More Tips from ABA Techshow 2008

As promised, here are some more great tips from this year's ABA Techshow.

Adriana Linares and Larry Smith had some tips on using Outlook to manage client and case information. Since we're all overwhelmed with email, one of the best tips I picked up was that you can change the subject line in an email - even an email that was sent to you by someone else. Often, when going back and forth via email, the subject of the discussion changes, but the email subject remains the same. When you're searching later for a particular email, it will be much easier to find if you change the email subject line. Simply open the email, click on the subject line and type your changes.

Don't forget to file your emails to make them easier to find (rather than keeping them all in your inbox).

Can't remember an email address or name? You don't need to go back to your address book. Just start typing and then hit the Alt key and K and Outlook will open a dialog box with a list of names to choose from.

Can't find a message you're looking for? If you right click on a particular message and go to the 'find' feature, you can find all messages from the same sender or all related messages. You can also right click at the top of the column (where it says 'arranged by') and sort messages in several different ways (including sorting by subject, which is helpful if you've followed the first tip).

For even more search options, try the Tools menu: in Find-Advanced Find, you can search for messages with particular words in the subject, or in the message itself, among other options.

Want to get rid of large emails and free up some space on your computer? Sort emails by size and then delete large emails and/or attachments. Often, you've already saved the attachments elsewhere, but left them in your inbox also, eating up valuable space.

Follow up: Use follow up flags to follow up on email messages. But don't just flag the email - create a reminder as well by right-clicking and choosing 'add reminder.' When you enter the information, you'll create an alert on your calendar. You can even add follow up flags to messages before you send them. That way, you can keep track of whether you've received a response.