MAILBAG #090629

Catchin' up w/ the in-box:

* Ipro Tech had to write a big check ($246,470) to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Microsoft, and Symantec software, but CEO Jim King says his organization takes the full blame.

"As part of the settlement agreement, IPRO Tech Inc. agreed to delete all unlicensed copies of software on its computers, purchase any licenses necessary to become compliant, and commit to implementing stronger software asset management practices," reported the Business Software Alliance.

 "IPRO continued to use subscription software after the license term expired," said King. "The good news, this was not intentional. We fully supported the audit process and we support the goals of the BSA. Upon discovery of our licensing oversights we worked with the BSA to immediately correct the deficiencies." 

* Keith Rowand has started a company, Rowand Software -- and is offering document comparison and near de-duplication software. He's also offering computer programming. 411 here.

* Kelvin Chin checks in to report that he's packing up his L.A. bags and heading east again -- to Raleigh, N.C., where he has been named sales director  at Womble Carlyle. (That's the firm with the bulldog mascot).

* Also changing business cards: Mark Goldin is the new chief tech officers at Los Angeles-based American LegalNet. He joins from Elite.

* David Cowen says his 2Q09 survey on lit support work shows hours have spiked. Check it out here.

* Deborah Novachick of Strategic Automation Consulting as returned from Nigeria, where she taught classes in operations management at Pan-African University Lagos School of Business, which hosted a “Management Development  Program for Legal Practitioners.” The project was started by Joy Harrison-Abiola, who  is a legal administrator in Nigeria, and a member of  the Association of Legal Administrators. "Four of the faculty members of the ALA's Essential Competencies for Legal Administrators programs went over to Nigeria," she says. "We and the others on the faculty have donated months of our time." E-mail her here for more info.

June 29, 2009 in Good Works, Marketing, People, Technology | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

#LTWC: NETWORKING OLD & NEW

We did some old-fashioned networking -- the kind where you actually talk in person -- at our "Green Your Career" breakfast at LegalTech West Coast -- where we had a packed house full of job seekers, vendors, and law firm folks. I'm already hearing from some attendees that the event may have linked at least one person with a new gig!

Huge, huge thanks to the generosity of the vendors who provided so many gift cards that we were able to give every job seeker at least two! Thank you!

And thanks to our speakers -- Brad Blickstein, Tom Collins, Babs Deacon, John Lipsey, Mary Mack, Mark Reichenbach, John Tredennick, and  J. Craig Williams for such terrific outreach and discussions.

Good luck to the folks who are looking for work, and thanks for joining us!

Later Thursday, we put the spotlight on another kind of networking, with our Twitter panel. Matt Homann (@matthomann), of LexThink, started off the discussion, with his excellent job of "framing" the discusssion, and was followed by LexBlog's Kevin O'Keefe (@kevinokeefe), who always makes you want to run right out and try the sites and tips he offers.

Practicing lawyers Denise Howell (solo, @dhowell) and Nina Goldberg (associate at Baker Hostetler, @ninakat) discussed how they use Twitter in their law practice. Howell was stellar as always, and Goldberg -- in her first podium gig -- proved to be a natural born speaker, as she focused on how as a relatively new lawyer she finds Twitter both useful -- and entertaining.

Thanks to all for a fascinating panel!

Our colleague Sean Doherty was unable to attend the show, but that didn't stop him from providing an overview of some of the new products that were launched at the event, including the revamp of CompuLaw's Deadlines on Demand website, and a new service called Litovation, from IKON.  Check it out here.

June 29, 2009 in Conventions, Meetings, Live Programs, Good Works, Tech Turbulence (Economy) , Webinars, Podcasts, Programs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

#LTWC: DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS

Day 1 of LegalTech West Coast was terrific, major kudos to Henry Dicker and his indefatigueable team. As for me, I'm totally fatigue'  (Sorry, can't figure out how to add that french accent on typepad.)

Huge thank yous to George Rudoy, Tom Ranalli, and James McKenna for an amazing panel on "Leadership in Times of Turbulence."  Even bearing in mind my admitted bias as moderator, I have to agree with my colleague Russ Curtis' observation that "The panelists were hittin' it on all cylinders."

The dudes did cover an amazing amount of advice on how IT directors can help their firms, their careers, and push green agendas -- in an hour and 15 minutes. And McKenna was especially hysterical, with lines like "I'm responsible for everything that consumes electricity other than refrigerators, lights, and copiers," and "I'm ODAD Certified: Other-Duties-As-Described."

Also thanks to Chere Estrin and the gang at the Paralegal Technology Institute for inviting me to present again, an update on the current career opportunities, and how things have changed due to the aforementioned economic turmoil.

And it was fantastic to see so very many of our vendor, lit support, and lawyer friends on the very active show floor.

Hope you'll be able to come by tomorrow morning (Thursday June 25) for day 2. We're kicking it off at 7:45 a.m. with our "Green Your Career" breakfast for job seekers, vendors and law firms (co-sponsored by LA Cty Bar Assn.)  Please come by -- we'll be in room 503, and all are welcome for an hour of fellowship and inspiration! We'll be raffling off a dinner (potentially at Yankee Stadium) with moi to participating vendors, and raffling gift cards for our colleagues who are job hunting. Plus everybody who attends gets a trial sub to lawjobs.com -- and can also go to the keynote and exhibit hall for free!

Hope to see you in the morning!!!

June 25, 2009 in Good Works, Tech Turbulence (Economy) , Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

PECK & WAXSE HOLD COURT AT ROUND TABLE

Fascinating dinner last night with the Fios (see below) gang, to kick off LegalTech West Coast. Mary Mack and Debbie Caldwell were among the orchestrators of the evening, which featured two prominent U.S. Magistrate Judges who you have been reading a lot about (in Craig Ball's EDD column): Andrew Peck, (far left) of the Southern District of NY, and David Waxse (left) , of the District of Kansas. It was a sneak preview, of sorts, of tomorrow's keynote address at LegalTech West Coast.

