The Common Scold is named after a cause of action that originated in Pilgrim days, when meddlesome, argumentative, opinionated women who displeased the Puritan elders were punished by a brisk dunk in the local pond. Believe it or not, the tort lasted until 1972, when State v. Palendrano, 120 N.J. Super. 336, 293 A.2d 747 (N.J.Super.L., Jul 13, 1972) pretty much put it to rest. But the thought of those feisty women, not afraid of a little cold water, has always cheered me up and inspired me. I first used the moniker as the name of my humor column at the University of San Francisco School of Law many moons ago, and revive it now for this blawg!
"Life is not a spectator sport. ... If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion, you're wasting your life.
*And now, with no further ado (drum roll please! cue the music!) Here it is -- the one place where I break all my rules about jargon, about explaining references, defining acronyms, or avoiding insider stuff. It's the one, the only, .....
NEW YORK YANKEES BOX
Rumor Du Jour
27 for the Boss!!!!: Congrats to the World Champion New York Yankees. Parade time!
She Fan Doll Interview: This is hilarious From She Fan Jane (Heller)
Nick's 0.0 ERA: So far, I'd have to say, one of my all-time favorite moments of the 2009 season has to be seeing Swisher pitch, and generating the best ERA of the entire pitching staff this year. (Former Yankee Nick Green also pitched this year in a recent Red Sox game.) Here's Swisher's post-game interview.
Happy Birthday Torii Hunter wrecks a birthday party :)
Red Sox' Faustian 2004 Nightmare: Al Podboy forwarded an absolutely hysterical parody of the MasterCard commercial where Red Sox fans pledged first born children (and more) if their team won the world series -- and guess what! It's PAYBACK TIME!
He said: "It should be an interesting playoff race. The Sox started strong and finished weak, pitifully weak. The Yankees started weak and are now playing their best ball. Only time will tell if it'll last."
She said:
She said: Congratulations to Tito and everyone (except Papplebon who I cannot stand) for a strong year. We’ll see you at Fenway in April.
SICK OF LAW? Are you aching for a career change? Check out this job. (Yes, we know they ain't saying nuttin' about da money). But we can dream, can't we? :)
The American Lawyer has been tracking the earthquakes that have been reconstructing large firms for about a year now. Editor Aric Press, in a recent update on the Am Law Daily, notes that not all expectations have materialized: outside investors aren't quite breaking down law firm doors, and "the transformational technology remains a slow-gestating messiah"; but "there are plenty of disparate events that support the observation that this business change is more than just a sideshow."
Among the signs: Half of the TAL's "A-List" firms have started alternative fee arrangements with important clients (e.g., Pfizer, Citibank). "If Microsoft could chop K&L Gates and Sullivan & Cromwell from its preferred provider list, what client-firm relationship is inviolate?" Press asks.
And more firms are exploring legal process outsourcing, be it to Bangalore or Bangor. Firms may want to heed the advice of Microsoft GC Brad Smith: "Work on process improvement. That's the holy grail for us."
As Press observes: "Think of it this way: Why is it that law firms are the only businesses in which increasing productivity is a measure of how many more hours a lawyer bills rather than how more efficient she has become?"
Read more on the Am Law Daily here. And check out TAL's 2009 Law Firm Leaders Survey here.
Today's multifunction devices generate basic data — such as copy counts, who is using the device, and when (and how) it requires maintenance, notes Rick Cruz, executive director of Fort Worth's Cantey Hanger.
But with a little boost from third-party software vendors, such as nQueue Billback, Equitrac and Omtool, law firms can get even more sophisticated data. Why would you want more data? Because you can use it to analyze your workflows, which can save you money, increase efficiency and maximize profits.
If you're constantly searching for wi-fi hot spots, it might be time to invest in a mobile broadband card, says Brett Burney.
Many providers offer the option to use your mobile phone as a wireless modem, but the dedicated cards "require less fuss," says Burney, a Cleveland-based consultant. And, he notes, the cards can be used to create a personal, secure "hot-spot" that can be shared with others.
CradlePoint's PHS300 Personal Wi-Fi Hotspot router is one option, another is the MiFi 2200, offered by Sprint Nextel. The instant connectivity can be particularly handy for traveling litigators (think instant war rooms) or for anyone stuck at an airport. But before you pull out the plastic, check your existing contract for any restrictions, and read the fine print of costs and fees, cautions Burney.
My aforementioned boss, Aric Press, editor-in-chief of The American Lawyer, wrote a lights-out great editorial in the November issue , challenging law firms to accelerate into the curves and make seven key decisions about how to run their law practices.
They are all spot-on, but I particularly liked two. Predictably, "Mine Your Technology," but even more, "Embrace the Suck."
Says Press: "That's military jargon for being caught in a difficult situation and
having to deal with it. Law firms and their lawyers are in the throes
of choosing whether to adjust to, resist, or embrace the fallout from
the economic calamities. Virtually every major firm has altered its
billing practices, at least on the margins, in order to accommodate
client demands for fixed, alternative, or hybrid fees. What's unclear
is whether firms are, well, embracing the suck: Are they using this
period to analyze their work flow and staffing, and then seek ways to
do their work differently, more efficiently, and just as profitably?
Or, are they begrudging, and counting the months until a robust sellers
market returns? That's a process question -- which lawyers are good at -- and a taste for risk question -- which lawyers are poor at. G.I.s
have a term for the consequences of making the wrong choice: FUBAR."
To celebrate the World Series and the 2009 season, I thought it might be a good time to highlight tech tools available to baseball fans.
FutureLawyer's Rick George was the first to turn me onto ScorePad, which helps you score the game on your PDA. Says Georges: "The best thing is the daily MLBStats upload, which keeps the user current for every player every day."
I've shelled out a lot of money for a lot of baseball tech: I was a charter subscriber to XM Radio; and fought hard to save Extra Innings (which lets you watch almost every MLB game on TV). I even have a silly Derek Jeter message that greets callers on my cell phone.
One tech I did not like was MLB TV, which theoretically allows you to watch any game on your computer when you are out-of-market. I tried it in 2007 and it was dreadful, for a slew of reasons I won't elaborate in much detail here, other than to say the customer service was awful (45-minute waits on the phone were typical), and the system rarely recognized that you were not at home, insisting you were subject to a blackout. I suggested that it could be easily solved by simply having users (already vetted via passwords) type in the zip code where they were located, but was repeatedly told that "ohh nooo somebody might lie." (What are the odds that a significant # of users who pay $100/season for the service are going to lie?)
Anyway... I revisited computer TV feeds during the American League Championship Series, when the Yankees played Anaheim in a day game on Oct. 19. To my surprise, I could not find any live internet radio feed and I didn't have an AM radio handy to hear our local broadcast on WCBS. I figured it wouldn't be politically correct to leave work at 4 -- or to pretend to work in our lunchroom -- so I broke down and spent $9.95 to buy the new computer postseason.tv package.
I was pleasantly surprised. Produced in affiliation with Fox, it wasn't the same as watching the Fox game on TV, but it was pretty damned good. You get Joe Buck's microphone; and can watch four (out of eight possible) camera angles. It even has Twitter integration, but I didn't try that.
It took a while to get used to, but overall, it was a satisfying alternative (for the desperate) to watch/listen to the Yankees, who lost a tight game that went 11 innings.
Sometimes, it takes a change in our routine to appreciate how fast we adapt to change.
I had jury duty this week, which presented an abrupt change to my normal routine. I am also nursing a sprained ankle. So Tuesday, when I was ordered to report to 100 Centre Street (if you watch Law & Order, you know the building) I decided to splurge and take a cab to the courthouse — rather than try to negotiate the subway (which has a lot of stairs). I didn't think it would be a good idea to be hobbling along in an unfamiliar neighborhood in the early morning rain with my leg in a cast.
In my nervousness about getting to the court on time, I decided to take only my computer bag, and accidentally left my cell phone at home. I settled into the jury room, which has wi-fi access, pulled out my loaner laptop, and quickly realized that I was completely screwed. The loaner (mine is still in the Apple hospital after my logic board fried in Florida last week) didn't have our VPN software installed -— and I had no way to call our help desk. To make matters worse — we just switched our Outlook Web Access domain name and I had not memorized the URL.
Then I remembered — I have a Google Gmail account! So I e-mailed the help desk and, within minutes, the remote IT calvary was at my side.
First, they e-mailed me the OWA info so I could log onto my regular e-mail. Then sent me clear instructions on how to download and activate Cisco VPN software — and voila I was in the VPN. Good so far, but my then my Entourage wasn't synching. Within minutes, the help-desk crew remotely accessed my machine and got Entourage running.
Total time: about 15 minutes. Result: instead of fuming and losing several unproductive work hours when I wasn't in a courtroom, I was able to crank away.
For all the whining I do about technology, this adventure made me smile with satisfaction.
Huge KUDOS to James Mackey and our IT team. Everybody has to endure the hurry-up-and-wait of jury duty, but thanks to our IT team, I was able to take full advantage of the "wait" time. What a difference from even a few years ago, when even one of the above problems would have knocked me out of commission, and so bored I would be counting the ceiling tiles! Technology -- and great IT staff -- really do make a difference.
And even luckier: we got sprung early! So I've done my civic duty now and New York promises not to call me again for six years!
