New Amazon Pages for Formatting Legal Documents Books

Jan Berinstein has republished her books, Formatting Legal Documents With Microsoft Word 2010 and Formatting Legal Documents With Microsoft Office Word 2007.

Both books are listed on Amazon (with new covers and slight textual revisions), but they've been relocated to new web pages.

You can find the revised version of the Word 2010 book on this page. The revised version of the Word 2007 book now appears here.

For more information, see this press release.

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Jan Berinstein Assisting With Office 2010 Rollouts at Large Law Firms in Los Angeles

While continuing to offer training services through her own company, Ms. Berinstein also has been working as a contract trainer for several highly regarded training companies including Traveling Coaches, EncoreTech, and King-Herpel & Associates. In that capacity, she has provided training and floor support to large law firms in the Los Angeles area that are upgrading to Office 2010 and Windows 7, along with document automation software such as MacPac and the Payne Group's Forms Assistant, Numbering Assistant, and Pleading Assistant.

"I'm enjoying the challenge," she says enthusiastically. "It's great fun helping people become more comfortable with new software, and I am learning a lot in the process, too."

Ms. Berinstein looks forward to working with outside training companies on new projects in 2012.

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CompuSavvy Offers New "Troubleshooting Word Documents" Class

As of early 2011, CompuSavvy now offers a new full-day class, "Troubleshooting Word Documents." The class, available in various cities throughout California, includes a "document clinic" in which the instructor examines documents that students bring in on their own laptops.

Jan Berinstein, who teaches the class, explains how to take a methodological approach to troubleshooting and helps students learn to "brainstorm" productively. In addition, she discusses (and demonstrates) various diagnostic tools built into Word. Through hands-on exercises with sample documents, students have an opportunity to test many of those tools.

Ms. Berinstein gives students substantive handouts, including a troubleshooting checklist.

For more information—details about the dates, locations, and price—see the Upcoming Classes page on this site. Also see the Course Outlines page for an overview of the class topics.

Class registration closes ten (10) days in advance, so be sure to register early.

Please feel free to forward this press release to other people you know who might be interested in taking the class.

CompuSavvy Lowers Class Prices

Because of the ongoing recession, CompuSavvy has lowered the price of its full-day classes from $295.00 to $275.00 and has extended the summer price reduction on its half-day classes from $215.00 to $195.00. The discounted prices, the lowest rates in CompuSavvy history, will remain in effect at least through March 31, 2012.

We will continue to offer a special discount when more than one person from the same organization enrolls in a class. However, to compensate for the drop in price, we have to impose stricter enrollment requirements (i.e., we will need greater numbers of students to register) in order to proceed with some classes, particularly the ones scheduled in Northern California.

It is our hope that the price reductions make it easier for people to acquire the skills they need to get—or hold onto—a good job.

For more information, see our Upcoming Classes page, as well as the Classes & Training page on the CompuSavvy Word and WordPerfect Tips blog.

One-On-One Training—at Discounted Rates—for Legal Secretaries and Paralegals Who Are Paying Their Own Way

In addition to our regular lab classes, we now provide one-on-one (or one-on-two) training in Word and WordPerfect at discounted rates for legal secretaries, paralegals, and others in the legal field who are paying their own way.

Typically, we meet on Saturdays at an office in Encino (free parking in the building lot). We spend an hour to two hours covering exactly the topics you want to learn.

The cost is significantly lower than our normal corporate rate.

For details, drop us a note at the compusavvy AT earthlink DOT net address. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.

Ms. Berinstein Offers "Dressing Up Your Word Documents With Styles" E-book on Lulu

In light of the interest that legal secretaries' organizations have shown in Ms. Berinstein's tutorial about using styles in Word, Ms. Berinstein has turned the tutorial into an e-book that she is offering for sale on Lulu.com.

The e-book is based on but goes beyond portions of Ms. Berinstein's Word 2007 and Word 2010 books that introduce users to styles. It explains the advantages of using styles in Word 2003, Word 2007, and Word 2010, as well as a few potential "gotchas." In addition, it provides step-by-step instructions for creating simple styles from scratch and by example in all three versions of the program.

Toward the end of the e-book, Ms. Berinstein suggests some style "dos" and "don'ts."

The e-book, which costs $7.25, includes an exercise with step-by-step instructions for creating a style for an indented (block) quotation, as well as for assigning a keyboard shortcut to the style.

To buy a copy of the e-book, click this link. You should be able to download the book as soon as you have paid for it.

