The Complete Legal Collection 2000

Your Comprehensive Legal Source

by Dale Farris, President, Golden Triangle PC Club

Once again, Parsons Technology provides handy software targeted to home computer users, with this latest comprehensive collection of legal documents designed as tools for personal and home business legal use.

Parsons, now a subsidiary of The Learning Company, has a well deserved reputation for creating user-friendly software designed for new computer owners anxious to perform fundamental tasks without having to learn complex instructions usually found in more powerful applications that tend to be overwhelming. In this case, Parsons has made it very easy for folks to find answers to just about any legal question that may be of concern to them.

The Complete Legal Collection Family of Software

In this 2000 version, Parsons has included the following legal guides:

The American Bar Association's Family Legal Guide
Quicken Family Lawyer 2000
Quicken Business Lawyer 2000
Estate Planner 2.0
The Plain Language Law Dictionary 2.0
Legal Search
100 Bonus Legal Letters

The American Bar Association's (ABA) Family Legal Guide

This valuable reference gives users a better understanding of their legal responsibilities, and legal rights at home and at work. Prepared by experts in a range of legal areas, and under the direction of the American Bar Association (ABA), this guide features important information on a variety of topics that are important to protecting family members and possessions.

Quicken Family Lawyer 2000 (QFL)

QFL 2000 will let you create wills and other legal documents, and it is very easy to prepare typical legal documents in this handy application. Packed with more than 140 step-by-step interviews, QFL 2000 offers thousands of personalized document possibilities. This component will be of use to families interested in doing preliminary work before consulting an attorney about a legal issue.

Quicken Business Lawyer 2000 (QBL)

QBL offers legal solutions for most any small business, and includes over 100 legal documents, government forms and worksheets to help run just about any home business. Real estate forms, business agreements, and credit and consumer report requests are examples of the many common business legal documents included in this component. The approach is to answer a series of simple questions, and QBL 2000 guides the user through all the steps to finish the documents in a manner that best suits their needs. If there is need for in-depth legal information, the user can use the built in legal library, or they can ask Arthur Miller, the Harvard Law Professor and legal consultant with ABC's Good Morning America program.

Estate Planner 2.0 (EP)

Did you know you have an estate? Well, you do, and in fact, everyone does, not just those with great wealth and property to protect. In this component, Parsons provides a handy tool to make sure your estate is managed the way you want. EP gives you comprehensive estate planning information, much more than is available in other comparable applications. You can get expert guidance on issues such as finances, minimizing estate taxes, health and eldercare issues, insurance needs and much, much more.

The Plain Language Law Dictionary 2.0

Now, one need never again to be stumped by "legalese." This neat legal reference is the perfect legal companion to any legal document or situation. You can access this user-friendly reference to look up and find plain English definitions to over 7,000 legal words, phrases, and procedures.

Legal Search and Bonus Letters

While working in any of these components, the user can activate a specialized search function, similar to any basic Windows Help process, but in this case, focused on finding information from within these components. The bonus letters are handy templates related to legal issues that may be of help to users unfamiliar with legal communication. Such letters involve employment acceptance, evaluations, farewells, leave of absences, resignations, or thank you letters. Each template can be opened and customized, and then saved as as separate file.

Important Notes

This software includes documents that cover 49 states and the District of Columbia. Estate planning documents are not valid in Louisiana, and you do not need Quicken to use this product.

Also, be sure you are clear of the purpose of these applications. Since this material is all legal in nature, obviously it will quickly be dated as local, state and federal laws continue to change. So, if a user wished to invest in this fine suite of legal reference documents, plan on always needing to buy the updates.

Be sure to notice the included statements of legal qualifications that are natural with something as legally sensitive as this type of information. These reference books are not designed to provide all the advice one might need when facing an important legal problem, and a user of this software is encouraged to remember these books should be consulted in tandem with working with a licensed, board certified attorney. This company obviously cannot sell software that would replace the need for professional legal advice, and one would be foolish to depend solely on the information in these books for answers to real legal problems.

Access to Legal Wise Online

When you purchase The Complete Legal Collection 2000, you receive 6 months free access to LegalWise Online, a comprehensive legal search engine on the Internet. This service provides over 10,000 legal summaries prepared by a legal research team that summarize various laws of typical interest to folks. Questions can be answered, such as "Is a living will valid in my state?," "How soon is my landlord required to refund my security deposit?," or "What is the difference between copyrights, patents, and trademarks?" Access to owners of this software is provided at LegalWise.com, and then you provide a registration code included with the software. After 6 months, you will have to pay to continue access to these online legal research files.

Unlocked Applications Included on CD

Also included on the CD are four applications that must be unlocked by contacting the vendor and buying the application. Then, you get the unlock procedure to open up these programs:

Screen Shot Deluxe
PC Copy Center
Y2K Detect & Correct
Personal Home Inventory

System Requirements

Windows 95/98/PowerMac
486/66Mhz or better
2x CD ROM or better
16MB RAM Minimum
64MB Hard Drive Minimum
256 Color or Better Video
Microsoft Compatible Mouse

Price

$59.95
$56.95 TLC Advantage Club Price

Contact

Parsons Technology
The Learning Company
1700 Progress Drive
Hiawatha, IA 52233
1-800-223-6985
http://www.itslegal.com