Vote! Yes, it’s that time again — for you to tell us which vendors should receive our 2009 LTN Vendor Awards! The online ballot is survey style, and will take just a few minutes to complete! Deadline: November 15. (You will need your account number, from your mailing label — e-mail Kerry Kyle kkyle@alm.com if you can’t find it.) Click here to vote.
We are also accepting nominations for our juried LTN Awards, which honor law firms, law departments, and consultants. Categories include: IT Director of the Year, IT Champion of the Year, Consultant of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Most Innovative Use of Technology in a Law Firm, a Law Department, a Trial, and Pro Bono Project.
This year, for the first time, we will be present the LTN Lifetime Achievement Award — I will be making the selection of that individual. Candidates must be 55+, and I welcome nominees. There are no restrictions: it can be a lawyer, a paralegal, a vendor, a CIO — anyone in our wonderful legal technology community is eligible.
As is our tradition, the remainder of the juried awards will be selected by three distinguished members of our LTN Editorial Advisory Board: Andrew Adkins III, of the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law; Fredric Lederer, of the William & Mary School of Law; and David Whelan, of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Priority Process: My computer died Friday while I was at ARMA (the long-established records management group holding its annual meeting in Orlando) -- and I had to rely on old-fashioned journalism to file my Friday Law Technology News Daily Alert -- I phoned it into the "copydesk" (a.k.a. my wonderful San Francisco colleague Sean Doherty) in order to make my deadline.
The subject of my alert was a terrific late Thursday panel, that was offered as part of the ARMA/ILTA "Lit Con" Legal Information Technology Conference at the World Center Marriott. The experience reminded me of how important process is to accomplish business objectives when exceptional events occur.
And that was the theme of "Processing Departing Attorneys," which featured Thomas Paradise, general counsel of Fox Rothschild, and Mary Pat Poteet, (left) director of litigation support for DLA Piper U.S., and moderator Charlene Wacenske, manager of firmwide records for Morrison & Foerster.
For two hours the panel discussed the challenges managers face when attorneys leave the firm -- whether amicably or unexpectedly — and especially when departees demand to take records with them. In these events, the panel agreed, process is a priority to maintain a consistent and compliant response.
A key goal is to create protocols that help all involved provide an orderly transition of client files, whether they are going with the lawyer to a new firm, or not. It also helps to have established procedures so that everyone knows how voicemail, e-mail and snail mail will be handled, the panelists said.
Another tip: create a checklist, and in so doing, to solicit ideas from all affected corners of the firm. Designate one person to maintain the list, they suggested. Select a method to insure that all affected personnel receive timely notice of depending departures, and create a SWAT team for sudden disability, deaths, or immediate departures, the panelists advised.
Wacenske said that MoFo has created a Sharepoint site to help the workflow, and Paradise reminded everyone to "make sure your checklist mirrors your other policies." The checklist, they noted, can also help the organization when dealing with litigation holds.
Later Friday, after filing the alert, I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Ray Davis and Steve Fulmer, of "Inside the Records Room," and you can listen to the podcast here. We discussed a wide range of topics, from e-discovery to social media. (Huge thanks to the ARMA marketing team, especially Jeff Randolph and Ashley Flynn.)
I also had a chance to talk with a few of the vendors at ARMA, including EMC, Autonomy, and DocuLex. It was a quick visit, but very educational.
And there was good news, when I limped back to the office -- inspired, but exhausted -- and of course, nursing a Disney-land cold (I do not like traveling in economy on planes full of small children with runny noses). I fried my logic board but not my hard drive!
So my MacBookPro is off to the Apple hospital but should Lazarus AOK. (Why do these things ALWAYS happen at deadline?) Thanks to my IT team for scurrying up a spare laptop for me to limp with until my not-really-beloved MBP arrives home OK. (From now on, I'm never goin' nowhere w/o my Dell). But ya never know how much you like your computer until it crashes.
Many lawyers have embraced time-and-billing technology to help them track workflows and improve the accuracy of bills. But you may not know that there are even more tools that can help you "work smarter, not harder," says David Whelan, manager of legal information for the Law Society of Upper Canada, and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Law Technology News.
New software is even more nuanced -- and can help legal professionals capture elusive billable time that is often lost, such as time spent in online research. Whelan reviews three products: Chrometa 2, Worktime 4.2 and TimeSprite 2.1. From the October issue ofLaw Technology News.
Our former ALM colleagues, Edward Adams and Molly McDonough, have just completed a two-week road trip -- one component of the ABA Journal's "Legal Rebels: Remaking the Profession" project. Adams is now the editor and publisher of the ABAJ; McDonough is the online assistant managing editor. They were joined on the tour by reporter Rachel Zahorsky and video dude John McQuiston.
The idea of the project was to identify lawyers who have changed the practice of law, and to report using just about every conceivable type of media: video, audio podcasts, wikis, photo slideshows, flicker, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. They even offered a "song of the day" during transit.
Taking full advantage of sponsor product placement (Hertz provided the SUV, Sprint the phones and Starwood the crashpads), the journey started in Boston and ended up in Washington, D.C.
Hats off to the ABAJ team for an ambitious adventure that demonstrates the strengths (and some of the weaknesses) of the exciting and sometimes overwhelming new technologies we are all grappling to understand and use.
From the Connecticut Law Journal, via LTN Daily Alert:
By Douglas S. Malan The idea was born out of necessity. Greenwich, Conn., software developer Chris Schoenfeld was working
irregular hours in New York City and needed access to updated
Metro-North commuter train schedules for Grand Central Station. He
couldn't access those schedules as he rode the subway to the train
station because of lack of Internet access.
So he developed a software program for Apple's iPhone, which allows
people to access train information without an Internet connection. "I
developed the application for myself, and I knew others would
appreciate it," Schoenfeld said.
Monty Lunn has answered the siren call of New Orleans, and moved back. He most recently was a director at Huron Consulting Group. We'll letcha know when he gets settled in with new contact info.
* Connie Moser, formerly of Elite, has joined another Elite-ite, Mark Goldin at American LegalNet. Goldin's the new CTO, Moser's the new marketing director She'll be at ILTA so you can reconnect with her there, or reach her here.
*Angelique Schaffer checks in from Thomson Reuters to advise us that Legal Current has replaced Westblog. Check it out!
* Herbert Roitblat of Oratec forwards this encouraging article chastizing local governments for their version of "solution-speak." Note the list of 200 no-no words, including "beaconicity," "holistic governance," and "incentivising."
* Better late than never: This slipped thru my inbox cracks, so it's a bit old now, but still interesting: Katherine Petusek, of the National Association of Women Lawyers and its foundation, are conducting a fourth annual survey on retention and promotion of women in the largest 200 U.S. firms. Contact Cheryl Oblander here for an update. Copies of past surveys can be viewed here.
*Finally, a treat courtesy of SheFanJane (Jane Heller). A fun YouTube that you can embedding where appropriate. (BTW, she just featured an excerpt of my book review of her terrific new book, Confessions of a She-Fan) on her book's website (scroll down below "advanced praise.") Full review here. And I've also started posting my book reviews on Amazon (username Monica Bay. We'll use it to close out this edition of TCS:
You turned me on to Chris Anderson’s book, The Long Tail, via The Common Scold, and I’ve recommended it to several friends and colleagues since then. I was pleasantly surprised to find that his new book, entitled “Free: The Future of a Radical Price,” is available in audio format on Apple iTunes’ home page for FREE (literally) as of yesterday.
It will likely stay free through next Tuesday, so you may want to tell your readers about it. I downloaded it yesterday and have been listening to it on my DC commute. Anderson mentions in the book that he has been experimenting with his publisher about ways to share his book for free, and this is apparently one of the ways he’s elected to do so.
Because he’s chosen to give me the audio book for free, I plan to go to Amazon.com and buy 2-3 copies of the book to give to family and friends. I want his experiment to be financially favorable!
Anyway, I thought you would enjoy reading (listening) to this book and telling your loyal Common Scold readers about this exciting opportunity.
Jon Moreland
Vice President of Sales, eTERA Consulting Washington, D.C.
Mon update: I'm a half-hour into it, and already hooked. Check out Malcolm Gladwell's review in The New Yorker (hat tip to David Brown).
Bye Bye Dome.... The 7th annual Twins/Yanks fest was, as always, Big Fun -- a chance to connect with the terrific Twins Cities tech community and say goodbye to the Metrodome... (well, unless we meet again in October!)
As always, it was a jam-packed three days of vendor meetings and beisbol! We started off the trip with our annual visit to Thomson Reuters, with huge thanks to John Shaughnessy (far left), Gretchen DeSutter (below) and Scott Augustin (left) for setting up a day of helpful briefings. We had a chance to say a quick hello to Allison Guidette, who has returned to Eagan as vp of litigation (she was headed to the airport for a trip west); then visited with Preston McKenzie, vp of Hubbard One (which includes ContactNet, Hubbard One and Monitor Suite). Then we got a fascinating update from Rob Sargeson, senior vp & CIO, about the company's expansion plans for its massive data centers.