TechnoFeature Publishes Two Articles by Jan Berinstein About Word 2010

TechnoFeature, a newsletter published by the well-respected organization TechnoLawyer, ran two articles by Ms. Berinstein in August, 2010. The first, entitled "Review of the Top Six New Features for Law Firms in Word 2010," outlined a few of the most noteworthy new and modified features in the latest version of Word; the second, called "Ten Powerful Word 2010 Customization Tips for Law Firms," explored ways that people can make the program more efficient and user-friendly.

For more information, contact Ms. Berinstein directly via the compusavvy AT earthlink DOT net address.

Jan Berinstein Becomes a Columnist for the Legal IT Professionals Web Site

Ms. Berinstein has joined the ranks of the regular columnists on the Legal IT Professionals web site (www.legalitprofessionals.com). Her articles appear every few months.

To view an announcement on the site, click this link. To go to the site's main page, click this one. (Articles are available from a Columns drop-down at the top center of the page.)

The Legal IT Professionals group, which has a strong presence on Linked in, describes itself as "the leading international source of independent legal IT news, information, and expert commentary. Our website is aimed at professionals working in the legal technology industry like law firm IT staff, legal software vendors, legal IT consultants, but also paralegals, knowledge management specialists, and lawyers interested in the technology that facilitates their work."

Ms. Berinstein frequently participates in (and sometimes initiates) discussions on the group's LinkedIn page about current issues in technology used in law firms.

CompuSavvy Adds "Computers for Seniors" Classes

We've recently added several half-day hands-on computer lab classes geared toward older adults.

The classes, which began in August of 2010, are designed to make people more comfortable with computers. Loosely based on the classes Jan Berinstein teaches for The Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning and UCLA Extension, these workshops range from an introductory course for complete novices to intermediate classes that cover using e-mail and the Internet, creating simple documents, and troubleshooting.

There are six classes in all. For now, we have scheduled the classes only in Los Angeles (at ExecuTrain's Thousand Oaks facility); we will add classes in other cities if there is enough demand for them. Note that we have lowered our prices on both half-day and full-day classes through at least March of 2012.

For more information, see our Upcoming Classes page. We will be posting outlines soon.

Jan Berinstein's Formatting Legal Documents With Word 2010 Book Is Here!

Jan Berinstein has published her second book, Formatting Legal Documents With Word 2010. As of January, 2012, a slightly revised version of the book is available on Amazon.com ; the original version is available on Lulu.com. (If you prefer, you can buy the older version of the book from Lulu by simply clicking the gray button with the word "Lulu" in blue, above.)

Like the Word 2007 book that Ms. Berinstein published in 2009, this book contains tutorials about everyday features like line spacing, fonts, indents, and tabs, as well as more legal- specific lessons about formatting pleadings, contracts, and other complex documents used in law firms. It also explains how to make the program more user-friendly and offers helpful hints about automating your work with keyboard shortcuts, fill-in fields, Quick Parts, and styles.

However, there is also a great deal of fresh material. In addition to a detailed description of features that are new and features that have been modified in Word 2010, the book includes an entire new section about mailings and forms, plus instructions for setting up custom templates and for creating pleading paper from scratch. Ms. Berinstein has added numerous troubleshooting tips and suggestions for preventing, diagnosing, and repairing document corruption.

A preview that displays selected tutorials, as well as the entire Table of Contents, is available from the book's Lulu page. (There is no preview on the Amazon page.)

For more information, see this press release.

Ms. Berinstein spoke at the June 3, 2010 meeting of the San Gabriel Valley Legal Secretaries Association in Monrovia, California. She provided several handouts on the topic of styles.

The well-attended talk covered style basics, as well as how to avoid potential problems. Ms. Berinstein held the audience's attention with her signature humor and interactive teaching method. There was a lively Q & A session.

Afterwards, representatives of the SGV LSA sent Ms. Berinstein a thank-you letter that read in part: "Your presentation was outstanding and the information you provided was invaluable."

The American Bar Association included CompuSavvy's blog in its "60 Sites in 60 Minutes 2010" list this past March.

You can see the entire list by clicking this link.

The blog, which provides tips about both MS Word and WordPerfect on an occasional basis, has received favorable attention from the prestigious organization TechnoLawyer, which has linked to several of our blog articles in its "BlawgWorld" newsletter. Also, the Legal IT Professionals group ran an article on its web site about the blog here.

You can find the blog by clicking this link. Also see see this press release.

We add posts as often as time permits, typically once every week or two. Keep checking back for new tips!

Jan Berinstein has written a book that explains how to format legal documents with Microsoft Office Word 2007. The book, which includes instructions for formatting pleadings (based on California court rules but easily tweaked to adapt to other jurisdictions), is available for purchase on Lulu.com (just click the Buy Now button above), and a slightly revised version is available on Amazon.com. It includes a brief section comparing Word's "logic" with that of WordPerfect; tips about customizing Word to make it work the way you want; lists of keyboard shortcuts; instructions for working with headers and footers, automatic paragraph numbering, styles, tracking changes, creating and generating a Table of Contents and a Table of Authorities; and other valuable information.

