Otherwise, one might face an action that every 1L dreads: replevin.
Update (10 Nov 05): The New York Times hits “Reply All” on this issue.