Tech Tips

Top Tech Tips: Using Microsoft Office 365 for Lawyers

By The Editors

Keep on top of your document drafting skills and learn to better manage email and Excel, with Affinity Consulting’s latest articles on Microsoft Office 365 for lawyers.

microsoft office 365 for lawyers

Bookmark this page for tips on using Office 365 in your law practice or legal organization. We regularly add new links here for new how-to articles on Word, Outlook, and Excel, written by Danielle DavisRoe. 

Microsoft Word for Lawyers

3 Keys to Drafting Faster In Microsoft Word

drafting faster

Follow these simple tips to shave hours off your document drafting process using Microsoft Word styles, templates, and the Quick Access toolbar.

READ MORE >

microsoft word autocorrect

You know that Microsoft Word automatically replaces some text as you type, but did you know you can customize the AutoCorrect settings? These tips, adapted from Affinity Consulting Group’s “Microsoft Word for Legal Professionals,” will speed up your document drafting.

READ MORE >

4 Steps to Control Document Formatting With Styles

microsoft word styles

Many of Word’s frustrating quirks can be remedied by intentionally using styles. Styles make it easier to format your documents and ensure that your documents are formatted consistently from beginning to end.

READ MORE >

How to Master Page Numbers in Microsoft Word

Regularly find yourself wrestling with Microsoft Word’s page-numbering feature? You’re not alone. The following tips show you how to add, customize and manipulate page numbers in your Word documents like a pro.

READ MORE >

Master Multilevel Paragraph Numbering in Word

multilevel paragraph numbering

Long, complicated legal documents often require multilevel paragraph numbering (with stops and starts). These tips, adapted from Affinity Consulting Group’s updated “Microsoft Word for Mac for Legal Professionals” software guide, will take some stress out of setting up complex numbering schemes. Although these tips are for Word for Mac 2019 and Office 365, they apply to the Windows versions of Word as well, with minor menu and keyboard adjustments.

READ MORE >

How to Use Section Breaks to Change Margins, Page Orientation and More in the Middle of a Document

word section breaks

Do you need to insert an exhibit or other content in the middle of your document? Page breaks have their uses, but only Microsoft Word section breaks let you change section formatting — like page orientation and footers — part way through (and back again). Follow these steps to take control of sections in Word.

READ MORE >

Using Microsoft Word Templates to Create Model Documents

Building good practice systems requires creating good model documents. Here’s how to get more organized and get more out of Microsoft Word by setting up “Gold Standard Templates” that reduce errors, minimize frustration and save tons of time.

READ MORE >

Tricks for Reading Documents in Microsoft Word

word read aloud

At this stage of your career, you might think reading documents is a baseline skill you’ve mastered just fine, thanks. But, whether you realize it or not, you probably spend more time reading documents than actually drafting them — especially if you have gone paperless. Since all that onscreen reading can exhaust your body and your brain, it’s worth checking out these four Office 365 features that make drafting and reading easier, including the Microsoft Word Read Aloud feature.

READ MORE >

Microsoft Outlook for Lawyers

Take Control of Your Calendar With Outlook Categories

outlook categories

Is your day filled with internal meetings, Zoom calls with clients, and trips to the courthouse? Here’s how to manage it all at a glance with Outlook categories. 

READ MORE >

5 Tricks to Getting More Out of Outlook

Here’s how to use drag-and-drop to create appointments, tasks and contacts; turn off email notifications; show your calendar in your email; and more.

READ MORE >

Using Outlook Rules to Process Email Like a Pro

Rules are powerful timesavers. For example, they can be used to auto-file incoming emails into specific folders. However, because the actions happen automatically, you need to be careful about creating rules that lead you to miss valuable emails.

READ MORE >

Process Email Faster With Outlook Quick Steps

Processing email faster is the key to getting out of your inbox and back to work. Quick Steps, available in Outlook’s Windows desktop application, can save you time when it comes to routine tasks. Here’s how to set up workflows with Quick Steps, adapted from “Microsoft Outlook for Legal Professionals.”

READ MORE >

Microsoft Excel for Lawyers

Harness the Power of Tables in Excel

excel tables

Filled with columns and rows, an Excel worksheet looks like a giant table. However, an actual Excel table comes with many benefits that make working with your data a lot easier. Here are a few quick table tips, adapted from “Microsoft Excel for Legal Professionals.”

READ MORE >

Combine Text With Ease Using TEXTJOIN in Excel

If you’ve ever needed to combine text from multiple cells in Excel, you know how challenging it can be to work with the CONCATENATE function or to use ampersands to get the job done. It’s even harder if your data has some blank cells. Unless you jump through hoops to nest some formulas, you’re going to end up with double spaces that need to be removed. Enter TEXTJOIN, available in Microsoft 365 and Office 2019.

READ MORE >

How to Master Autofill in Microsoft Excel

Excel can automatically continue a series (list) of numbers, dates or time periods based on a pattern you establish. You can also set up custom lists and use autofill to automatically replicate them in new worksheets. Here’s how to use autofill to quickly enter lists and repetitive formulas like a pro.

READ MORE >

About Affinity Consulting Group

Affinity Consulting Group inspires, enables, and empowers legal teams of all sizes to work smarter, from anywhere. The company’s holistic approach incorporates people, process, and technology. Affinity’s passionate, well-connected industry experts work hand in hand with you to help you better understand and optimize your business—from software to growth strategy, and everything in between.

©iStockphoto.com

Want to work faster? For in-depth information and instructions on getting the most from Word, order Affinity Consulting Group’s hands-on digital manual “Microsoft Word for Legal Professionals. Individual and site licenses are available for download in the Attorney at Work bookstore.

share TWEET PIN IT share share
MUST READ Articles for Law Firms Click to expand
envelope

Welcome to Attorney at Work!

Sign up for our free newsletter.

x

All fields are required. By signing up, you are opting in to Attorney at Work's free practice tips newsletter and occasional emails with news and offers. By using this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understand our Privacy Policy.