Excel for Legal Professionals

Course that reviews use of Excel, teaching key aspects legal professionals can benefit from

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Excel is the most widely used data and productivity application in history

But without training, it can be difficult to master!

This course aims to teach Excel skills relevant to legal professionals. Despite that focus, there are so many features of Excel that are useful to legal professionals that the course is long. But it need not be reviewed from start to finish, and you can focus in on the tutorials of most interest to you. This course focuses on the core functionality of Excel, and is foundational learning for other courses (coming soon) which teach use of specific spreadsheets that perform specialized tasks (e.g. litigation chronology spreadsheets, etc.).

Approved for CPD credit by the Law Society of British Columbia

Claim CPD credit according to time spent (max of 12 hours) reviewing course material and answering quiz questions.

Info about claiming CPD credit

Instructor

Lawyer Michael Dew

Michael is a former structural engineer, turned litigation lawyer, with a hobby interest in coding, and an enthusiasm for efficiency. Michael first wrote computer code in 1996 when programming a HP 48 GX scientific calculator in 1996 used for engineering calculations. After working as engineer, in 2003 Michael attended law school at the University of British Columbia. Since being called to the bar in 2007 he has worked a litigation lawyer, continually developing self taught technology skills to better manage his practice, and to provide better client service by leveraging technology. The technology courses taught here summarize key tips learned through Michael’s day-to-day litigation practice, including Googling, YouTube videos, and never-ending trial and error. AI is changing the landscape of data management, story telling, and the practice of law, but foundational computer skills remain important, and these courses aim to teach foundational skills and then build on that, including (soon to come) courses teaching how modern AI can be leveraged to achieve ever increasing efficiencies.

