Hello- I am starting law school soon, which will require extensive outlining of cases and notes. My wife is a technical writer and recommended contacting the experts in this area for some advice. Can anyone recommend (or steer me away from) a software solution? I have read a bit about NoteMap and Grandview, but have no idea which one meets the needs of a student (vs. a professional outliner). Thanks.

Your question depends somewhat on which platforms you are using. Palm, PocketPC, OSX, NT, XP Mixed?

Generally though people here seem fond of NoteMap. I can't exactly speak for the pro-lawyers though.

More 3.1 seems to be the connoisseur's choice if you're savvy enough to run it on the PC in emulation or you use a Mac.

If you're working in a Windows environment, the I think NoteMap is just about your only decent choice. It is produced by a company that specializes in making software for lawyers, so I assume it is a practical choice for law students, as well. It is pretty good outlining software, in general, with a few limitations. I had hoped the company (CaseSoft) would have followed through on their promise to upgrade NoteMap and fill in some of those gaps. First they said they were going to come out with a new version in spring of 2001, then said this spring. I don't know if they still even have plans to support the program further, but they seem to robustly upgrade their other software, so they are a vibrant company.