UNIT 7: Using Excel in the Law Office

This Week’s Assignment You should be working on your three-part assignment Part 1 deals with the things you learned in Unit 6 about using Microsoft Word and implementing the security features on the motion as well as utilizing the template. Part 2 deals with creating an Excel spreadsheet, which we are learning this week. Part 3 asks you to record the time spent in creating these documents. Questions?

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 purposes of presenting a bill to a client.

Online and Program Resources Just like with the word processing programs, there are resources available within the program and online as well to help you troubleshoot and learn how to use the software. Your text 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

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 Columns are vertical sets of cells Cells are those boxes where horizontal and vertical meet Formula bar is the area at the top of the spreadsheet where you enter text Workbook refers to a collection of worksheets Property Bar is similar to the formula bar but appears in Corel’s Quattro Pro

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.

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 (∑)

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!

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.

What do you think? Now that you know what electronic spreadsheets are and the basics of them, what are your thoughts? What do you think these would be useful for in a law office? What are the ethical considerations associated with using these?

This (and next) Week’s Assignment Next week, you will submit a three-part assignment. You will learn more about Microsoft Excel in Unit 7, but in the meantime you can read through this assignment and begin working on the Microsoft Word part of the assignment. Part 1: Create a “how-to” flyer for your law firm on recommended protocols for creating secure Excel workbooks and Microsoft Word documents. Enable the security features you learned about in Units 6 and 7 to ensure your electronic flyer is secure.

This (and next) Week’s Assignment Part 2: Your attorney has quickly drafted the following motion while out of the office, using the Windows Mobile function of his cell phone. He has ed you the document and needs you to place it in pleading format, have another attorney in the firm review and sign it, and then file it with the court clerk today. Using the pleading template from Microsoft Word [search the MS Word templates], create this motion.

This (and next) Week’s Assignment Part 3: Using the workbook (see Assignment) [also posted in DocSharing], keep track of the time you spend on each part of this assignment. You will need to bill Part 1 to “administrative” and Part 2 to “Justin King.” Submit your flyer, pleading, and workbook to the Dropbox by the end of Unit 7.

Unit 7 Assignment Grading Rubric Click on Doc Sharing Scroll down past the chapters of the ebook Locate the Unit 7 Assignment Grading Rubric Click it open and let’s discuss expectations

Practice Questions

Practice Question # 1 What are macros and what is the danger of using them?

Practice Question # 2 What security features are available in Microsoft Excel?

Practice Question # 3 What are the different parts of an electronic spreadsheet?

Practice Question # 4 What resources are there on how to learn how to use Excel or Quattro Pro?

Practice Question # 5 How would you go about creating and saving a spreadsheet?

Practice Question # 6 What steps would you take to protect an Excel spreadsheet?