Learn To Excel at Microsoft Excel

The Harris County Law Library Legal Tech Institute is offering a hands-on CLE learning opportunity this Thursday afternoon at 2:00pm. The course is Excel for Legal Work, and it has quickly become one of the most popular classes we offer, so don’t hesitate to register today while seats are still available.

Why is it important for lawyers and self-represented litigants to learn about Excel? For starters, the potential for embarrassing and costly errors in compiling, manipulating, and presenting data is enormous. Cautionary tales abound about the spreadsheet blunders committed by major business and financial players, including, for example, Lehman Bros., Fannie Mae, and the London Olympics Committee. Simple clerical mistakes or incorrect cut-and-paste actions can have serious consequences, impacting the reputation, credibility, and bottom line of those who commit them.

For lawyers the risk is just as great, and the consequences are equally harmful. By maintaining an awareness of the risks and benefits associated with using technology in the practice of law (See: ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.1, Comment 8 and the Texas Supreme Court Order that added the rule to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct in February 2019) and by developing one’s tech proficiency over time through CLE opportunities like those offered by the Legal Tech Institute at Harris County Law Library, solo and small firm practitioners can develop the skills they need to minimize the dangers of tech flubs, while maximizing efficiency and productivity for the benefit of those they serve.

Additional Reading from Ex Libris Juris:

• Microsoft Excel For Lawyers: Potential Pitfalls and the Promises of Proficiency

• How to Master Microsoft Excel

Get Courts-Compliant with the Legal Tech Institute

With the recent election of 59 new judges in Harris County (civil, criminal, family, probate, and juvenile courts combined), notable changes in court policies and procedures have taken shape. As one would expect, each of the recently elected judges in Harris County has implemented specific rules for conducting business in his or her particular court. As a guide to understanding and meeting their new requirements, some judges have provided updated links to forms online; others have posted checklists of required documents; and several others are providing supplementary links specifically for self-represented litigants, including to the Harris County Law Library’s community resource guide, the Pro Se Litigants Handbook. The Harris County Law Library has been keeping abreast of and adapting to these changes in order to best serve our public patrons. We are also, as always, paying attention to any changes at the state level.

In late February, just shortly after the new Harris County judges were sworn in, statewide change was indeed taking place. Namely, the Supreme Court of Texas issued an order amending Paragraph 8 of the comment to Rule 1.01 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, which now says that Texas lawyers must be aware of the benefits and risks of using technology in the practice of law. By adopting this standard, Texas joined 35 other states who agree that technologically proficient lawyers provide better, more efficient client representation.

Certain local court rules also require specific procedures that rely on technology. For instance, Judge Janice Berg, who presides over the 247th Family Court in Harris County, has included the following in her Court Policies and Procedures:

At final trial on divorce matters, parties must bring their proposed property division to trial in Excel or Google Sheets format on a USB drive.

Complying with the ethical standard and local rules may require both access and training on specific hardware and software. If it seems daunting, the Harris County Law Library is here to help! Our 25 public access computers have the software you need (including Excel) to draft and assemble all your legal documents. And, our Hands-on Legal Tech Training courses, which we offer, on rotation, every Thursday at 2pm, will give you the knowledge and skills (and one free hour of CLE credit for Texas attorneys) to use that software and easily meet the requirements of the courts. In January, we introduced five new classes, including a popular new offering, Microsoft Excel for Legal Work. It will be presented again soon on May 16. Don’t miss it!

For a detailed description of all our weekly classes, see the 2019 Legal Tech Institute Course Catalog. Classes always begin with a Getting Started portion. They gradually increase in difficulty until we Level Up. We then Go Pro, giving you an opportunity to build proficiency as the course progresses. We attempt to address every skill level in an effort to meet the needs of all attendees, and we’re always happy to answer any questions you may have about using tech tools and resources to strengthen your legal practice.

How To Master Microsoft Excel

Excel is a data management tool used for organizing, calculating, graphing, and sharing tabular information. The importance of developing proficiency in the use of Excel cannot be overstated. Knowing how to manipulate spreadsheets is just as important as properly formatting a written document.

