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GAZETTE
DECEMBER 1988
Wo r d P r o c e s s i ng
It has been said that the law is an
ass.
W i t h o ut
ag r ee i ng
or
disagreeing w i t h that comment I
wou ld say that any lawyer who
does not have a word processor is
an ass.
Such has been the development
of the computer industry in the last
thirty years that if one were to
compare it to the aircraft industry
a plane should now cost IRE300
and be capable of circling the earth
in t we n ty minutes using only
t we n ty litres of fuel. In comparison
consider that there is not really a
great deal of difference between
the basics of an old Remington
manual typewriter and a modern
electric typewriter. However, the
only thing in c ommon between a
typewriter and a wo rd processor is
that the end result is a t yped
d o c ume nt of some kind. The
speed, quality and cost in whatever
order you consider most important
differs enormously.
Word processing is essentially
one of the many f unc t i ons a
computer can perform whether it
be a main frame, mini or a micro
c omp u t e r.
C omp u t e rs
are
considered by many of us to be
complicated pieces of technology,
way beyond our comprehension,
but the concept of word processing
is quite simple. It has been said
by
M i c h a e l G. Ry an
Solicitor, Galway.
about c omp u t e rs t h a t if you
understand something today then
by definition it must be obsolete
but that statement is not true about
the feature of computers that is
wo rd processing.
The words themselves are self-
e x p l a n a t o r y.
The
c omp u t er
processes words. Your computer
will use either a hard disc or a
floppy disc and this disc retains all
the information that your computer
requires in order to perform the
wo rd processing function. You will
have all your standard conveyanc-
ing, litigation, probate and other
f o rms stored on these discs and
you can call t hem up to use t hem
as appropriate.
In my opinion it is a waste of
money paying extra for so f twa re
w i th a legal package. Consider that
in the ordinary course of events you
have to type each Deed, document
or f o rm individually. All the legal
package does, effectively, is pre-
type these documents for you.
However you will find that several
of the precedents used by the
pac kage ma n u f a c t u r e rs d i f f er
eno rmous ly f r om the t y pe of
precedent you use and you will
spend a lot of time amending them.
In this regard I wou ld be of the
opinion that you should create your
own set of precedents by storing
each document as you use it for
future use. It is possible to collate
all your v a r i ous f o r ms and
d o c u m e n ts i n to t he v a r i ous
different categories, e.g. litigation,
conveyancing, etc.
Wh e n y ou have all t h e se
documents in memory they can be
printed to suit whatever situation in
a matter of a f ew seconds to a f ew
minutes depending on whether you
want a Notice of Application to the
Probate Office or a Commercial
Lease. While longer documents are
being automatically printed your
secretary can be dealing w i th your
mail, making a telephone call,
p h o t o c o p y i ng or a t t end i ng to
whatever other tasks need doing at
a particular time.
If you have been unsure in your
dictation or would like to change a
paragraph, sentence or a word your
secretary can amend the document
before it is printed or, having printed
it, can call it back up on screen and
change or correct the matter and
reprint the document almost at the
touch of a button. In particular I
find this procedure operates very
well in relation to daily post. The
day's work is kept in memo ry until
signed and if any t h i ng needs
correction only the correction need
be retyped and then the letter or
document can be printed in a f ew
seconds. Needless to say the same
document can be printed as many
times as required and by using the
facility k n own as "ma i l -me r ge" or
" m a i l - s h o t " several d i f f e r e nt
people can be wr i t t en to, for
example in relation to outstanding
fees. You programme in all the
names and addresses you require
into the computer and merge each
one w i t h your standard letter or
statement. This can be done while
your office is closed for lunch. We
all r ece i ve many
w i n d o w ed
envelopes containing statements
every month.
Obviously there are some pit-
falls. In the first instance you have
to have somebody capable of
operating the machine and you
must consider the question of a
replacement operator in the case of
holidays or illness, particularly if
you operate as a sole practitioner
as I do.
In relation to breakdown you
should ensure that you have an
adequate service agreement and
one that will, if possible, let you
have replacement machinery within
a short period. The most difficult
decision you will have to make will
be in relation to the t ype of
machine you are going to purchase.
Salesmen will bamboozle you w i t h
the usual sa l esman 's chat in
relation to their particular machine.
Obviously you will have to get a
machine to suit your own needs.
You can literally spend as much as
you like. Why buy a Rolls Royce
when a Mini will do.
•
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