The Lawyer's Quick Guide
to Netscape Navigator

and

The Lawyer's Quick Guide 
to Microsoft Internet Explorer

Both Books:

by G. Burgess Allison, ABA Law Practice Management Section, 1997, paperback, each about 150 pages, LPM prices Internet Explorer book $39.95; Navigator book, $29.95.

Reviewed by Jerry Lawson

Are you interested in joining other lawyers in the Internet Revolution but not sure where to begin? One of these books may be your best starting point. The author's teaching skills let him get net.phobic lawyers up to net.vet speed in no time.

And, by the way, who says lawyers can't write? Only a master writer combines entertainment and instruction so deftly.

Burgess Allison's first book, The Lawyer's Guide to the Internet, deservedly became a big seller for the American Bar Association's Law Practice Management Section. In 1995 only a few of the country's most innovative lawyers had yet begun using the Internet. That book showed us a vision of a connected world that promised striking benefits.

In these follow up books, Allison undertakes a more mundane but no less important mission. The first battle has been won, decisively. Most lawyers now appreciate the Internet's value. An ABA survey found that in 1996, only 38% of small firm lawyers reported using the Internet. By contrast, 64% reported using the Internet in 1997. Furthermore, 59% of the lawyers who did not use the Internet in 1997 reported that they planned to begin using it in 1998.

The problem is no longer getting lawyers on the Net, but making them productive once they get there. In his new books, Allison turns his considerable talents to this new struggle. Moving from visionary mode to practical mode, he teaches the nuts and bolts of using the Internet's key research tool, the web browser. He devotes one book to explaining each of the two most popular browser brands. Allison covers all the bases, from selecting the right ISP to finding the top Net legal research sites.

Although these books have not been packaged by the ABA as "legal research" books, that's exactly what they are:

Browser is to Researcher as Hammer is to Carpenter.

Want to use the Net for legal research? Step One -- Master your browser.

Allison shows you how, with panache to spare. Net.newbies will be navigating through Allison's selection of the top legal research sites, and, even more important, "bookmarking" their own Internet treasures in no time.

Allison covers the essentials in four short chapters, then provides key backup material in the appendices so it will be there when you need it. I was particularly impressed by the section on what to look for in an ISP, the best short explanation I have seen anywhere.

One of the best things about these books is how Allison leverages the power of the Internet to increase their value. He has established related web sites for both the Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers. These nifty little fringe benefits give you easy access to the latest updates, delivered much faster than any paper pocket part. There is also a nice bonus for the keyboard-challenged the web sites mean your explorations need not be hindered by the frustration of typing in mile-long Internet addresses which (if you have the good judgment to buy one of these books) you will soon know are called "URLs" by the Net cognoscenti.

Both these books deal with versions 3 of each of these browsers, and some attorneys have upgraded to version 4 since the book was published. As it turns out, few of the changes in version 4 of either browser really affects the value of these books. Because Allison concentrates on fundamental features of browsers and the Internet research process that will change less slowly than trendy features du jour, these books will remain valuable when most computer tomes have become cobweb repositories.

Conclusion

What's the best reason to buy one of these books?

They give you less--and more.

Less paper, more value. Written by a lawyer, for lawyers, these 150 page books have a higher "good idea to page ratio" than any generic 500 page browser book.

Spend less time, learn more. That's what smart net.lawyering is all about, right?

This is a revised version of a review originally appeared in The Federal Lawyer, a publication of the Federal Bar Association.

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