Over a yummy evil midwest lunch, (TR's commissary is just too tempting!) Mike Abbott and Stephanie Krause updated us on pro bono projects designed to help displaced legal professionals. It's always great to see vp Laurie Zenner and the corporate communications team, which also includes Kevin Hunt and Michele Endgahl in addition to the aforementioned folks.
Then Denis Hauptly (vp strategic development), who has just returned from a long stint in Switzerland, offered his mighty wisdom about uber search and other trends on the horizon. Here's a link to his new book, Something Really New, which I will be reading shortly!
Next on the agenda was a briefing on the Westlaw Business' global outreach, with marketing vp Gus Thompson) and sr. director Rob Kirchstein (with Gretchen, above). The day wrapped up with sr. director Brian Knudsen mktg mgr John Vonhor offering me a tour of the company's PeopleMap public information software that helps everybody from litigators to skip tracers track down 411 on folks.
Before I headed to the Dome with Teri "Jersey Girl" McCarron and Teddy Lindgren for game 1 of the Twins/Yanks series, Incisive's Michael Medwig and Marnie Maroney (below left in white shirt, with Paul Godlewski from Thomson Reuters) and I visited 3M -- with mktg communications mgr Joan Olseen and Erik Johnson for an update on the company's popular RFID system that helps law firms and companies track their paper files.(BTW, apparently Teri is not the only "JG" in Mpls -- check out the license plate I saw at Thomson Reuter parking lot!)
Day 2 began with an update from NightOwl, which offers document management services. Scott Sterkel, director of sales and mktg, told us how the company is growing with its e-discovery offerings.
Then it was off to Eden Praire to meet up with the Kroll Ontrack gang, including Christian Betancourt and Megan Kubacki, (left). Kaitlin Shinkle regaled us with reports on her June wedding at the St. Paul hotel (Congrats! plus a shout out to Michelle Lange, who is on maternity leave!)
Finally, we had a very interesting meeting with Avantstar's Matt Knudson about the company's content management system, and how they are getting increasing traction within the e-discovery community.
Then it was to the Dome for the Twins/Yanks fest. Thanks to everybody who joined us, including LTN edit board members George Socha and Tom Gelbmann (right); consultants LaVerne Pritchard and Linda Ulbrich. As usual, the gangs from Thomson Reuters and Kroll.
The Dorsey & Whitney crew included partner Melissa Krasnow, left in red -- who with colleague Nick Ackerman, was the star of our May Law Technology Now podcast. Next to Krasnow is her friend, General Mills counsel Cam Hoang. Also from Dorsey was Patrick Courtemanche (in light blue shirt) who has joined the firm's marketing department, with Dorsey marketing colleague Bob Kleiber (in royal blue shirt).
We were also thrilled that LTN's former associate editor Katie Montgomery could come north from Iowa to be with us! Incisive's Rob Hafiz of LegalTech also joined in the fun, as did Curt Meltzer of Meltzer Consulting, and Sean Solberg, of Faegre & Benson (far right).
BTW, we send our best wishes to Linda Will, who's on the DL, for a speedy recovery, and a shout-out to Amy Juers, who missed her first Twins/Fest because she was in California (good excuse!).
Huge thanks to Luis Breazeale of the Twins for all his help getting us such great seats (behind home plate!) It was a great, tight game, a nailbiter all the way to the end, when
Mariano faced Mauer, and for only the third time in our seven year Twins/Yanks
fest history, the Yanks actually won. (Sorry, Minnesota fans :) On top of the good game, one of our rows was selected as the Hormel Hot Dog Row of the Game -- so everybody in the middle of our group got a free hot dog! What a hoot!!
Day 3 started with a few "issues" with my Garmin Nuvi 200 -- actually, it wasn't the tech's fault, it was my fault for not updating the maps. The Twins City is undergoing a massive amount of construction (Three people told me the same joke: "Minnesota has two seasons: winter and road construction") and the whole area is completely chewed up (especially downtown) rivaling Boston's Big Dig. Trying to get to Roseville to meet up with the Merrill gang, I could not find an open on-ramp to 35W North -- and ended up almost at Bloomington trying to get north. I am soooo updating my maps before my next adventure!
But because I'm paranoid and always leave extra time to find new places, even with Garmin's 90% reliable "Jill," I pulled into the parking lot just at the meeting time. Thanks to Leonard Lee and the Merrill team for a terrific conversation about social networking, e-discovery and all the challenges they present. We enjoyed meeting with marketers Scott Snyder, Diana Lepper, and Dawn Edwards!
Finally, before heading back home, I had a chance to visit with Jon Bream, my colleague from my days at the Minnesota Daily, who is the veteran music critic at the Star Tribune. (His latest "coffee table" book is Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin). We headed to Wasabi, which I highly recommend as a terrific Japanese restaurant right about halfway between the Guthrie theater and the Dome.
We noticed a lovely new restaurant in the same complex, Sanctuary, and took the opportunity to get a quick tour from Michael Kutscheid, owner and GM. The charming bistro also has a sweet outdoor garden -- and I definitely plan to visit it on my next trip to Minnesota, hopefully in October!
And if not for post-season, we'll look forward to returning next year for OUTDOOR baseball at the new Target Field (we'll bring our down coats).
* Ipro Techhad 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.
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!
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!
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."
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.
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
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 Hallwants 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 LTNcolleagueTheodora 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.
• 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.
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 ofCovington & 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.
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)."
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.
Had a fascinating visit today with a specialist in retinas. At first, I was pretty frustrated because you have to wait a lonnnnnng time to see the doctor, but once you're in the exam room, Dr. Kenneth Wald is the model of efficiency. (A good sign: his support staff are awesome, and his patients looooove him -- in fact, when I was getting antsy, two of them told me to chill out, that he's worth the wait.)
And he's the first specialist I have ever been to who literally dictates his medical report AS he examines you. Wald uses a Bluetooth microphone (just like a cell phone mic) that feeds to his BlackBerry. Of course I had to ask how it worked.
The audio file is shipped immediately to India, he explained. By the time Wald has walked his dog at about 5:30 a.m.tomorrow, he'll have all of today's letters to review as he drinks his morning coffee. He makes any changes he wants, prints and signs the letters, and then his staff puts them in envelopes, and mails them to the referring doctors.
Sometimes, Wald says, if a case is particularly interesting or challenging, he will do some medical research and add more info to the letter before it goes out. Fortunately for me, my eyes were neither interesting nor challenging, so the letter to my opthamologist Dr. Julia Katz should be in the mail tomorrow morning.
* Matt Kesner, CIO of Fenwick & West, says everybody should take on as many new duties as they possible, and “prove every day that you are worth employing.”
* Says Kraft Kennedy’s CTO Marcus Bluestein: “It’s easier to let a name go than a face,” so work on building your relationships with attorneys!
* Concurs Henry Chase, CIO of Burns & Levinson: “Show your worth. Share your knowledge. Stay on top of technology.”
Video CLE: Ellis Mirsky says Trial.com www.trial.com, now offers free video CLE programs. Tarrytown N.Y.'s Mirsky is exec director and GC of Trial.com, which is a network of trial lawyers and firms. They are also offering litigation management podcasts on iTunes.
Economy crunch: Samantha Carlin, of Steven Brill's Clear, says even if your law firm or company is not reimbursing users for membership in its program that helps frequent fliers circumvent long TSA lines, Clear will still set up employee discount programs, and can send over its mobile enrollment kiosk. I absolutely love Clear, especially when I'm flying in/out of JFK and SFO. Its staff are professional, courteous, and savvy. (Usual caveat: Brill used to be my boss.) Interested? Contact Carlin here.
John Bringarder, news editor at Law.com, caught this enticing post on Above the Law about some of the severe cutbacks at BigLaw.... including a decision by Locke Lord to shift from Lexis to LoisLaw to cut research costs. ATL also broke the classic gaffe story about the chatty commuter on Acela who loudly discussed pending layoffs at Pillsbury.
David Henderson chronicled this little faux pas by Ketchum's James Andrews who, when arriving at Memphis, carelessly Twittered that he was underwhelmed by client FedEx's home town -- which created quite the brouhaha. (Hat tip to Donna Payne for spotting it.)
As the snow falls in NYC, catchin' up on the incoming:
* Adobe's Rick Borstein checks in to let us know that he's been working with Evermap.com, "to get a special plug-in for Acrobat so that users can write directly on PDFs. This helps firms to save time and avoid printing.There’s an article on my blog and a video demo," here. This is for users of Tablet PCs.
* Shawnna Childress of Women in EDiscovery have an option for those of you who can't attend the sold-out LTN Awards Dinner on Feb 2 (Monday) during LTNY: They are presenting a reception, along with the National Association of Women Lawyers, to support the Susan G Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer. It will be held at the New York Hilton, in Concourse A, from 6 pm to 8 p.m. Drinks, appetizers and entertainment will be provided, and they are asking for a minimum donation of $25. Check out details here -- or e-mail here with your RSVP.
* Nigel Murray of Trilantic is participating a "Band of Brothers Bike Ride," to be held in May, which will ride the 340-mile route of the Allies' liberation of France in 1945. It will raise money for Help for Heroes, which supports young men and women who have lost limbs during combat. You can help him reach his goal of raising 2,000 pounds -- details here.
