The MasterList

Why Not!
On a blustery Iowa day in November, 1909, a farmer was pulling a wagon to town with a team of powerful horses when one of those newfangled automobiles whizzed past at 20 mph kicking up dust. He leaned over to tell his 10 year old son that he would never buy one, as they were of no practical use to anyone. His son yelled out over the rattle of the Model T: Why not?!

90 years later, the old farmer's great grandson can be seen driving a powerful John Deere tractor over 800 acres of family land. The tractor console has a satellite uplink which can give a real time computer picture of weather patterns within 120 miles of the precise location of the tractor in all directions.

Why not!

Cut to November, 1999. A lawyer is sitting in his office contemplating his case load. A younger associate with a laptop slung over his shoulder has walked in to talk over a case. He sets the computer on the desktop and squares it to face the senior partner. You should get a computer at your desktop, he says. Then we could share case information over a network. The senior partner, arms folded and staring toughly at the liquid crystal screen says: Why? I'm in control. There's nothing this computer can do that I'm not already doing. I'm on top of everything. Let the secretaries have the best computers and programs money can buy. And, buy yourself the best if you want. I don't need one.

Why not?!

We at Sumac Consulting Group have tried to answer the question: Why Not.

Every attorney in America ought to be able to say, I want a computer at my desktop and I want to be able to share my ideas and strategies about cases across a network with my colleagues.

On my computer, I want programs that I like and that I like to use; but, most of all I want to be able to take advantage of the power of a network to share my thoughts, ideas and strategies with my colleagues instantly, powerfully, richly, electronically.

If a farmer in Iowa can have an uplink to a satellite that tells him exactly where he is and what he most needs to know about what's going on around him, why can't I have a program that tells me and all my colleagues where we stand with an up to the minute strategic weather report on what concerns us most: our lifeblood, our cases.

Why not!

Why not ask yourself: If I could find a program that helps me do what I define as the core process of my work as an attorney, what would that program be?

The issue, for attorneys, in 1999, is not whether we need a tractor at our desktops vs. whether we should stay with pen and paper notes, post-its, memos taped to walls, and tickler reminders from terrified secretaries who have tried to catch and preserve our every strategic whim.

The issue is: what program will best move us down the road taking full advantage of the available technology to do what we have always done in a new and more powerful way?

If you don't believe there is any program that can do this for you, history will remember you as Great Grandpa. Or, you can make the paradigm shift.

Why not take a look at The MasterList system. A computer tool that handles cases, not phone numbers. Strategies, not case numbers. Plans and ideas, not just things you would put in your calendar. The MasterList gets right to what concerns you most in all your cases.

Ask yourself what concerns you most in all your cases. Then, talk to us and try The MasterList. We believe that when you match your concerns to our program, you will say: Why Not!

I look forward to sharing The MasterList with you.

Bill Neubert
The MasterList

White Paper: Why Not!
September, 1999

To Send Comments about The MasterList White Papers,
please e-mail: sumac@themasterlist.com