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.

#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.

#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!!!

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!

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."

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/

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!

& 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.