Legal Commentary
The Common Scold 
Commentary from Monica Bay, editor-in-chief of Law Technology News and editorial director of Law Firm Inc. and Small Firm Business
Post Frequency: 21.2/day Last Entry: November 19, 2009 at 18:14:51 Recent Entries: 297
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LTN AWARDS: DEADLINE EXTENDED, FEE WAIVED
Posted on November 19, 2009The economy has hit hard on law firm budgets, and especially on discretionary spending for support professionals ? sooooo, we have decided to WAIVE the entry fee (and extend the nominating deadline) for our 2009 LTN Law Firm/Law Department Awards. The new deadline is Friday, December 4...
VIRTUAL LEGALTECH
Posted on November 19, 2009Doors Are Open! Our first Virtual LegalTech has launched. The Exhibit Hall opened this morning at 9 a.m. Starting at 10 a.m., a new program started every hour. My program airs at 3 p.m., "IT Leadership in Turbulent Times," with Morrison & Foerster's James McKenna, and Nixon Peabody's John Roman Jr...
ABA's LARRY SMITH 2 ALA
Posted on November 17, 2009Larry Smith will be the next executive director of the Association of Legal Administration -- taking the reins in January to succeed John Michalik, who is retiring after 15 years with the Association. Working with ALA's board of directors, Smith will oversee of the organization's operations, including its headquarters staff and 100 chapters, the organization notes...
CONGRATS TO DEBRA HINDIN-KING
Posted on November 17, 2009Accolades! Congratulations to Holland & Hart's Debra Hindin-King, named Paralegal of the Year by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations. Hindin-King has been a litigation paralegal for the past 21 years.At H&H, she is involved with in-house training for new attorneys and support staff...
GREENING GREENE ESPEL
Posted on November 17, 2009Eco-activist Kim Carlson helps Minnesota's Greene Espel assess, and then improve, its energy conservation programs and reduce its carbon footprint. Among the changes, the firm scrapped $12,700 off the annual budget by eliminating bottled water and switching to a filter system, reports Jon Bream...
GOOGLE SCHOLAR POSTS CASES
Posted on November 17, 2009The Blawgosphere was abuzz early today with news that Google "has quietly added state and federal case law and patent search to its Google Scholar search service," as well as a "How Cited" citator service. The quote's from Et Seq., the Harvard law School Library Blog...
LTN AWARDS: LAST CHANCE
Posted on November 13, 2009The clock's a' tickin' -- Don't lose your voice! Monday (Nov. 16) is the deadline to vote for your favorite vendors who are in the running to receive our 2009 LTN Vendor Awards! The online ballot is survey style, and will take just a few minutes to complete! (You will need your account number, from your mailing label ? e-mail Kerry Kyle -- info@lawtechnews...
EXPLOIT YOUR MULTIFUNCTION MACHINES
Posted on November 12, 2009Today'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...
HIGH-SPEED FLYING
Posted on November 09, 2009If 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...
2009 FINAL REPORT
Posted on November 05, 2009PARADE TIME!!!!!! Congrats to the World Champion New York Yankees -- and especially to Nick Swisher, Brian Cashman, Girardi, Matsui, Kevin Dart, Tex, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, A.J., C.C., Melky, ah hell, everybody -- even A-Rod. New York euphoria!!!! And I'm especially happy for the next generation, especially Cervelli...
SEVEN DECISIONS YOUR FIRM MUST MAKE
Posted on November 03, 2009My 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...
FIAT LUX
Posted on November 02, 2009The Power of One: In late June, my boss Aric Press and I were comparing notes about what Yankee games we planned to attend, and he mentioned that he would be going to the stadium on July 4, with his college friend Michael Goldsmith. Aric is the polar opposite of me, as low-keyed and understated as I can be, well, "excitable...
SPOOKY
Posted on October 30, 2009Saturday night's Halloween, so what better time to check out the latest ways to spend money frivolously! A quick Google search reveals a few options: ? You can dress yourself or your pet as a cell phone or iPhone. Check out the new iDog. ? You can transform your cell phone into an orange devilish jack-o'-lantern...
BEISBOL TECH
Posted on October 30, 2009To 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...
FAST TURNAROUND
Posted on October 29, 2009Sometimes, 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)...
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
Posted on October 28, 2009For the third time in 11 years, I'm at 100 Centre Street (New York Supreme Court), for jury duty. (Eight million people live in New York City, and I get called three times since I left California? Oh well.) Some things are the same -- the jury assembly room; the sense of humor of the chief herder; the wonderful diversity of this city evidenced across the chairs...
LTN AWARDS: VOTING OPEN
Posted on October 22, 2009Vote! 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...
AMBROGI'S OCTOBER PICKS
Posted on October 21, 2009Web Watch: In the October issue of Law Technology News, Robert J. Ambrogi explores an array of new websites of interest to the legal profession, including WhichDraft.com, which helps users automatically assemble contracts and other legal documents. Users start the process by finding the type of document they want and then answering a series of simple questions...
ARMA-GEDDON FOR MY COMPUTER?
Posted on October 19, 2009Priority 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...
COLORADO EDD SUMMIT
Posted on October 19, 2009Jeffrey Staal, litigation support manager of Denver's Davis Graham & Stubbs, checks in to let you know that the Colorado Association of Litigation Support Professionals will host its third annual E-Discovery Summit on October 30 at the Grand Hyatt Denver...
LOST IN TIME
Posted on October 14, 2009Many 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...
MINNESOTA NICE (GOODBYE & HELLO)
Posted on October 14, 2009Back from the Twin Cities, where I had a wonderful time, catching up with pals (shout outs to Katie Montgomery, Linda Will, Jim Pancero, LaVerne Pritchard & Linda Ulbrich, Jon Bream, and of course, Teri "Jersey Girl" McCarron). It's always an absolute treat to attend any baseball game sitting next to knowledgeable fans of the opposing team, and having gone to quite a few Yankees away games across the U...
THE RIGHT FIT
Posted on October 12, 2009With so many vendors using the same 12 words to describe their electronic data discovery services, no wonder general counsel and outside firms often feel overwhelmed when trying to evaluate companies.But the key to vetting, hiring and managing vendors is asking the right questions, say John Reilly and Stephen Schutter in "The Right Fit," part of Law Technology News' October issue, EDD Showcase: GC Perspectives...
KUDOS TO KODNER
Posted on October 07, 2009Ross Kodner, a frequent contributor to Law Technology News, and even more frequent speaker across the country at small firm and solo programs, will be honored this month by the State Bar of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Bar Association. Kodner will receive the first annual John Lederer Solo and Small Firm Service Award at the Wisconsin Solo and Small Firm conference (Oct...
SWEET TIMING
Posted on October 07, 2009Jon Bream is in town, the first East Coast stop on the tour for his latest book, Neil Diamond is Forever. His timing is impeccable -- he's in NYC just in time to join me tonight for game 1 of the playoffs. It's especially sweet, because -- after one of the most amazing games ever played (for me, topped only by the Aaron Boone 2003 ALDS game) -- the Yankees are facing the Twins...
ABA: LAWYERS R EMBRACING SOC NETWKG
Posted on October 05, 2009Lawyers are beginning to embrace social networking, says the new ABA Legal Technology Survey. "Social networking for personal use is gaining popularity among lawyers," it says, with 43% of respondents saying they "maintain a personal social networking presence" -- up 15% from last year...
SAD NEWS: CRAIG JOHNSON
Posted on October 05, 2009We just received the sad news that Craig Johnson, CEO and founder of Virtual Law Partners, has died, unexpectedly. Details about the service will be announced shortly. The firm?s executive committee and senior management will appoint an interim committee to take over Johnson?s responsibilities until a new chief executive is named, reports VLP...
US AIR: EMPOWERED TO SAY NO
Posted on October 04, 2009Don't make any mistakes if you are buying a USAir ticket online. Unlike United -- which allows you to cancel an online reservation within the first 24 hours with a full refund -- if you screw up on USAir, and notice it five minutes later, too bad. Never mind that USAir is a United Star Alliance partner...
IM-PECK-ABLE
Posted on October 03, 2009Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck, who serves on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, has been quite active in drafting e-discovery rulings, such as March's William A. Gross Construction Associates, Inc. v. American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Co...
LAZARUS FOR CLEAR?
Posted on October 01, 2009I am so glad I didn't toss my Clear card -- it looks like Clear (a.k.a, Verified Indentity Pass, which was founded by my former boss, Steve Brill) may come back from the dead, according to this report in The New York Times. The service allows previously-vetted passengers to cut to the front of security lines at airports, etc...
MUSICAL CHAIRS IN THE EXECUTIVE SUITES
Posted on October 01, 2009After almost 25 years, George May (right) has left Thomson Reuters, where he was vice president and general manager of West Solutions, to become vice president, product strategy, at Kroll Ontrack. At West, his duties ranged from expanding online services overseas, and managing the development of publishing and product systems, he says...
REBEL CALL
Posted on October 01, 2009Our 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...
LOVE RIDE
Posted on September 27, 2009For the third year in a row, Judi Flournoy -- CIO of Loeb & Loeb, and a member of LTN's Editorial Advisory Board -- is participating in the Harley Davidson of Glendale, Calif. "Love Ride," which raises money for 12 different charities, ranging from Special Olympics to Glendale Community College to the Muscular Dystrophy Association...
FIRST TIME
Posted on September 27, 2009Magistrate Judge John Facciola was the first jurist to electronically signed an order, on August 26th. My colleague Sean Doherty details it on his blog, Legal Technology, here.
NOW THIS IS CUSTOMER SERVICE
Posted on September 26, 2009Like most daughters, I share a lot of personality traits with my mom. I can "work a room" comfortably because I grew up with a mother who can talk -- and will talk -- to absolutely anyone at any time. Years ago, she emerged from a JFK-Manhattan shuttle bus and excitedly introduced me to a slightly befuddled and definitely disheveled man who had been her seatmate...
ADIOS EMBARGO
Posted on September 24, 2009OK, this post is a bit "inside baseball," i.e., it will be of interest probably only to journalists and flaks (both inside companies and 3rd-party PR folks), but it hits me where I live ?and I'm going to immediately adopt the same policy: No more embargos on news -- except under the rare situation where LTN has an absolute exclusive...
REWARDS TRUMP RISKS
Posted on September 23, 2009The theme of Monday's ALM program, "Social Media: Risks & Rewards" -- geared at corporate counsel -- was the question of whether the rewards of using new social networking technologies are greater than the risks of using these new tools. Actually, there's a second layer of risk analysis: Are the hazards of not using social networking so great that you simply must dive in? Based on conversations during the event, the over-riding consensus of the panelists and attendees at the day-long event, held at New York City's Harvard Club, was that the risks are indeed very real, and that savvy companies must not only protect their intellectual property, and brands ? but that there are opportunities to use these same tools to proactively promote their companies...
A QUICK REBUTTAL
Posted on September 22, 2009Kevin O'Keefe has posted today on Real Lawyers Have Blogs , asserting that Law Technology News (actually he called us Legal Technology News) ran an article by marketer Larry Bodine that covers a bunch of social media options, and happens to deride Twitter as a "time-waster...
TESTING THE KITCHEN
Posted on September 22, 2009We're all counting the days until The Capital Grille officially opens in our building (120 Broadway). I'm particularly excited because I often need to take visitors to lunch, and have yet to find many quiet, reasonably-priced places to conduct business lunches in out downtown neighborhood...
#LSMC SOCIAL MEDIA: RISKS & REWARDS
Posted on September 21, 2009LTN's associate editor Theodora Blanchfield and I are at the Social Media: Risks & Rewards day-long program at NYC's Harvard Club. Chaired by LTN's Web Watch columnist (and Law.com Legal Blog Network co-author) Bob Ambrogi, (@bobambrogi -- right) it's been a fascinating day! Check out live tweets from @lawtechnews (Blanchfield's posts) or @commonscold (moi) @blawgreview ("Ed Post"), @nikiblack (Niki Black), @karasmamedia (Kara Smith) among others -- or do a twitter search for #LSMC...
EGGS OVER EASY
Posted on September 21, 2009After a series of power failures, system cooling malfunctions and a flood, Boston-based intellectual property firm Sunstein Kann Murphy & Timbers concluded that housing its IT infrastructure inside their offices did not provide the uptime or data security necessary for lawyers and decided to relocate their data center down the street...
ORANGE CRUSH
Posted on September 18, 2009OK, what's hands-down, the goofiest product we have ever reviewed in Law Technology News? But also breathtakingly kewl? The Sitness 5 chair by Germany's Topstar. It looks like a giant orange. What exactly IS it? "A kind of exercise ball rests on five chromed feet of light metal," says the German manufacturer...
VIRTUAL LEGALTECH
Posted on September 18, 2009A launch date has been established for our new "Virtual Legal Tech" (a.k.a. VLT). The cyberdoors will open on November 19, and then it will be available 24/7/365, says proud papa Henry Dicker, czar of all things LegalTech. VLT will offer CLE-accredited programming, social networking and a unique sales interface for vendors...
iPHONE TRAIN APP STOPPED IN ITS TRACKS
Posted on September 18, 2009From 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...
PROBONO.NET CELEBRATION
Posted on September 16, 2009Congrats to ProBono.Net, which celebrated its 10th anniversary on Sept. 15, with lovely dinner at New York City's W Hotel. The charismatic Mark O'Brien, co-founder and exec director, launched the dinner (great salmon, btw) before turning the mic over to Sullivan & Cromwell's of counsel, Michael Cooper; Phyllis Holmen, exec dir of Georgia Legal Services Program; NY deputy chief administrative judge Fern Fisher; Atlantic Philanthropies' Gara LaMarche (introduced by PBN's other co-founder, Michael Hertz, who flew in from London for the fete); and Allison McDermott, the group's deputy director...
FOUR YEARS
Posted on September 15, 2009After Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans, photographer Russ Curtis and I traveled to New Orleans to report on how our legal technology community was coping. One of our first stops was Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann to meet with IT director Janine Sylvas, (right) who won the 2005 IT Director of the Year award for her inventive and flat-out heroic efforts to keep both her firm and family afloat...
EIGHT YEARS
Posted on September 11, 2009It is hard for me to fathom that today marks eight years after four airplanes fell from the sky and forever changed everything. I now work one block from the site of the World Trade Center. As I write this, despite a fierce rainstorm, a tight crowd of people (especially those in uniform) are somberly repeating the annual ritual of reciting names...
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Posted on September 10, 2009It's official! We're "back to the future," reclaiming our ALM moniker, and parting ways with Incisive Media. Our CEO/President Bill Pollak writes about it on his Bill's Blog here. Press releases from ALM can be found here and from Incisive UK, here. Says Pollak (left): "For those who have been with the company for a while, this will feel a bit like "back to the future"...
MO' STRANGE TIMES
Posted on September 10, 2009Can't get enough of the Socha/Gelbmann e-discovery survey report? Well, you have two different opportunities to hear more about it. We have produced both a podcast and a full webinar in which George Socha and Tom Gelbmann join me in discussing the always-anticipated report, which found some seemingly contradictory trends, including the simultaneous constriction and expansion of EDD services and a continuing shortfall in qualified support staff...
STRANGE TIMES ELABORATED
Posted on September 09, 2009Can't get enough of the Socha/Gelbmann e-discovery survey report? (August Law Technology News' cover story?) Well, you have two different opportunities to hear more about it! We have produced both a podcast and a full webinar, both featuring George Socha and Tom Gelbmann discussing the always-anticipated report -- which found some seemingly contradictory trends -- including the simultaneous constriction and expansion of e-discovery services, and a continuing shortfall in qualified support staff...
INCREASE YOUR WING SPAN
Posted on September 09, 2009I can just about guarantee that once you read Ross Kodner's arguments for using multiple monitors, you will be pulling out your plastic to make a purchase. Says Kodner, who is the president of Milwaukee-based MicroLaw, "Why are multiple displays so seductive? Because by using more than one monitor, you can create a large display area ? a wide virtual electronic desktop ? where you can display multiple programs simultaneously, each visible without overlapping the other...
SOCIAL MEDIA: RISKS & REWARDS
Posted on September 09, 2009It's hard to believe that September is finally here! But yup, it's time to go back to school! (Well, for a day!) I hope you will join Bob Ambrogi and me at the terrific "Social Networking: Risks & Rewards" program at the Harvard Club in New York City on September 21...
A PERFECT DAY
Posted on September 08, 2009"Ed Post" ? the esteemed editor of Blawg Review -- launched his "Blawg Review Bucket List Tour" this week (no, he's not ill -- no need to start writing obits). Perhaps another name for it should be the Magical Mystery Tour, because "Ed" is keeping everyone in suspense as to his itinerary...
LABOR DAZE
Posted on September 04, 2009Just want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone in the legal technology community, as we approach Labor Day. I've always viewed this American holiday as the unofficial New Year's Day, probably because I'm way overeducated and can't shake off my internal academic calendar...
SEA OF POSSIBILITIES
Posted on September 02, 2009Sea of Possibilities: In September's Law Technology Now podcast, I am joined by Bob Ambrogi, author of Law Technology News' Web Watch column, and Jim Calloway, director of the Oklahoma Bar Association's Management Assistance Program. Calloway was guest author of the September Web Watch column (while Bob took a well-deserved vacation)...
SHOULD EDD PROFESSIONALS BE CERTIFIED?
Posted on September 02, 2009Chere Estrin starts the debate over at EDD Update -- see why she and others have formed the Organization for Legal Professionals, and dive into the discussion and let us know whether you think e-discovery certification would help -- or hinder -- employees and employers.
#ILTA09 DEADLINE 8/31 TO NOMINATE VENDORS
Posted on August 26, 2009Rust never sleeps: Just a reminder that you have until Monday to nominate your company for the 2009 LTN Vendor Awards -- selected by the readers of Law Technology News! To refresh your memory: Here?s how it works: There are three food groups: 1) Vendor Awards, 2) Law Firm & Legal Department Awards, and 3) a brand new category, Lifetime Achievement Award...
#ILTA09 TECH PURCHASING SURVEY
Posted on August 25, 20092009 ILTA Survey: ILTA has released its 2009 Technology Purchasing Survey, which targets law firms with more than 50 attorneys. Produced in cooperation with InsideLegal.com, the 40 question web-based survey was distributed to 730 firms, and yielded 115 responses, says JoAnna Forshee...
#ILTA09 WHY I LOVE IT LEADERS
Posted on August 25, 2009So I'm chatting up a couple of my favorite CT Summation dudes, and whining about how I could not believe that I fell asleep in the middle of Letterman and missed the Mark Texeira segment. "Oh Monica, it's probably already on YouTube," they said. Sure enough, it is!
#ILTA09 MORE FROM LESS
Posted on August 25, 2009Monday morning, at the ILTA keynote address, Tom Koulpoulos of the Delphi Group started off the thinking with "Innovating More with Less," which was a bit long but very engaging. Koulpoulos argued that the three major constitutencies (Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y) approach technology through very different eyes...
#ILTA09 IN TURBULENT TIMES
Posted on August 25, 2009Numbers Count: ITLA executive director Randi Mayes kicked off the keynote address at ILTA at the Gaylord National Hotel near Washington, D.C., with the relatively-happy news that despite firm travel cuts about 850 members were at the five-day conference...
#ILTA09 TECH TURB PANELISTS ON LEGAL CURRENT
Posted on August 25, 2009Kudos to Angie Schaffer and her team at West for a terrific job condensing the wisdom of Monday's speakers on our Tech Turbulence panel into a tight video. Catch it here on West's Legal Current blog.
#ILTA09 HEADING TO D.C.
Posted on August 23, 2009Heading to Washington, D.C. for #ILTA09, hope to see many of you there. Tomorrow (Monday) I'll be moderating a terrific panel on "tech turbulence" with George Rudoy (Shearman & Sterling), James McKenna, (Morrison & Foerster), and John Roman (Nixon Peabody)...
SWEEP
Posted on August 10, 2009Thursday: NYY 13, Bos 6 Friday: NYY 2, Bos 0 15 innings, 5 hours, 33 min. (I was there for every pitch.) Saturday: NYY 5, Bos 0 Sunday: NYY 5, Bos 2
STRANGE TIMES: 2009 SOCHA GELBMANN REPORT
Posted on August 03, 2009In their annual exclusive report for Law Technology News, consultants George Socha & Tom Gelbmann do away with their traditional vendor rankings and instead offer analysis of a turbulent e-discovery year. Among their conclusions: a seemingly contradictory trend, the simultaneous constriction and expansion of e-discovery services; and a continuing shortfall in qualified EDD staff attorneys, paralegals and litigation support IT staff...
LTN VENDOR AWARDS NOMINATION TIME EXTENDED
Posted on July 30, 2009The deadline to enter the 2009 LTN Vendor Awards has been extended to August 31: To refresh your memory: Here?s how it works: There are three food groups: 1) Vendor Awards, 2) Law Firm & Legal Department Awards, and 3) a brand new category, Lifetime Achievement Award...
UM, ER, BRIAN....
Posted on July 30, 2009Close the deal, eh??? We want to see this dude in pinstripes, pronto! TIA, Mrs. Chamberlain-Burnett ps. thx to SFJ for pix
MAILBAG #090730
Posted on July 30, 2009Rummaging through the in-box: 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...
BASICS OF ACCOUNTING FOR LAWYERS
Posted on July 27, 2009Want to see me turn purple with anxiety? Put me anywhere near an Excel spread sheet. I may be a decent storyteller, but I'm notoriously awful with digits. My bosses long ago gave up on sending me anything that involves opening Excel, and even John Tredennick, author of two books on how great Excel is, couldn't get thru my brain lock...
ASBPE GOLD x2
Posted on July 23, 2009Craig Ball is a magician -- he can turn the dryest, most esoteric nuance of e-discovery into a compelling story that rivals the latest Grisham offering. His vocabulary is unmatched; he always finds the perfect word to illuminate the most dense concept, yet never succumbs to jargon...
ANGELS UNVEIL 2010 ALL STAR LOGO
Posted on July 23, 2009Particularly neat how they have incorporated the signature "halo" from the stadium! Way kewl!
USF LEGAL EMPLOYMENT SYMPOSIUM
Posted on July 22, 2009My alum, the University of San Francisco School of Law, is offering a symposium on 9/17 to help law students and lawyers negotiate the changing legal landscape. It will include four panel discussions, featuring legal commentators, practitioners, and folks (like me) who have pursued non-traditional legal careers...
PRO BONO NET GOLDEN VENTURE FUNDRAISER
Posted on July 22, 2009I turn the mic over to Pro Bono Net's Pam Weisz: "We've teamed up with the director of Golden Venture, an acclaimed documentary about the struggles of the 286 passengers of the infamous immigrant smuggling ship that ran aground near New York City in 1993...
THE BOOKS OF SUMMER
Posted on July 16, 2009Going through beisbol withdrawal as the boys take their All Star break? Never fear, here are three books that will tide you over until Friday: Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain, by Marty Appel, is a rich and poignant account of #15, Thurmon Munson, who was killed while flying his private jet...
CHRIS ANDERSON'S BOOK FREE ON ITUNES
Posted on July 15, 2009I turn the mic over to Jon Moreland: Hello, Monica! 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...
TABBIES 2009 HONORS
Posted on July 14, 2009We were delighted to learn today that Law Technology News has won two TABBIE awards, from the Trade Association Business Publications International. ? Our former colleague, Claire Duffett, who is now working as a reporter based in Cambodia, won one of two honorable mentions in the Best Department category, for her stellar Technology on Trial articles...
7th ANNUAL TWINS/YANKS FEST
Posted on July 12, 2009Bye 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...
MAILBAG #090629
Posted on June 29, 2009Catchin' up w/ the in-box: * Ipro Tech had to write a big check ($246,470) to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Microsoft, and Symantec software, but CEO Jim King says his organization takes the full blame. "As part of the settlement agreement, IPRO Tech Inc...
#LTWC: NETWORKING OLD & NEW
Posted on June 29, 2009We did some old-fashioned networking -- the kind where you actually talk in person -- at our "Green Your Career" breakfast at LegalTech West Coast -- where we had a packed house full of job seekers, vendors, and law firm folks. I'm already hearing from some attendees that the event may have linked at least one person with a new gig! Huge, huge thanks to the generosity of the vendors who provided so many gift cards that we were able to give every job seeker at least two! Thank you! And thanks to our speakers -- Brad Blickstein, Tom Collins, Babs Deacon, John Lipsey, Mary Mack, Mark Reichenbach, John Tredennick, and J...
#LTWC: DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS
Posted on June 25, 2009Day 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...
PECK & WAXSE HOLD COURT AT ROUND TABLE
Posted on June 24, 2009Fascinating 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...
MANAGEMENT SHIFT AT FIOS
Posted on June 23, 2009Apparently, 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. According to a knowledgeable source, last Friday Prashant Dubey (SVP Consulting), Sam Panarella (VP Consulting) and Jeanette Siepian (SVP Sales & Marketing) were all let go...
BUMMER: CLEAR FOLDS
Posted on June 23, 2009I 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...
MAILBAG #061209
Posted on June 12, 2009I'm just about ready to head out to Charlie Haas' 7:30 p.m. book reading at the Barnes & Noble in the Village (396 6th @ 8th) for his new book, The Enthusiast... but before I dash out the door, need to catch up on some incoming! ? Attorney Paul Levine also has a new novel out -- Illegal -- and he introduces a new "trouble-prone hero," Jimmy (Royal) Payne...
& THE WINNER IS.....
Posted on June 12, 2009As they say in all that propaganda for the New York Lottery: ?You can?t win if you don?t enter.? Nominations are now open for the Law Technology News 2009 Awards. Here?s how it works: there are three food groups: 1) Vendor Awards, 2) Law Firm & Legal Department Awards, and 3) a brand new category, Lifetime Achievement Award...
CATCH PHRASE PLEASE!
Posted on May 21, 2009Michael 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...
MO' MAILBAG #052009
Posted on May 20, 2009JoAnna 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...
MAILBAG #050109
Posted on May 01, 2009Catchin' up with the inbox: ? Andrea Tecce, of Navigant Consulting, is one of the leaders of the Washington, D.C. branch of Women in E-Discovery. Contact her if you are interesting in 411 about upcoming events. ? Andy Adkins, of the Univ. of Florida (Gainsville) found this amazing update of Captain Sully's seaplane adventure: Download Hudson...
NOTHING GROWS FOREVER
Posted on April 29, 2009The Am Law 100 Report is now online. Says The American Lawyer's editor-in-chief Aric Press and Am Law Data Analyst John O'Connor: For the first time since 1991, both average profits per partner and revenue per lawyer dipped last year among the Am Law 100 firms, the top-grossing firms in the nation...
HILTON / UAL PROMOTIONS: CAVEAT EMPTOR
Posted on April 21, 2009Heads Up: If you are planning to use any Hilton Honors / United promotions -- such as the current Hawaii promotion to earn double Mileage Plus miles, a 10,000 HHonors bonus, and receive a free bathrobe (see 411 here) -- be sure your Hilton account is set up so that you are earning both UAL miles and points...
BACK ON THE PAYROLL
Posted on April 20, 2009Good news from both Babs Deacon and Mark Reichenbach, who both got pink slip'd a few months back. Deacon has landed a new gig with Integreon, (which recently acquired Onsite3) as director of consulting. New e-mail here. Reichenbach is the new veep for client and industry development, with Capital Legal Solutions...
DREAM YOUR DREAM
Posted on April 15, 2009My friend Linda Lake just sent me this, and wow oh wow, you simply must check it out. Susan Boyle offers an astounding reminder about why we should never, ever, ever underestimate or judge someone just because he or she is "plain." From Britains Got Talent (Never mind the bad punctuation...
GREEN YOUR CAREER: A NETWORKING BREAKFAST
Posted on April 14, 2009This erratic economy has been tough on everybody, but none more so than the members of our legal technology community who have lost their jobs. It's difficult, scary, and challenging for even the most self-confident professionals. Our Incisive gang wants to help -- so we decided to team up at LegalTech West Coast and offer a simple, heartfelt gesture: On day 2 (Thursday June 25) we will host a very informal, free "Green Your Career" networking breakfast, from 8-9 a...
WATCH THE DOOR
Posted on April 14, 2009With all the layoffs and corporate restructuring, sometimes legal holds can get lost in the shuffle. As computers and workloads get reassigned, sometimes key data can evaporate. In LTN's April cover story, "Watch the Door," John Jablonski, a partner at Buffalo's Goldberg Segalla, offers a check list for folks in IT, risk management and HR, to help preserve proper legal holds...
NEW IS OLD AGAIN
Posted on April 08, 2009Sorry, 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...
CONNECTING BUSINESS & PLEASURE
Posted on April 03, 2009Marc Osborn and the gang over at LexisNexis' Martindale Hubbell have now officially launched Martindale Hubbell Connect, which has been in beta for a while. Bob Ambrogi raved about it in his Web Watch column last September in Law Technology News. As part of the launch celebrations, MHC invited six bloggers to do a mini-carnival from March 30-April 6...
KEEPING WOMEN IN BIGLAW
Posted on April 02, 2009Another good step towards addressing the unacceptable gender pay and promotion gaps in the legal profession that I have been ranting about since the Census figures came out last fall: Our colleagues at The National Law Journal report that 8 law firm leaders and 7 corporate GC met recently to address how both can better support flex-time and part-time policies to advance women at firms...
IT'S APRIL FOOLS DAY
Posted on April 01, 2009Kurt Leafstrand and his colleagues at Clearwell had JUST a little bit too much time on their hands yesterday: check out this "launch." I see Mr. Ball also caught this (below). Ditto for Google, with "CADIE." Hat tip to Sally Gonzalez. And Klingon & Porcine Latin review capabilities have been added to Orange Legal Technologies' portfolio...
DRU'S HEADED BACK TO SF
Posted on March 26, 2009The amazing and wildly influential Drucilla Ramey is heading home to San Francisco, to become the next dean of Golden Gate University's School of Law. Here's the top of The Recorder's story. Read the full story here. By Petra Pasternak March 26, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO ? Drucilla Ramey is back in the Bay Area, this time to head a San Francisco law school...
#SESNY: BUBBLING ABOUT GUY KAWASAKI
Posted on March 24, 2009Guy Kawasaki mesmerized the SRO crowd today at the NY Hilton, when he gave the kickoff keynote address at our Search Engines Strategies conference. #SESNY. Kawasaki is smart and irreverent, two of my favorite personality traits, and gave a crash course in using Twitter as a marketing tool...
TECH TIPS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
Posted on March 19, 2009Alan Cohen covers some fascinating nuances for international travelers trying to stay connnected overseas, in "Technology Tips for the Traveler," from Corporate Counsel magazine. 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...
RAINMAKER'S ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PACKAGE
Posted on March 17, 2009RainMaker 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...
MED/TECH: THE $2 REPORT
Posted on March 16, 2009Had 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...
MADOFF WATCH
Posted on March 12, 2009Interested in following the Bernie Madoff mess? Catch up on Twitter: @amlawdaily or @Madoff_watch, or at The American Lawyer website.
TOP IT SALARIES DROP, MIDDLE STEADY
Posted on March 10, 2009On the Careers blog, by Don Sears, is his analysis of a report from New York-based Bluewolf on 2008/2009 IT salaries for the tri-state area (NY,NJ,CT). Not surprisingly, $ for top jobs -- and entry level spots -- is slipping. Says Sears:Salary numbers at the high end of each category are, as expected, down overwhelmingly, but average salary levels are holding steady...
ATTACK PANIC!
Posted on February 23, 2009As we all reel with the spiraling economy, Topic A is how to dodge a pink slip. In Law Technology News' February issue, in the article, ?Staying Afloat,? article, IT leaders offer astute advice: * 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...
MAILBAG #090222
Posted on February 22, 2009From da inbox: 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...
OBAMA: DON'T IGNORE EDD ISSUES
Posted on February 22, 2009Law Technology News' e-discovery columnist has a message for President Obama: Don't ignore EDD issues while you revamp medical records." On the EDD Update blog Craig Ball urges the president to be careful about his push to digitize the nation's health care records...
ALOHA
Posted on February 22, 2009One of the things I love about coming to Hawaii is that I pretty much stay on NYC time, so I get up at 4 a.m. (9 a.m. on da body clock) and have several hours of blissful quiet before the rest of the family gets up. Yes, yes, I know I'm a workaholic, but these days, who can afford not to be -- but anyway, it's one of the rare times when I can actually do mundane but necessary tech tasks, such as cleaning out my old e-mail & iTunes...
LAW TECHNOLOGY NEWS DAILY ALERT
Posted on February 17, 2009We've just launched our new Law Technology News Daily Alert! If you'd like to subscribe, you can -- right here. The first edition includes a link to a hot story about Guidance Software, which is being grilled about absent memos -- did the E-Discovery company bumble its own internal digital search? Check out the story here.
WELCOME THEODORA BLANCHFIELD
Posted on February 17, 2009We're delighted to introduce you to LTN's new associate editor! Theodora Blanchfield previously worked across the hallway as a staff reporter for IP Law & Business, and we could not be more thrilled to welcome her to Law Technology News. Welcome aboard!
MICROSOFT DEBUTS WINDOWS PHONE
Posted on February 17, 2009Looks like the mothership is going to take on Cupertino again: -- Microsoft has debuted a Windows Phone. http://tinyurl.com/tcs217Excerpt: BARCELONA, Spain ??? Feb. 16, 2009 ??? Today at Mobile World Congress 2009, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer along with key mobile partners, HTC, LG and Orange, unveiled new Windows phones featuring new user-friendly software and services...
FRIDAY THE 13TH
Posted on February 13, 2009Bad news, better news:1. 800 law firm jobs were lost yesterday (maybe they did it yesterday rather than today to avoid Jason's wrath?) http://tinyurl.com/ltn213 (The Recorder).2. Horrible news from Buffalo, Continental commuter plane down, all lost -- stunning photos on The New York Times' website...
ROBERT MEADOWS HEADED TO BINGHAM MCCUTCHEN
Posted on February 11, 2009Robert Meadows, formerly CIO of Heller Ehrman, has been snared by Bingham McCutchen as its CIO -- and has made the bi-coastal move to Boston. He promises to be a Yankees fan, despite his new venue!He'll be starting there on 2/17. Congrats!!!! Welcome to the East Coast...
#LTNY: WHY FEB 5 IS THE DAY AFTER XMAS
Posted on February 05, 2009Craig Ball, LTN's "Ball in Your Court" columnist, says today is "the day after Christmas," and the news of Onsite3's bankruptcy and acquisition probably won't be the last Darwin news in the next weeks. Check it out here.
#LTNY: SCENE SYSTEMS DEMOS #USAIR MIRACLE
Posted on February 05, 2009Scene Systems, of Manhattan Beach,Calif., offered a compelling demo at its booth at #LegalTech New York: The company displayed ts accident reconstruction finese with a video recreation of the miraculous #USAir Flight 1549 Hudson river landing in January...
#LTNY: TRENDSPOTTER
Posted on February 05, 2009So... I finally got a few hours sleep, and I'm beginning to process the incredible conversations and discussions I've had over the last four days at LegalTech New York! And as ideas and trends begin to marinate, I'm thinking about the article(s) I may write as a result of all of your tremendous insight...
