In order for Orion and many of your other software systems/integrations to work properly, your firm needs to make sure it is using a fully supported version of Windows (Windows 7 or better). Our payment processing partner, OpenEdge, recently sent out a support bulletin to inform clients that they must be installed with a supported operating system in order to be compliant with their security certificates.
Click here to read more »

Windows 10 launched globally on July 29, 2015. Do you know what enhancements are included in this release? Below, we have listed some of the key highlights.
Click here to read more »

Processing and creating 1099 Forms is done once a year and can be a challenging task. Although it is only July, we are bringing up this topic so that you will be aware of what can be done throughout the year to help make this a much easier task come January.
Click here to read more »

Most lawyers run their law firms on Windows. Mac is a growing platform, particularly for solos and small firms. And while Android leads in overall smart phone market share, iPhones are more popular with lawyers. And what about tablets? There are compelling offerings in the Apple, Android, and Windows ecosystems. Do you need to stick with one platform across all of your tech devices?
Click here to read more »

Our Partners and staff came up with several resolutions that will help you and your law firm get off to a good start in 2015.  Some of these resolutions related to law office technology. Others are applicable to small businesses in general. Finally, there are a handful of personal resolutions that may help you become healthier and happier in 2015.
Click here to read more »

– Barron K. Henley, Esq., Partner at Affinity Consulting Group

Many people are frustrated with the default formatting Word 2007/10/13 applies to new documents. If you have to change the typeface (Calibri), the size (11 pt) or the justification (left) for every new document, there’s an easy way to make those changes permanent so they will automatically be built into every future document you create. To make all of the following changes to Word’s default Font, Paragraph & Section formatting, just launch Word and open a blank document.
Click here to read more »

Less Paper Means More Productivity For Your Law Firm
– Steven J. Best, Esq., Partner at Affinity Consulting Group

When lawyers and law firm staff are asked about their biggest frustration, managing volumes of paper is at the top of their list. Paper files have become problematic in today’s technologically driven law firms. People spend hours of unproductive time filing away and then, later, looking for paper.

Reducing the inefficiencies inherent in paper files requires three categories of technology. First, the paper must be converted to digital format, preferably PDF, using a scanner. Second, there must be a way to store, organize, and retrieve the digitized documents using a Document Management System (DMS) such as Worldox. Finally, for portable use, there must be a way to read and annotate PDF documents, such as the new Sony Digital Paper device…

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Orion Backup and Recovery
“Best Practices”

Orion backup procedures are compatible with most backup hardware and software products. The process is very easy to perform and extremely reliable. In this article, we will look at the recommended methods and procedures used to backup Orion databases and review an alternative backup solution.

Topics Include:
Software Options
Methods and Procedures
Alternative Backup Solutions

Software Options

The brand and version of your chosen backup software is rarely a factor in backing up Orion. Orion is
compatible with virtually any backup product that supports conventional backup technologies. The exclusion to this is any product solution that provides for backing up files while they are in use. This type of solution cannot ensure database integrity or consistency and is not supported. Pervasive’s Backup Agent is the only product designed to facilitate backups in this mode.

Methods and Procedures

The recommended method to perform a safe and reliable backup of Orion data files is to provide the backup software exclusive access during its operation. This is done simply by disabling connections and isolating the files.

This is the recommended method for preparing Orion data files for backup:

Disconnect Access to Orion Files and Resources – All client apps and network connections to Orion resources on the server should be terminated. Keep in mind that Windows workstations will automatically attempt to
reconnect disconnected sessions. You can ensure disconnection by disabling the network Share or using
policies to forcibly log-off and disconnect the users.

Stop and Disable Orion and Pervasive Services –
1) Stop and disable Orion services or scheduled tasks for the backup duration.
2) Stop the Pervasive Transactional and Relational Database engines.
3) Stop an other third party software that uses Pervasive.

These steps can be scripted and scheduled to run prior to backup or executed by the backup software itself.

Alternative Backup Solutions

The need for mission critical applications to be available at all times is becoming increasingly important to many organizations. This requires the ability to backup files while they are still open and in use by Orion users. The only solution that can safely do this is Pervasive’s Backup Agent running in conjunction with your chosen backup software. Be cautious of any other solution that claims to have this capability unless it is certified and endorsed by Pervasive Software, Inc.

Pervasive Backup Agent works closely with the Database Server Engines utilizing a feature called “Continuous Operations” mode. Please
consider the following implications before deciding on this type of backup solution.

Disk Space – Changes during backup are written to replicas of the data and therefore it is not prudent to have enough disk space for at least 2 copies of each file. It’s not uncommon for the combined file sizes of an Orion database to exceed 2-4 GB. In other-words, the minimum available disk space must equal twice the combined file size of the Orion database.

Performance – Backup Agent merges replica data with the live data in increments and only after access to data has resumed. The result is a potentially serious performance hit to the Orion server. The severity of
performance degradation depends on the size and number of replicas maintained by the database engine.

Reliability – The potential for database integrity and consistency problems is much greater when “Continuous Operations” mode is enabled.

This solution is no more difficult to implement than the recommended backup procedures. However, the technology adds a certain amount of complexity behind-the-scenes and risk elements that should be carefully considered before using.

Orion provides consultation and implementation services to assist you in designing the backup solution that best suits your needs. Please contact us at 1.800.305.5867 or email support@orionlaw.com.

Heartbleed – What is it? And How Do I Protect Myself?

First, lets begin with some background information written by Aaron Street, featured on the Lawyerist site on April 11, 2014…

So What is Heartbleed?

Lots of websites that require password log-in use an encrypted
connection to your browser, called SSL. You can see this when you go to sites that have an “https” website prefix, as opposed to the normal “http” prefix-the “s” means they’re using encryption to protect the data sent between you and that website.

One version of SSL is an open-source software called “OpenSSL”. For the past two years, the OpenSSL software has had an unknown bug in its code that could have allowed people to see what was supposed to be encrypted data passing between you and the websites using OpenSSL.

“Heartbleed” is just the creative name-given by internet security researchers-to identify the software bug in OpenSSL that allowed for this potential encryption leak….

To read the rest of the article which includes our suggestions for password security, click here.

Do you ever wish you could write more effectively? Or, do you find writing to be a difficult task?  If you answered yes, we have good news.  Technology can help to improve your writing skills as well as save you valuable time by doing the proofreading for you.  Word Rake© can help you with this and is designed by attorneys, for attorneys.

Word Rake is available as a simple add-in to your existing Microsoft Word software.  It has the capability of scanning approx. 25 pages a minute, while intelligently offering edits to your document based on the language used…

To read the rest of the article which includes examples of Word Rake edits, click here.