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I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for ABA TECHSHOW.  Years ago, when I was an associate in a law firm, getting more interested in law office technology and less interested in practicing law, I attended TECHSHOW in Chicago. It was the early 1990’s and so much was happening in the legal/tech world. The atmosphere was electric, and I met other lawyers from around the country – all enjoying a truly unique experience. No other so-called legal conference has the same focus on “real” lawyers.

That first TECHSHOW, I met a kind, generous lawyer who encouraged me and introduced me to people instrumental in putting on the conference. His name was Jim Keane, and his legacy as a pioneer and amazingly nice guy lives on, even though he passed away too young from cancer.  In his honor, TECHSHOW awards the annual James I. Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in eLawyering.

Chicago seemed really distant to me back in those days and it was a big step to get on the plane and go there by myself. But looking back now, 17 years later, it was one of the best steps I ever took. This year, TECHSHOW is March 25-27, at the Hilton Chicago. If you’re interested in taking the leap, please take advantage now of the Early Bird pricing and special SC Bar discount. Just enter discount code EP1001 when you register. I hope I see you there!

Maybe you’ve heard about a thing called “metadata.” Say what? Usually, dropping buzzwords and using plain English is helpful, but not here – since metadata means “data about data” or “information about information.” Gee, thanks.

Metadata is actually the code or words contained in electronic documents that help the document function better somehow; for example, making it easier to search for the document on the computer. According to Catherine Sanders Reach, Director of the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center, “Metadata helps users save and retrieve documents more readily, by capturing information such as author, editor, “date created” and “date revised” in the hidden part of the document.

“However, other information about the document is also captured, such as additions, deletions, revisions, versions, comments, and other information about the document that an attorney may not want to share with others”

So, while metadata is useful, it can also be dangerous. Anyone with the inclination and a little know-how can look at metadata. Unfortunately, well-publicized stories of metadata embarrassments abound. Usually, they involve an electronic copy of Microsoft Word emailed or otherwise transmitted (intentionally or otherwise) to another person who exploits the information contained in the metadata to suit his or her own ends.

It’s not difficult to see that this could be particularly dangerous for lawyers, whose ethical duties to clients could be breached as well. Although South Carolina has not weighed in with an ethics opinion, the majority of states with opinions held that lawyers have a duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid disclosing confidential information via metadata when transmitting electronic files. To see all existing opinions, visit the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center’s metadata ethics opinion comparison chart.

The question then is “how do I get rid of metadata?” (I wish to clarify that we are discussing the metadata in documents the attorney creates, not metadata which may be present in electronic evidence in a lawsuit, which may be subject to the federal and state rules or laws.)

Many “solutions” to the metadata problem aren’t practical – such as not transferring electronic files; scanning documents and saving in a new format; or copying and pasting into a plain text editor. A more realistic solution is to clean the documents before you share them. Microsoft attempted to address the issue with Office 2003 by releasing an add-in removal patch for Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. In the year since it was released, there have been many reports of it failing to do a complete job of metadata removal, so I do not recommend relying on it.

Office 2007 comes with more built-in metadata removal tools, including Document Inspector. For a more in-depth discussion and instructions on metadata removal in Office 2007, see http://bit.ly/1pS6OM.

For most lawyers, third party software remains the best means of removing or minimizing metadata. Two products to consider are Metadata Assistant by Payne Consulting  (priced from $80.00 for single workstation and more for enterprise-wide versions) and Workshare Protect (starting at $29.95).

While most of the problems with metadata arise from Microsoft software, to a lesser degree metadata is in other products as well, such as WordPerfect and PDF files. For pointers on dealing with WordPerfect, see www.corel.com and search for metadata in the knowledgebase.

Adobe Acrobat (PDF) is usually a secure format for transferring documents electronically if the document is secured or restricted. For more on securing Acrobat PDF files, see http://www.adobe.com/support/security/.

The most important thing to know about metadata is that it exists and to exercise caution when transferring electronic files, utilizing removal tools when necessary.

Is there a better way to spend time on a cloudy Friday than checking out some fun and fascinating websites? (OK, probably there is, but humor me.) My new Sites for Sore Eyes column (co-written with Jim Calloway) is in the latest edition of GPSolo Technology eReport.  The topic? Travel sites you may never have heard of.  Most are useful to one degree or another, and some are rather humorous. I don’t know why, but I find it amusing that there is a website devoted to finding clean public restrooms around the globe (The Bathroom Diaries).  This eReport contains an article on iPhone apps and one on SaaS (’software as a service’ – everyone’s favorite new catchphrase). There’s also a review of the 2009 iteration of QuickBooks for the Mac. Be sure to check out eReport whenever it comes out – usually quarterly. It’s always free and online.

If your old Dictaphone has given up the ghost, take a look at Hardware for Digital Dictation and Speech Recognition by Britt L. Knuttgen.  Britt offers valuable advice on brands and models making it easier to decide what to purchase for either dictation or voice recognition software. If you don’t use dictation often, or don’t have an assistant to transcribe for you, what about using a virtual transcription service? SpeakWrite and QuikSek are two to explore.