Mary Mack moderated the eat-and-talk roundtable discussion, which drew about 25 lawyers and one summer associate for an off-the-record discussion of recent discovery trends. Peck recently caused a lot of heat with his Gross case ruling, a "wake up call to the bar" chastising attorneys about sloppy searches and failure to truly cooperate with opposing counsel (See Ball's June column), Waxse authored the key  Williams v. Spring/United Management Co. case in 2006.(See ABA Journal's "These Cases Rock").

The two men interact well together and quickly drew the audience into the discussion, which covered a lot of territory running from ethics to how EDD requests are sometimes used to bully the other side into submission because the sheer cost of production.

Both judges -- along with Tom Allman and moderator Carole Basri -- will be presenting the Thursday keynote (immediately following our "Green Your Career" networking breakfast for jobseekers) at LegalTech West Coast, at the LA Convention Center. Don't miss it. These two judges are entertaining, and substantive, and it's bound to be a great panel. For information, visit www.legaltechshow.com -- or just come on' over to the LA Convention Center!

June 24, 2009 in Conventions, Meetings, Live Programs, EDD: E-Discovery, People, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

MANAGEMENT SHIFT AT FIOS

Apparently, there's been a big shift in the exec offices at Fios. I'll find out more details tomorrow when I meet with their team, but John Hesse  (right) is now listed on their website as the "interim CEO" replacing Gerald Massey.

LTN board member Tom O'Connor (director of the Gulf Coast Legal Tech Center) tipped us that last Friday Prashant Dubey (SVP Consulting), Sam Panarella (VP Consulting) and Jeanette Siepian (SVP Sales & Marketing) were all let go. Dubey and Panarell's LinkedIn pages show the departures, Siepian's still states Fios employment.Massey's says he's still on the board of directors, but no longer lists CEO title.

Fios' Debbie Caldwell just confirmed the departures:

"Gerald is no longer CEO, he left in May.  He initiated the change as part of a succession plan, with discussions beginning last fall. Gerald maintained, and still does, full confidence by the board. He continues to be involved with Fios, both as a member of the board of directors and a shareholder. John Hesse, the company’s CFO, is the interim CEO

Additional changes:  Fios has made organizational changes within the company to better align our resources to take advantage of the rapidly changing e-discovery market. To better address market needs, Fios has combined its sales and professional services divisions and is also expanding its product teams."

June 23, 2009 in Breaking News, EDD: E-Discovery, Tech Turbulence (Economy) , Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

BUMMER: CLEAR FOLDS

I thought something was amiss when the Clear lane was closed at JFK Terminal 7 Saturday --with a sign saying the station was closed Sat/Sundays. Then tonight, and we got the letter. As of 11 pm Pacific time  tonight, it's kaput. We just got a cryptic e-mail:

"At 11:00 p.m. PST today, Clear will cease operations. Clear's parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations.
After today, Clear lanes will be unavailable."

Founded by my former boss, Steve Brill, Clear was absolutely terrific. Great customer service. Will post more when I find out more.

Website simply repeats it: 

Clear Lanes Are No Longer Available.

At 11:00 p.m. PST on June 22, 2009, Clear will cease operations. Clear’s parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations. 

Wired Epicenter report: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/06/vip-airport-screening-company-closes-lanes/

daggle: http://daggle.com/clear-airport-security-program-closes-707

gigdom: http://gigaom.com/2009/06/22/unclear-path-grounds-clear/

Image courtesy of daggle.

6/23 update from middle seat http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2009/06/23/clear-update-what-happens-to-your-personal-data/

June 23, 2009 in Breaking News, Technology, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

MAILBAG #061209

I'm just about ready to head out to Charlie Haas' 7:30 p.m. book reading at the Barnes & Noble in the Village (396 6th @ 8th) for his new book, The Enthusiast... but before I dash out the door, need to catch up on some incoming!

• Attorney Paul Levine  also has a new novel out -- Illegal -- and he introduces a new "trouble-prone hero," Jimmy (Royal) Payne. It's a tale set in the California desert that tells the plight of a 12-year-old boy whose mom disappears during a border crossing. It was inspired by real events, says Levine. "A thriller with a social conscience, the book combines the moral decay of Chinatown with the sudden violence of No Country for Old Men," he says.

• Audrey Rubin checks in to announce the launch of her new website, Rubin Solutions. (Sigh, will they never learn -- but at least it rhymes!) (Audrey: NO SOLUTIONS!!!!!! It's the most abused word in the English language.) Chicago-based Rubin (right) served as COO for seven years at Wildman Harrold Allen and Dixon, and at Butler Rubin Saltarelli and Boyd.

• Clifford Chance's Sally King chimes in with a request to spread the word about a petition to help pass legislation that would protect women from "drive thru" mastectomies. Check it out here. This is really important -- and doesn't impact just women. Men, sign it too! Your mothers, wives, daughters and friends will appreciate your support.

• Frederick Hertz, my pal from SFO, also has a new book, which debuts in July  from NOLO, with Emily Doskow: Making it Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Parnterships & Civil Unions. Here's an interview with Hertz: Part 1 and Part 2.  (The book's not showing up on the Nolo site). 

• And we are not done with new books: Perry Binder says Unlocking Your Rubber Room will motivate you to achieve professional satisfaction, and is based on his courtroom and classroom experiences. (He's now a legal studies professor at Georgia State Univ. 

• Mais Oui! The Association of Legal Administrators has launched a French version of its website, available here.  It features French language introductions to key ino, special resources, and links to the English language section of ALA's main website.

