Re: Kill/Lawyers

[William D Rich r1wdr@xxxxxxxx]

On Wed, 5 Apr 1995 kfrank@xxxxxxxx wrote:

> Marv Katz:
>  ->Actually, some of my best friends are lawyers....
> > None of mine are.

As someone who helps people become lawyers, I'm not sure I should
show my (virtual) face around here, but I'll do it anyway.

First, as to word processing in academic environments: At my university,
WordPerfect has been the word processor officially supported (and
provided at low cost) by the Computer Center and is used in the
vast majority of departments. There are, however, some
departments that use MS Word, and then there is the Law School,
where the official word processor is XyWrite
(approximately 50 copies). As the chair of the Law School's
computer committee, I have steadfastly resisted the pressure
(some of which is internal to the Law School) to convert to
WordPerfect. In this I am supported strenuously by the
secretaries who serve the law faculty. The key-stroke efficiency
of XyWrite is especially important to the secretaries. I believe
I have persuaded the Computer Center to expand its list of
supported word processors to include XyWrite (as well as MS
Word), though it's too soon to be sure.

Second, as to word processing in legal environments: My
impression is that WordPerfect has been at least as successful
in penetrating the legal market as in penetrating the market in
general. One of the arguments I've heard from a few law faculty
and law school administrators here is that we should convert to
WordPerfect because most lawyers use it. If they were a bit
more technologically clued-in, they would also mention that
Westlaw (one of the two on-line legal databases -- I'm not sure
about the other one, Lexis) supports WordPerfect by allowing
users to download documents in WordPerfect format, and in a few
other ways.

The ability of XyWrite to convert documents to and from other
word processors' formats is important if not essential to our
ability to resist the tide. Does TTG have filters for the
latest versions of WordPerfect and MS Word? If not, when might
they be expected?

I would also echo the views expressed earlier by others on this
list about the desirability of using being able to use XyWrite
conveniently to create HTML documents for the World Wide Web.
It would be nice to be able to do that, and it would be another
reason to stay with XyWrite.

Finally, let me say how heartening it is to have Kenneth Frank
participating on this discussion list. It's a good sign that TTG
is listening to its customers, even if market forces preclude it
from doing some of what its customers would like.

Long live XyWrite and TTG.

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|Bill Rich
  |
|Associate Professor of Law        Internet:
Rich@xxxxxxxx |
|The University of Akron School of Law   Voice:   (216)
972-6792 |
|Akron, OH 44325-2901           Fax:    (216)
258-2343 |
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