BRCo & HILDEBRANDT MERGE

With last week's announcement that David Baker, left, (a longtime member of LTN's Editorial Advisory Board) was retiring from Baker Robbins & Co., I wasn't surprised to hear yesterday that Thomson Reuters' Hildebrandt International and  BRCo would merge. (TR also announced plans to lay off 240 employees in its legal businesses, according to The Wall Street Journal.)

Our colleague Zack Lowe reports in the development in yesterday's Am Law Daily:

The merger has been in the works since TR acquired BRCo in 2007, Bradford Hildebrandt said.

"He will continue to play a prominent role at the combined company while yielding day-to-day supervision to Baker CEO Brad Robbins and Hildebrandt managing director Jim Jones."

" 'It just makes enormous sense," Hildebrandt says. The two companies have been working together anyway, since a big part of helping firms become more efficient involves streamlining their tech systems,' he adds."

" 'Most firms are just not equipped with the technology to deal with changing business models the way they are going to be forced to,' Jones says. 'When you are billing all of your time on an hourly basis, the accounting system is pretty simple. But if a significant portion of your business--not a majority, but a significant portion — is based on flat fees and other alternative arrangements, the technology gets much more complicated,' " Lowe writes.

Read Lowe's complete report here.

VIRTUAL LEGALTECH

Doors Are Open! Our first Virtual LegalTech has launched.

The Exhibit Hall opened this morning at 9 a.m. Starting at 10 a.m., a new program started every hour. My program airs at 3 p.m., "IT Leadership in Turbulent Times," with Morrison & Foerster's James McKenna, and Nixon Peabody's John Roman Jr. John and I (and possibly James) will be available live for chats at 4:15 p.m. EST today (in the Lounge)!

You can catch the programs "live" today, until 5 p.m., when the doors close -- but only for about an hour. Later tonight, the site reopens, with all panels available as downloadable archives.

All the features will be up and running, including a Resource Center (TheEdgeRoom) -- the digital library, where you will find brochures, fact sheets, literature, product info, podcasts, etc. You can roam the "virtual booths" at the and even chat with folks in the Networking Lounge.

P.S. Our apologies to John Roman for adding an "and" to Nixon Peabody in our LTN Daily Alert today! We caught it JUST after the "send" button had been hit. Mea culpa! I feel like a contestant on Jeopardy who couldn't click the buzzer on time!

GOOGLE SCHOLAR POSTS CASES

The Blawgosphere was abuzz early today with news that Google "has quietly added state and federal case law and patent search to its Google Scholar search service," as well as a "How Cited" citator service. The quote's from Et Seq., the Harvard law School Library Blog. (See also, TaxProf Blog  and 3 Geeks and a Law Blog, among others.)

This follows on the heels of  Bloomberg Law's launch , and the ABA IS diving in as well.

 The Google database includes more than 80 years of federal case law, and 50+ years of state case law. Users can search full-text of the state and fed opinions, which are hyperlinked, so you can navigate from one opinion to the next.

 Long-time legal tech guru Rick Klau (left) participated in the effort. He was an early employee of FeedBurner, which was acquired by Google in June, 2007, and has been with Google ever since. Klau is now a project manager on the Blogger team at Google.

Klau has always been at the head of the cyber-pack. In law school, he founded a law review that published exclusively online.

"Fifteen years later, to have the oppportunity to be part of a team that worked to empower citizens to find and understand the laws that govern them — well, that's a thrill," says Klau. "Google's mission is to organize the world's information, and make it accessible and useful. This feels like an important step forward on delivering that mission."

We purchased a collection of opinions from a third party provider and hosted it on Google Scholar.  In addition, we include opinions are from publicly available collections such as Public.Resource.Org, the Cornell Legal Information Institute and Justia," says Klau. 

Check out the Official Google Blog for the announcement: http://googleblog.blogspot.com.

Both LexisNexis and Thomson Reuter seemed blase about the news.

LN's statement:

"Free case law is not new to the Internet and is included on some of our own sites like lexisONE, LexisWeb and lawyers.com.  However, our legal customers generally require more than raw, unfiltered content to inform their business decisions. They look to LexisNexis to find needles in the ever-growing information haystack, not the haystack itself.

Not only do we provide the most complete portfolio of public and proprietary legal content, but LexisNexis enables legal professionals to conduct their research more efficiently, effectively, and with the assurance of accuracy.  The LexisNexis legal research service provides critical analysis and commentary such as Mathew Bender, citation analysis like Shepard’s, deep online linkages built over time to relevant content, and unique functionality such as pinpoint searching by topic or by complex legal phrases.

Our goal is to deliver relevant, reliable results that enable our customers to make informed decisions faster."