• Perry Segal wants you to know about his blog, E-Discovery Insights, which covers EDD from a California lawyer's perspective.

• Adobe's Rick Borstein found this post from Matthew Buchanan about virtual letterhead to be a very green idea, (with a hat tip to Stephen Nipper). 

OK, all for now... I'm off to hear about Henry Bay!

June 12, 2009 in Books, EDD: E-Discovery, Good Works, Green Law, People, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

& THE WINNER IS.....

As they say in all that propaganda for the New York Lottery: “You can’t win if you don’t enter.”  Nominations are now open for the Law Technology News 2009 Awards. Here’s how it works: there are three  food groups: 1) Vendor Awards, 2) Law Firm & Legal  Department Awards, and 3) a brand new category, Lifetime Achievement Award. Law Technology News subscribers vote for the Vendor Awards; an independent jury of three members of LTN’s editorial advisory board select the LF/LD awards, and I will pick the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement accolade, who will be chosen from our wonderful legal technology community. 
To win a vendor or LF/LD award, the organization or person must be nominated. It’s a very, very, easy process — just download the form  and return it to us — by 7/31/09 for vendor categories, and by 11/6/09 for LF/LD nominations.
You can also use the LF/LD form to nominate a candidate for the Lifetime Achievement award (limited to age 55+), but in that category, unlike the lottery, you can win even if you are not nominated. (But I welcome all suggestions!)
Got questions? Contact Kevin Iredell  or visit our website.

June 12, 2009 in LTN Awards | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

CATCH PHRASE PLEASE!

Michael Kay's got his "SEE YA!"
•  John Sterling, well he's just way too theatrical for me with all that A-bomb from A-Rod and vibrato chest thumbing "The Yannnnnkeeees winnnnn" nonsense.
• SNL Weekend Update has it gooey "Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow."
• Edward R. Murrow had "Good Night, and Good Luck."
• Cronkite had "And that's the way it is."
• Probst has "The tribe has spoken."
• Then there's "Let's be careful out there" from  Hill Street Blues.

You get the picture. (Hat tip to TVland).

So I need your help. I'm truly stumped. I need a catch phrase to end each episode of my Law Technology Now podcasts. And no, I don't want, "That's the Bay view" or similar thangs, and I kinda suspect people would not be enchanted by "Let's Go Yankees!"

Ideas????  Post a comment below, or e-mail me: commonscold@incisivemedia.com.

Winner gets a $25 iTunes card!

Update: Suggestions have been flying in!

So far, my favorite is from Avvo's Mark Britton: "Remember, 'technology' is Latin for profitability." Keep 'em comin'

From Rick Georges: There is not crying in baseball -- or technology. (love it)

From: John Jablonski: “Best tech, best talk”
 “Talk is cheap: legal tech talk is priceless”
 All tech, all the time, on demand: Legal Technology Now
 The voice of legal technology
 

May 21, 2009 in Distractions :), Technology, Webinars, Podcasts, Programs | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)

MO' MAILBAG #052009

JoAnna Forshee checks in to let folks know that it will provide 10 scholarships to unemployed attorneys who are job hunting, to attend its "Get a Life" Conference that is presented by the Total Practice Management Association. It is a two-day workshop on marketing and practice management and social networking that will be held in Chicago on May 27 & 28. Deadline to apply, 5/22, 5 p.m. CST. 411 here.

• Brent  Bourque has replaced long-time director of marketing Connie Moser at Los Angeles-based Elite. She's a tough act to follow! Bourque, based in New Orleans, has been with Elite for 12 years, starting in sales. His title is senior director, strategic marketing and business intelligence, and he can be reached here.

• Charlie Haas, who went to University of California Santa Cruz, along with lawyer/marketer Louise Rosen Byer et moi, is embarking on a book tour for his latest novel, The Enthusiast (Harper Perennial). Check out his book readings:

Tuesday, June 2, 7:00 pm  - Books Inc. at Opera Plaza, San Francisco.
Thursday, June 4, 7:00 PM - A Great Good Place for Books, Oakland (Montclair district).
Monday, June 8, 7:00 PM - Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, Oakland.
Friday, June 12, 7:30 PM - Barnes & Noble, 396 Avenue of the Americas (at 8th St.), New York, N.Y.
Thursday, June 18, 7:30 PM - Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles.

 I'm planning to attend the NYC reading -- after all, the main character's name is Henry Bay!

Charlie also wrote the sequel (Gremlins 2) to one of my all-time favorite movies Gremlins. (Whenever I'm in a funk I just remember the scene with all the critters singing "Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to work I go" with popcorn bucket hats!)

• Stephanie Hall wants you to know about her Relay for Life -- the American Cancer Society fundraiser she participates in every year to honor her mother, who she lost to cancer almost five years ago. Any donation helps.

• And our LTN colleague Theodora Blanchfield is also participating in a project, to benefit the Cancer Survivorship Initiative at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in N.Y. She's running to hnor her grandfather, Herbert Blanchfield, who died of mesothelioma in 2000. 

• Steve Schwartz reports that certain LSAT PrepTests (past administered LSAT exams) are available only to students who take prep courses, not those who self-study. Check it out on his LSAT Blog. 

May 20, 2009 in Books, Distractions :), EDD: E-Discovery, Marketing, People, Social Networking, Tech Turbulence (Economy) , Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

MAILBAG #050109

Catchin' up with the inbox:

• Andy Adkins, of the Univ. of Florida (Gainsville) found this amazing update of Captain Sully's seaplane adventure: Download Hudson. It's even better than the ones I previously posted.

• Barkley Court Reporters check in to tell us  that -- as of March -- it has planted 10,000 trees on behalf of clients, as part of its "Green" program that encourages litigators to put transcripts in online repositories include of printing them on paper. Pat Barkley wrote about the program in LTN's Green Law column in July, 2007. 

• Brooke Keyser of RainMaker also checks in with a progress report, about the "Pay it Forward" challenge issued by James Hammond. (We wrote about it last month.) To date, RainMaker has awarded $127,850 in economic assistance funds, of the $1 million it has pledged, she says, and saw a 273% increase in traffic to its website. More than 1,000 firms expressed interest in the program, she says. The first firm to participate is Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman, says RainMaker. 

• Angelique Schaffer of Thomson Reuters reminds me to post this video from the WestBlog produced at this winter's LegalTech New York, (#LTNY) with yours truly pontificating on all things legal tech.

Blogosphere Updates:

• John Grisely reports that that he is building up the resource section of his blog, Mesothelioma Questions. 

• Andreana Pentaris wants you to konw about a new website, LawFirms.com. It devotes articles and resources to a vareity of legal topics, running from criminal defense to bankruptcy, and also has a blog, Legal Research Guides.

• Danielle Walker reports that  E-Lessoned Learned ( eLLblog) has been revamped.

• A.J. Levy -- who  writes the Out of the Box Lawyering blog forwards this post about some creative uses for Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition software. He also alerts us to a new blog targeting lawyers who use iPhones.

May 1, 2009 in Diversity, EDD: E-Discovery, Good Works, Green Law, LTNY09, People, Technology, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

NOTHING GROWS FOREVER

The Am Law 100 Report is now online.

Says The American Lawyer's editor-in-chief Aric Press and Am Law Data Analyst John O'Connor:

Continues Law.com's Legal Blog Watch writer Carolyn Elefant: The news for 2008 wasn't entirely bleak, with overall gross revenue growing by 4.1 percent, to $67 billion, a new record. But because of growth in head count and a drop in demand, particularly in the corporate and finance sectors, profits per partner (PPP) fell by 4.3 percent, to an average of $1.26 million, and revenue per lawyer (RPL) dropped 1.2 percent, to $818,000.

April 29, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

HILTON / UAL PROMOTIONS: CAVEAT EMPTOR

Heads Up: If you are planning to use any Hilton Honors / United promotions — such as the current Hawaii promotion to earn double Mileage Plus miles, a 10,000 HHonors bonus, and receive a free bathrobe (see 411 here) — be sure your Hilton account is set up so that you are earning both UAL miles and points.

Despite numerous attempts to confirm that I had met all necessary requirements before we arrived in Hawaii  — and nightmare reservations problems bringing 11 members of my family to Honolulu for my father's memorial — Hilton has refused to process the UAL promotion miles — because they said I had not clicked on the "miles and points" option on my HHonors account. They did credit me with the Hilton bonus points, and I got lots of apologies, but they won't credit the UAL flight miles — and we're talking 10,062 miles here.

I brought 11 people to Hawaii for 5 days, and we spent a lot of money at the Honolulu Embassy Suites Beach Walk. I chose the hotel because of the promotion. No good deed goes unpunished.

I'm stunned — and furious. I did everything humanly possible to verify that I had complied with the fine print. I'm no naif when it comes to travel — after all, I'm the daughter of a United pilot and flight attendant -- and both a Diamond Hilton Honors member and Premier Executive member of UAL Mileage Plus! NOBODY at Hilton told me I had to have the account set up for both UAL miles and Hilton points to qualify. Nobody. I even made a point to check with the front desk to be sure I was properly signed up for the promotion.

Frankly, based on all my prior dealings with Hilton, I expected an easy, fast resolution. But no. I've now spent numerous hours appealing this —  talking to three different people, all the way up to the top customer service supervisor — with no luck. All I get is, "We're sorry, we can't change it. You didn't click on the points and miles option."  

I think what shocks me the most is that it's a 180 degree turn from Hilton's normally stellar customer service. I've been so happy with Hiltons, especially over the last couple years. The service at Hiltons has been reliably terrific, from reservations, to bell staff, to room service.

I've been an astoundingly loyal Hilton Honors member, and this makes me question whether I should bag that loyalty and go back to choosing Hyatt. That will be particularly difficult in Baltimore ...and Chicago ...and Anaheim ...and  Los Angeles ...and New York ...and New Orleans  ... well, you get the picture: I like Hiltons.  I suspect my non-stop raves about the Waikoloa Hilton (probably the best hotel on the planet for a multi-generation family event) have sent quite a few colleagues to the reservation phones.

I just don't understand this. It would take so little to remedy the situation. Why alienate your core constituency — your most loyal customers — when all it would take would be an e-mail to United to straighten it all out? 

I'm not done. I'm going to send the whole paper trail to Hilton's CEO, along with a copy of this blog post  -- and I'm going to appeal this directly to United, because they are co-sponsors of the promotion, and it's the double Mileage Plus miles that I'm so worked up about. Hopefully, UAL will say "of course" and credit me for the miles. I'll keep you posted. 

I didn't even get the dumb bathrobe. But I don't want clothes, I just want my United miles.

Update: 4/29/09: Well, it took only two people at United to diffuse my fury: First, a very nice Premier Exec customer service rep, Janice Border, and then an equally nice and very smart supervisor, Pam Baumberger. Turns out the double Mileage Plus points were NOT for the flights, but for the money spent at the hotel. Ms. Baumberger figured that out -- how come nobody at Hilton caught that out during my appeals? 

So while I'm still very annoyed at Hilton, that certainly takes the sting out of the situation. And because Hilton did throw in an extra 2,000 Hilton points, it's close to a wash, so I'll stop complaining.

But the bottom line remains the same: If you are going to do a Hilton promotion, be sure that you have checked the correct box (Hilton points & United miles) on your profile. And carefully review all the fine print of any promotion.

And Hilton: You came very, very close to losing one of your most loyal customers. There were a lot of problems with this entire experience that you might want to re-examine. I hope, at a minimum, that you will:

1) Make promotions terms and conditions more explicit.
2) Improve the clunky reservations process for families.
3) Better educate staff at facilities that are O&O'd by third parties (e.g., Outrigger).

O.K. I'm done. Chapter closed. Lesson learned.

April 21, 2009 in Travel | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

BACK ON THE PAYROLL

Good news from both Babs Deacon and Mark Reichenbach, who both got pink slip'd a few months back.

Deacon has landed a new gig with Integreon, (which recently acquired Onsite3) as director of consulting. New e-mail here.

Reichenbach is the new veep for client and industry development, with Capital Legal Solutions. 411 here.

Both will join us at the "Greening Your Career" job seekers' networking breakfast, June 25 at LegalTech West Coast.

Congrats!!

April 20, 2009 in Darwin Watch, People, Tech Turbulence (Economy) | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

DREAM YOUR DREAM

My friend Linda Lake just sent me this, and wow oh wow, you simply must check it out.

Susan Boyle offers an astounding reminder about why we should never, ever, ever underestimate or judge someone just because he or she is "plain." 

From Britains Got Talent (Never mind the bad punctuation.) And yes, that's Simon Cowell on the judges' panel.

Update: The response to Boyle has been positively stunning. As of Thursday morning, the YouTubepost has had more than 17 million hits. Here's a very clever tribute to Ms. Boyle (a "speed drawing) by Cleveland's Jan LeCompte. And here's a news update from U.K.'s Channel Five. See #Susan_Boyle on Twitter.

Terrific article from The Guardian by Tanya Gold. Hat tip to @sumares.

Further updates: Boyle ain't a one-note wonder, she's still in the contest. Her handlers have done a very nice job with makeup and good choice of outfit, too:

April 15, 2009 in Distractions :) | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

GREEN YOUR CAREER: A NETWORKING BREAKFAST

This erratic economy has been tough on everybody, but none more so than the members of our legal technology community who have lost their jobs. It's difficult, scary, and challenging for even the most self-confident professionals.

Our Incisive gang wants to help -- so we decided to team up at LegalTech West Coast and offer a simple, heartfelt gesture: On day 2 (Thursday June 25) we will host a very informal, free "Green Your Career" networking breakfast, from 7:45--8:45 a.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

It will be co-hosted by Law Technology News and law.jobs, with the support of the LegalTech crew, and has a straightforward format:  We're inviting job seekers -- as well as vendors and law firm leaders (even if you do not currently have an available opening).

For the first half-hour, we'll just schmooze together, and enjoy coffee, tea, danish, etc. — i.e., a chance to "work the room."  Then we'll gather at round tables, where at each table a leader of our community will talk about how he or she survived/thrived thru a career transition. Among the scheduled speakers are:

• John Tredennick, who was a litigator partner at Holland & Hart when he spun off Catalyst Respository Systems.
• Tom Collins, former owner of Juris Inc., who survived cancer and now is a murder mystery novelist!
• J. Craig Williams, who shuttered his small firm and joined Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold.
• Mary Mack, renowned counsel at Fios Inc.
• Brad Blickstein, who opened his own consultancy to help businesses serve corporate legal departments, after working in magazine publishing.
• Babs Deacon, who was one of the SPi folks who lost jobs last winter, who is the new director of consulting at Integreon, based in New York.
• Mark Reichenbach, who just joined Capital Legal Solutions after losing his gig at i365.
• John Lipsey, who left law practice to work for legal technology vendors, and now works for Martindale Hubbell Connected. 

The event is FREE -- and all attendees will be invited to stick around and visit our exhibit hall and the Day 2 Keynote Address (immediately following the breakfast) on us.

Job seekers will be encouraged to post their resumes on lawjobs.com, and all firms/vendors who attend will get free access to lawjobs.com (for a limited period, of course).

Again, just a simple concept:  let's provide an hour of inspiration, nurturing, contacts, and networking. 

Please come, whether you need a job, or just want to offer encouragement. And if you are coming to show support, please bring along a gift card (you can pick them up at most supermarkets or drug stores), so we can give a day brightener "party favor" to each job seeker. It can be just a few dollars (or more if you can tithe a bit more generously) -- to a national "chain" such as Starbucks, Target, Macy's, Chevron, Von's, movies, SuperCuts -- you get the picture. Something practical and upbeat that will lift spirits!

(If you can't attend and want to send a gift card, mail them to us c/o Law Technology News, 120 Broadway, 5th floor, NYC 10271.)

Job seekers: Come for warmth, support and new contacts! If you e-mail us at lawtech@incisivemedia.com, we'll have a badge ready for you (and that will help us make sure we have enough coffee and danish). But you can also just show up.

Firms/vendors: If you do have a spot open, what a better place to find great talent? And even if you don't, you might tomorrow -- so bring lots of business cards.

And as an added incentive for technology vendors: We will raffle off a wonderful lunch or dinner with moi (you can even use the word "solution" and I will promise to try not to cringe) where you can tell me about your company's plans, products and services and get a great meal on LTN!

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!  Visit www.legaltechshow for details, or e-mail LTN at lawtech@incisivemedia.com.

LAST but not least: Please help spread the word!  Twitter this! Blog this! Reprint this post freely! Let's get viral! The permalink is http://tinyurl.com/LTWCbkf. Twitter hash: #LTWC.

Update: Great news! The Los Angeles County Bar Association (which offers career resources on its website, has joined us as a co-sponsor of the breakfast!!

