Informal Poll: Access v. Other Programs

[Kathleen]

For a law firm, would you suggest using Access or another program (Case
Map, File Maker, Paradox, etc.) for preparing a file for trial or large
mediation???

My firm is weighing the pros and cons of each program to see which
would be more efficient (and easy) to use.

Thank you!!!

[pietlinden]

Kathleen wrote:

For a law firm, would you suggest using Access or another program (Case
Map, File Maker, Paradox, etc.) for preparing a file for trial or large
mediation???

My firm is weighing the pros and cons of each program to see which
would be more efficient (and easy) to use.

Thank you!!!

Kathleen,
FWIW, could you be specific about what you want to do with the data in
the database?
What kind of data? How many records?
think of it this way... "I'm thinking of buying a car... what kind
should I get?" Depends entirely on what you plan to do with it...

[Lyle Fairfield]

Kathleen wrote:

For a law firm, would you suggest using Access or another program (Case
Map, File Maker, Paradox, etc.) for preparing a file for trial or large
mediation???

If the person creating the application does not have the experience and
training required to make such a decision then it doesn't matter; all
will fail.

[Lyle Fairfield]

Lyle Fairfield wrote:

Kathleen wrote:

For a law firm, would you suggest using Access or another program (Case
Map, File Maker, Paradox, etc.) for preparing a file for trial or large
mediation???

If the person creating the application does not have the experience and
training required to make such a decision then it doesn't matter; all
will fail.

On the other hand ...

"One string - and Paganini"

[Kathleen]

> Kathleen,

FWIW, could you be specific about what you want to do with the data in
the database?
What kind of data? How many records?
think of it this way... "I'm thinking of buying a car... what kind
should I get?" Depends entirely on what you plan to do with it...

We need to have all important documents listed in such a way as to be
readily accessible, preferably launchable from the application, with
multiple ways to search the same bank of documents depending upon what
aspect we're looking for (i.e., "Smith" or "red light" or "date of
incident," etc.).

Records could me 20 - 20,000 depending upon the size of the file, and
records could be letters, photographs, expert reports, deposition
transcripts, medical records --- that sort of stuff. Again, it depends
on the case.

We have some computer-literate people in our firm; some not so much. I
guess I'm looking for given what we want to do and the range of
proficiency, which program would be the best one to use? Case Map has
all the bells and whistles, but is it "too fancy?" Would Access
suffice???

We're trying to pick the best fit for our firm, and I'm looking for
people who have used the products in their practice for feedback to aid
in our decision.

Thank you.

Kathleen

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Kathleen:

We need to have all important documents listed in such a way as to be
readily accessible, preferably launchable from the application, with
multiple ways to search the same bank of documents depending upon what
aspect we're looking for (i.e., "Smith" or "red light" or "date of
incident," etc.).
We're trying to pick the best fit for our firm, and I'm looking for
people who have used the products in their practice for feedback to aid
in our decision.

From what you've said so far, I'd think you are looking for an off-the-shelf
canned application.

I don't actually *know* anything.... but document storage/retrieval sounds to me
like one of those bread-and-butter applications like payroll, accounting, and
so-forth that many vendors have developed products for..... i.e. a situation
where you can find pre-made products that will do 80% of what you want for five
percent of the cost of developing your own.
--
PeteCresswell

[Bob Alston]

(PeteCresswell) wrote:

Per Kathleen:

We need to have all important documents listed in such a way as to be
readily accessible, preferably launchable from the application, with
multiple ways to search the same bank of documents depending upon what
aspect we're looking for (i.e., "Smith" or "red light" or "date of
incident," etc.).

We're trying to pick the best fit for our firm, and I'm looking for
people who have used the products in their practice for feedback to aid
in our decision.

From what you've said so far, I'd think you are looking for an off-the-shelf
canned application.

I don't actually *know* anything.... but document storage/retrieval sounds to me
like one of those bread-and-butter applications like payroll, accounting, and
so-forth that many vendors have developed products for..... i.e. a situation
where you can find pre-made products that will do 80% of what you want for five
percent of the cost of developing your own.

Have you spent some time doing Google searches for software????

bob

[David W. Fenton]

"(PeteCresswell)" <[e-mail]> wrote in
news:ap********************************@4ax.com:

From what you've said so far, I'd think you are looking for an
off-the-shelf canned application.

I don't actually *know* anything.... but document
storage/retrieval sounds to me like one of those bread-and-butter
applications like payroll, accounting, and so-forth that many
vendors have developed products for..... i.e. a situation where
you can find pre-made products that will do 80% of what you want
for five percent of the cost of developing your own.

Hmm, in this field, I don't think the cost is going to be quite so
low in comparison to custom development.

I would say it's more like 80% of what you want, plus 400% of what
you don't need for 25% the long-term cost (including the usual
subscriptions to such canned software products, which is often the
case with apps targeted at a specific industry) of a custom project.
In my experience, clients would rather pay $20K for a custom app
that is tailored to their needs that $5K up front plus $1K/year
subscription fees indefinitely for an app that is only an 80% fit.

--
David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/
usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/

[David W. Fenton]

"Kathleen" <ka******@ksquaredconsulting.com> wrote in
news:11**********************@i40g2000cwc.googlegr oups.com:

For a law firm, would you suggest using Access or another program
(Case Map, File Maker, Paradox, etc.) for preparing a file for
trial or large mediation???

My firm is weighing the pros and cons of each program to see which
would be more efficient (and easy) to use.

Your question is not very well framed. It is as if you asked:

"Should I use Excel, Quattro Pro or QuickBooks to do my accounting?"

You could use a programs like Excel and Quattro Pro to create
spreadsheets that allow you to manage your accounts, but it's not
the same thing as a pre-built program designed specifically with all
the things in it that are needed for doing bookkeeping.

--
David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/
usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/

[Larry Linson]

"Kathleen" <ka******@ksquaredconsulting.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@i40g2000cwc.googlegr oups.com...

For a law firm, would you suggest using Access or another program (Case
Map, File Maker, Paradox, etc.) for preparing a file for trial or large
mediation???

I am not familiar with CaseMap, which sounds as if it is a commercial
lawfirm software package -- that is, an already implemented application.

If you use Access, FileMaker, or Paradox, or any other database development
product, I would strongly recommend Access. Paradox is barely surviving in
the Windows world, and FileMaker is a joy for some end users, but doesn't,
IMNSHO, have comparable flexibility to Access.

Access plays well with other Office applications, even, IIRC, Word Perfect,
and can store or reference documents done in many applications. It can also
be used as the Client application to any ODBC-compliant database. In fact,
for the vital legal materials you describe, I'd suggest using a full-blown
server DB for the back-end data store, with logging enabled.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP