Legal Research

"Dennis Kennedy's Top Ten Tips for Technology Committees"

This post was written by Dennis Kennedy: "It might be a question: "Would you like to be on the firm's technology committee?" It might be an assignment: "We've put you on the firm's technology committee?" But, however it starts, one day you find yourself on your law firm's tech committee. Maybe you even find that you are chairing it.

You know a few things right away. First, you won't see anything extra in the pay envelope for this mission. Second, this appointment probably has more to do with the fact that you seem to know your way around a computer more so than you know what is required to meet the technology needs of a law firm. Third, based on my experience, you will quickly find that a word like "paucity" seems quite appropriate to describe the resources that are available to help you learn about your assignment.

The technology needs and goals of law firms can vary dramatically, depending on the size of the firm, areas of practice, firm culture and other factors. A firm's historical experience with technology can have a dramatic impact many years after a negative experience, and every firm has at least one horrifying bad technology experience in its history. It's also the case that technology committees often get started in response to a problem. They also get started and continue to exist in an effort to bridge the large and growing communication gap between lawyers and IT staff.

With that in mind, I wanted to draw upon my own experience on technology committees and working with and talking to many lawyers on tech committees to offer my top ten tips for technology committees and lawyers on technology committees. These are not "cure-alls." They are not even specific things that you must do. However, they will help you have better success with your committee experience, improve the technology situation at your firm and make your life a little easier..."

(I couldn't find a link to this post - you may have to navigate to 15 July 2010 to locate this post, but it is worth the trouble!)

Source: Dennis Kennedy.com, 15 July 2010. © 1995 - 2005 Dennis Kennedy, reproduced with permission of the author

Full post as published by Stark County Law Library Blawg on July 26, 2010 (boomark / email).