April 14, 2009 in Conventions, Meetings, Live Programs, Darwin Watch, Diversity, EDD: E-Discovery, Good Works, People, Social Networking, Tech Turbulence (Economy) , Webinars, Podcasts, Programs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

WATCH THE DOOR

With all the layoffs and corporate restructuring, sometimes legal holds can get lost in the shuffle. As computers and workloads get reassigned, sometimes key data can evaporate.

In LTN's April cover story, "Watch the Door," John Jablonski, a partner at Buffalo's Goldberg Segalla, offers a check list for folks in IT, risk management and HR, to help preserve proper legal holds.

Visit www.lawtechnologynow.com (or www.legaltalknetwork, or iTunes) to hear Jablonski talk with me about these issues -- and his upcoming Defense Research Institute conference. 

April 14, 2009 in EDD: E-Discovery, Webinars, Podcasts, Programs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

NEW IS OLD AGAIN

Sorry, Baltimore, we got Tex & we ain't givin' him back. Even if he got jussssst a little bit  spooked by the "welcome" booooos he got on opening day at Camden.

Now usually when the Yanks meet up with the O's in Maryland, there's about 65% Yankee fans in the stands
(I suspect most from New Jersey because it's so easy to get to from the Garden State, and Camden is so economical and family friendly.)

But not on Opening Day. It was more like 10%. To be honest, it's the first time I've felt juuuuussst a little intimidated in the friendly confines of Camden. The hostility to our newbie Tex rivaled that of the pissed off Yankee fans chanting "Who's Your Daddy" to Pedro Martinez in 2004 postgames, the noise level so intense that the Stadium literally shook.

But anyway..... it was big fun, even tho we got clobbered. My colleague Jai Wallace and I are sending huge thanks to our guests, the delightful Mary Ellen Belusci, Yankees fan Joe Zanta, and Scott Bogash of Needles; and Yvonne Dornic  of eSentio Technologies and her finace Jim Rhodes,  and Red Sox fan David Horrigan of Covington & Burling. Yvonne and Jim helped me recover from the trauma with a nightcap at their amazing restaurant, Ze Mean Bean in Fells Point.

I'm hoping tonight's game has a much happier ending for the New Yorkers. Should be interesting, as my O's rep Matt Dougherty notes: It's the Far East match-up, with Taiwan's Chien Ming Wang facing the O's new addition, Koji Uehara -- former ace of the Yomiuri Giants-- in his major league debut. And Thursday I get the pleasure of spending time with Cataphora's fascinating Susannah Smith, and Kelly Klyn, litigation technology specialist for Goodwin Procter. Can't wait!

I'm also LOVING the brand new Baltimore Hilton -- Check out the view from my room! It is literally yards from Camden, and gorgeous. But I must admit has a kinda odd color palette -- but it works: tangerine, gold, cobalt blue and lime green. So much better than 2008's obsession with chocolate and aqua (Yes, yes, yes, I watch way too much HGTV.)

Tuesday was an off day so we headed down to DC to visit with Robert Erich Jr. of Select Associates. We had a terrific conversation about how the economy is affecting the time/billing/acctg vendors -- Erich noted that his company's star* collect  product has seen quite a spike in sales in recent months. Select Associates, says Erich, specializes in a variety of add-on software that integrates with Elite, Aderant, and other T&B/A software that targets the top AmLaw firms, he explained, including data warehousing and business intelligence tools. One of the newest offerings star* targetCash which helps firms project cash flow.

I suspect that interest in these types of products will most definitely continue to jump as purse strings tighten throughout the legal industry.

Tuesday night, we had the pleasure of joining Sally Gonzalez (Baker Robbins & Co.) and Stan Wasylyk (Michael Farrell Group) for a boisterous dinner at the Hard Times Cafe in Alexandria. Years and years ago, when I was vice-chair of the ABA's Law Student Division, we had a ton of meetings in D.C. and made regular pilgrimages to the HTC. It's a lot of fun, and it was great to return, although I probably ate more carbs in one sitting than I normally eat in a month.

Sally and I can bore anyone to death when you get us talking about our adventures on United Airlines. Sally's in the coveted rareified air of Global Services -- so elite that they don't even publicize it or tell you what the membership requirements are -- but it pretty much boils down to flying overseas a lot. Sally was based in London for a long stint, and also frequently visits clients in Switzerland, so she has that elusive BLACK Mileage Plus card that the rest of us mere mortals drool over. I hope we didn't drive our companions toooo nuts but we sure had a good time comparing road warrior stories.

(Btw: this could be a very interesting year for road warriors because so many of us will probably drop at last one level in the elite tiers because so many firms/companies are reducing travel.)

So... two more days in the wonderful Inner Harbor before I head back to NYC. Of course I save the best for last.... thanks to a dear friend who is a Cubs season ticket holder I actually got tix for last Saturday's Cubs/Yanks Exhibition game at the New Stadium.

OMG, it totally takes your breath away. It's just magnificent. But the strangest thing about it is that once you are inside, in your seats, it's almost Twilight Zone Deja Vu -- because it FEELS like the old Stadium. Even the FTI ad is in its proper place. The new video screen is awesome, and the Batter's Eye is now a restaurant, but the subway still screams right by the Short Porch, the Bleacher Creatures still do roll call, and it just feels great. Only the courthouse is missing from the tableau, because of the slight change in real estate.

And making the day even more touching: the first pitch was thrown out by Captain Sully, and the USAir 1549 skyboat crew! (He was joined by the first officer Jeff Skiles and chief flight attendant Doreen Welsh.)