#LTNY SO MUCH MORE TO COME!
Posted on February 03, 2009At the end of day 2, I'm completely on fumes -- will post much more over the next few days. However, I wanted to share this picture of Gene Landoe, which Russ Curtis shot last night during our LTN Awards Dinner at Carmine's in Times Sq. Gene has announced his retirement after a long happy career at CT, and we will all miss him and wish him the very best for the next chapter in his illustrious life! P...
LTNY 09: WHERE'S MONICA?
Posted on February 02, 20096 p.m. - LTN Awards Dinner! Carmine's(Ticketed event)
LTNY 09: READY, SET.....
Posted on February 02, 2009Sunday wasn't just for the SuperBowl, (congrats Pittsburgh), it was also the traditional set-up Sunday for LegalTech New York, as everyone begins to descend on the Hilton for our three-day event! Russ Curtis had his camera out as folks began to set up booths and gather at 53rd & 6th:Here's our LTNY czar Henry Dicker, with LexisNexis' Jane Kimpan as they got ready for Monday's opening curtain...
LTNY EDITORS BREAKFAST
Posted on January 29, 2009Our annual Editors' Breakfast will be held Tuesday (Feb. 3) at 8 a.m., in the Petit Trianon Room on the 3rd floor of the Hilton NY. It's free and open to all vendors and attendees of LTNY. As usual, we will offer gourmet conversation and pedestrian danish, coffee & tea (in interests of full disclosure, the picture to the left is NOT representative of our fare)...
OBAMA SIGNS GENDER PAY BILL
Posted on January 29, 2009A step in the right direction: President Obama has signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, re gender pay, the first piece of legislation he has signed as president. AP story here, from MS/NBC. (It includes a video of Obama talking about equal pay during his campaign)See Mon's rant in November LTN ("Just Equal") about this issue within the legal industry here...
WHAT I HATE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY: UPDATE!
Posted on January 28, 2009I'm thrilled to announce that CommVault, which offers enterprise backup software, data protection and de-duplication services, has just signed on to sponsor our upcoming "Trifecta" -- that includes a live program at LTNY09, six podcasts, and a report on the panel in Law Technology News and Corporate Counsel! Anthony Paonita, editor-in-chief of Corporate Counsel magazine, and I are organizing the panel, and it should be a flat-out blast...
ANDY'S BACK
Posted on January 26, 2009Whoppeee... the staring contest is over. Pettite's back --- $5.5M 1 yr, with incentives that could bring it to $12M. YEAHHHHHHH 411 here. P.S. - Cash, now couldja please put Joba where he belongs: as set-up and successor to Mo!
WHAT LIES BENEATH
Posted on January 26, 2009With the news of layoffs at two EDD providers (i365/Metalincs and SPi), I thought you might want a sneak preview of Craig Ball's column "What Lies Beneath."Ball warns us to be sure we have considered how to protect our firms and clients should a vendor evaporate...
LAYOFFS AT SPi
Posted on January 26, 2009The grapevine is humming about layoffs at SPi -- and possible reorganization (jettisoning EDD work) -- but no official statements yet. Will keep you posted as we hear more.
MORE ON INTERWOVEN ACQUISTION
Posted on January 26, 2009Autonomy Corp. has reported plans to acquire Interwoven Inc. According to the company: ??? Interwoven stockholders will receive $16.20 in cash for each outstanding Interwoven share, representing a premium of 36.8% to the closing share price of $11.84 on January 21, 2009, and a premium of 36...
10 SECONDS TO HELP
Posted on January 26, 2009I turn the mic over to my friend Marianne Cohen:The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet its quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals. It takes about 10 seconds to go to their site and click on the purple box 'fund food for animals' for free...
AUTONOMY TO ACQUIRE INTERWOVEN
Posted on January 24, 2009Breaking news: http://www.autonomy.com/content/News/Releases/2009/0122.en.html
VENABLE PARTNER ON US AIR 1549
Posted on January 22, 2009Our colleagues at The Am Law Daily have just posted a fascinating interview with Venable partner James Hanks Jr. who was aboard US Air 1549. Best line: ???I can't let my life be run by a bunch of geese.??? #USAircrash
TWEET TWEET @ LTNY
Posted on January 19, 2009We've decided to add a Twitter panel to LTNY, and what a panel it is: "What is Twitter and How Can I Use It?" Monday, Feb. 2, from 3 to 4 p.m., in the 4th floor Hilton West Ballroom (same one being used for the general sessions). Among the questions we'll address: * At the end of the day is Twitter the ???ultimate time waster??? or a ???great tool???? * From 'huh?" to "a ha!" - one lawyer's journey into the Twitterverse...
MAILBOX #090119
Posted on January 19, 2009As 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...
GUEST POST: GO GREEN
Posted on January 17, 2009A guest post from Shawnna Childress, of Navigant Consulting (and Women in eDiscovery):The name of the game in 2009 is ???Saving Money???. Going Green is a natural answer to saving your firm or corporation thousands. Particularly in the United States, saving money on energy costs is the primary motivating factor causing corporations to ramp up their Green IT initiatives...
DARWIN SUMMARY
Posted on January 14, 2009Joe Howie and Michael Potters came up with this very nifty chart of key acquisitions over the last couple years for the ALSP Newsletter. Check it out.
VERDICT SYSTEMS (SANCTION) SOLD
Posted on January 07, 2009Verdict Systems has been sold to Atlanta-based Alexander Gallo Holdings, reports Verdict Systems spokesperson Colleen O'Donnell Pierce. AGH offers court reporting and litigation support services. Verdict Systems offers Sanction trial presentation software, and the more comprehensive Verdical package...
CISCO DIVES INTO SOCIAL NETWORKING
Posted on January 07, 2009Alltop's Guy Kawasaki spotted this C/Net article about Cisco diving into social networking.
& THE WINNERS ARE:
Posted on January 05, 2009I 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...
2009 TECH RESOLUTIONS
Posted on January 02, 2009Here 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...
MAILBAG #010209
Posted on January 02, 2009New Year, More Mail:* 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 Kodner offers 33 New Year's resolutions here...
OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS
Posted on December 28, 2008I'm a huge fan of Malcolm Gladwell, and I'm absolutely fascinated by leadership, so I was eager to grab his new book, Outliers: The Story of Success. I know it got trashed by some critics, but ignore them. It's a fascinating study that sets out to debunk the cowboy notion of "self-made men" -- and explores the factors that have come into play to create successful people...
WHAT I HATE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY
Posted on December 28, 2008Anthony Paonita, editor-in-chief of Corporate Counsel magazine, and I are organizing a panel for LegalTech New York that should be a flat-out blast. We've got a GREAT crew of speakers, and a great topic: "What I Hate About Technology - and what i expect my outside counsel, co-counsel, vendors and staff to do about it!" It will be held on Tuesday, Feb...
A SWEET GOODBYE
Posted on December 11, 2008I received sad but not unexpected news this morning ? my dad died last night. Our family was so blessed ? for the last two years, Daddyo was in a fabulous assisted living home, with warm, caring attendants. Mom and my wonderful brother Bill and his remarkable family were just five minutes away, so Dad was never isolated...
& THE WINNERS ARE:
Posted on December 11, 2008The 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...
POST A COMMENT, FEED A FAMILY
Posted on December 10, 2008Tyson's using social networking to promote its HungerRelief program. For every post it gets it will donate food to feed Eastern Mass. families. Check it out!
75% OF LAW DEPTS FACE BUDGET CUTS IN 09
Posted on December 09, 2008Altman Weil has released a new Survey on Law Dept Cost Control that shows that 76% of responding GCS say their law depts face budget cuts averaging 11.5% for '09. And 15.6% say budgets will increase -- but by a smaller percentage than in prior years. More than 80% of respondants cited outside counsel costs, and the unpredictable nature of legal spending...
SAD NEWS FROM SF: JOHN McGUCKIN HAS DIED
Posted on December 04, 2008Just heard the very sad news that one of my favorite people lost his battle with cancer, John H. McGuckin. I got to know John during my Recorder days, and he was a gem. Modest, generous, good-spirited, kind and smart, he always warmed my heart and treated everyone with dignity and joy...
OZ JOINS WHITE & CASE, WHICH IS RETOOLING
Posted on December 03, 2008Oz Benamram, formerly of MoFo, has joined White & Case as Chief Knowledge Officer. The firm, according to our sibling blog, The Am Law Daily, is undergoing a major reorganization. "Under a new structure put in place this week, power will shift from 35 individual offices to 14 regional groups, with a renewed focus on 16 different global practices...
IT SECTOR M&A EXPECTED TO GROW IN '09
Posted on December 02, 200852% of corporate executives said they expect merger & acquisition growth in the IT sector to outpace overall global M&A growth in '09, according to a survey conducted by mergermarket, MoFo & Updata Advisers. Press release Download Press-Release-IT-Sector-December-08(2) Full report Download IT_Sector_M&A_Spotlight
ABA JOURNAL'S BLAWG 100 IS UP
Posted on December 01, 2008The ABA Journal has posted its 2nd annual Blawg 100 list. Congrats to our Incisive Media colleagues who made the roster, including:? Legal Blog Watch (Bob Ambrogi & Carolyn Elefant, who also got listed for MyShingle.com.? Am Law Daily ? BLT (the Blog of Legal Times) ? L...
