When I have an important oral argument in court, I prepare it the same way I would actually make it in court, i.e., composing by speaking using memory and notes. I usually speak it multiple times to build fluidity and to help remember what I've said. However, every version I speak has differences from every other one. Some are turns of phrase I like; some are re-phrasings and some are whole new points or whole new ways of making an existing point. In the past, I've recorded the versions so...
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I'm a solo legal practitioner in Rhode Island. Like many attorneys I don't have a support staff. Whatever needs to be done in my law practice, you'll find me doing it. Never have I had the distinct pleasure of having so many jobs at one time. From dawn til dusk I am the scheduling coordinator, the telephone answering service, the bookkeeper, the filing assistant, the technology repair man, the purchasing agent and the marketing manager. If the human body didn't require food or sleep...
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I felt lucky to have found a use for my law degree that let me be a bit creative: writing books at a publishing company that specializes in putting the law and related practical matters into plain English, for ordinary people. (Topics include how to immigrate to the U.S., buy a house, fundraise for a nonprofit, and more). I think I'd written about four books when my fingers literally went on strike -- I could barely lift a toothbrush. Even after returning from weeks of disability leave, lifting...
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The number of lawyers in my firm has been slowly declining for sometime as former colleagues have moved on. My partner and I decided not to add new attorneys but to look for ways to reduce overhead costs. Personnel costs were and are the highest expense item. I decided that I could make do without a paralegal if my talented legal assistant could assume more paralegal tasks. To free up more of her time, I started doing more of my own typing. I type slowly so the trade off on the loss of my own productivity...
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My law practice requires extensive drafting of pleadings and correspondence. Historically I dictated all of my writings on to a handheld Sony tape recorder. After accumulating 30-40 minutes of dictation, the mini-cassette would be given to the secretary for transcription and document assembly, a process that would take at least another hour, sometimes two. Dragon changed everything. I now dictate on a handheld Sony (ICD-BM1) just as I did before. However, instead of recording to a tape, my voice...
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I have seen the future. It is Dragon. I started my own law practice six years ago. Before that, I was a partner at another law firm. I used to dictate on microcasettes all the time. My secretary dutifully transcribed them. Typical turnaround would range from an hour to 1/2 a day. When I went out on my own, I knew I wanted a more efficient system. I started out with no secretary; no staff. I bought a Sony digital recorder (that came with Dragon software), and have been using it ever since. The digital...
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I was sceptical. Tried voice recognition seveal years ago, but it was a disastor. I 'm not the fastest of all typests. The new Dragon software has helped to the point that I don't need a secretary. This is a savings of at least $25k year. I was off to a slow start, but it really kicked into gear after a few weeks. Now I'm considered the "Dragon Master",
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I teach a Contract Drafting course at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit. I am a physician/lawyer/professor. I tried many speaking programs before Dragon was introduced, and although I am well-versed in computer technology, found them cumbersome and user unfriendly. Along comes Dragon - and the world of hands-free takes on a new meaning. I use Dragon for everything, research, writing, briefs, papers and articles, I use Dragon to convert my taped law lectures, twenty-eight per semester,...
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Once upon a time, long ago, when I took my first deposition as a court reporter, I prepared the transcript using a manual typewriter and onionskin paper. If I made a typo, I started the page over, and over, and over. Electric was better and when electric typewriters became memory-capable, I knew it would never get any better. I bought my first computer while doing the civil case of Westmoreland v. CBS and carried three very large, very heavy, cases (base, monitor and printer) around the country to...
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I am a practicing lawyer in western North Carolina and have primarily been in criminal and domestic and plaintiff civil work. I started practicing in 1974 before computers before online research and some of the typewriters were not even electric. When I was in high school the only people who took typing were girls and for the most part the only males were the ones who wanted an easy grades. In law school and college at University of North Carolina very few people typed for any reason and especially...
