UNIT 7: Using Excel in the Law Office

Next Week’s Seminar Take Poll---when are you available? I am unable to have the seminar next Thursday, August 23, Alternative date options, Wednesday, August 22, 2012 or Monday, August 27, 2012, or Tuesday, August 28, Content—includes final exam question/answer Times--tbd

Legal Studies Late Policy No late assignments accepted pass Unit 7 No late assignment accepted more than 3 weeks late Review gradebook Contact me Respond to my s and telephone calls

This Week’s Assignment Seminar Test 2 discussion questions

Do You Use Excel?

Introduction To Electronic Spreadsheets Use of spreadsheets in practice

Creating and Working With Spreadsheets A spreadsheet in its most basic form is any two items with some relationship that is acted upon mathematically and the result presented in a third location.

Using Excel to Organize Spreadsheets can be used to calculate and present financial information This financial information can be a part of the case, such as with divorce or estate matters, or can be for administrative purposes, like presenting a bill to a client.

Microsoft Excel: Tutorials The following tutorials will help get you acclimated to Microsoft Excel and its features. Depending on your comfort level and familiarity with the software, you may not need to complete all of the first two tutorials. However, be sure to complete the third Password Protection tutorial, as you are expected to submit a "secure" workbook for your two-part assignment this week. D=RC &CT "Help secure and protect data in Excel" Complete the section “Use passwords to help secure a workbook”: help/help-secure-and-protect-data-in-excel- RZ aspx?CTT=3

Online Resources The following tutorials are all located on the Microsoft website. "Get to Know Excel: Create Your First Workbook": D=RC “So That’s How! Great Excel Features”: D=RC &CT "Help secure and protect data in Excel" Complete the section “Use passwords to help secure a workbook”: help/help-secure-and-protect-data-in-excel- RZ aspx?CTT=3

On-line Resources Complete the section “Use passwords to help secure a workbook”: help/help-secure-and-protect-data-in-excel- RZ aspx?CTT=3

Online and Program Resources Just like with the word processing programs, there are resources available within the program and online to help you troubleshoot and learn how to use the software. Your textbook offers the websites where you can access the online resources.

Using Excel to Streamline Many courts will accept spreadsheets to document information, thereby helping to avoid the need to duplicate information Templates are also used for standard matters Electronic spreadsheets help to reduce errors because things are calculated automatically instead of manually

Templates Many law offices and courts use Excel templates Fields are labeled Items and dollar amounts left blank for easy fill-in Practice areas: real estate, family law, probate Microsoft has many templates for downloading

Using Excel Day-to-Day So, where do you start? If you are told to create a document in Excel, would you know where to begin?

Parts of an Electronic Spreadsheet Standard terms of a spreadsheet are rows, columns, cells, formula bar, and workbooks. Rows are horizontal sets of cells

Terms of Spreadsheets Row—horizontal set of cells in a spreadsheet Column-a vertical set of cells in a spreadsheet Cell- in a spreadsheet, the box at the intersection of a row and column for text or numerical data Formula Bar-In excel the area at the top of the spreadsheet for entering formula and data into spreadsheet cells

Terms for Spreadsheets Workbook—a collection of worksheets

Parts of an Electronic Spreadsheet Columns are vertical sets of cells

Parts of an Electronic Spreadsheet Cells are those boxes where horizontal and vertical meet

Parts of an Electronic Spreadsheet Formula bar is the area at the top of the spreadsheet where you enter text Property bar is similar to the formula bar but appears in Corel’s Quattro Pro software

Excel 2010 Ribbon Click here for a comparison of Excel 2007 and 2010:

Parts of an Electronic Spreadsheet – formula bar

Mathematical Computations Basic mathematical computations can be done on the spreadsheet Multiply = * Divide = / Add = + Subtract = - For each of these you use a OR you can just click on the AutoSum button (∑)

Give It a Try! Try opening a spreadsheet right now, entering some text or figures to see what the columns, rows, and formula bar look like! Try adding a column of figures. Signal when you are done and if it made sense to you.

Try it! Parts of an Electronic Spreadsheet Workbook refers to a collection of worksheets

Creating an Electronic Spreadsheet The checklist provided in your book is a good way to approach organizing or setting up the spreadsheet. Ask yourself what you want to do, what you input, what you want to get out of the spreadsheet, what formulas you will use to get there, and how many columns and rows will be needed. The labels you use can be in any rows; whenever you place your arrow in a cell and begin typing, that information will appear in the formula bar.

Spreadsheet Security Password controlling the spreadsheets is an important way to protect the information contained in them. Tutorials are available to educate you on all of the security features that you can use. Just like in Word, you can click on the Office button, then Prepare and see all of the different things you can enable. Give it a try!

Electronic Databases A database is a collection of information

Office Management Programs Categories: Calendar Contacts Files Accounting

Office Management Programs How does it work?

Next Week Alternative Seminar—Final Exam Review.

Questions?