Sideline Blog

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Feedback and mentoring

Revealed: Most popular times supervisors review work

Ever wondered when that draft email sitting in your partner's inbox will be looked at? We've now got the data 🤓

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Outlook tips

Tracking changes in Outlook? Yes you can!

Track changes is ubiquitous in Word, so why doesn't it exist in Outlook? Is there a solution to this problem that doesn't involve cumbersome workarounds?

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Legal technology

Track changes in Word vs Sideline email track changes in Outlook

Sideline enables track changes in Outlook, but it doesn't work exactly the same as track changes in Word. Learn about the differences here.

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Feedback and mentoring

How will we train juniors if they're no longer doing doc review?

Low complexity legal work might not be exciting, but it's historically been an important training ground for juniors. What happens when that's taken away?

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Outlook tips

Can I markup draft emails from my phone using tracked changes?

Some (painful) workarounds exist for tracking changes on emails from your computer, but what if you're on your phone or tablet?

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Feedback and mentoring

Give a lawyer a red pen, and they'll find a hundred reasons to use it.

How much redline is too much when giving feedback to your team? What's important and what's not?

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Legal technology

Using Google Docs as a shared workspace to settle draft emails

When I first started Sideline, I discovered some ultra forward-thinking law firms had already designed another solution.

A chart showing the typical declining attention of attendees during hour long training presentations

Feedback and mentoring

This law firm wasted $35k in an hour. We need to rethink lawyer training.

Law firms spend tremendous amounts of money on training, but not all of it hits the mark. How can better align spend with where the value is?

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Outlook tips

Can I use the preface comments feature in Outlook to track changes on draft emails?

At first glance, the little-known 'preface comments' feature sounds like it has something to do with commenting on draft emails. But what exactly is it and how does it work?

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Feedback and mentoring

Five ways to give feedback when there's literally no time

Training up team members takes a large amount of time and effort. How can lawyers do this effectively when the client work is always urgent?

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Product news

Is Sideline only for lawyers?

Isn't tracking changes on draft emails a challenge faced by workers across a huge range of industries? Why do we focus so much on law firms?

Screenshot of the heading from the Law Institute Journal's product review of Sideline

Company news

Sideline reviewed in Law Institute Journal

Sideline received a glowing review in the January/February 2024 edition of the Law Institute Journal.

An excerpt from a contract that has been marked up in track changes, including an inline explanatory note shown in bold, italics and yellow highlight.

Outlook tips

Create a shortcut that inserts a preformatted inline note placeholder into Word or Outlook

Inline notes can be really important for explaining your drafting or edits, whether to a colleague, client or the other side. But they can also be tedious to format properly.

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Outlook tips

How to remove tracked changes in an email

Nobody wants to be the lawyer sending out work with the internal tracking still visible. But how can you make sure to avoid this problem?

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Outlook tips

Can I copy & paste tracked changes from Word into Outlook?

Most people don't know this, but there is a way to copy & paste text containing track changes from Word into Outlook. It's not a simple process though.

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Outlook tips

How do I track changes in an Outlook email?

Outlook doesn't natively support track changes, but there are several options for lawyers looking to see or show the edits made to draft emails.