Saturday, Cano christened the Stadium with its first home run,  and Tex got back-to-back homers! (Jeter got the Stadium's first hit Friday night.) Joining me at the day game was the fabulous consultant Brad Blickstein, of Chicago's The Blickstein Group (above left), who took most of the photos on this page, and two terrific marketing dudes from Deloitte: Alan Numsuwan and Michael Rachlin. (We had a great conversation about off-shoring e-discovery and the impact of the economy on outsourcing.)

Two things da Yankees gotta do: 1) Get Sweet Lou (who got a standing ovation from the crowd during the Saturday game) to give us another one of  his bats to sit on top of the center field flag pole, so we can see the wind direction (Mattingly took the original from the old stadium) and 2) they HAVE to install those nylon rope bank-line things to control the concessions line from blocking traffic all the way across the huge broad concourse.

But no complaints. It's wonderful.  It's awesome. Even the birds are already finding their niches. And yes, no question about it, Aura & Mystique and the other ghosts have cheerfully crossed the street. Welcome home. 

April 8, 2009 in Baseball / Yankees, Distractions :), News & Analysis, People, Social Networking, Tech Turbulence (Economy) , Technology, Travel | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

CONNECTING BUSINESS & PLEASURE

Marc Osborn and the gang over at LexisNexis' Martindale Hubbell have now officially launched Martindale Hubbell Connect, which has been in beta for a while. Bob Ambrogi raved about it in his Web Watch column last September in Law Technology News.

As part of the launch celebrations, MHC invited six bloggers to do a mini-carnival from March 30-April 6. MHC asked us to pontificate on social networking for lawyers, and MHC is posting links to each of our blogs. I'm honored to be invited, and happy to participate — especially in such good company: LexisNexis' Kathleen Delaney started it all Monday; Rees Morrison (Law Dept. Management)  had day 2; Law.com's tech editor Sean Doherty tackled April Fool's Day; Bob Ambrogi drew the straw for Thursday;  I have the reins today, and then Larry Bodine closes it all out on Opening Day. 

Speaking of Ambrogi, he's always hipper-than-hip, and I count on him to point the way to new, kewl tech stuff. In fact, Ambrogi and Incisive Media's CEO Bill Pollak (@wpollak) can be mildly annoying to this tech editor, because they always seem find the latest greatest tech tool (or toy)  just slightly faster than I do — which I generally attribute to the fact that both of them are parents of young adults. I'm parent only to a dog and cat who somehow have not mastered the computer keyboard (give them time), but one of these days I'm determined to find something kewl before these two dudes. :)

Anyway, all three of us are now pretty damned obsessed with Twitter. Bob (@bobambrogi)  has written two great columns in the last year:  Tweet Sixteen -- in December, where he talked about 16 reasons why lawyers should take Twitter seriously, and  Let Twitter Sing, in March, where he ID'd numerous 3rd-party tools to help addicts become efficient power-users. 

Indeed, many Incisive folks have contracted Twitter fever, and others are at least testing the water. One of the latest folks to dive in is Aric Press (@aricpress), the editor-in-chief of The American Lawyer. And Incisive "entity" IDs are popping up like Spring daffodils: @AmLawDaily; @LegalTechShow; @LawTechNews; @EDDUpdate, so on and so forth.

Sean Doherty (@legaltechtrek) and I (@commonscold) are both on board, but the winner for first early adopter within Incisive is probably LTN's new associate editor, Theodora Blanchfield (@tblanchfield) -- who was twittering LONG before the I.M. Baby Boomers got wind of it -- she was singing a full year ago. 

Anyway.... for me, at first, Twitter didn't make a whole lot of sense. I thought it was fun and interesting and arguably more productive than playing BubbleBreaker on my Samsung Saga when I needed a quick break from editing. But my Eureka moment came when a story crashed, and I needed a last minute replacement. I tweeted that I was looking for a security story. Within an hour,  Vivian Tero pinged me expressing interest, and wrote an absolutely terrific article, "Dangerous Shadows," about why it's important to be careful when social networking because seemingly innocuous personal information can come back to haunt you.

I knew I was officially drinking the Kool-Aid when I moderated a panel at LegalTech New York, featuring Kevin O'Keefe (@kevinokeefe), Chris Winfield (@chriswinfield), and Matt Homann (@matthoman) -- with a cameo from Bob Ambrogi. They were awesome, and outlined even more ways to effectively use Twitter. The best takeaway was their instructions on how to use Twitter's search functions (www.search.twitter.com). My skills grew logarithmically after Guy Kawasaki's (@guykawasaki)  intoxicating keynote at our Search Engine Strategies conference in March. (See Kawasaki's link for a huge list of 3rd-party apps).

One of Kawasaki's points was that companies can use Twitter to monitor complaints and accolades, and immediately respond to customers. Sure enough, I soon experienced that first-hand.  After being stuck in Manhattan for three weeks with the Nor-eastern flu from hell, I ran into a leeeetle problem when my car battery died while I was loading up the aforementioned dog and cat to go to my upstate cottage. Of COURSE I was illegally parked (this is Manhattan!) and I went into a cold panic. I called AAA and they rescued me in 20-minutes with a battery boost, and offered such amazingly good service (they even called me back to be sure I was OK) that I tweeted about it. Sure enough, within minutes of my rave, I got a thank-you tweet from @AAAauto saying they were happy I was happy. Good customer service? You betcha. 

So what's next?  We're going to reprise the LTNY Twitter panel at LegalTech West Coast, June 25 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, at 2:15 p.m. Kevin O'Keefe and Matt Homann will be returning, joined by solo Denise Howell (@dhowell) and Baker & Hostetler associate Nina Goldberg (@Ninakat). Do join us. We've already set up a "hash tag"* for the LA show - #LTWC. (The New York panel #LTNY was widely live-Tweeted.)