Course curriculum

1. EF 1.1 Excel is a super-app
2. EF 1.2 Structure of presentation of the tutorials in the course
3. EF 1.3 Excel changes, so the screenshots may not match exactly what you see
4. EF 1.4 Importance of jargon
5. EF 1.5 Abbreviations and conventions used in the tutorials
1. EF 2.1 What is a Workbook
2. EF 2.2 Worksheet Window and surrounding controls
3. EF 2.3 Cell identification and selection
4. EF 2.4 Ribbon
5. EF 2.5 Name Box and Formula Bar
6. EF 2.6 Sheet Tabs
7. EF 2.7 Scroll Bars
8. EF 2.8 Status Bar
9. EF 2.9 Display Controls
10. EF 2.10 Quick Access Toolbar
11. EF 2.11 Title Bar search tool
12. EF 2.12 Right Click Menus
1. EF 3.1 Text Cursor vs. Mouse Cursor
2. EF 3.2 Text Cursor
3. EF 3.3 Mouse Cursor
4. EF 3.4 Mouse Clicks
1. EF 4.1 The Importance of Navigation Skills
2. EF 4.2 Arrow Keys and Simple Clicks to Review Contents of Cells
3. EF 4.3 Moving to Adjacent Cells (Near and Far)
4. EF 4.4 High Speed Scrolling (Middle Mouse Button)
5. EF 4.5 Scroll Lock
6. EF 4.6 Worksheet Navigation Shortcuts
7. EF 4.7 Navigating Back to Previous Cells
1. EF 5.1 Introduction to Selecting Multiple Cells on a Worksheet
2. EF 5.2 Selecting Multiple Adjacent Cells Using the Mouse
3. EF 5.3 Select All Cells Using the Keyboard
4. EF 5.4 Shift Shortcuts When Selecting Cells Using the Keyboard
5. EF 5.5 Ctrl Shortcuts When Selecting Cells Using the Keyboard
6. EF 5.6 Summary of Keyboard Shortcuts to Select Content Using the Keyboard
7. EF 5.7 Using the Keyboard to Select Ranges of Cells with Gaps in the Data
8. EF 5.8 Name Box Method for Selecting Data with Gaps
9. EF 5.9 Selecting Multiple Adjacent Cells Using the Mouse and Keyboard Together
10. EF 5.10 Selecting Multiple Non-adjacent Cells
11. EF 5.11 Selecting Multiple Non-adjacent Cells Using Cell Selection Mode
1. EF 6.1 Introduction to View Settings
2. EF 6.2 Workbook Views Group
3. EF 6.3 Show Group: Display of Gridlines, Headings, etc.
4. EF 6.4 Zoom Group
5. EF 6.5 Overview of the Window Group
6. EF 6.6 Freeze Panes
7. EF 6.7 Split Windows
8. EF 6.8 New Window
9. EF 6.9 Side by Side Viewing and Synchronous Scrolling
1. EF 7.1 Introduction to Hidden / Not Visible Content
2. EF 7.2 Column Width Adjustments (Incl. Hashtags & Truncation Problems)
3. EF 7.3 Wrapping Text
4. EF 7.4 Row Heights and Autofit
5. EF 7.5 Hidden Rows and/or Columns
1. EF 8.1 Overview of Grouping
2. EF 8.2 Applying Grouping
3. EF 8.3 Quick Expand / Collapse of Grouped Data
4. EF 8.4 Removing Grouping
1. EF 9.1 Filters
1. EF 10.1 Header and Footer Information
1. EF 11.1 Excel Inspection Tool
1. EF 12.1 Introduction to Printing
2. EF 12.2 Default Print Settings
3. EF 12.3 Three Control Panels for Adjusting Print Settings
4. EF 12.4 Suggested Order of Adjusting Print Settings
5. EF 12.5 Set the Print Area
6. EF 12.6 Page Orientation
7. EF 12.7 Headers and Footers
8. EF 12.8 Margins
9. EF 12.9 Paper Size
1. EF 13.1 Introduction to Page Scaling and Page Breaks
2. EF 13.2 Page Scaling
3. EF 13.3 Page Breaks
4. EF 13.4 The “Four Categories” Approach to Page Scaling and Page Breaks
5. EF 13.5 All Data Can Be Legibly Printed on One Page
6. EF 13.6 Data Has a Width That Will Fit on One Page
7. EF 13.7 Data Has a Height That Will Fit on One Page
8. EF 13.8 Data Spans Across, and Down, Multiple Printed Pages
1. EF 14.1 Gridlines
2. EF 14.2 Print Column and Row Labels
3. EF 14.3 Print Specified Rows at the Top of Each Page
1. EF 15.1 Print Preview and Proceeding with Printing
1. EF 16.1 Get Set to Enter Content!
2. EF 16.2 Entering Text in an Empty Cell
3. EF 16.3 F2 to Edit Existing Content
4. EF 16.4 Formatting
5. EF 16.5 Alt + Enter to Start a New Paragraph Within a Cell
6. EF 16.6 Turn on Wrapping to Display Cell Content on Multiple Lines if Needed
7. EF 16.7 Apostrophe to Force Content to Plain Text
8. EF 16.8 Default Alignment of Text v. Numbers, and How to Update it
9. EF 16.9 Shortcut for Currency Formatting
10. EF 16.10 Bullet Points
11. EF 16.11 Repeating Last Performed Action, and Undo / Redo
12. EF 16.12 Spell Check and AutoCorrect
1. EF 17.1 Data Validation
1. EF 18.1 Introduction to Copy and Paste
2. EF 18.2 Clipboard History
3. EF 18.3 Paste Special
4. EF 18.4 Paste as Values
5. EF 18.5 Paste and Transpose
6. EF 18.6 Copy and Paste Keyboard Shortcuts
7. EF 18.7 Moving Data Using the Mouse
1. EF 19.1 Format Painter
1. EF 20.1 Font Formatting Tools
1. EF 21.1 Alignment and Merge Options
2. EF 21.2 Avoid Merge, and Rather Center Across Selection