According to some, we spend 10% of our working lives manipulating spreadsheets, so becoming adept at using Excel can only improve your efficiency and productivity. Several resources are available to those interested in developing Excel proficiency.

For starters, we recommend that you visit our On-Demand Learning page from the Legal Tech Institute where you will find a recorded CLE called Excel Essentials for the Practice of Law, presented by none other than Ben Kusmin, the go-to expert on using Excel for legal work. Visit his website, Excel Esquire, for even more helpful tips and information.

Secondly, we recommend that you download The Definitive 100 Most Useful Excel Tips, an outstanding resource guide that includes, along with each tip, a utility score, a difficulty scale, an estimated learning time, and a suggestion for how to apply each skill practically.

If tackling 100 new skills seems a bit daunting, try a more gradual approach. Tackle just 10 Excel Functions Everyone Should Know, presented by Harvard Business Review.

Certainly, there is a wealth of additional resources you may consult, but the suggestions provided here are a great place to start. Look for our Legal Tech Institute to offer a Hands-on Legal Tech Training course, Excel for Legal Work, in the new year. Hope to see you there!

Need even more inspiration to become an Excel master? Check out this competition for expert Excel users, the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship, where a new Excel spreadsheet champion is crowned every year. Alternatively, consider the work of this incredible artist, who “paints” Japanese landscapes using Excel. Spreadsheets aren’t just for number crunchers any more!

MICROSOFT EXCEL FOR LAWYERS: POTENTIAL PITFALLS AND THE PROMISES OF PROFICIENCY

On Thursday, July 13, the Legal Tech Institute at Harris County Law Library will offer a free CLE program called Excel Essentials for the Practice of Law. In anticipation of that event, we are reposting an older Tech Tuesday blog post that discusses the importance of Excel proficiency for lawyers. For details about Thursday's program and to register for the course, please visit the LTI Course Catalog. 

Excel is a data management tool used for organizing, calculating, graphing, and sharing tabular information. The importance of developing proficiency in the use of Excel cannot be overstated. Knowing how to manipulate spreadsheets is just as important as properly formatting a written document, and without a firm understanding of how Excel works, embarrassing and potentially costly errors can result. Consider the following: 

When Barclays sent over its offer to buy up Lehman Brothers in the immediate wake of the firm's September 2008 collapse, it did so with an Excel spreadsheet. The makers of the spreadsheet, which detailed Lehman's assets and what Barclays was willing to buy, hid, rather than deleted, nearly 200 cells. But when a junior law associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton converted the Excel file to a PDF and e-mailed it over to the bankruptcy court, the hidden parts of the spreadsheet reappeared. The result: Along with the parts of Lehman Barclays wanted, the British bank was also forced to swallow losses on an additional 179 toxic deals it never intended to buy.

 -- From Stephen Gandel, writing in Fortune magazine, April 17, 2013

This cautionary tale is just one example of how Excel has been used improperly, with very negative consequences. This is obviously a mistake of greater magnitude than most attorneys encounter on an average day, but nonetheless, it does illustrate the perils of using software improperly.

If you're interested in learning how to use Excel in the practice of law, visit the LTI Course Catalog to register for our upcoming CLE. In the meantime, visit the website of Excel Esquire, where you will learn many practical tips for generating Bates numbers, using pivot tables, sorting metadata, and much more.

Free CLE in July from the Legal Tech Institute: Excel Essentials

Join us on Thursday, July 13, 12pm - 1pm, for Excel Essentials. Microsoft Excel is an important tool for the modern legal profession. It can assist in supervising document reviews, calculating damages, and managing client information. Because so many business clients use Excel, spreadsheets often become evidence in their own right, and attorneys need to be able to review and understand Excel documents. In this interactive program, Ben J. Kusmin, a commercial litigator and the founder of Excel Esquire, will demonstrate the most important features of Microsoft Excel using concrete examples and realistic data. Attendees will have the option to download the data used in the presentation to follow along on their own computers. Register today!

For more discussion of using Excel in the practice of law, see our previous Tech Tuesday blog post MICROSOFT EXCEL FOR LAWYERS: POTENTIAL PITFALLS AND THE PROMISES OF PROFICIENCY