Well, enough. Gotta go Twitter. I'm still looking for tix to the April 16 home opener at Yankee Stadium, and hoping that my Tweets and Facebook posts will help me find someone who wants to sell 2 tix for under $250. (No bleachers please). Sellers can reach me at monica.bay@incisivemedia.com.

Bodine's watching the store on Monday. I'll be at Camden Yards -- It's Opening Day 2009!!!

Go Yankees!

* a code so others can easily find tweets related to the topic.

April 3, 2009 in Baseball / Yankees, Distractions :), Social Networking | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

KEEPING WOMEN IN BIGLAW

Another good step towards addressing the unacceptable gender pay and promotion gaps in the legal profession that I have been ranting about since the Census figures came out last fall: Our colleagues at The National Law Journal report that 8 law firm leaders and 7 corporate GC met recently to address how both can better support flex-time and part-time policies to advance women at firms. Women make up only 17% of law firm partners, despite graduating from law school in equal numbers, studies show.

Reports Lynne Marek:

Full story here.

Hat tip to the AmLawDaily.

Update: See also this April 4  NLJ story about diversity progress.

April 2, 2009 in Diversity | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

IT'S APRIL FOOLS DAY

Kurt Leafstrand and his colleagues at Clearwell had JUST a little bit too much time on their hands yesterday: check out this "launch."   I see Mr. Ball also caught this (below).

Ditto for Google, with "CADIE." Hat tip to Sally Gonzalez.

And Klingon & Porcine Latin review capabilities  have been added to Orange Legal Technologies' portfolio.

And we hear that a BigLaw firm just got Kindle 2s for everybody.

April 1, 2009 in Distractions :) | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

DRU'S HEADED BACK TO SF

The amazing and wildly influential Drucilla Ramey is heading home to San Francisco, to become the next dean of Golden Gate University's School of Law. She's been in New York City for the last seven years, and most recently served as executive director of the National Association of Women Judges.

Here's the top of The Recorder's story. Read the full story here.

By Petra Pasternak

March 26, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO — Drucilla Ramey is back in the Bay Area, this time to head a San Francisco law school.

Golden Gate University School of Law has appointed the former longtime head of the Bar Association of San Francisco as dean-elect. She will take over the reins from acting dean Alan Ramo on Aug. 1.

The school has been searching for a new dean since Frederic White left last March to head Texas Wesleyan University School of Law.

Legal observers say that Golden Gate will benefit from Ramey's fund-raising prowess, as well as from her reputation as a champion of diversity.

"She is an icon in the city, a real force of nature," said Bingham McCutchen partner Raymond Marshall. "People just don't say no to Dru, even when you know what she's coming to ask for, which a lot of times means money." Marshall said that he personally, as well as his firm, have over the years given money to Ramey's causes.

On diversity issues, he added, "She has a national brand and that can only be good for Golden Gate University."

GGU President Dan Angel said that the law school narrowed its pool of applicants from about a dozen to four in the final round. Ramo didn't apply to be permanent dean, Angel said.

He added that Ramey brings "instant visibility," saying that there was "comfort and excitement concerning her candidacy."

March 26, 2009 in People | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

#SESNY: BUBBLING ABOUT GUY KAWASAKI

Guy Kawasaki mesmerized the SRO crowd today at the NY Hilton, when he gave the kickoff keynote address at our Search Engines Strategies conference. #SESNY.

Kawasaki is smart and irreverent, two of my favorite personality traits, and gave a crash course in using Twitter as a marketing tool. I think it will take me days to absorb all of his advice, but among the top tips:

• Retweeting is one of the best measures of your success. (How many folks re-post your posts).
• Twittercounter tracks the most popular sites (currently, @cnnbrk)
• "Forget the A list" -- instead of thinking "trickle down," it's better to have evangelists "bubble up" with enthusiasm about your products or services.
• It's important to have lots of "followers," but what really matters are "direct messages" and "@ replies."
• If you are serious about wanting to use Twitter as a marketing device, you probably want helpers who can post for you.
• Another key to success is the quality of the links that you put in your posts.

Guy demo'd a slew of third-party programs, everything from TweetDeck to ReTweetist, that he uses to monitor his own site, and his company site, Alltop.com.  He graciously offered to give attendees his bookmark list, which I will post here once we get it.

Bottom line: If you have a chance to hear Guy, don't miss it. He will make your teeth hurt with all his ideas (some, he admits, are controversial) and is big fun.

Update: here's his list.

March 24, 2009 in Conventions, Meetings, Live Programs, People, Social Networking | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

TECH TIPS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

Alan Cohen covers some fascinating nuances for international travelers trying to stay connnected overseas, in "Technology Tips for the Traveler," from Corporate Counsel magazine.

Among his tips, he warns about surfin' the web from your cell phone or  BlackBerry when abroad:

"While it's true that checking short e-mails on a BlackBerry won't break the bank while you're overseas, the story is far different when it comes to Web browsing. Much more data has to pass across the network, particularly on graphics-intensive sites, and you'll be paying-and paying-for that. You'll rack up the fees even faster if you use any GPS-type features on your device. "This is where people really get killed," says Gregson. So if you need to find a restaurant for dinner, do it the old-fashioned way: Ask someone (just not over your cell phone)."

March 19, 2009 in Technology, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

RAINMAKER'S ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PACKAGE

RainMaker Software Inc. has announced a $1 million "Law Firm Economic Assistance Package," where firms can apply for discounts on software if they pledge to "pay forward" the sum to benefit their local communities.

Says prez James Hammond, examples might include identifying new pro bono work programs for laid-off workers; helping families facing potential mortgage foreclosures; or participating in charitible organizations.

For details of the program, click here  for home page. Click here for press release.  Click here for Hammond's "Open Letter."

March 17, 2009 in Marketing, Tech Turbulence (Economy) , Technology | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)