There is a preview available on the Lulu page that includes, among other things, the entire Table of Contents.

The book was featured on the Legal IT Professionals' web site and also received a favorable review in May, 2009 from software consultant John Heckman, which you can read by clicking this link.

John mentioned the book again in a later post, where he said: "Jan Berinstein has brought out a very useful book [called] 'Formatting Legal Documents With Microsoft Office Word 2007' which is available from Amazon. She focuses on what you really need to know (especially if you are coming from WordPerfect) rather than some of the more abstruse areas that most firms consign to their IT people or trainers." The second post, which also mentions other sites that offer Word tips, is available here.

For more information, also see this press release.

Ms. Berinstein has just made a four-page tutorial available for purchase on Lulu.com for $3.75 per copy. The article, which is in electronic form (as a PDF file), explains how to create a sheet of different labels using Word 2007's Mail Merge feature. Because it is a download, there are no shipping fees.

The article does not appear in Ms. Berinstein's Word 2007 book.

You can buy the "cheat sheet" by visiting this page. Alternatively, you can visit Ms. Berinstein's Lulu storefront -- where her book and her Lyon, France 2010 calendar are also available for purchase -- by clicking here.

Please note that the tutorial is a copyrighted work, not to be distributed in any form without Ms. Berinstein's written permission.

We have designed two simple California pleading templates for Word 2007--one that "suppresses" the page number on the first page and one that does not--that are available for purchase for a modest fee.

The templates, which are compatible with earlier versions of Word, use standard 12-point single spacing and 24-point double spacing. That makes them easier to use than pleading templates generated by the Pleading Wizard in older versions of Word. (Word 2007 does not come with a Pleading Wizard.)

Both templates involve a fairly basic design, but they can be customized easily. For more information, see this press release.

To get an idea of what the templates look like, click this link (to see the template that has a page number on all pages, including the first page)or this link (to see the template where the page number is "suppressed" on the first page).

If you're interested in purchasing one of the templates, drop us a note at compusavvy AT earthlink DOT net (or at templates AT compusavvy DOT net), or leave a voicemail message on our answering machine at (818) 776-1228. Be sure to provide your e-mail address as well as your name and phone number. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please allow a few days for us to process your request.

Jan Berinstein's Lyon, France 2010 calendar is available for purchase on Amazon.com! You can find it by clicking this link. The calendar is also available on Lulu.com . There are a few images from the interior posted on both sites.

Note that although Amazon's shipping charges tend to be lower than Lulu's, Lulu frequently offers substantial discounts -- typically on weekends -- that you can apply by entering a coupon code at checkout.

It's terrific to have the calendar listed on Amazon as well as on Lulu, especially at this time of year. (It won't quite fit in a Christmas stocking, but it's a great holiday gift nonetheless!)

And remember, we're splitting the proceeds with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. So your purchase constitutes a gift even if you end up keeping it for yourself!

Ms. Berinstein, an amateur photographer, has created a Lyon, France 2010 calendar that she is selling on Lulu.com. The 12-month wall calendar is a paean to that vibrant city and incorporates some of Ms. Berinstein's favorite images of its gorgeous parks and rivers, as well as its monuments and the historic cobblestone district known as "Vieux Lyon." A couple of the photos were taken during the annual Festival of Lights.

Proceeds from the sale of the calendar will be split 50:50 with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. That worthy organization is working on treatments and, with luck, an eventual cure for those terrible blood diseases.

The calendar costs a little more than standard calendars because of the nature of publishing on demand (POD), whereby an item is printed only when someone orders it, rather than being printed in bulk. Also, it is a custom work of art.

It makes a terrific (and unique) gift, and buying a copy is a painless way to help fight two deadly diseases.

To purchase the calendar (or to see a preview that includes four months), go to this page on Lulu. Alternatively, you can visit Ms. Berinstein's Lulu storefront -- where her book and her downloadable article about creating a sheet of labels with the Mail Merge feature of Word 2007 are also available for purchase -- by clicking here.

Thanks very much for your support!

The SFVLSA has invited Ms. Berinstein to be the featured speaker at their July 14 meeting. Ms. Berinstein will discuss her new book and, in particular, will go over a few of the features of Word 2007 that legal staff find most confusing —headers and footers, section breaks, aligning text with pleading line numbers, and troubleshooting generally.

The Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning at UCLA Extension scheduled an "Intermediate II" computer class for adult learners, taught by Ms. Berinstein. It ran from October 2, 2009 through November 6, 2009.