BLACKBERRYS & PDAS SAVE LAWYERS
Posted on December 01, 2008Bob Ambrogi writes on Legal Blog Watch about three members of our community who survived the horrific attacks in Mumbai, aided by their BlackBerrys and international cell phones. Check it out here. Here's a harrowing excerpt:For Australian lawyer David Jacobs, trapped in a room on the 16th floor of the Oberoi/Trident Hotel, his BlackBerry proved to be his salvation, according to the Sunday Mail...
NEW YORK LAWHELP IN RUNNING FOR PRIZE
Posted on December 01, 2008Pam Weisz of ProBono.Net checks in to share the good news that The New York LawHelp Consortium has been chosen as a semi-finalist for The Colllaboration Prize -- a new $250,000 award designed to recognize and encourage non-profits. the Consortion developed and runs LawHelp/NY, an online resource that offers detailed, statewide legal aid referrals, "know your rights" information, and other self-help tools for New Yorkers who face legal problems...
WIN A WINE EXPERIENCE
Posted on December 01, 2008The team at eSentio has extended the deadline to bid on a wonderful "once in a lifetime" wine experience, with proceeds benefiting The Nature Conservatory, a non-profit that works to preserve natural habitats and wildlife worldwide.Destination Cellars has donated a "luxury customized wine experience for two" -- in the Napa Valley, plus a signed bottle of 2003 Paul Hobbs Stagecoach Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon...
WELCOME CECIL LYNN & RALPH LOSEY
Posted on November 18, 2008I am delighted to introduce everybody to Cecil Lynn III and Ralph Losey, who have both graciously agreed to join Law Technology News' Editorial Advisory Board, and our EDD Update authors team. Lynn, upper right, is of counsel to Ryley, Carlock & Applewhite, and is based in Phoenix...
LTN AWARDS - DEADLINE EXTENDED
Posted on November 13, 2008By popular demand, we have extended the deadline to enter our 2008 LTN Awards to WEDNESDAY DEC 3. Especially in tough economic times, here's an opportunity to showcase your organization's technology stars -- and projects. Toda y, as Doug Caddell (a former winner of IT Director of the Year) says, you can't just sell your legal skills -- who also have to "sell" your technology...
CISCO'S INFRASTRUCTURE IN YANKEE STADIUM
Posted on November 12, 2008Kewl story today on 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...
TWEET TWEET
Posted on November 07, 2008OK, I've joined another cult. Check out: http://twitter.com/commonscold http://twitter.com/eddupdate http://twitter.com/lawtechnology (lawtechnologynews was too long, and someone's already got LTN) Bob Ambrogi's going to tell you everything you need to know about it in the December LTN, but I'll post a few links here shortly as well from others who have 'splained it...
CALLING ALL CANDIDATES
Posted on November 07, 2008Both the LTN editorial advisory board and the LegalTech board currently have no minority members -- and we both are committed to changing that. If you are interested -- or can suggest someone we should approach -- drop me a note at commonscold@incisivemedia...
AN HISTORIC DAY
Posted on November 05, 2008NBC's Luke Russert (Tim's son) had a great analogy, about racial bias crumbling last night like the Berlin Wall. Most of you know that I carefully stay away from partisan politics, because my readers are of all political colors ? but you all know that I'm rabid about diversity, a goal which I believe ? and hope ? crosses all political spectrums...
FRIDAY'S THE DEADLINE!
Posted on November 04, 2008It's not too late to nominate your firm or law department for the 2008 LTN Awards. The process is simple and painless... Just download the application right here . Categories include:? IT Director of the Year? IT Champion of the Year? Most innovative use of technology in:-- A trial-- A law firm-- A law dept...
VISTA EQUITY BUYS ADERANT
Posted on November 03, 2008Vista Equity Partners has announced it has completed its acquisition of Aderant Holdings Inc. Terms of the deal were not announced. Michael Kohlsdorf, president and CEO: ?I am fully confident that Vista will help us further energize our business, and I look forward to working with our current management team and dedicated employees to reach the next level of our company?s growth...
2008 FINAL REPORT
Posted on November 02, 2008O.K. -- This will come as a surprise to most of you, but I am not upset that the boys did not make it to the postseason. Frankly, I was secretly relieved. To be honest, I was exhausted by the end of September. Between the All Star Game, and all the hype about the final season at the Stadium, I was toast...
LED ZEPP - OFF TOPIC BUT BIG FUN
Posted on October 29, 2008My pal Jon Bream -- veteran music critic of Minneapolis' Star Tribune -- has just finished up an east coast book tour for his brand new coffee table book, Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin: The Illustrated History of the Heaviest Band of All Time, published by Voyageur Press...
MAILBAG #081028
Posted on October 29, 2008Checkin' the in-box: ? Andrea Tecce of Navigant Consulting checks in to say that the recent inaugural meeting of the Women's Leadership & Mentoring Alliance, held in NYC, was a big hit, drawing about 50 folks for cocktails and conversation.The group plans to host quarterly events on the East Coast, between D...
TODAY'S THE DAY
Posted on October 29, 2008Got notes today from Russ Curtis, LTN's photo editor, and Ed Jorcyzk, formerly of MoFo's IT team, both Californians. Wonderful news from Russ -- he and his partner, Mark Russell, have decided to tie the knot today. CONGRATS. Here's their letter on why today's the day:Russ and I have been in a loving relationship for 12 years...
Special Discount for GC teams: Mastering Discovery
Posted on October 28, 2008Heads up, GC teams -- Our legal events team is offering a special discount for the upcoming Mastering the Discovery Process for the General Counsel program, which will be held Monday and Tuesday (Nov 3 & 4) at the New York Marriott Marquis hotel, sponsored by our colleagues at Corporate Counsel magazine...
MORE DISCOURAGING NEWS RE: RETENTION
Posted on October 16, 2008The National Law Journal continues to cover the difficult issue of diversity within our legal industry. Following the recent report about gender pay discrepancies comes the discouraging news that minority women are rarely successful in attempts to climb BigFirm partnership ladders, writes reporter Karen Sloan: The number of women and minority attorneys at major U...
CMO INSIGHTS
Posted on October 01, 2008The wise Bruce Marcus checks in to offer a link to his speech at our recent CMO Conference. Marcus offers great advice and has an amazing amount of common sense, which is very refreshing to encounter from professional marketers. Some are fabulous, but too many, in my experience, too often succumb to brain-numbing Firm Speak and the latest management fads...
WALL STREET RAINING IT TALENT?
Posted on September 30, 2008E-Week Careers suggests that the implosions on Wall Street may be excellent news for folks trying to hire top IT staff. They cite an article from Crain's: Traditionally, Wall Street has been the tech industry's stiffest competition on the hiring front...
GE SUES ITS FORMER ATTY
Posted on September 30, 2008Our colleague Sue Reisinger of Corporate Counsel has this story out today: Here's the first graf: General Electric Co. has now seen two in-house lawyers end up in court -- as its opponents. In June, GE sued a one-time staff attorney, claiming that she took privileged company tax documents and gave them to two government agencies and a reporter...
MAILBAG #080929
Posted on September 29, 2008Fast 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)...
BEISBOL PLACEHOLDER
Posted on September 23, 2008Campers: Just a note to say that if I ever close the LTN October issue (we've had unbelieveable tech infrastructure problems, but I won't go there) I WILL be posting about the magical final fete at Yankee Stadium Sunday night. Short version -- it was the best and the worst of the Stadium and the Yankees...
MAILBAG #080919
Posted on September 19, 2008What a crazy week .... we're setting into the new digs (120 Broadway, 5th floor, NYC 10271, 212 457 9601), with the expected bumps and grinds of moving headquarters (challenging tech issues and trying to find your bearings in a new neighborhood). I really like the downtown venue, although it's eerie to be leaving work every night at the Wall Street subway station, with all the finance meltdowns in our 'hood...
SHAME, SHAME: GENDER GAP FOR PARALEGALS
Posted on September 17, 2008On our LegalBlogWatch, Bob Ambrogi spotted this report from Chere Estrin, noting that there appears to be a gender gap in paralegal pay (and no, the women are not making more than the men). Here's Bob's commentary: Pay Inequity for Women Paralegals Given that women have long outnumbered men among the ranks of paralegals, it would seem safe to assume that here is at least one segment of the legal profession where salaries are blind to gender...
GOLDEN STATES OF MIND
Posted on September 08, 2008OK, 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...
FINDLAW & GOOGLE BATTLE
Posted on September 07, 2008My 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...
