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Technology has finally worked its way into the culture of law firms. In the not to distant past, some leading lawyers would scoff at computers as irrelevant to the important issues of the practice of law. Now the importance of technology to growth and profitability is universally recognized.

The next step in the evolution of law firm technology is to apply computer power to the core functions of lawyering: Organizing, analyzing and presenting the case.

The need for thinking tools stems from the strengths and weaknesses of the mind. Humans are very skilled at recognizing patterns, creating abstract relationships and integrating disparate data. We are not very good at keeping large amounts of detail information organized for ready retrieval. While it is possible to use memory tricks like visualization and acronym cascading to improve detail manipulation when necessary, generally the better solution is to use an external memory and organization aid. This is succinctly summarized in the saying, "My dull pencil is better than your sharp mind at remembering."

This is the reason that all lawyers use tools as an aid to thinking. It may be notes for witness examination scribbled on a legal pad, a white board listing case issues or a well organized trial notebook. In each case, the physical tool is intended to organize and retrieve information as well as to aid in analysis and understanding. These tools work, but they have limitations. The effort required to change or restructure the information is substantial and these tools tend to be primarily linear in organization.

The linear vs. multidimensional issue also relates to the way the brain is organized. The storage method used by the brain is nothing like the lists of items or strings of text that we typically use for storing information on paper. The brain creates memories from networks of connections between cells that form multidimensional arrays. Perhaps for this reason, people are much more adept at recognizing graphical patterns than extracting information from text. For proof of this concept one need only look to the total dominance of modern graphical user interfaces on computers over the older text based interfaces. The ability to see and manipulate graphical images is a much easier system for the brain.

Take a list of cross-examination questions as an example. The ideas for the examination may come in random fashion and at different times. If the lawyer is superbly organized they may all get on the same pad or notebook. More often, they will be scattered over bits and pieces of paper in a rather haphazard fashion. When the time comes to begin the actual outline for the examination, the bits and pieces must be recopied to a new pad or notebook. If any creativity is to be applied to the examination, the questions will be modified many times and whole sections of the examination will be moved around to improve the effect of the examination. Each major change requires a complete rewrite.

The obvious first step is to put the examination in a word processing file as early as possible, making changes and moves much easier. The next incremental improvement is to use the outlining function of the word processor to aid in organization, comprehension and revision.

The outliner is exactly like the outlining process you learned in grammar school, but much easier. Each major topic has its own heading and subsidiary topics can be collapsed to create a simplified overview of the document. This is a great way to keep perspective on the big picture while working on the details. An outline topic can also be moved with its subtopics to reorganize the flow of the document.

As helpful as outlining can be, it suffers from many of the same limitations of paper-based tools. It is inherently linear in nature and it is difficult to portray or understand the relationships between pieces of information other than in a strict hierarchical arrangement. To get beyond these limitations we need to move to a new crop of multidimensional tools.

Multidimensional tool is my term for software tools that facilitate the organization and analysis of ideas by graphically representing the relationships between ideas. Much of the thinking in this area has its origins in the work of Tony Buzan who developed the concept of mindmapping in the 1970's. Mindmapping takes as its premise that people process graphical information more efficiently than text. Take the task of traveling to an unknown location. Most people would find it much easier to grasp the process of reaching the destination by examining a map than by reading a series of instructions. Buzan attributes the ready assimilation of graphical information to the way the brain organizes information. Our memories are stored in a network of associations, grouped by proximity. When we learn a new fact or skill it is not written on a clean sheet of paper, but rather overlaid on preexisting similar stores of information. That is why it is often easier to learn additional elements in a field already mastered.

The key element is that the brain does not organize information in a linear fashion, one element after another, but rather clumps similar information together with new ideas building on the old. This systems places great emphasis on the relationships between ideas, which is wholly lacking in paper and pencil systems. Multidimensional tools overcome this deficiency by allowing a visual representation of the relationships between ideas.

Daily life abounds with examples of the power of visual representation of ideas. Newspapers and magazines are filled with charts, diagrams and illustrations of key ideas in the stories. Textbooks likewise rely heavily on visual communication to explain complex concepts.

How does this actually work in the practice of law? Lets take the structure of litigation as an example. Here are the basic elements you have to work with:

Arguments ? Witnesses ? Exhibits ? Law ? Facts ? Strategy

Within each of these elements we can identify subtopics. After adding subtopics, the outline would look like the following.

