Legal Commentary

Steven Brill, the feisty creator of American Lawyer Media (now ALM), is now CEO of Clear, which provides express security lines at U.S. airports. Brill just announced a deal with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe to provide Clear cards to the firm's frequent fliers. Clear will provide onsite signups at the firm's San Francisco, Silicon Valley and New York offices. The firm has 1,000+ lawyers and 18 offices in North America, Europe and Asia. 

Clear also just negotiated a marketing deal with American Express, where its corporate cardholders can get preferred pricing.

Clear provides members with access to separate line through airport security checkpoints, by using an identity card that contains their encrypted fingerprint or iris images. The charge is $99.95 (you don't get charged until the government approves you). You can start the process at flyclear.com -- and then you finish it at one of the company's locations where biometrics are captured (fingerprints and iris images) and your ID is validated, says the company.

Orrick's chair/CEO Ralph Baxter, left, says using the service saves time and hassles for the firm's legal professionals, thus improving client service. Says Brill: "It's great once again to be serving this firm and the legal community with a product that fills a real need."

Clear launched in 2005, and currently is operating in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Little Rock, Reno, Newark, San Jose, Orlando, and New York's LaGuardia, JFK, Westchester and Albany. Denver's due to open shortly. The company has 75,000 members so far, says Brill. The company was listed on FastCompany.com's 2006 Fast 50 roster.

Yes, Orlando. I could have used Clear during my August fiasco at Orlando (Delta STILL hasn't found my luggage, now day 76). In fact, I think I'll sign up.

More on Clear and Brill, from: USA Today, Slate.

Update: 12/01: I enrolled in Clear and it was a very easy process. I filled out the paperwork online, and then when I was heading to California last week, I stopped by their area at LGA. The only thing that was a hassle was the iris "capture" machine. It took about six tries to get it to work, and it's headache inducing. But I refused to give up, and get trying until the machine finally got it. A small headache I'm happy to pay if it saves me time and hassle later.