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As with many practicing attorneys, I am usually multitasking. Admittedly, this means that my head is one place while I am physically in another. I am not saying this was the cause of my misfortune this January, but . . . on that day, I was in the midst of an arbitration. While walking back to the car during the lunch break, discussing with the client the morning’s testimony and the planned strategies for the afternoon, I slipped. I never knew what hit me and fell quickly with my right arm taking...
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I glanced back casually before crossing the bicycle path, perhaps too casually, for the next thing I knew I was flat on my back, struck by an indignant, humorless, bullet headed, yuppie juggernaut. I took the blame and apologized, though I was a bit suspicious that he had been asleep at the handlebars himself. No skid marks. I was attracting concerned young girls lying on my back, so embarrassed I got up and started feeling for damage. Seems I had landed on my left hand primarily and broken or sprained...
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I have used Dragon occasionally for a number of years. However, in early 2006, I was unable to write or type due to surgery on my writing hand. I began using Dragon every day to write briefs, prepare emails, write letters and memoranda professionally. I also began to use Dragon for my personal correspondence as well. During that time, I could not even have my secretary prepare items I had dictated because I could not write to correct and revise the drafts. Although my secretary was a bit nervous...
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My professional life, that is. After 25 years of practicing law, my partnership dissolved, and I was once again a sole practitioner. Although I still had substantial business and Estate Plan clientele to service, I could not afford to continue to pay the high salaries and fringe benefits that skilled secretarial personnel required. Unfortunately, however, my typing skills were too poor for me to draft, edit, and finalize legal documents and correspondence. I attempted to resolve the problem by dictating...
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I am a management consultant in occupational safety, industrial hygiene, and indoor environmental quality. As a certified industrial hygienist, I serve as an expert witness in toxic tort litigation concerning human exposures to substances such as asbestos. This work involves reviewing thousands of pages of deposition testimony, summarizing the exposure information from the testimony into dozens of pages of notes, and then developing a succinct report that conveys my opinions to all stakeholders in...
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I am a therapist, who has carpel tunnel as a result of the hours I spend writing Treatment Plans, Notes and reports to various courts in the county of Queens. The Dragon has allowed me to do my job with ease and to fulfill my responsibilities to my employer. I also use the program at my home whenever I need to take work with me. Dragon has allowed me to write letters, reports and to remain in contact with my colleagues as a Pastor of a mission church. I recommend this product to all professionals...
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I am partially handicapped in the use of my hands making typing very difficult and slow. I am also a guardian ad litem and that requires many legal documents or the courts and other agencies that can be quite lengthy. Poor example when I type my first court report it took eight hours. My second using this program took 1 1/2 hours. I have been using it for about a year and along with the PDF converter I fill out all life forms and required re-ports this program as well as my e-mail and writing letters...
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I am a labor arbitrator and I bave been using Dragon for two years to dictate my awards. Most awards are 10 to 14 pages long and I have found that Dragon has not only reduced the amount of time it takes to write my awards but it has also made it easier for me to compose my thoughts. Before I began using Dragon, I had to concentrate on typing as well as composing my work. Now, I am able to dictate my work as though I was in a conversation rather than doing manual labor. Thank you Dragon, for making...
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I have been a Court Reporter for over thirty years. I used to transcribe court cases by typing them myself or hiring a typist to whom I would dictate. I started using DNS several years ago when Dragon was new and needed to be "cut and pasted" into a word processing program and when I started to show signs of repetetive stress in my wrists and fingers. Then I upgraded and bought Word Perfect which included DNS within it's program and things got a lot easier. In 2002 I cut my hand, severing...
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First I would like to thank you for giving me the incentive, to express my appreciation for your product, because it is long overdue. Even now as I dictate this using your version 10.0, I think back to the time when I happened to be browsing through an electronics store and came across your product back in 1997. I have used your program exclusively since that time. Never had it become more important than that day in February 2007 when I was diagnosed with leukemia. I am a solo practitioner and for...
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