1. EF 22.1 The Number Group, and How the Formula Bar Displays Numbers
2. EF 22.2 Overview of Buttons in the Number Group
3. EF 22.3 Number Group - Accounting Number Format Dropdown List
4. EF 22.4 Number Group - Percentage Icon
5. EF 22.5 Number Group - Comma Icon
6. EF 22.6 Number Group - Decimal Place Icons
1. EF 23.1 Introduction to Number Formatting
2. EF 23.2 General Format
3. EF 23.3 Number Format
4. EF 23.4 Currency Number Format
5. EF 23.5 Accounting Number Format
1. EF 24.1 Dates are Specially Formatted Serial Number Numbers
2. EF 24.2 Date Display in Formula Bar, and Warning Point About Searching for Dates
3. EF 24.3 Date Forms, and Regional Settings
1. EF 25.1 Fraction and Scientific Number Formats
2. EF 25.2 Text Format
3. EF 25.3 Custom Number Formatting
1. EF 26.1 Cell Conditional Formatting
2. EF 26.2 Cell Styles
1. EF 27.1 The Cells Group on the Ribbon
2. EF 27.2 Inserting Cells
3. EF 27.3 Deleting Cells
4. EF 27.4 Overview of the Format Dropdown List
5. EF 27.5 Row Height, and AutoFit Row Height
6. EF 27.6 Column Width, AutoFit Column Width, and Default Width
7. EF 27.7 Hide and Unhide Rows / Columns
8. EF 27.8 Organize Sheets
9. EF 27.9 Cell Protection
10. EF 27.10 Format Cells
1. EF 28.1 The Editing Group on the Ribbon
2. EF 28.2 Clear Content Dropdown List
3. EF 28.3 Fill Dropdown List
4. EF 28.4 AutoSum Dropdown List
5. EF 28.5 Sort & Filter, and Find & Select
1. EF 29.1 Comments v. Notes and Change of Terminology in 2019
1. EF 30.1 Comments Terminology in Excel Before 2019 Version
2. EF 30.2 Inserting Comments
3. EF 30.3 Editing Comments
4. EF 30.4 Comment Display Settings, and Finding All Comments
5. EF 30.5 Deleting Comments
1. EF 31.1 Notes Terminology in Post-2019 Versions of Excel
2. EF 31.2 Inserting Notes
3. EF 31.3 Editing Notes
4. EF 31.4 Note Display Settings and Finding All Notes
5. EF 31.5 Deleting Notes
1. EF 32.1 Comments in 2019 and Later Versions of Excel
2. EF 32.2 Inserting Comments
3. EF 32.3 Editing Comments
4. EF 32.4 Display Settings and Finding All Comments
5. EF 32.5 Deleting Comments
1. EF 33.1 Introduction to Filters in Data Not Formatted as a Table
2. EF 33.2 Inserting and Removing Filters
3. EF 33.3 Applying Filters
4. EF 33.4 Sort Buttons
5. EF 33.5 Text Filters
6. EF 33.6 Search Box
7. EF 33.7 Checkboxes for Filtering
8. EF 33.8 Filter by Cell Value
9. EF 33.9 Clearing Filters
10. EF 33.10 Working with Filtered Data
1. EF 34.1 Introduction to Tables
2. EF 34.2 Setting up a Table
3. EF 34.3 Changing the Appearance of Tables
4. EF 34.4 Selecting Rows and Columns in Tables
5. EF 34.5 Adding / Removing Data to/from a Table
6. EF 34.6 Total Row in Table
7. EF 34.7 Sorting Table Data
8. EF 34.8 Filtering Table Data
9. EF 34.9 Search in Table Data
10. EF 34.10 Slicers in Tables
11. EF 34.11 Formulas in Tables
12. EF 34.12 Converting a Table Back to a Regular Range
1. EF 35.1 Introduction to Sorting
2. EF 35.2 Regular Sort
3. EF 35.3 Custom Sort
4. EF 35.4 Helper Column to Allow Sorting Back to Original Configuration
5. EF 35.5 Maintaining Gaps when Sorting Data
6. EF 35.6 Sort Horizontally
1. EF 36.1 Introduction to Worksheets
2. EF 36.2 Inserting and Deleting Sheets
3. EF 36.3 Renaming Sheets, Reordering Sheets, and Changing Tab Color
4. EF 36.4 Hide and Unhide Worksheets
5. EF 36.5 Navigating Between Worksheets
6. EF 36.6 Macro for Quick Navigation Around a Long List of Tabs
7. EF 36.7 Editing Multiple Sheets at Once
1. EF 37.1 Basic Operation of the Find and Replace Tool
2. EF 37.2 Search Options in the Find and Replace Tool
3. EF 37.3 Format Options when Searching
4. EF 37.4 Match Criteria when Searching
5. EF 37.5 Search Zone when Searching
6. EF 37.6 Format of Search Term is Important when Searching for Numbers
7. EF 37.7 Find and Replace with Nothing
8. EF 37.8 Searching Using Wildcards
9. EF 37.9 Find and Replace to Remove Hard Returns
1. EF 38.1 Introduction to Excel Formulas
2. EF 38.2 Basic Rules for Formula Entry (and Using Excel as a Calculator)
3. EF 38.3 Using Cell References in Formulas
4. EF 38.4 Introduction to Cell Modes
5. EF 38.5 Description of the Four Cell Modes
6. EF 38.6 Introduction to Copying / Cutting and Pasting Formulas
7. EF 38.7 Copying and Pasting Formulas
8. EF 38.8 Cutting and Pasting Formulas
9. EF 38.9 Inserting Cells Does Not Destroy Formulas
10. EF 38.10 Deleting Cells Can Destroy Formulas
11. EF 38.11 Absolute Cell References
12. EF 38.12 Use Parentheses in Formulas to Avoid Order of Precedence Issues
