Palm, West Group and Stanford Law School Launch Wireless Initiative

STANFORD, Calif., May 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM), a pioneer in the field of mobile and wireless Internet solutions and a leading provider of handheld computers, and West Group, the foremost provider of e-information and solutions to the U.S. legal market, are working with Stanford University's Law School on a six-month wireless handheld technology initiative that is allowing busy law school students to communicate, research, prepare for exams and manage their studies remotely.

The 50-person student and faculty program was conceived by Mitch Davis, chief information officer and associate dean for Information Systems at the Law School, and is part of the school's overall wireless initiative.

West Group is providing wireless access to Westlaw(R), the legal industry's most powerful and comprehensive legal research service, and six eBook titles that will give students remote access to frequently used legal information. The company also is providing training and additional funding for the program. West Group and other software companies -- PDA Verticals, Ury Fischer Esq., NearSpace, Town Compass and Elite.com -- are providing legal, Stanford-specific and time-and-billing software.

Students and faculty chosen to participate in the program paid $100 (for the cost of the keyboard) and received a Palm(TM) VIIx wireless handheld, a portable keyboard, downloadable software, and six months' worth of wireless access. The initiative incorporates a three-month training program and a number of focus groups. Law students, who secure summer jobs in law firms, for example, will discuss their use of the technology upon returning to school in the fall. Upon completion of the program, the participants will be allowed to keep the products, but will pay for ongoing wireless access.

"The legal profession as a whole is embracing wireless technology because access to the latest legal information anytime is such an obvious advantage," said Davis. "This initiative is an excellent opportunity to help students become conversant with the technology, use it in school and carry it forward in their professional lives."

"This program is part of our strategy to bring the power and convenience of handheld computing to colleges and universities -- especially those offering research-intensive programs such as law," said Mike Lorion, Palm's vice president of education markets. "We expect this initiative will serve as a model for universities that want to provide their students simple, quick, fun and smart ways to communicate and learn remotely."

"As the leading legal technology innovator, West Group will continue to rapidly expand our wireless technology offerings while contributing our significant knowledge and experience to worthwhile programs such as this initiative," said Rick Dow, vice president of strategic marketing, West Group. "West is committed to partner with other technology and education leaders like Palm and Stanford University Law School to bring law students the tools that will prepare them for successful legal careers."

Shortly after the launch, the software will be made available to all Stanford Law School students who own Palm OS(R) handheld computers.

Legal Software

West Group (www.westgroup.com)

-- Westlaw Wireless offers researchers the ability to find a document, KeyCite(R) a citation, and search Westlaw databases (using both Natural Language and Terms and Connectors [Boolean] search methods) and access West Legal Directory content, including options to find an attorney, a firm, a courthouse or legal professional by name or location. Additionally, Westlaw Wireless users have the option to view full-text content (in 5K increments) directly on a handheld device -- including the full text of cases, statutes, regulations and news periodicals -- or to have the results sent to one or more email addresses.

-- eBooks by West Group -- eBook users currently have access to six titles -- The Federal Rules of Evidence, The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, The Federal Bankruptcy Rules and The Federal Bankruptcy Code. West Group is also providing the licensing for AportisDoc by Aportis, the defacto industry standard for displaying and interchanging electronic text and books of any size.

PDA Verticals (www.pdaverticals.com)

-- QuizApp makes it easy to review information whenever it's convenient, without lugging bulky books. It provides comprehensive scoring analysis so students can determine their strongest and weakest areas, custom notes so students can add mnemonics for easier memorization, and full-text search. Students can beam modules to other study-group members and easily create their own QuizApp modules for review.

-- Also included are flash cards for Evidence from Emanuel Publishing and multiple-choice questions for the Multistate Bar Review Exam, based on the Practising Law Institute review.

Ury Fischer, Esq. (ufischer@lottfriedland.com)

-- These Palm OS compatible versions of U.S. statutes related to intellectual property include full text and up-to-date amendments of U.S. patent, trademark and copyright statutes. All are bookmarked for easy reference and formatted for use with Palm OS handhelds.

Stanford-Specific Software

NearSpace (info@nearspace.com or http://www.nearspace.com )

-- This mobile guide for the Stanford Law School community features faculty, services, facilities and resource information, all of which are locatable on dynamic maps and floor plans representing the Law School and surrounding campus. NearSpace's graphically rich and intuitive interface helps students, faculty and visitors find their way and find what they're looking for on Stanford University's vast campus.

Town Compass LLC (www.towncompass.com)

-- The Town Compass(R) DataViewer presents the complete Stanford University(R) Pocket Directory(TM) database, a comprehensive university directory containing more than 2,700 university and business listings organized into 150 simple-to-navigate categories. It presents contact information such as phone and fax numbers, websites, email and street addresses, and can be searched by subject, index and keyword. Users can quickly pinpoint a contact, beam a record or copy and paste data to their Address Book, Date Book, To Do List and Memo Pad applications or to their email. The Town Compass(R) DataViewer also previews the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal Book of Lists and the San Francisco Pocket Directory(TM) databases.

Time and Billing Software

Elite.com (www.elite.com)

-- TimeSolv software, a leading time and billing product, enables students to track and bill for time they spend working as volunteers and helping law firms during the year. The tool is useful in preparing students to manage their time on a billable-hours basis in their professional lives.

About Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School is part of Stanford University, one of the world's leading research institutions, and is located in the heart of Silicon Valley. Graduates of the school include leaders at the highest levels of the judiciary, and in business, technology, and government. The school counts among its faculty experts in law and business, constitutional law, dispute resolution, economic analysis of law, intellectual property law, international law, public service law, and the rule of law. The faculty prepares the school's approximately 550 students for practice in this rapidly changing world not only through traditional law courses, but also through innovative courses in e-commerce, intellectual property in cyberspace, biotechnology law and policy, venture capital, and technology as a business asset. The school's home page is located at www.law.stanford.edu.

About West Group

Headquartered in Eagan, Minn., West Group is the foremost provider of e-information and solutions to the U.S. legal market. West Group is a division of The Thomson Corporation (Toronto: TOC) and was formed when West Publishing and Thomson Legal Publishing merged in June 1996. For more information, please visit West Group's Web site at www.westgroup.com.

About Palm, Inc.

Palm, Inc. is a pioneer in the field of mobile and wireless Internet solutions and a leading provider of handheld computers, according to IDC (December 2000). Based on the Palm OS(R) platform, Palm's handheld solutions allow people to carry and access their most critical information with them wherever they go. Palm(TM) handhelds address the needs of individuals, enterprises and educational institutions through thousands of application solutions.

The Palm OS platform is also the foundation for products from Palm's licensees and strategic partners, such as Franklin Covey, HandEra (formerly TRG), Handspring, IBM, Kyocera, Sony, and Symbol Technologies. Platform licensees also include Nokia and Samsung. The Palm Economy is a growing global community of industry-leading licensees, world-class OEM customers, and more than 155,000 innovative developers and solution providers that have registered to develop solutions based on the Palm OS platform. Palm went public on March 2, 2000. Its stock is traded on the Nasdaq national market under the symbol PALM. More information is available at www.palm.com.

NOTE: Palm OS is a registered trademark and Palm is a trademark of Palm, Inc. or its subsidiaries.

SOURCE Palm, Inc.
Web site: http: //www.palm.com
CONTACT: Kathleen Dixon of Dixon Communications, 408-871-7765, or kathleen@kdixon.com, for Palm, Inc.; or Kimberly Reisig of West Group, 651-848-5278, or kimberly.reisig@westgroup.com