* United Airlines is expected to announce the availability of broadband wi-fi on its transcontinental "P.S." flights from NY to California. Check out Chicago Trib story here. Hat tip to mom for seeing it first. Whoopeee (altho this will cut into my movie-watching time.)
I am thrilled to announce the winners of the Law Firm/Law Dept. 2008 LTN Awards, which will be presented on Monday, Feb. 2 at our LTN Awards dinner:
The
judges were Andrew Adkins III, of the University of Florida Law School;
Fredric Lederer, of the College of William & Mary School of Law;
and David Whelan, of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
The winners are: IT Director of the Year: Constance Hoffman, Bryan Cave
Champion of IT: Joy Heath Rush, Sidley Austin
The Most Innovative of Technology: — in a Law Firm: Outlaw, Fish & Richardson — In-House: Vulcan Legal Exchange, Vulcan — In a Trial: Hynix Trial, Bartko Zankel — in a Pro Bono Project: Weil Gotshal
And the judges created a new category, which will continue forward:
Consultant of the Year: Donna Payne
And I am also thrilled to announce that we will launch a new category, Lifetime Achievement Award,
to honor a legal technology leader (55+) who has contributed mightily
to our community. I will judge this category — so start thinking of
nominations for next year!
Here are a few personal tech resolutions, from the Dec. issue of Law Technology News: (More on the website).
During these challenging economic times, I hereby resolve to adopt the following as my vendor relations credo, as first enunciated by professors Jagger and Richards in 1968: "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, well you might find — you get what you need." I will focus on getting my vendors to provide what I need, both in cost and product, rather than what I want. — Alvin Podboy, Baker & Hostetler, Cleveland
To learn the difference between — and the benefits and shortcomings of — blogs, twitter, IM, and all other new forms of instant communication. — Trisa Thompson, Dell Inc., Round Rock, Texas
To try to be disciplined enough to establish regular "read and respond" hours for e-mail, versus managing my day via e-mail and social media updates. Less distraction — more focus. — Rob Robinson, Orange Legal Technologies, Austin
I've become increasingly frustrated with bugs and other issues with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista. While I plan to continue using Vista, I resolve to buy an Apple Inc. MacBook Pro for home and become expert in OS X— Jack Newton, Themis Solutions/Clio, Vancouver, B.C.
To try and use less technology and reintroduce myself to my family.— Thomas Baldwin, Reed Smith, Los Angeles
To differentiate what I want from what I really need, and then to stay away from impulse gadgets and purchases. — Donna Payne, Payne Consulting Group, Seattle
• To listen to at least one of the legal technology webinars that I registered for. • To stop believing that I will start writing a blog when I get some time. • To better advocate the merits of novel processes and technologies by concealing my enthusiasm with skepticism. • To revert to saying "discovery" now that we all know that relevant electronically stored information is always included. • To refuse to deliver a CLE program on the 2006 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. — Paul Brabant, Epiq Systems Inc., Washington, D.C.
* Kevin O'Keefe checks in to advise us that he has just launched beta of lextweet.com. Sez he is "changing text Friday to make clear it is open to all legal community, not just lawyers." Kinda a mini-Twitter, interesting!
* Ross Kodneroffers 33 New Year's resolutions here. His # 1 prediction: at least 10% of AmLaw 100 firms will collapse by year's end. "The era of the megafirm is over. Heller Ehrman and Thelen are history. Who’s next? (Take a look at these websites - it’s positively chilling - when Goliath falls, he falls hard."
* Related topic: "Will BigLaw firms gain -- or lose-- business in tough economic times? Integreon's Ron Friedman has an interesting dialogue going on his blog, PrismLegal, here. (Hat tip to WP.)
* Turbulent skies: A holiday message from United's pilots:
December 16, 2008
To our passengers, As the Holiday Season approaches, the professional pilots of United Airlines want to assure our passengers that whether you are headed home to share the holidays with loved ones or enjoying vacation travel, we'll continue to go the extra mile to make sure that you get to your destinations in comfort with minimum stress and inconvenience. We are very much aware that the friendly skies have become less friendly in recent times because of increased costs, reduced flights and cutbacks in in-flight service and amenities. We have been at the forefront when it comes to resisting these cost-cutting initiatives because we do not believe that our passengers should be penalized for the mistakes of United's management. We still feel that way and are still fighting the fight on behalf of our passengers. As we get into the winter months, we want you to know that United is an all-weather airline. United pilots pioneered many of the safety innovations such as onboard weather radar, anti-skid brakes, enhanced weather forecasting, and improved navigation instruments that allow safe operation in inclement weather. And we will not allow our airline to fabricate excuses for not serving the needs of our passengers. On behalf of United's professional pilots, we want to extend our best wishes to all for a joyous Holiday Season. We will continue to do all that we can to make the skies friendlier for our valued passengers who continue to be our number one priority.
--The Pilots of United Airlines United Chapter, Air Line Pilots Association
The results are in for the 2008 LTN Vendor Awards, as voted by YOU, our readers. Full list is here.
This year, there are three tiers of winners: gold/silver/bronze.
Here's the New Product of the Year: Gold - Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, Adobe Systems Inc. Silver - Tabs3 & PracticeMaster 14.3, Software Technology Inc. Bronze - Clearwell E-Discovery Platform, Clearwell Systems.
Kewl story todayon the Yankee's website about how Cisco Systems Inc. has wired the new Yankee Stadium, which will open in April. Among the infrastructure is Cisco's Telepresence conferencing system, which LTN wrote about last February.
Cisco's already installed about $16 million in wiring, as well as about 1,100 high-def video monitors in the stadium. They will be used for everything from interactive video replays to ordering food from the concessions, says MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.
The whole joint is wired to the point where eventually every seat could have monitors, but of course, it will start with the luxury suites.
Fast times indeed.... Yes, I will be filing the 2008 Final Report, which I traditionally post the morning after the Yankee' annual collapse, but I'm still processing everything after the 12-hour-plus marathon yesterday. (If it wasn't actually a full-day it sure felt like it). I'm heading back to NYC after a long weekend/mini-vacation, so it will probably be tomorrow sometime.
Meanwhile, let's play catch (up) with the incoming e-mail: * Mike Arkfeld of Arkfeld & Associates checks in with this interesting report from the United Nations that suggests that the push for "green" could also generate new jobs. But it also contains warnings about potential job perils caused by global warming.
* Amy Juers of Edge Legal Marketing tips us off that David Cowen of The Cowen Group, a New-York based headhunting firm, has just announced that it is expanding its base to serve the legal technology community. Read about it here on Cowen's blog, Opportunity Knocks.
* Catherine McDonagh will be walking on Oct. 11, to honor the memory of her sister, Lynn, who the family lost to suicide. The "Out of Darkness" campaign is organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. 411 here.
OK, you know you are in California when there is a Best Buy Express vending machine by United's Gate 70 (the SF/LA gate) selling iPods, Bose headsets, digital cameras and other portable electronics. See CenterNetworks blog and Gadling blog.
According to Gadling, the units are from San Francisco's ZoomSystems, and there are more than 650 of them thru-out the country now. The first airport site was Dallas-Fort Worth, it sez.
Call me crazy, but I just would feel queasy about buying a $300 tech item via a vending machine -- but I guess if you are addicted to your iPod or QC2, and you lose it before a 6-hour flight, it might be worth it. And the blog sez that a machine at Atlanta, way back in '06, was pulling in $55,000 a month, and sellin' about 7 iPods a day. Wow.
Speaking of Best Buy, I popped into the Anaheim (Orange) store today looking to upgrade my CardScan (I may have to order it online) and found this nifty Belkin 5-outlet mini surge protector/extension device -- and snapped it up in a second. I'm so tired of having to crawl under desks or call the front desk ... You'd think hotels would be wise up to the fact that we carry a lot of electrical devices these days and have power strips in the rooms.
Anyway, it is about 4 inches long, and it includes 3 plugs and two USB charger slots with a cable that will support Motorola phones. (You can NEVER have enough phone chargers) -- The plug rotates so the device can be horizontal or vertical, and it even has a nifty protector for the plug.
Anyway, before I arrived at LAX, I was upstate (oh my, I have indeed become a NYer, they never call the Bay Area upstate) ... anyway, my colleague Michelle Ball and I spent Friday in the South Bay visiting the gangs at Interwoven Inc., IntApp, Clearwell and Kazeon.
First, another Tech Tip: Garmin's Jill (vanilla Nuvi 200) is so so so so much better than Hertz's Magellan NeverLost. Let's just put it this way -- Michelle got from one destination to our next stop in 5 minutes, via 101. NeverLost routed me on the slow, scenic route on El Camino in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 30 minutes.
Anyway, moving right along: Our first stop was Interwoven, where we met up with prez Max Carnecchia ; Matthew Work, veep, e-discovery strategy; and Dave Packer, director of mktg, and got into an animated discussion (as usual, anytime Work is around) about EDD cost containment and the need to educate the users so they stop being so afraid.
The last time we met up with Work was in June, up in his Presidio digs of Discovery Mining. He seemed just a little too happy. We figured out why a few days later when it was announced that SF-based Discovery Mining was being bought by the San Jose-based Interwoven. The deal closed on August 4.
The addition of Discovery Mining was a good fit with Interwoven's agenda to provide wide ranging content management services, explained Packer and the guys. Interwoven has a broad brush, addressing 12 industries from accounting to manufacturing, and offering an increasing portfolio, many web-based, of services.