SUNSHINE STATES OF MIND
Posted on September 04, 2008First stop, Tampa/St. Pete on a three-city sprint to visit some vendors, consultants, and board members -- and head to our final Group Game of the 2008 season next week in Anaheim. My colleague Jai Wallace and I had the pleasure of spending time with LTN board member Cathy Paunov, and the First Couple of EDD (Shawnna and Robert Childress, she of Navigant Consulting and Women in E-Discovery, he of Wave Software)...
DOHERTY @ ILTA
Posted on September 03, 2008I wasn't able to attend this year's ILTA conference due to our move to new Incisive Media HQ in downtown NYC -- that coincided directly with the close of the September LTN issue -- but my trusty colleague, Sean Doherty offers his usual superb analysis of the show, here...
BlackBerries Rule!
Posted on September 03, 2008The National Law Journal reports that our Gulf Coast colleagues are making great use of their BlackBerries. Here's an excerpt of the story on today's NLJ website, by staff reporter Vesna Jaksic: A number of law firms and law schools in Louisiana said all their employees were safe after Hurricane Gustav, but didn't expect offices to reopen until later this week or next week...
ON HIGH GROUND - ALL BUT ONE
Posted on September 01, 2008So far, news from NoLa is good .... Janine Sylvas and Nancy Claypool say everybody's evacuated from Stone Pigman; Hunter Twiford says the same for the gang at McGlinchey; Tom O'Connor's in Pensacola... Connie Nichols left Saturday. Eric Barefield is with his folks in Alabama...
MAILBAG #082909
Posted on August 29, 2008This year is just flying by... I'm realllllly happy to see the first hints of fall, as the humidity drops in NYC and it becomes wonderful again. Here are a few items from the inbox: ? David Horrigan -- who manages to find some of the most interesting litigation (steady readers will recall his detailed coverage of the woes of Mr...
A WONDERFUL TRADITION
Posted on August 13, 2008What 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...
MO MAILBAG #080806
Posted on August 07, 2008Still more incoming: ? 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...
MAILBAG #073008
Posted on August 07, 2008Here we go! ? Microsoft Corp. has announced a new Law Firm Diversity Program, aimed at increasing the number of women and minority attorneys within its outside counsel. It's putting money where its mouth is -- by changing its legal fee structure so that each of the company's 17 "Premier Preferred Provider" firms is now eligible for a 2% quarterly or annual bonus, based on whether it achieves "concrete diversity results...
WHAT I LEARNED FROM STEVE BRILL #2,145
Posted on August 06, 2008Steve 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...
LOVE RIDE
Posted on July 30, 2008Get your motor running, as the song sez: LTN board member Judi Flournoy, CIO of Loeb & Loeb and past president of ILTA, is also raising money for good causes ... in this case, the 25th anniversary of the "Harley Davidson of Glendale Love Ride" which raises money for Los Angeles area charities...
ONE MORE DAY
Posted on July 30, 2008I turn the mic over to Fios' Mary Mack: (original post here) I have a request and a challenge for our blackberry enabled, tiny living room we call the ediscovery community. We have the fastest grapevine in the world. Will you help me use our grapevine to feed our hungry neighbors and collectively achieve a huge goal? Sometimes in the electronic discovery world, we get so stressed out by how much we have to do that we forget about people who have no work, or very poorly paid work...
MARY MACK KEYNOTES NFPA TECH INSTITUTE
Posted on July 29, 2008Fios' Mary Mack stole the show at the two-day National Federation of Paralegal Associations' Tech Institute in Denver, July 25-26. Mack, corporate technology counsel at the Portland, Ore.-based company, was the keynote luncheon speaker on day 1, and wow'd the crowd with a speech that was both entertaining and jam-packed with substance...
SILVER & BRONZE
Posted on July 28, 2008More good news to share! Shane DeLeers and Bob Ambrogi have won Bronze and Silver awards for their stellar work in LTN in the national awards presented Saturday in Kansas City at the American Society of Business Publications Editors annual meeting. Shane won for our August '07 cover, the EDD Showcase featuring the annual Socha/Gelbmann survey, in the best Tabloid Cover category...
NOMINATE YOUR COMPANY
Posted on July 28, 2008The July 31 deadline approaches to nominate your company for the 2009 LTN Vendor Awards. If you don't nominate your company, it can't win, so take a moment and do it, today! (Read in voice that sounds like that swarmy GEICO or New York Lottery announcers)...
SNEAK PREVIEW: SOCHA/GELBMANN '08 SURVEY
Posted on July 22, 2008I turn the mic over to George Socha: The anxiously awaited 2008 Socha-Gelbmann EDD Survey executive summary will be published in the August issue of Law Technology News, but here is a sneak preview to whet your appetite. This year we gathered information from or about 107 EDD services and software providers, and from 29 law firms and 19 corporations...
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT
Posted on July 17, 2008YES, of course, I stayed to the bitter end ? barely ? my friend Teri had to leave at 11:15 to get the last train back to Jersey, but I hung in there with my new friends in section 8, row J. What an amazing night! Just amazing. I am soooooooooo lucky that I got tickets, (long story, involving perseverance and a 15 minute TicketMaster screwup) -- and not just tickets, but GREAT seats half way up the Tier just to the left of home plate...
HELLO, GOODBYE, HELLO
Posted on July 12, 2008As we wave goodbye to the lovely Katie Montgomery, as she heads west to Iowa City to begin her Ph.D program, we say hello and welcome to Nabia Jenkins-Johnston, as LTN's new associate editor. Nabia (pronounced knob-ee-ya) joins us as a recent honors grad of Rutgers...
GOLD & BRONZE x2
Posted on July 10, 2008We are thrilled to announce that Craig Ball et moi have won another set of Gold (Craig) and Bronze (moi), last night at the Northeast Regional awards ceremonies for the American Society of Business Publications Editors. Craig's "Ball in Your Court" June 07 column, "Do It Yourself Forensics," took the gold for Best How-To article...
GOLD & BRONZE TABBIES!
Posted on July 08, 2008We've just received word that Craig Ball's Ball in Your Court column in Law Technology News has won Gold in the 2008 TABBIES awards, presented by the Trade Association Business Publications International. More than 700 publications competed in this international competition, and it's the second year in a row that Ball snared the top prize for best regular column...
LEGALTECH PODCASTS FROM FUTURETECH TRACK
Posted on July 08, 2008They're up! Our "six-pack" of podcasts from the "TomorrowLand" panel of the Law Technology News presents FutureTech track at last month's LegalTech West Coast are now available at Law.com's Law Technology Now site. (You can also find it at the Legal Talk Network, and on iTunes!) You can listen to the predictions and wisdom from Tom Baldwin, Craig Ball, Doug Caddell, Peter Hsiao, Judith Flournoy, and J...
MAILBAG #070608
Posted on July 06, 2008Catching up with incoming e-mail! * Bob Johnston, of the Executive Council in NYC, checks in to tell us that if you were unable to attend the recent (excellent) program about "Green IT" you can watch highlights online here. I attended the program, and was especially impressed with Microsoft's chief environmental strategist, Robert Bernard...
LEGALTECH WEST COAST - SHOW FLOOR
Posted on July 01, 2008LegalTech West Coast 2008 was a two-day whirlwind of exhibits, demos, programs, parties, and networking. I'm still on the road, but here's some shots of the Exhibit Hall, by LTN's photo editor, Russ Curtis (www.russcurtis.com). Thanks to all the vendors, panelists, and attendees who made LTWC 2008 a wonderful experience Enjoy!
HEADIN' TO LEGALTECH WEST COAST
Posted on June 23, 2008Quick last minute reminder that Thursday in LA we'll be hosting a Bloggers' Breakfast, in room 508 of the LA Convention Center, where we will celebrate J. Craig William's new book, How to Get Sued (Kaplan Publishing). Do stop by! Everybody's welcome -- bloggers and readers of blogs! EDD's front and center with tracks by Craig Ball and George Rudoy, among others...
BOSTON LOVES LEGAL TALK NETWORK
Posted on June 21, 2008The human energy bar, Lu Ann Reeb, president of Legal Talk Network, was featured not once, but twice in local Boston media. Never mind that she's a Red Sox fan, the Law Technology News (aka LTN1) gang loves Lu Ann and her team at LTN2 -- and they partner with us to produce LTN3 -- our Law Technology Now podcasts! The first article on June 2 appeared in the Boston Business Journal, and also featured Robert J...
SOS FOR IOWA LAWYERS
Posted on June 21, 2008I turn the mic over to Tom O'Connor, and his TechnoGumbo blog: Ernie Svenson has a post on his blog today with pointers to the Linn County Bar Association which includes Cedar Rapids, a city hard hit by the recent flooding and location of the Linn County District Court...
IT MANAGEMENT: DARK FORECAST?
Posted on June 20, 2008From the June issue of Law Technology News: By David Baker 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.
ANDY'S A STAR
Posted on June 10, 2008Check this out!!! LTN edit board member Andy Jurczyk, CIO of Sonnenschein, stars in this new Apple video about the new iPhone 2.0: Click on "Hear What IT executives are saying about iPhone 2.0" video. The production quality is amazing!