13. EF 38.13 Formula Error Messages
1. EF 39.1 Goals of Tutorials in This Section
2. EF 39.2 The Difference Between Formulas & Functions
3. EF 39.3 SUM Function
4. EF 39.4 IF Function
5. EF 39.5 SUMIF Function
6. EF 39.6 CONCATENATE Function (and Using “&”)
1. EF 40.1 Incomplete Nature of This Library, and Where to Look for Additional Information
2. EF 40.2 Introduction to the VLOOKUP Function
3. EF 40.3 VLOOKUP Example Using Exact Match
4. EF 40.4 VLOOKUP Example Using Approximate Match
5. EF 40.5 Troubleshooting Common Problems with the VLOOKUP Function
6. EF 40.6 XLOOKUP Function
7. EF 40.7 ROW and COLUMN Functions
8. EF 40.8 TRIM Function
9. EF 40.9 TEXT Function
10. EF 40.10 LEN Function
11. EF 40.11 LEFT and RIGHT Functions
12. EF 40.12 MID Function
13. EF 40.13 FIND and SEARCH Functions
14. EF 40.14 COUNTIF Function
15. EF 40.15 SUMPRODUCT
16. EF 40.16 ROUND, ROUNDDOWN and ROUNDUP Functions
17. EF 40.17 Rounding Bug in Excel
18. EF 40.18 Time Periods Can be Calculated Using Ordinary Subtraction
19. EF 40.19 TODAY and NOW Functions
20. EF 40.20 YEAR, MONTH, and DAY Functions
21. EF 40.21 DATE Function
22. EF 40.22 DATEDIF Function
23. EF 40.23 Overview of the SUBSTITUTE Function
24. EF 40.24 Using SUBSTITUTE to Count Characters, and Extract File Names From Paths
25. EF 40.25 SUBSTITUTE Function to Format Data Imported From Word
1. EF 41.1 Review Formulas, and Show Formulas Rather Than Results
2. EF 41.2 Named Cells and Named Ranges
3. EF 41.3 Introduction to Dependent and Precedent Cells
4. EF 41.4 Keyboard Shortcuts to Identify Dependent and Precedent Cells
5. EF 41.5 Using the Ribbon to Identify Dependent and Precedent Cells
6. EF 41.6 Searching for Formulas
7. EF 41.7 Shortcuts to Duplicate Formulas Across Multiple Cells
8. EF 41.8 Ctrl + Enter to Insert the Same Formula (or Content) into Multiple Cells
9. EF 41.9 Automatic v. Manual Calculations
1. EF 42.1 Autocorrect is not Just for Correcting Spelling Errors
2. EF 42.2 Autocorrect to Write in Formula to Extract File Name From Path
3. EF 42.3 Autocorrect to Write in Formula to Prepare Date Prefixes for File Names
1. EF 43.1 Hyperlinks
1. EF 44.1 AutoFill
2. EF 44.2 Flash Fill
3. EF 44.3 Fill Down Using a Formula
1. EF 45.1 Introduction to Pivot Tables
2. EF 45.2 Creating a Pivot Table
3. EF 45.3 Modifying Pivot Table Output, and Formatting Pivot Table Data
4. EF 45.4 Updating Pivot Tables
5. EF 45.5 Moving Pivot Tables
6. EF 45.6 Extracting Tallies, Averages, and Other Summary Data
7. EF 45.7 Filters in Pivot Tables
8. EF 45.8 Slicers in Pivot Tables
9. EF 45.9 Grouping in Pivot Tables
1. EF 46.1 Location of the Quick Access Toolbar
2. EF 46.2 Standard Commands for the Quick Access Toolbar (Including Undo / Redo)
3. EF 46.3 Adding / Removing Additional Commands to / from the Quick Access Toolbar
1. EF 47.1 Introduction to Keyboard Shortcuts
2. EF 47.2 Top 20 Must-Know Shortcuts
3. EF 47.3 Using Alt Key to Navigate the Ribbon
4. EF 47.4 Long List of Shortcuts
1. EF 48.1 Introduction to Protecting Content
2. EF 48.2 Applying Protection to Worksheets
3. EF 48.3 Removing Protection from Worksheets
4. EF 48.4 Types of Protection that Can Be Applied to Workbooks
5. EF 48.5 Applying and Removing Password Protection to Entire Workbook
6. EF 48.6 Protecting Modification to Workbook Structure
1. EF 49.1 The Data Tab of the Ribbon
2. EF 49.2 Importing Text Data
3. EF 49.3 Extracting Data From an Image
4. EF 49.4 Importing File Path Data From Windows
5. EF 49.5 Overview of Text to Columns Operation
6. EF 49.6 Text to Columns to Recognize Dates
7. EF 49.7 Text to Columns to Convert Text to Numbers
8. EF 49.8 Text to Columns to Break Up File Paths, and Formulas to Compare File Names
9. EF 49.9 Text to Columns to Break Multiple Lines of Content in a Single Cell Into Separate Columns
10. EF 49.10 Using Find and Replace in Combination with Text to Columns
11. EF 49.11 Removing Duplicates From a Single Column
12. EF 49.12 Removing Duplicates from Multiple Columns
13. EF 49.13 Removing Duplicates – Additional Tips
14. EF 49.14 Power Query
15. EF 49.15 Overview of the Go To Special Tool
16. EF 49.16 Go To Special - Remove Blank Spaces from Transcripts Before Printing
17. EF 49.17 Go To Special - Select Visible Cells Only Before Copying and Pasting Data With Hidden Rows
1. EF 50.1 Shared Workbooks
2. EF 50.2 Co-Authoring
1. EF 51.1 Track Changes in Older Versions of Excel (e.g. Excel 2013 or Excel 2010)
2. EF 51.2 Track changes in modern versions of Excel