John Hall, CEO of IntApp, and Dan Bressler, vp of marketing, take a very different view of their potential market. They want to focus only on legal, the two Stanford grads explained to us over a yummy lunch at a new Palo Alto restaurant, The Oxacan Kitchen. (The reviewers kinda hit it on the nail: still a few kinks to work out, but a tasty bistro indeed)
John and Dan say they are specifically focusing on the unique challenges of the legal industry, and resisting any temptation to grow beyond legal.
IntApp provides software that connects and centrally manages legal programs, with the goal of increasing attorneys' billable hours, reinforcing client confidentiality and maximizing firm productivity. The company offers "Time Builder," to help timekeepers with automated activity tracking and reporting; "Wall Builder," to manage risk, protect lateral hiring activity and comply with regulatory and client confidentiality requirements; and "Integration Builder," to streamline business processes, such as new business and new personnel intake, and provide users with accurate, timely information.
Next stop was Clearwell, in Mountain View, to check in with president/CEO Aaref Hilaly and meet with Kurt Leafstrand and his team for a quick demo of Transparent Search, which was debuted at the August ILTA meeting.
Available with the Clearwell E-Discovery Platform 4.0 version, it is designed to help corporations and law firms during the e-discovery search process. Key features include:
* Search Preview: "Provides visibility into matching keyword variations for wildcard and stemming searches prior to running a search. Users can selectively include relevant variations or exclude false positive variations in their search query, removing irrelevant documents from search results."
* Search Filters: "In real-time, users can filter results by individual queries or variations, and sample the filtered documents to evaluate the effectiveness of their search. This also provides more opportunities for users to rapidly identify false positive documents prior to review."
* Search Report: "Creates a comprehensive report that documents all search criteria and provides detailed analytics of the results for both the overall search and the individual queries within the search.The report tracks search terms that were included and excluded during search preview providing a defensible audit trail of search refinement decisions."
* Multiple Query Search: "[Runs] large numbers of queries simultaneously and provides reporting for both the overall search and the individual queries within the search. Queries can be tested in minutes not days, dramatically decreasing the turnaround time needed to iterate and evaluate the effectiveness of keyword searches."
Our last stop of the day was to Kazeon, also in Mountain View (a gorgeous city, btw). President and CEO Sudhakar Muddu (left); Karthik Kannan, vp of marketing and biz dev; and marketers Andrea Laughlin and David Morris joined us for yet another insightful discussion about the legal profession's challenges with e-discovery -- especially the Baby Boomer leadership (can you say "afraid?") who still do not understand why they need this technology to survive.
I keep feeling like there is so much that LTN -- and the vendors -- need to do to help legal professionals understand e-discovery and other technology. But at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I get so frustrated (esp. in EDD) when so many vendors using the same six words to describe every single product they offer. (And if one more vendor tells me how their product is "revolutionary" I think I will croak.)
David had a WONDERFUL expression for it -- he called it "talking about the baby" -- how too many vendors drill sooooooo far deep into the endless details (like new parents who suddenly can only talk about their offspring and seem incapable of normal conversation), rather than providing listeners with what they want and need to hear. It was a great dialogue.
As for Kazeon, the company offers a range of products, including e-discovery, information security and privacy, governance risk and compliance, and storage. Late last month, it released Information Server IS1200-ECS 3.1, with a new "in-place legal hold, KazHold, and a new agent-less product for in-place analysis of and collection from laptops/desktops." It is designed to help users streamline EDD collection, analysis and processing, and "help users discover all relevant and necessary information for any litigation related activity."
The program is designed to assure that there is no spoliation of data and no modifications to metadata attributes of files and e-mails, the company says, while reducing costs.
It was a heady day, full of lots of ideas for stories and articles. One concrete idea came out of several discussions about Socha/Gelbmann's decision to no longer rank vendors. If you jump over to the EDD Update blog, you'll see that I'm asking everybody to suggest the top 5 questions potential users should ask their potential EDD vendors. Dive on in with your ideas.
That's it! Time to enjoy the SoCal weather for an hour before I head on over to Angel Stadium to watch my po' boys get wholloped by those Devils, oops, I mean Angels of Anaheim /L.A./ San Diego /Oxnard /Costa Mesa / Tijuana .. whatever :)
My colleague Sean Doherty, tech editor of Law.com, and I have been hearing a lot of noise about the battle between FindLaw and Google.
Sean posted on it here on his Legal Technology Blog with links to some of the discussion.
I'm also copying his post below:
I see that there is some discussion about Findlaw and its practice of marketing and selling links. Some believe this to be an ethical issue and conclude "shame" on Findlaw. Others view it as a business decision.
Now, if you believe Google and its ranking policies are the law, then perhaps Findlaw has violated it. However, I don't adhere to the fact that Google's ranking policy and their search algorithm are the law of the land. Marketing and selling links on Findlaw is a business decision for which a buyer shoud be aware of his or her purchase.
Sean has asked Findlaw to comment -- and he's going to continue to follow the conversations on his blog.
Update from Monica:
We will be covering this story in the next issue of Law Technology News,but in the meantime, I got a briefing from one of my top advisors, who asked not to be ID'd.
Here's his read of the situation:
A summary of the issue: FindLaw has actively been promoting a program selling between three to eight links from the FindLaw site for $1/month. These sales violate Google’s policies. Although the story was broken by an SEO named Oilman here , there's more at issue, but here's some background first.
The easiest explanation of why it is such a big deal is written at the Get Lawyer Leads blog: “this is a clear violation of Google’s policy against search engine spam, and these links will almost certainly be devalued when reported. (Google’s top cop, Matt Cutts has already taken note and commented in the thread at oilman’s site, so it appears to already be a done deal).” Entire post here.
Here's a brief overview of search engine optimization:
One of the ways Google determines where a given site will rank for a specific search is the number and quality of inlinks to a website. The simple theory is that very interesting pages will be linked to by many people. A page or website with a lot of links therefore has a lot of authority (Google measures authority on a 1-10 logarithmic scale called PageRank). Taking it one step further, a link from a high PageRank site (like CNN or FindLaw) is more valuable than a link from a low PageRank site (like www.dougscrabshack.com).
To avoid gaming of their algorithm, Google works very hard to make sure their search engines aren’t being manipulated through search engine spam. One of they ways the define spam is the selling or buying of links from high PageRank sites to artificially convey authority on a given webpage.
Google actively penalizes sites who engage in these activities when they are discovered. The most famous example involves BMW, which was entirely delisted (removed from search results) by Google in 2006 for spam violations.
You can read more about that here on Matt Cutt’s blog. Matt Cutts heads up Google’s anti-SPAM efforts and as a veritable celebrity in the world of online marketing.
Matt has taken a strong interest in the FindLaw issue. Not only did he post a comment on the Oilman blog and even twittered it. So he is aware and Google and other search engines will likely penalize FindLaw and/or sites they link to, for this very clear violation of Google’s policies.
The most juicy insight that no one seems to have picked up on, however, comes from FindLaw’s own letter: “As you may or may not know, FindLaw has been providing SEM programs to law firms for the last four years.
The product has been very successful at elevating the natural search results of law firms in all of the major search engines and has helped them generate more business from search engines.”
So it seems FindLaw has been doing this for a while and only got caught when it moved outside of the law firm market. This admission means there are already firms paying FindLaw for this program – and now that Cutts has presumably removed the value of the links – a bunch of firms are essentially paying for nothing. By now, FindLaw knows this result – and the ethical thing to do would be to publicize their mistake and refund money. So far, FindLaw hasn't done so.
What a fun evening last night (August 12) at the Dome in Mpls, for our SIXTH annual Twins/Yanks fest! Michael Medwig, Marnie Maroney & I hosted the event, which drew about 50 folks for a lively evening of beisbol and conversation!
We had a blast in section 222, with contingents from Thomson/Reuters/West, Kroll, Merrill, the EDD consultants gang, Teri "Jersey Girl" McCarron and her entourage, Amy Juers' Edge Legal Marketing crew, Dorsey, Parsinen Kaplan, et al. It was also delightful that LTN's former associate editor, Katie Montgomery and her mom could join us! What a great group.
It was great opportunity to see everybody, chat about the latest developments, and see a great game, with so many ups and downs that the fans of both teams were happy. (The Yanks won, but only after the Twins' Delmond Young hit a home run off Mariano Rivera to take the game into extra innings).
Thanks to everybody for joining us for such a memorable evening! Thanks as always to the Twin's fabulous Luis Breazeale and Lisa Rasmussen for taking such very good care of us!
• Kevin Hunt checked in from July's American Association of Law Libraries Portland (Ore) meeting to let us know that West posted a "Westcast" with Leonard Lee, about how the "Google generation" is approaching legal research. Check it out here.
