Carol’s Corner Office Blog

If you are employed by a a law office there are times when you need to create a Table of Authorities for a pleading, such as an Amicus Brief. A Table of Authorities is used to to cite references to cases, statutes, etc. referenced in your pleading.

MS Word has the ability to quickly and easily create your Table of Authorities for you. All you have to do is mark the citations within your document and then tell MS Word to create your Table for you.

Follow the steps below to create your Table of Authorities:

1. Select the long, full citation that you would like to use.
2. Click on SHIFT + ALT + I, which will cause the Mark Citation dialog box to appear.
3. Make any formatting changes that you like to the text in the Selected Text box.
4. Use the drop-down Category list to select the category to which the citation belongs.
5. In the Short Citation box, edit the text to reflect the short version of the citation.
6. Click on Mark to mark the instant citation or Mark All to search your document and mark all instances.
7. Click on Cancel or Close.

Now all you have to do is click on the designated page for your TOA and click on Insert | Reference | Tables and Indexes and select Table of Authorities.

That’s it! You are finished.  Pretty cool isn’t it?  Most secretaries blanch at the thought of creating an automatic TOA but it is really quite simple.

This tip is for MS Word version 2003

Well it finally looks as if my long stay in Dell Hell is over and what the heck, it only has taken since June of this year for that to happen!

Dell finally sent me a replacement computer which was not the computer that I had ordered specially built for me but they seemed to feel it was ok because after all, they did replace their defective two month old computer even if it was with a refurbished computer that had been returned to them.  What a rip off!

So of course it was at the very worst time for me because I was crazy busy trying to get everything done before I went on vacation and then when I returned I was crazy busy trying to get everything caught up.  But of course even though I had waiting for weeks and months for some kind of resolution for the lemon computer I bought from Dell, they immediately started sending me nasty little letters threatening to invalidate my express service code because they had not received their computer as quickly as they had wanted. Kind of uneven isn’t it?  Dell doesn’t care how long you are without a working computer that you paid for or how inconvenienced you are or how much money you lose, but DO NOT make Dell wait for the return of their computer! Are you getting the picture?  It has become exceedingly clear to me that Dell couldn’t care less about their customers. The bottom line for Dell is getting your money and then they are finished with you.

So I finally got the new computer all hooked up and everything on it which took quite a while because I have so many of my applications customized and guess what?  The same exact problem was recurring.  The monitor kept going into Power Save mode and wouldn’t come out.

So after all of Dell’s half hearted, less than stellar computer gurus who took forever to diagnose a problem and then replaced everything in a brand new computer, they missed the problem anyway.  Yes, that’s right - turns out the problem seems to have been the monitor all along.

So I sent an e-mail and called Dell. Clearly you never, ever get to speak to a real live human when you call - you are only able to leave a voicemail.  I have never reached a human when calling there through this entire nightmare.  Supposedly they will return your call or answer your e-mail within twenty-four to forty-eight hours.  I actually had to call three times and leave messages and send three e-mails over a span of four or five days before I finally got a response and I think that was a phone call on a Saturday when I wasn’t there.

In any event, when I did receive a call from a very professional gentleman by the name of Harsh, he was very nice, very polite, very easy to understand and he was apologetic and didn’t ask me to do umpteen diagnostic tests.  He immediate apologized for all of my inconvenience and informed me that I should have a new monitor by the next day.  I was stunned!  Wow!  Finally someone who really understands what customer service is actually about!

True to his word, the new monitor arrived the next morning and Harsh called that afternoon to make sure that I had indeed received it.  Wow!!  Can you believe it?  He actually followed up!  He was very nice and went out of his way to help me.    I still am in shock over it. I hooked up the new monitor and now the computer is running like a top and so is the monitor.

So it looks as if I have finally escaped Dell Hell. I have now owned three Dell computers, two of which had every single piece of hardware in them replaced before they were four months old.  The service or shall I say, the lack thereof was ridiculous.

Unfortunately, even though Harsh went out of his way to do a good customer service job, I am finished with Dell.  I would never advise  my clients to purchase one. It simply took too long to get what I should have received from the gitgo.  It wasn’t my fault that Dell sent me a defective computer but I was made to suffer and lose money because of it.  They did nothing to show me that my business was imporant to them. Instead they showed me how little they really cared.

But I am just grateful that I have finally escaped Dell Hell and I hope never to be sent there again!

My week has ended rather quickly.  Even though some days this week felt as if they were a month long, I was quite busy and before I hardly knew it, Friday was upon us.  I am too old to celebrate TGIF anymore. The weekend gives me a little bit of time to myself to do what I like best, reading, researching, learning and the obligatory cleaning, laundry, etc. Tomorrow my family and I will be attending a Fall Festival/Wine Tasting.  The weather is perfect for this sort of thing.  My daughter will be bringing her two dogs and we will have a grand time, walking in the cool weather sipping wine - what better way to spend a nice Fall afternoon?

But now that the week has ended I have some toasts for some of the folks that I came across this week. I have to admit that most of these meetings were not by choice. In any event, here goes:

Here’s to the folks on the Expressway during rush hour who get in the fast lane and then decide they will force everyone to go at least ten miles per hour below the speed limit by driving very, very slowly.  This toast is also for their compadres who get into the middle lane of that same Expressway and try to keep pace with the nut in the fast lane holding up a gazillion commuters.  Here’s to you folks! I will keep you in my prayers in the hopes that you get some therapy and overcome your control issues. Thank God for gun control - else I fear the expressway would be littered with bodies come the end of every week!

And a lovely skoal to the folks in offices who think it is perfectly acceptable to sit in their office and shout to that friend of theirs who sits two offices away while other people are actually trying to work - you know, trying to transcribe dictation or taking a phone call. I know your conversation about that new bar downtown is terribly important to you, but not so much for those of us who are trying to finish our work. Honestly, there is NO civility in the world any longer. I mean isn’t it common courtesy to use an indoor voice when you are indoors??? My mother always taught me that good manners and good taste never go out of style. Perhaps folks should keep that going when they raise their children eh?

I am also lifting my glass this fine Friday to service vendors who tell you one thing and then do something entirely different, such as say - tell you they will be in your office on Friday and then just not showing up and when you call they say oh….I thought that other person called you. Which part of customer service do they not get?  It takes a minute or less to make a phone call and keep a happy customer.  All I know is business must be booming despite our tanking economy! On the bright side, they are at least a good example as to how NOT to win and keep new customers right?

My last toast is to a lovely eighty year old gentleman who wrote to me to tell me that I was a blessing in his life because I had taught him so much about MS Office in my newsletter. He thanked me from the bottom of his heart.  He will probably never know how that lit up my day for me. There is a lesson to be learned here for all of us.  Let’s start each day trying to be a small blessing in someone’s life. You will be amazed at how good it makes you feel.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!  I will endeavor to make daily posts next week!