The fall class picked up more or less where the spring class left off. We covered creating, formatting, and printing simple documents with Microsoft Word. Students had an opportunity to master the basics and also to experiment with borders and clip art. We touched on computer maintenance and backups; students learned some essential system tools and practiced backing up files to a CD.

We devoted the last two weeks of class to Google Earth, the Internet, and students' follow-up questions.

Ms. Berinstein will be teaching another computer class for Osher in the spring of 2010. For information about upcoming classes, see the UCLA Extension catalogue (search for "Computers for Adult Learners" or Osher), call The Osher Institute at (310) 825-2301, or email osher@uclaextension.edu.

For the past few years, Jan Berinstein has been teaching the "Computers for Adult Learners" series of hands-on computer workshops (formerly known as "Computers for Seniors") for The Osher Institute at UCLA Extension. The intermediate-level class started on April 16, 2009.

The spring 2009 class focused on intermediate Windows tasks, including how to search for files and how to create new folders, plus various tips, tricks, and shortcuts. In addition, we spent a little time reviewing e-mail options such as how to attach a file to an e-mail message and how to send a "bcc." We also visited a few news, travel, health, and financial web sites, and we sampled some of the fun things you can do with search engines, including translation of phrases and web pages.

We are hoping to offer the multimedia class, the third in the series, early in 2010. In that class, we briefly explore photo editing, photo sharing on the web, listening to Internet radio, using iTunes to download and organize music and podcasts, viewing online videos, burning CDs, and exploring the world of satellite imagery with Google Earth and Zillow.

Because of popular demand, we might do a separate Internet class and/or one that deals exclusively with e-mail. Stay tuned!

For more information, see the UCLA Extension catalogue (search for "Computers for Adult Learners" or Osher), call The Osher Institute at (310) 825-2301, or email osher@uclaextension.edu.

In 2005 and 2006, Jan Berinstein worked on two of Laura Acklen's Absolute Beginner's Guide to WordPerfect books. Ms. Berinstein co-authored and helped to update Absolute Beginner's Guide to WordPerfect 12 and also served as a technical editor on Absolute Beginner's Guide to WordPerfect X3. In addition, Ms. Berinstein continues to serve as Administrator of and a Moderator on the WordPerfect Universe web site.

Jan Berinstein wrote a blurb for the "Asked & Answered" column in the August/September 2003 issue of Law Office Computing magazine. The article addresses the question, "What software programs are overrated for the sole or small firm practitioner"?

On May 14, 2003, Ms. Berinstein participated in a panel discussion at LegalTech Los Angeles entitled "The Great Spam Debate: Government Regulation or Private Industry Solutions." She detailed several methods for filtering spam, which, by some estimates, now accounts for as much as 40-50% of all e-mail. She also pointed out that there are two strong anti- spam measures currently making their way through the California State Senate. Both bills would strengthen existing law by, in effect, banning unsolicited commercial e-mail originating from within California or sent to an e-mail address in California. There would be exceptions if the sender and the recipient had an existing business relationship prior to the mailing or if the recipient specifically and affirmatively requested information from the sender (the "opt-in" approach).

The other panelists included Scott Giordano, a lawyer who specializes in electronic evidence and electronic due diligence; Ray Everett Church of ePrivacy Group; and David Cain of Corvigo, Inc. They described pending federal legislation dealing with spam and recent lawsuits, some of which provided large monetary awards to ISPs, including EarthLink and AOL.

On September 10, 2002, Ms. Berinstein gave a brief talk for the San Fernando Valley Legal Secretaries' Association. She provided tips about formatting legal documents with WordPerfect and MS Word. Thanks to Cheri Casella, 2nd Vice President and Program Chair of the SFVLSA, for the invitation and cheerful assistance.

Ms. Berinstein Teaches 12-Hour Internet Legal Research Class for UCLA Extension

Jan Berinstein taught a twelve-hour hands-on "Internet Legal Research" workshop—one of her specialties—for UCLA Extension in the fall quarter of 2002. Topics included browser basics, search engines vs. directories, how search engines work, advanced search techniques, informal channels for legal information (such as newsgroups and listservs), the "invisible" web, and an exploration of selected legal web sites.

In May, 2002, Ms. Berinstein was on a panel at LegalTech Los Angeles called "Danger Will Robinson! Is Anyone Safe From a Hack Attack?" She gave a presentation that described common methods hackers use to gain access to other people's computers and provided practical steps people can take to prevent becoming a victim. Ken McGuire of the FBI's Computer Crime squad also gave a presentation. Afterwards, both speakers, along with moderator Ryan Bilbrey of Ernst & Young, answered questions from the audience.

"Legal Research on the Internet" A Popular MCLE Topic in 2001-2002