And on the Westblog, Bob Azman, vp of West's "customer experience operations," invites you to contact him directly about your experiences and needs — echoing a theme of our July LTN cover story by Alvin Podboy, who dares legal librarians to start talking to legal publishing vendors. For more info, you can reach Hunt here. • Update on the laptop seizures controversy: The Association of Corporate Travel Executives' exec director Susan Gurley testified before Congress about the ongoing controversy over seizures of business travelers' laptops. Details here. • LTN's Safia Maharaj found this tech/beisbol/charity item, "Text Me Out to the Ballgame" -- about a pilot project between the Washington Nationals and MLB.com (major league baseball's website) to raise money for the Children's National Medical Center's proposed Diabetes Care Complex. During the day game on 7/13, fans were invited to text "NATS" to 90999 to donate $5 -- a tactic also used during the All Star Game at Yankee Stadium to raise money to fight breast cancer. Clever and painless -- and less expensive than a soda at the Stadium. Let's see more of these! Check out the Mobile Giving Foundation here.
• Last call! The deadline's been extended until tomorrow (Friday) to nominate your company for the 2009 LTN Vendor Awards, which will presented at LegalTech New York in February. Check it out here. It's quick and easy, and as they say re: the New York Lottery, if you don't enter, you can't win.
Steve Brill, now the head of Clear, founded American Lawyer Media, and was my boss for just about a decade. He's brilliant and difficult (a combination that can be challenging but fun) — and what I always appreciated the most (and try to emulate) is that with Steve, what you see is what you get. You always know exactly where you stand.
The rumors about his management style were pretty much true. Tact was never in his briefcase, but fortunately humor usually was. When I was at The Recorder, in San Francisco, he got pissed off because we were splitting too many infinitives in our stories — so he sent us a memo promising that he would fire the next one of us who blew that grammar rule. A few hours later, when he cooled down, he sent us a memo with four split infinitives calling off the threat.
And yes, he really did return edited stories with razor words, such as "Is English your first language?" But when he praised a story, you could trust and truly enjoy the accolades. I loved working for him.
And did he ever teach us to be good journalists — lessons I have preached to my Law Technology News staff for the last 10 years. Above all, be honest and be fair, and admit your mistakes, he insisted. There's no failure in a mistake, he would tell us, but you'll be fired if you don't bring mistakes quickly to your boss' attention. Corrections under Brill's regime always went on page 1 of our newspaper. Always, and with the name of the person who made the mistake. No hiding under a short hidden paragraph buried in the back. People's lives are affected by what we write -- and when we screw up, we must announce it boldly. You stand up and take the consequences. It's only fair. It's always the right thing to do.
He practices what he preaches. When our Court TV was covering the O.J. Simpson trial, one of the cameras accidently caught, for about 1/8th of a second, one of the alternate jurors. Court TV didn't just hope nobody noticed. They went straight to Judge Ito, who shut down the cameras for that first day. But it was the right thing to do.
And on July 26, 2008, when a company laptop containing unencrypted data about 33,000 pending applications went missing from Clear's (Verified Identity Pass Inc.) San Francisco airport offices, Brill's team went straight to authorities. With the assumption that the laptop was stolen, TSA immediately suspended new enrollments into Clear, a "fast-pass" service that pre-screens members, who then get expedited clearance through airport security. (Disclosure: I am a very enthusiastic member of Clear.)
Fortunately, the laptop was found by Clear on August 5, and Clear determined that it had not been accessed. (Further forensics investigation is being conducted by law enforcement.)
"We apologize for the confusion, but in an abundance of caution, we treated this unaccounted-for laptop as a serious potential breach," said Brill. "We're glad to confirm that a preliminary investigation shows no personal information was compromised."
Clear was in the process of notifying the applicants when the laptop was found, and it is suspending enrollment until the information is encrypted (the data was already protected with two layers of password controls, but they are now adding encryption as well.)
No credit information, or social security numbers, or biometric information was on the laptop, however, there was a limited amount of the applicants' personal information, says Clear. According to CBS5, that information included "names, address, and birth dates, and in some cases driver's licenses, passport or green card numbers," citing Clear.
It can't have been an easy experience for Brill and his team, and they certainly should have had the data encrypted from the beginning. (Maybe I should sent Steve a complimentary subscription to LTN :) But I think it speaks volumes that — as usual — Brill and his Clear team went straight to the authorities when bad news hit.
Hat tip to Babs Deacon & Donna Payne for forwarding the news stories.
Update 8/15: Clear is again taking enrollments.
Here's the latest letter from Brill:
We re-opened Clear enrollment on Tuesday, which had been temporarily unavailable after a laptop containing a small part of some applicants' enrollment data was taken from a locked office at the San Francisco Airport (though, as you know, the Clear lanes continued to operate normally nationwide). The laptop was recovered, and preliminary investigations revealed that no unauthorized person gained access to any of the information stored on that laptop. The data was protected with two levels of passwords, but was not encrypted, and it should have been.
Update on Security Enhancements to the Clear System Clear has encrypted every enrollment kiosk and laptop computer containing personally identifiable applicant and member data. Ernst & Young independently performed an inspection and filed an audit report with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stating that all enrollment kiosks and all mobile devices are encrypted up to government standards. TSA also conducted its own on-site verification of encryption on all enrollment kiosks and mobile devices at randomly selected locations.
Beyond the encryption of these devices, Clear has also installed other security updates, including physical security enhancements. And, Clear will continue to enhance the security of our system with the latest technology and software security advancements as they become available.
Finally, Clear's privacy ombudsman wrote in a letter posted on Clear's website that he is conducting an independent review of Clear's security processes on behalf of Clear members. He will post those results online once he has concluded his investigation.
Please call Clear Support with any questions, comments, or concerns at (866) 848-2415.
It's all over the news. Stock market declines, subprime
mortgage mess, oil prices, decline in earnings.
An uncertain time, causing uneasy speculation in
the inner circles of most law firms — how will this
affect us?
Will deal work slow down? Will litigation caseloads
grow or decline? Does our bankruptcy practice
have enough talent? Should we slow down recruiting?
What about that unprofitable office in a promising
region? How can we retain our important clients? Is
there elasticity in our rates?
Such questions show good business judgment in
responding to market conditions and anticipating
their impact on the business and practice of law.
But in some firms, the smart discussion quickly
devolves. Round two might go something like this:
Our costs are way too high. Can we drive profit by
tinkering with the P&L's expense side? This of course
leads to more destructive thinking: IT is consistently
6% of gross revenue year after year. They keep growing
their headcount, and project X was over budget.
It's a bottomless pit, so we're going to stop the bleeding.
Cut 20% of your cost, we don't care how you do
it. And investigate IT outsourcing.
Unfortunately, when it comes to examining IT,
few firms ask the right questions. Alternatively, here
are better queries to start a healthy, more productive,
conversation:
1. How do we compare to our peer firms, who likely
face the same issues?
Inevitably, senior management circles like the idea
of holding their firms "up to the light" with other
firms that compete for business and talent. While
such comparisons are imperfect (what firm doesn't
have a couple of skeletons in its IT closet!), they help
place into perspective your firm's current trajectory
with respect to IT programs, spending, staffing and
other resources. This is especially useful when there's
talk of random IT reductions absent the context of
the firm's technology-related goals, priorities and service
delivery mechanisms.
Typical areas of quantification in such a benchmarking
exercise include the comparison of capital
and operating spending, and IT headcount as a ratio
of firm revenue, total user and attorney headcounts,
profit per partner, etc.
As important as the above comparisons may seem,
they are only useful in the context of the quality and
success of the IT operation compared to others. The
gold standard for comparison is the family of IT Infrastructure
Library/IT Service Management measurements
(www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITIL) that many
firms are beginning to adopt. Rating your firm against
such standards and comparing the results to those of
other firms completes the comparison process.
2. Which new IT programs should be kept on track
and which might be deferred?
This can be a difficult conversation with senior
management if they have no prior participation or
stake in setting priorities for IT spending and resources.
IT efforts must align with the firm's business and
practice strategies — that's what IT governance is all
about. Surprisingly, many CIOs do not engage up
the food chain until it's too late to accomplish much
more than educating for the purpose of defending
programs in the face of potential cuts.
To protect IT from panic-based decisions, formalize
your IT portfolio management. (Examples of IT
portfolios would be existing and planned projects,
and ongoing IT services, such as application support.)
Portfolios not only help firm leaders understand
current programs and priorities, but they help reinforce
the need for reinvestment cycles and periodic
upgrades. And they can be especially useful to prepare
leaders for unplanned expenditures — such as
technology consolidation resulting from a merger. Finally,
they have the effect of providing CIOs a "seat at
the table," by including IT functions when firm leaders
are considering firmwide strategy alternatives.
3. Should we outsource to avoid a "death of a thousand
cuts" in times of economic uncertainty?
Outsourcing is very easy to say, but difficult
(though not impossible) to do. The concept appears
frighteningly simple in the eyes of senior management:
sign a contract, hand over the keys and watch
cost go down while quality of service goes up (or at
least remains the same). Moreover, the need to pay
attention to technology goes away.
While some aspects of IT operation — such as data
center hosting, litigation support data storage hosting,
or help desk tasks — can be considered for outsourcing,
don't assume they will immediately reduce
costs. At best, you can aim for a contractually bound
service level agreement.
What about SaaS — Software as a Service — where
vendors host software outside the firm? SaaS is
becoming increasingly prevalent, where the firm gets
the lastest version of software, but perhaps at a lower
initial operating cost and with no capital cost. But
be careful that you aren't robbing Peter to pay Paul.