1. Witnesses

1.1 Themes

1.2 Issues

1.3 Questions

1.4 Prior inconsistent

1.5 Evidence rules

2. Exhibits

2.1 Theme

2.2 Issue

2.3 Relate to fact

2.4 By witness

2.5 Admitted

2.6 Evidence rules

3. Argument

3.1 Themes

3.2 Issues

3.3 Standard

4. Facts

4.1 Theme

4.2 Issue

4.3 Track needed

4.4 Track proven

4.5 By witness

4.6 Relate to standard

5. Law

5.1 Standard

5.1.1 By issue

5.2 Rules

5.2.1 Evidence

5.2.2 Trial order

5.2.3 CRCP

6. Strategy

6.1 Themes

6.2 Issues

6.3 Facts

6.4 Law

6.5 Goal

The outline gives us an overall structure, but we still lack an easy way to grasp the relationships between the ideas. We can add a visual representation of the relationships by using a Buzan-style mindmap.

Now we have a visual sense of how the elements fit together. For most people, it is easier to grasp the relationships and overall structure in this format than in the linear format of an outline, and much easier than wading through a dense textual description.

How do you actually make these ideas work? You already have an outliner built into your word processor. Both Word and Wordperfect have very adequate outliners. Word goes a step further by creating clickable outline map of your document that allows you to see the structure in a left side window and instantly navigate to any topic by clicking on the outline.

To move to the multidimensional tools will require a modest investment in additional software. Mindmapping was invented before personal computers existed and was therefore originally a paper and pencil exercise. Even in that format, mindmapping can be a useful tool for organizing and understanding ideas. The problem is that it is unduly labor-intensive for complex projects because of the effort involved in reorganizing and adding new material as a complicated structure evolves.

This is a perfect problem for a computer solution because of the inherent ability of the computer to create the maps in easily modifiable silicon memory rather than paper. With a computer mindmap the first effort is simply the beginning of multiple iterations that incrementally refine and expand the concepts until the map reflects the clearest and best thinking of the creator.

The mindmap above was created with Mindman, an easy and versatile mindmapping tool available on the web at www.mindman.com. There is a fully functional trial version online for download and the trial version can be purchased by obtaining a serial number for the version you have already installed. If the mindmapping paradigm appeals to you, this is a powerful tool to explore the concept.

Spreadsheets are widely understood as number-crunching tools, in itself an extremely valuable thinking tool. Powerful modern spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel also make it easy to add a visual dimension to the analysis. The example below is from a detailed financial model we have created in our divorce practice. The model integrates child support calculation, federal and state tax calculations and the income, expense and asset data of the parties to produce this control panel summary of the case. The graphs are live comparisons of the income and expenses of each party and change dynamically as the data changes to show the effect of various scenarios. The combination of the powerful financial modeling capabilities of Excel with the communication impact of the graphical representations makes this tool extremely useful in analyzing and explaining complex financial matters. We use a similar tool to analyze asset valuations and distributions.

Decision Explorer is another visual tool, but with a different approach than the Mindman mindmapping paradigm. Decision Explorer is based on cognitive mapping. The most obvious difference is that unlike mindmaps, cognitive maps can have multiple start points and frequently loop back to create complex networks of interconnection. The documentation assets that Decision Explorer is particularly useful for attempting to structure "messy" problems in research, an apt description of most legal entanglements.

By laying out the key elements of the problem with terse descriptions, then charting the connections between the elements with links, patterns begin to emerge that would be difficult or impossible to spot using traditional methods. The example below is part of a cognitive map that I have developed as part of a project to understand the systemic problems in the existing divorce procedures.

Once the concepts are laid out in the map, Decision Explorer can analyze the importance and relationships among them through the use of a command language. For example, commands can tell you how "central" a given concept is or find all "orphan" concepts that have no links to other concepts.

Decision Explorer is distributed by Sage Publications and information and a trial version can be found on the Web at www.sagepub.com/sagepage/SOFTWARE.HTM

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The computer on your desk can do a lot more for you if you harness the power of some of these thinking tools. It will require some commitment and discipline to master the software, and more importantly, the underlying concepts that refine and improve thinking. The investment will pay off handsomely in better analysis, more organized trials and settlements and improved communication.

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