About this course

Free
302 lessons

EF 1 INTRODUCTION TO EXCEL SKILLS COURSE

EF 2 ANATOMY OF EXCEL AND IMPORTANT JARGON

EF 3 CURSORS AND CLICKS

EF 4 NAVIGATING AROUND A WORKSHEET

EF 5 SELECTING CELLS AND RANGES

EF 6 VIEW SETTINGS

EF 7 VIEWING HIDDEN / NOT VISIBLE WORKSHEET CONTENT

EF 8 GROUPING

EF 9 FILTERS

EF 10 HEADER AND FOOTER INFORMATION

EF 11 EXCEL INSPECTION TOOL

EF 12 PRINTING (#1 OF 4 – KEY CONCEPTS)

EF 13 PRINTING (#2 OF 4 - PAGE SCALING AND ADJUSTING PAGE BREAKS)

EF 14 PRINTING (#3 OF 4 - OPTIONAL PRINT SETTINGS)

EF 15 PRINTING (#4 OF 4 - PRINT PREVIEW AND PROCEEDING WITH PRINTING)

EF 16 BASICS OF ENTERING CONTENT

EF 17 DATA VALIDATION

EF 18 COPYING / CUTTING / PASTING

EF 19 FORMAT PAINTER

EF 20 FONT FORMATTING TOOLS

EF 21 CELL ALIGNMENT SETTINGS

EF 22 NUMBER FORMATTING USING THE NUMBER GROUP CONTROLS

EF 23 NUMBER FORMAT DROPDOWN LIST, AND NUMBER FORMAT DIALOG BOX

EF 24 DATE FORMATS

EF 25 NUMBER AND TEXT FORMATS

EF 26 CELL STYLES

EF 27 CELL OPERATIONS

EF 28 CELL EDITING, AND OTHER ASSORTED TOOLS

EF 29 COMMENTS (#1 OF 4 - COMMENTS V. NOTES AND CHANGE OF TERMINOLOGY IN 2019)

EF 30 COMMENTS (#2 OF 4 - COMMENTS IN EXCEL BEFORE 2019)

EF 31 COMMENTS (#3 OF 4 – NOTES)

EF 32 COMMENTS (#4 OF 4 – COMMENTS IN 2019 AND LATER VERSIONS OF EXCEL)

EF 33 FILTERS

EF 34 TABLES

EF 35 SORT

EF 36 WORKING WITH WORKSHEETS

EF 37 FIND AND REPLACE TOOL

EF 38 FORMULA ENTRY

EF 39 FUNCTIONS (#1 OF 3 - INTRODUCTION TO FUNCTIONS (AND 4 ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS))

EF 40 FUNCTIONS (#2 OF 3 - COLLECTION OF USEFUL FUNCTIONS)

EF 41 FUNCTIONS (#3 OF 3 - ADDITIONAL TIPS USING FUNCTIONS AND ENTERING FORMULAS)

EF 42 AUTOCORRECT TO ENTER FORMULAS

EF 43 HYPERLINKS

EF 44 FILL TECHNIQUES

EF 45 PIVOT TABLES

EF 46 QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR

EF 47 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

EF 48 PROTECTING WORKSHEET AND WORKBOOKS

EF 49 DATA TOOLS

EF 50 SHARED WORKBOOKS AND CO-AUTHORING

EF 51 TRACK CHANGES

About this course