Says Thomson Reuter: "Google has shared with us their plans to expand Google Scholar to include the search of publicly available caselaw and some legal journals. We believe that government-authored information should be accessible to the public, and Google joins existing sites such as FindLaw, the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University Law School and scores of others as sites that offer this information free of charge.

Our customers rely on us for very specialized information and legal insight, and use Westlaw to find exactly the right answer on very specific points of law."

Hat tip to Ross Fishman, of Fishman Marketing.

Click to enlarge photo.

Update: Among the reaction to the news:

Twitter: @davidcurle: Pity the lawyers of the world who are about to be WebMD'd by clients who think they know the law b/c they read it on Google.

@davidcurle: You knew this was coming, Google adds case law to Google Scholar. Nice links to other sources. http://tinyurl.com/yalbjwe

Ashby Jones at the Wall Street Journal picked up the post: http://tinyurl.com/tcs9183.

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/

MADOFF WATCH

Interested in following the Bernie Madoff mess?  Catch up on Twitter: @amlawdaily  or @Madoff_watch, or at The American Lawyer website.

J. CRAIG WILLIAMS JOINS SEDGWICK

One of our favorite people, the suave and sophisticated J. Craig Williams, has joined Sedgwick! Williams joins as a partner based in the firms Orange County office, along with Joseph McFaul, who joins as special counsel.

Both were formerly members of WLF | The Williams Lindberg Law Firm, a boutique firm based in Newport Beach, Calif.

Craig not only is a member of the LTN edit board, but is co-podcaster with our Bob Ambrogi, on LegalTalkNetwork's Lawyer2Lawyer, and is one of my podcasting mentors. Plus he actually was willing to be seen in public with me at Angels Stadium when the Yanks played the Angels last year. (I was, of course, in full Pinstripes, always fun at away games). That is courage, my friends. That's him (right) at the little celebration we held for him at LegalTech West Coast, for the release of his delightful book, How to Get Sued.

Congrats Craig and Joseph. Full release here.

LAW TECHNOLOGY NEWS DAILY ALERT

We've just launched

our new Law Technology News Daily Alert! If you'd like to subscribe, you can -- right here. The first edition includes a link to a hot story about Guidance Software, which is being grilled about absent memos -- did the
E-Discovery company bumble its own internal digital search?

Check out the story here.

MICROSOFT DEBUTS WINDOWS PHONE

Looks like the mothership is going to take on Cupertino again:  -- Microsoft has debuted a Windows Phone. http://tinyurl.com/tcs217

Excerpt:

BARCELONA, Spain — Feb. 16, 2009 — Today at Mobile World Congress 2009, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer along with key mobile partners, HTC, LG and Orange, unveiled new Windows phones featuring new user-friendly software and services. The next generation of Windows phones will be based on Windows Mobile 6.5 and feature a new user interface and a richer browsing experience. In addition, Windows  phones will feature two new services: My Phone, to sync text messages, photos, video, contacts and more to the Web; and Windows Marketplace for Mobile, a new marketplace that will provide direct-to-phone mobile applications and can be accessed from both the phone and the Web.

WHAT LIES BENEATH

With the news of layoffs at two EDD providers (i365/Metalincs and SPi), I thought you might want a sneak preview of Craig Ball's column "What Lies Beneath."

Ball warns us to be sure we have considered how to protect our firms and clients should a vendor evaporate.

View it here  or download it here: Download Ball_In_Your_Court

BLACKBERRYS & PDAS SAVE LAWYERS

Bob Ambrogi writes on Legal Blog Watch about three members of our community who survived the horrific attacks in Mumbai, aided by their BlackBerrys and international cell phones. Check it out here.

Here's a harrowing excerpt:

For Australian lawyer David Jacobs, trapped in a room on the 16th floor of the Oberoi/Trident Hotel, his BlackBerry proved to be his salvation, according to the Sunday Mail. Hiding in a closet, the 58-year-old Baker & McKenzie lawyer exchanged a stream of e-mails with his family in Sydney and two U.S. security experts.

"I don't know if I'm going toget out of this and I love you and I love the kids, and we've had a great life together," he wrote in one e-mail to his wife. Throughout the ordeal, he received advice from security experts on escape options and what to do if taken hostage.

GE SUES ITS FORMER ATTY

Our colleague Sue Reisinger of  Corporate Counsel has this story out today:

Here's the first graf:

General Electric Co. has now seen two in-house lawyers end up in court -- as its opponents. In June, GE sued a one-time staff attorney, claiming that she took privileged company tax documents and gave them to two government agencies and
a reporter. The materials apparently described an alleged tax fraud scheme by a GE division in Brazil. In a separate case last year, the general counsel of one of the company's U.S. subsidiaries brought a gender discrimination class action against GE.