Word, Outlook, and PDF Files: Maximizing the Operational Efficiency of Your Law Office

—Rebroadcasts—
On the rebroadcast date, you will have until midnight of that rebroadcast date to access the course. Please note that technical support will be available during regular CLEBC business hours.

Last Kick at the Can Series 2022
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Jump Start on CPD 2023
Friday, March 10, 2023

(Original Webinar Dates: October 6, 12, and 19, 2022)

Who should attend: Lawyers and staff who want to maximize their time through the use of technology

Learning level: All levels

The wisest use of your technology budget is to maximize the utility of the technology tools you already own. This seminar focuses on exactly that—getting the most out of Word, Outlook, and whatever PDF application you prefer.

The Microsoft Word coverage addresses all of the issues that legal users struggle with the most (based on the speaker's 25 years of experience providing Word technical support for law offices).

The Outlook portion concentrates on improving Outlook's default settings and interface, and the tools Outlook offers for dealing with high volumes of email. We'll also provide tips on Outlook's calendar, contact, and task functions.

Finally, the PDF segment discusses the risks and benefits of PDFs, when they're appropriate to use, and how to perform important tasks with PDFs, regardless of what PDF program you happen to be using.

Register for all three segments on this page or click on the course links to register individually for Microsoft Word Power Tips for Legal Users, Mastering Your Inbox—Using Outlook to Organize & Manage High Volume Email, or A Legal User’s Guide to PDF Files. 

Microsoft Word Power Tips for Legal Users
(Thursday, October 6, 2022, 10:00 am to 12:30 pm)

Due to the complex formatting often required with legal documents, most users find Microsoft Word to be a constant source of frustration. It's the primary tool used to produce work product, yet many feel it works against them. Adding to the frustration is the fact that most of the techniques and features necessary to control complex formatting are simply concealed. Using Word and "clicking around" provides little improvement and no insight.

This seminar is specifically designed to address those realities. We'll show you exactly how to fix the common legal drafting problems plaguing you now and how to avoid them in the future. You'll learn dozens of tips and techniques that you can put into practice immediately.

Even if you feel you have Word under control, we guarantee you will learn new things about Word throughout this course.  

Mastering Your Inbox—Using Outlook to Organize & Manage High Volume Email
(Wednesday, October 12, 2022, 10:00 am to 11:30 am)

Lawyers and staff are generally drowning in email, and many feel helpless when trying to get it under control.

This course will show you how to use all of Microsoft Outlook's features to efficiently store, organize email (and attachments), and successfully deal with high email volume. We'll also show you how to fix Outlook's default settings for email, calendar, contacts, and tasks. Finally, we'll explain many amazing and useful Outlook features that most users don't even know are there.

A Legal User’s Guide to PDF Files
(Wednesday, October 19, 2022, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm)

You probably noticed that PDF files are everywhere. They are the file format of choice when trading documents with other lawyers and clients. Many courts now require that all pleadings be filed as PDFs; most governmental forms are only available in PDF format; and, if you want to reduce paper in your office, then PDFs are front and centre. 

Because of their prevalence, everyone in your office needs to understand the risks and benefits of PDF files. Regardless of the PDF program you use, this course will show you the appropriate uses of PDFs.

We'll cover extremely important topics such as redaction, metadata removal and electronic document security, Bates Numbering, splitting/combining PDFs, reducing filesize for electronic case filing, review/comment and PDF collaboration, adding signatures & stamps, routing PDFs for comments/feedback, and more. Finally, we'll identify the programs you can use for all of these functions (you are not limited to Adobe Acrobat) and explain their relative pros and cons.

Law Society of BC CPD Hours: 6 hours (this course will contain a minimum of 3 hours pertaining to professional responsibility and ethics, client care and relations, and/or practice management)

Course Instructor
Barron K. Henley, ESQ — Affinity Consulting Group, LLC, Columbus, OH

Want to register for a course now, but prefer a monthly payment plan?
Check out our Easy Pay Plan. 

CLEBC Program Coordinator 
Jessica Hodgins
jhodgins@cle.bc.ca