The cost over the life of the arrangement will likely
be more expensive than the in-house variant. In any
event, do your homework before you make a quick
decision.
So which firm is yours? Do you have a strong IT governance model and a management-driven IT portfolio,
that helps leaders make intelligent business
decisions in both good and challenging times? Or
does your firm manage IT as a necessary evil, subject
to scrutiny when the going gets tough? The latter
is clearly challenging, but even the former has its
moments.
The world isn't perfect — there will be occasions
when cost reduction is a realistic requirement. Well
prepared firms can intelligently assess potential cost
reductions with a full understanding of the tradeoffs
and implications to the firm's business and practice.
Savvy firms will prepare A, B and C budgets, with
financial performance triggers that dictate adjustments
to IT spending in tough times, but with fully
vetted tradeoffs.
After all, as the Chinese proverb says, "Crisis is danger
— and opportunity." Take advantage of the opportunity
to present a solid plan to your management
team, rather than be handed an edict from above to
start pulling out the knives. In both the long-term
and short, it can be a win-win for the firm, and for
your career.
Chicago-based David Baker is chair of Baker Robbins &
Co. E-mail: dbaker@brco.com.
We've been putting the final touches on the upcoming, first-time ever Law Technology News Presents FutureTech at LegalTech West Coast.
We're calling it "The Trifecta" inside ALM, because it's the first time we've conceived an effort that includes a live presentation, podcasts, and an LTN report.
And I'm updating this post today (June 4) with exciting news: FutureTech will be sponsored by BlueArc, a San Jose-based company that provides "high performance unified network storage systems to enterprise markets, as well as data intensive markets, such as electronic discovery, entertainment, federal government, higher education, internet services, oil and gas and life sciences."
BlueArc supports "both network attached storage, or NAS, and storage area network, or SAN, services on a converged network storage platform." We're thrilled to have them as our sponsor of FutureTech!
Here's the 411:
1. Live: Day-long FutureTech track presentation at LegalTech West Coast (L.A.) on Friday, June 27.
3. Law Technology News (print/digital/website): We'll run a “FutureTech" story, in the August 2008 edition, based on the topics in the track.
FutureTech Live Program at LegalTech West Coast
Panel description: The legal profession is undergoing a dramatic change as firms face a future where clients expect “better, faster, cheaper” legal services, demand use of technology, and require accountability. No longer can law firms be run behind closed doors, managed like private clubs. Today’s firms must compete to win — and retain — business, and are expected to demonstrate the same priorities as their clients: for quality work, diversity, cost management, and responsiveness. This track will explore how firms and clients are responding to these challenges.
Law Technology News’ editor-in-chief Monica Bay will moderate all panels
1. Sell Your Tech 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. It’s no longer enough for firms to win business based on legal skills alone. Today’s savvy firms realize that they must offer top-line technology to win and keep clients. Our panelist will share how their firms have integrated technology tools, such as extranets and wikis, to increase collaboration and better serve their clients’ expectations.
Green Law1:30-3 pm It’s Not Easy Going Green.... Or is It? Using technology tools to create a “green” workplace will not only lower your energy consumption, it will increase productivity, morale, profits, improve lifestyles and health, cut costs, and help you get, and keep, new clients. How your organization can establish a program, from leadership needed to concrete programs that work.
Where is legal community headed, and what challenges does it face, as technology becomes embedded in every facet of our lives? From delivering the best possible legal services to our clients; to providing opportunities to excel in the workplace and at home; to confronting the challenges of competing interests in a global economy; it’s a heady challenge to move forward. Named for the iconic futuristic venue at Disneyland, this panel will showcase six legal technology leaders who will forecast what lies ahead — and where opportunities may abound.
J. Craig Williams – Partner, The Williams Lindberg Law Firm (Tech & Law in Multi-jurisdictional Practices) Craig Ball –Consultant/Attorney (Crystal Ball: Future of E-Discovery) Douglas Caddell — CIO, Foley & Lardner (Next Generation – Systems & People) Peter Hsiao — Head, Land Use & Environmental law Group, Morrison & Foerster (CleanTech) Tom Baldwin — Chief Knowledge Officer, Reed Smith (Relationship Capital) Judith Flournoy – CIO, Loeb & Loeb (Leadership)
I got the idea for the TomorrowLand sessions from TED (Technology Entertainment Design) -- the Silicon Valley think tank that produces amazing conferences where speakers are allowed exactly 18 minutes to talk. That's it. 18 minutes.
I loved the concept, so I'm trying this format (15 minutes) for the third session of the track -- AND -- we are going to tape them to create "Almost Live from LegalTech West Coast" -- six standalone podcasts for my Law Technology Now series (a joint project between Law.com & Legal Talk Network -- you can even subscribe on iTunes!
Finally, the LTN component: We'll produce at least one article in the August LTN, which will be available in print, digital and website versions.
We are tremendously excited about this first-ever Live/Podcast/Print/Digital/Website effort, and we hope you will join us at LegalTech West Coast, on June 27. And listen, and read! About the only media we're NOT doing (yet) is TV -- but don't rule that out for the future. Let me know what you think!
It's that time again -- to nominate your company or law firm for the annual Law Technology News Awards -- which will be presented at LegalTech New York 2009.
Here's the 411 on how you can nominate your product or company for the Vendor Awards, (voted on by our readers) or your law firm, law department, or pro bono project awards, selected by our jury from LTN's editorial advisory board.
On the road again..... catchin' up with the in-box:
* Upcoming Webinars:
-- TutorPro Ltd. is offering TutorAuthor NG, designed to help law firms create online educational programs. There are six sessions scheduled this summer.
-- Guille Rayala of Workshare is inviting you to a Workshare/Microsoft webcast on automating enterprise contract management. It will be held June 10, at 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. East coast time.
* Congrats to Jonathan Ezor and the gang at the Touro Law Center's Institute of Business, Law & Technology. They are celebrating their 5th year anniversary with a bash on June 18 at the Long Island facility. Details here: _invitation.pdf
* Also celebrating a year 5 milestone is "Excited Utterances," a newsletter created by editors Joy London and Sean Hockings. It covers KM, tech, publishing, blogging, open source, and web 2.0 topics, all aimed specifically at the legal community. Check out the current issue here, which has subscription info: Download llneu_149_23_may_2008.pdf
* The San Jose Mercury News is going digital, check it out here.
* United Airlines' Red Carpet Club now offers free wi-fi -- it's still from T-Mobile but you no longer have to be a subscriber, you can simply use your RCC membership number to access it. UAL is also following suit of other airline clubs, and now you can purchase a 1-day pass online for $50 -- that can come in handy as gifts or if you have extra guests with you.
* Deborah Novachick checks in with a report about her efforts to raise money for the Tall Ships Education project.
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed. By the last report we raised $1,800. So wonderful, wonderful. This has been a great experience for me. It is a lot of work to get it all organized, but then you get to e-mail everyone, and hear from so many people. Very much a community experience. I am big on community.
Stayed in roughly the same geographic area all my life, went to college and lived among a very dedicated community of educators, stayed in the same career and industry all my life, and got involved in a lot of community activities. Started in kindergarten when a neighbor who was an elementary school teacher rounded up all the little neighborhood girls to start a Blue Birds group. We all stayed together from Blue Birds, to Campfire Girls, to Jr. High Campfire Girls. Then we went on to sports, cheerleading, student office, peer counseling, and, not surprisingly, many of us ended up in professions like counseling, consulting, lawyering, teaching, real estate, and nursing.
For a bunch of little girls we had some amazing adventures (at 11 I broke my foot when tobogganing with two of the most adventurous girls in Lake Tahoe -- between a Propane tank and a telephone pole – don’t try this at home -- and then I messed around on my cast so much that I had to wear assorted casts for SIX MONTHS – became known, affectionately, as “the gimp” at school, but hey, for 6 months I got out of classes early and had someone carrying my books!)
We kept widening our circle of friends, helping each other, and adding new mentors until we grew up. Then we continued to seek out mentors. And eventually we found ourselves mentoring others. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without learning firsthand (experiential education) how warm and generous people can be. And what we can accomplish as a team, a community.
I realize now that we were pretty poor as kids. But I had no idea at the time. We seemed to be surrounded by people who had so much to share.
I hope the girls at the Tall Ship Education come away with that feeling that so many things are possible. I have been prepping for a speech on generational differences in October, so I understand better now that outlooks can be very different depending on the times one grows up in.
But the answer seems to be diversity and communication. And that was exactly what my integrated public schools, the teachers, and mentors showed us when we were kids. And it is what the “Experiential Education” approach behind TSEA’s programs teaches. TSEA creates an environment where a highly diverse community is intent on a very important goal that benefit to the community (i.e., not to sink the ship and all one’s shipmates And then the magic happens.
Pretty soon you may not need to print out boarding passes -- which is easy on your outbound flight, but a pain when returning home if you don't have easy access to a printer.
LTN's ace admin asst, Safia Maharaj, spotted this boston.com report about a pilot (bad pun?) project at Boston's Logan airport, where Continental Airlines is testing an electronic version of boarding passes. Passengers with cells phone or PDAs tcan receive an e-mail linked to a web page with their individual bar cade that can be scanned at the gate.
