Without a doubt, I believe that Adobe Acrobat is one of, if not the, most underutilized programs around. It is a very powerful program that has some great document processing and annotating features. For example, I used Acrobat to annotate my cases that I am relying upon in drafting pleadings.

However, I recognize that some people either can’t or won’t pay the cost for a full version of Adobe Acrobat (A full version of Adobe Acrobat Professional costs $499). If you have an older version of Acrobat, however, the upgrade price is a reasonable $159. Additionally, that price is good for upgrading from versions back through Acrobat 5 and applies regardless of whether your older version was standard or professional.

If you are not interested in  annotating your cases in Adobe Acrobat or Bates Stamping your documents with Adobe Acrobat, why should you use Acrobat instead of a less expensive option?

Rick Borstein answered this question in his blog recently. You should check out all of Rick’s post. However, I would like to highlight and wholeheartedly agree with a couple of points that he made:

Adobe offers OCR, creation, redaction, bates numbering, review, etc. all in one package, not spread across several packages or requiring additional products

Only Adobe allows you to Reader-enable a PDF so that users of the free Adobe Reader can:

• Fill in forms
• Review and comment
• Use the Typewriter tool
• Digitally sign a document

Adobe offers Reader enablement, so that you can send files to free Adobe Reader users for Review.

Rick concludes by saying:

Adobe still makes the best PDF and the best tools for working with PDF. Still other tools may work for certain tasks, but make sure you thoroughly test them against Acrobat Standard or Professional. Take a test drive, compare file sizes and how the files look on-screen. Try printing the files and timing print time.

Above all, does the product meet all your needs? Does it allow you fill in and save data in a court form? Does it allow you to efficiently combine PDFs to create eBriefs or Deal Books. Does it offer the ability to use robust commenting tools? Can you redact a docement and be sure that all the data is gone?

Acrobat isn’t inexpensive, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an excellent value and the right choice for your firm.

Once again, I agree with him. Adobe Acrobat is not the right choice for everyone. However, take advantage of the 30 day free trial that Adobe offers and see how Adobe Acrobat works for you.