Technola : Public Interest Law & Technology Updates & Commentary : Matthew Burnett & Kate Bladow : Tech Advice for the Non-Profit Legal Sector

The Office 2007 file format looks like an XML file but acts like a ZIP file. According to Microsoft:

The Office Open XML Formats are based on XML and ZIP archive technologies. The new file format in Microsoft Office Word 2007 divides the file into document parts, each of which defines a part of the overall contents of the file. You can easily create, change, add, or delete data in a Word 2007 file programmatically or manually.

Nifty, huh? You can create and edit a Word 2007 document without opening Word. If you don't want to create a document from scratch but do want to see what's inside, take an existing Word 2007 file with a .DOCX extension and change the extension to .ZIP.

The July 2009 issue of LJN's Legal Tech Newsletter points out that this both good and bad for law firm IT departments. The Office Open XML Formats let other non-Microsoft data be stored in the file. However, this increases the chance that metadata and other information will inappropriately be shared with others. To find out how to protect yourself, see how to remove hidden data and personal information from Office documents.

And if you haven't heard of metadata before or are looking for more information about legal and ethical issues, check out The Posse List's E-discovery: Metadata grows in legal significance. - K

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An excellent overview of major e-discovery rulings in 2008 by Cecil Lynn III and Alexandra Hicks for Law Technology News. -M

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A hot topic in legal technology circles is "e-discovery." In fact, Law Technology News typically has at least one article on e-discovery in each issue. But until I read the trends article from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), I hadn't ever thought that it really mattered to the legal aid community. Turns out, I was wrong.

While legal aid organizations might not be engaging in multi-million dollar e-discovery cases, they do need to pay attention to topic. What do you do when a client comes in and claims that her husband made her take and post nude pictures online? How do you track down those pictures? The obvious place to start is with the husband's personal computer. Without knowing the basics of e-discovery, it is incredibly easy to wreck any evidence that exists.

So take a look at the NCSC article. And then if you are interested in more information, head over and check out the E-Discovery section at Law.com. - K

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