The paperless boarding pass also is being tested at airports in Houston, Washington, D.C., and is scheduled for Newark this month. It's only available for individuals on domestic flights.
About 300 people attended this week's Louisiana Bar Association's first Solo & Small Firm Technology Conference -- about three times the number originally expected by the organizers of this nuts-and-bolts conference.
LSBA's Eric Barefield, left, -- who has the long title of Professional Counsel for Law Office Management and Professional Assistance -- was the chief organizer of the program, which not only was a crash course in legal technology but a nifty way to rack up a whole lot of CLE credits in two days.
I was honored to be invited to serve as the lunch speaker, on the topic of blogging, and among the others of our legal tech community who participated were consultant Tom O'Connor, a recent emigre to NoLa, Andy Adkins of the University of Florida (Gainesville) Legal Technology Institute, and the ubiquitous Ross Kodner, president of Milwaukee-based MicroLaw Inc.
O'Connor and Adkins, right, are current LTN editorial advisory board members, Kodner is a former board member, and watching them in action this week reminded me of what talent and energy and heart they bring to our community.
They are three very different personalities, but one common thread permeates all three: a true passion for their work. It's a running joke among all of us that if you are on a panel with Ross Kodner, you better speak first or you will be lucky to speak for 5 minutes. He's a very effective, enthusiastic speaker, who seems to almost to burst with eagerness to share his expertise with the audience. If we could tap his energy we would be paying 24 cents a gallon for gas again.
I sat in on his "How Not to Commit Malpractice with Your Computer," and was reminded of how effective Kodner, left, can be at the podium. Aside from his dreadful PowerPoints (Ross! Don't cram so much text on each slide!) he's a whirling dervish of practical information, presented with humor and enough person asides to make the potentially dry material very palatable. In fact, often compelling.
Perhaps the best part of his presentation was when he showed an actual BigFirm document (redacted to remove any identifying material) to demonstrate how a huge firm got fired when its client was able to read all the metadata on the file about its history -- which included such tasty details as the fact that the document was actually originally created by another firm, modified by a low-level associate in less than an hour, but billed out at a huge partners' rate for far more time than one hour. Let's put it this way, Ross had the audience's attention.
Too many CLE speakers at programs are just flat-out lousy who appear to view the opportunity as a chore, and stand up and give flat monotoned monologues while attendees work on their BlackBerrys or play Scrabble on the iPods while collecting CLE credits.
Ross, Andy & Tom are examples of speakers who know how to push essential information while capitalizing on the "theater" of the podium, so that at the end of the session, the attendees want more ..... rather than looking for the fastest way to exit the room.
Congrats to Barefield and the LSBA team for presenting a high-energy, two-day program that was crammed with the pragmatic and the essential, from ethics and malpractice prevention, to overviews of basic technology tools (everything from Adobe Acrobat to Outlook to case management to scanners).
Law Firms Still Not Relating to Client Relations Management Software
Incredibly, many law firms simply can't relate to the importance of client relations management (CRM) software, according to this article by Andrew Burger, one of today's top stories atCRM Buyer. As Burger puts it:
The legal profession is all about relationships, so CRM systems would seem a natural fit in a law-firm setting, right? Sure, but many don't bother implementing CRM systems because they would require a significant change in the way firms are run.
Most CRM vendors can't understand why law firms haven't implemented CRM as effectively as other businesses -- particularly given that most firms already assiduously track data about clients and their matters for conflicts checking and billing. One CRM vendor quoted in the article expressed some frustration that "a continuous stream of potentially valuable CRM information flows through the typical law firm on a daily basis, yet lawyers and their firms typically are not able to leverage
it."
Burger identifies at least two reasons for law firms' ineffective CRM systems. First, in other businesses, CRM is typically used for generating sales leads, whereas for law firms, the value of CRM is to help build and enhance relationships. Thus, some CRM programs require tweaks to make them more compatible with law firms' needs.
But the larger barrier to integration of CRM is institutional: Most lawyers simply aren't willing to take the time (or sacrifice the billable hours) to input critical data. Then, when CRM fails due to lack of lawyer commitment, lawyers blame the software and subsequently grow even more resistant to CRM efforts.There's only one measure that I can think of that would force lawyers to implement CRM, and that is for clients to demand it. And clients may do just that -- after all, many corporate clients probably use CRM systems themselves. Moreover, CRM can help lawyers serve clients more efficiently and effectively by providing a central database of contact information and a history of client communications.
Lawyers may not realize that CRM can help them generate more clients and more business. Fair enough. But when lawyers begin to lose clients because they reinvent the wheel or commit some gaffe in a situation where CRM would have prevented them from doing so, they'll have no choice but to get with the program.
Posted by Carolyn Elefant on April 24, 2008 at 11:20 AM
Comments
Carolyn -
The big impediment to CRM is that it does not add enough value to the individual lawyer themselves. I think at a firm level, everyone agrees with the concept and theory of CRM for a law firm. But the software tends to be clunky and not user friendly.
CRM adds only marginal value to the lawyer in their day to day routine. That margin is not big enough to instigate a change in behavior and is not big enough to motivate a lawyer to learn how to use a new tool.
I do not see CRM being demanded by clients. Yes, clients want more efficiency in how their work is handled, but I do not see CRM helping that.
In this new monthly podcast, editor-in-chief of Law Technology News Monica Bay interviews key experts of the legal technology community on top issues confronting the legal profession.
Mail Cull: You have probably heard of Paul Allen -- the co-founder of Microsoft. Well, he and the engineers at his company, Vulcan Technologies, have created Xiant Filer (www.xiant.com) to ease the burden of overflowing mailboxes. It works with Microsoft Outlook 2003/2007 for Windows and automatically files incoming and outgoing e-mails into subfolders. Find out more about it here.
November President's Corner: Litéra's LDF software suite helps users edit, manage, and compress PDFs without using separate PDF software, says CEO Deepak Massand. Users can create and edit documents, and redact irreversibly, he says. They can append and create binders, and add Bates numbering, as well as split or separate multi-page PDF files into smaller, individual files. Users can add or delete embedded Microsoft Word or Excel files. A batch metadata tool helps users control the function and structure of outgoing PDF documents.
December '08: Leading the Way: With the economy in crisis, leadership has never been more important. Why IT directors might want to learn more about the business side of their firm -- and maybe even get an MBA. Story here.
BALL IN YOUR COURT, by Craig Ball Winner: American Society of Business Publication Editors Northeast region: 2009 Gold Award, Best Contributed Column; 2008 Gold Award: Best How To Article; 2007 Silver, Best Contributed Column.
Trade and Business Publications International ("Tabbies"): 2008 & 2007, Gold Award, Best Column.
Click here for links to Ball's columns on our EDD Update blog (See right nav bar).
WEB WATCH, by Robert J. Ambrogi Winner: Tabbies: 2006 Silver Award, Best Column: Broken Promises and
Podcasting.
June '08: Can You Adapt? EDD is wreaking havoc on traditional law firm caste systems, with new roles for attorneys, paralegals, IT and other litigation support staff. Opportunities abound for the ambitious. Winner: 2009 Gold Award, Best Technical Article: American Society of Business Publications Editors, Northeast region.
Nov. 08: Just Equal, my rant about the disgraceful gender-based pay discrepancies in the legal profession, and Editor's Note, about visiting the United 93 memorial in Pennsylvania, with my mom. Winner: 2009 Honorable mention, 2009 Tabbies, Best Editor's Column.
October '07: An Undercurrent of Fear: A report on the challenges of e-discovery. Winner: Bronze, 2008 Trade, Association, Business Publications International Tabbies competition. Best Special Section. 2008 American Society of Business Publication Editors, Northeast region: Bronze: Best Technical Article.
Katrina's Wake: In the April '06 LTN, Monica Bay and photographer Russ Curtis travel to New Orleans, to report on the legal technology community's efforts to rebuild practices and lives post-Hurricane Katrina. Winner: 2007 TABBIES: Honorable Mention, Best Feature.
Fear Factor: Why Lawyers Aren't Using Technology. The ABA's most recent tech survey found that only 11.7% of the nation's lawyers are using ANY trial technology. We interview lawyers, vendors, and consultants to find out why, and the answers are shocking: lawyers are afraid of technology, don't understand it, and are overwhelmed by too many choices. Vendors take some of the blame by not educating lawyers about tech's potential. The dramatic conclusion: lawyers must embrace change, and adopt technology, or they simply will not survive in today's competitive marketplace.
Low Visibility: As law firms move toward a corporate, rather than private club, model of operations, they are bringing in "C-level" executives to help them run their organizations. Yet many law firms still cling to old-school caste systems, where only the attorneys have real power, and everybody else is invisible. What's the litmus test? Take a look at the firm websites. Can you search for the CIO? For the COO? For the HR director? If not, the firm may be paying only lip service to change. Savvy firms realize that if they want to keep top-level executives, they better start treating them like partners.
No solutions! We're determined to build bridges, not walls -- and to explain and demystify technology in our three magazines. That means no jargon, no acronyms, and no "insider" gobbledygoop. Words like solution, robust, mission-critical, strategic planning, initiatives, deployment are just silly cliches that have become meaningless. We like plain English. Vendors! Flaks! If you mother doesn't understand your press release, don't send it out.
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