OUR PHONES ARE FRIED
Posted on June 10, 2008All: If you are trying to reach the NYC office of ALM/Incisive, our phones have melted in the heat wave. Please use e-mail to reach us: (lawtech@alm.com) and we'll get back to you as quickly as we can. Ironically, we can call out but can't get incoming calls.
"SELL YOUR TECH," WITH DOUG CADDELL
Posted on June 06, 2008Our June edition of Law Technology Now podcasts features Doug Caddell, CIO of Foley & Lardner, who discusses "Sell Your Tech" -- how law firms can no longer just market their lawyers, they must use their technology tools as well to win, and keep, clients...
ONLY IN SAN FRANCISCO
Posted on June 04, 2008Frank Lopez, marketing director, recently announced Hanson Bridgett's "new look" (and new tagline, "inspired") -- with this video of managing partner Andrew Giacomini, (right) "walking" the streets of San Francisco. Here's a clue: It's slugged "The World Accordion to Hanson Bridgett...
LAW MARKETING LISTSERV TV
Posted on June 04, 2008The ever-clever Larry Bodine, a long-time member of the LTN edit board, has launched a nifty new feature on his Law Marketing Listserv (a must-have resource for all legal marketers). Now, there's a TV-style screen that can tell visitors to the Law Marketing website see the conversations on the listserv...
SNEAK PREVIEW: FUTURETECH AT LTWC
Posted on June 04, 2008We'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...
CAN YOU ADAPT?
Posted on June 02, 2008Cover Story: June 2008 Law Technology News By Monica Bay Electronic data discovery is not just raising havoc with trial strategies, risk management decisions, litigation budgets, and document retention policies, it?s also uprooting traditional support staff job descriptions in law firms, corporate law departments and vendor shops...
2009 LTN AWARDS - NOMINATIONS OPEN
Posted on June 01, 2008It'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...
JUST A TOOTHBRUSH.....
Posted on June 01, 2008Jill Nawrocki, who left ALM to join the Peace Corps, where she is working with young people in Africa, is a treasure. She is an absolute delight, smart, perky (in a good way), indefatigueable, warm, with a joyous personality and outlook. Her experiences are so humbling, and just reading her missives makes we want to cry for the things we take for granted, and what a huge difference in people's lives can be generated by just small change...
GOODBYE, HELLO
Posted on June 01, 2008Martha Fay Africa, a former member of LTN's Editorial Advisory Board, has boomeranged right back to the legal headhunting firm that bears her name. I'll turn it over to my colleagues, reporter Niraj Chokshi and photograph Jason Doiy, at The Recorder: After leaving almost exactly one year ago, recruiter Martha Fay "Marty" Africa has returned to the legal search firm that bears her name...
MAIL BAG #060108
Posted on June 01, 2008On 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...
SPONTANEOUS KEWL
Posted on May 20, 2008My colleague, Anthony Paonita, acting editor-in-chief of ALM's Corporate Counsel magazine, is also a photographer, and I just love his whimsical mini-blog, "Corner, Lower Left." Check it out here.
CELL PHONE BOARDING PASSES
Posted on May 20, 2008Pretty 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...
TOM O'CONNOR HONORED
Posted on May 20, 2008Tom O'Connor, a long-time member of LTN's Editorial Advisory Board, and director of the Electronic Documents Institute, was among those honored for his tireless work on behalf of the Gulf Coast legal community, at the International Litigation Support Leaders Conference, May 15-16, sponsored by Litigation Support Today magazine...
PLAXO BOUGHT BY.... COMCAST?!
Posted on May 20, 2008Social networking compa Plaxo has announced plans to be acquired by... Comcast?! wow.
NO ENERGY CRISIS IN NOLA
Posted on May 10, 2008About 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...
TOM O'CONNOR ON LAW TECHNOLOGY NOW
Posted on May 09, 2008E -Discovery: Defining Documents -- Bye Bye Bates One of the most challenging problems facing litigators is how to work with the massive volume of digital documents produced during discovery. In the past, each piece of paper was stamped with a "Bates" number -- to help manage exhibits...
LIVE FROM NEW ORLEANS
Posted on May 08, 2008I am demonstrating live blogging during my presentation to the La. Bar Assn.
BODINE ON SOCIAL NETWORKING & CMOs
Posted on May 01, 2008Let's turn the mic over to Larry Bodine, member of LTN's edit board and speaker extraordinaire: Dear Colleagues, I wanted to let you know that I will be a speaker for an upcoming Law Journal Newsletters webinar, "Getting New Business from Online Social Networks," on Thursday, May 15, 2008 from 12:00PM ? 2:00PM Eastern Time...
MONEY HONEY
Posted on April 30, 2008Our Incisive colleagues in London have created a blog in the wake of Linklaters' decision to hike it's pay bands, and other UK firms resistance to following suit. New associates are now up to £66K.
TICK TOCK 3 O'CLOCK
Posted on April 29, 2008Dying of curiosity about the 2008 AmLaw 100? The full story goes up tonight on The American Lawyer's website, but you can get a sneak preview at 3 p.m. when editor-in-chief Aric Press presents a free webinar, "The Numbers and What's Behind Them." Press will offer key insights and analysis about what factors have influenced this year's numbers...
SNEAK PREVIEW: FUTURETECH AT LTWC
Posted on April 29, 2008Campers: I've been JUST a leetle distracted lately, 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...
EDD: CONTROLLING COSTS WEBINAR
Posted on April 28, 2008Our latest Law.com/LTN EDD Webinar, E-Discovery: Controlling Costs is now available. This one-hour webinar was sponsored by EED (thanks!) and is free. We had a blast taping this one; how could you not with such a fabulous group of speakers: * Craig Ball, LTN's "Ball in Your Court" columnist and Austin-based trial lawyer/tech guru/ computer forensic examiner...
CONTINUING CHILLY RECEPTION FOR CRM
Posted on April 25, 2008Let's turn the mic over to Carolyn Elephant of Legal Blog Watch: 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 at CRM Buyer...
A PERFECT DAY
Posted on April 24, 2008Huge thank yous to LTN edit bd members Andy Jurczyk of Sonnenschein, and to David Baker of Baker Robbins Co., for conspiring to grant me a perfect beisbol day, as part of a trip to Chicago this week. A rare day/night Chicago/NY doubleheader at Wrigley and the Cell...
COMING TO A THEATER NEAR YOU....
Posted on April 21, 2008Christine Van Tuyl of Smart Draw can't wait until the new courtroom thriller, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, starring Michael Douglas, comes to a nearby theater. I'll let her tell you why: [Our] legal business graphics software, the SmartDraw Legal Edition, is set to make its big screen debut in ...
10 PRACTICES GO GOING GREEN
Posted on April 21, 2008Adobe's Rick Borstein spotted this article from Ecopreneurist, a primer on 10 ways that organizations can start to go green, by Megan Prusynski: Among the tips: Need some shelves for your office and don?t have a budget for new furnishings? You never know what you might find on freecycle...
LAWYERS ON AMERICAN IDOL?
Posted on April 21, 2008Monica Phillips Jalil (director of mktg) and the gang at Washington, D.C.'s Ross, Dixon & Bell are pulling out the stops for their former partner Will Hopkins, who is one of 20 finalists in American Idol's Songwriter Contest. Let me turn over the mic: If selected, his song, ?When You Come From Nothing,? will be recorded and released as the first single by the winner of American Idol...
OUR MAN IN BAGHDAD
Posted on April 18, 2008Benjamin Hallman, a reporter at our sister publication, The American Lawyer, spent almost two weeks this month embedded with the U.S. Army in Baghdad. ?As far as I know, this is a first for the company,? says our CEO William Pollak. ?We?re not usually in the business of sending journalists into a war zone...
IT'S JIMMY HOFFA'S FAULT
Posted on April 18, 2008Why I love the Yankees #5,461: A Boston Red Sox fan sneaks his way onto the new Yankee Stadium construction site, and buries an Ortiz shirt in concrete in the visitor's clubhouse construction, to doom da Bombers. What happens? Ortiz goes into the worst slump of his career...
IT'S NOT A GANG, IT'S A CLUB
Posted on April 14, 2008YEAH, yeah yeah, I know the Sox took the first series. Lousy pitching all around last night. (Sorry about Ortiz --- NOT). That's just the first 3 o' 18, and the Yanks always suck in April. Nuttin' to worry 'bout. Meanwhile, my colleague Geof Smith, editor of Law Firm Inc...
WEBBY WATCH
Posted on April 14, 2008I turn the mic over to Bob Ambrogi: And the Webby Nominees Are ... Voting is underway for the 12th annual Webby Awards, honoring excellence in Web sites in more than 100 categories -- among them, law. Called by The New York Times the "Oscars of the Internet," the awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member group that includes Internet innovator Vinton Cerf, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening and media mogul Harvey Weinstein...
IN PRAISE OF BEST BUY'S EXTENDED WARRANTY
Posted on April 13, 2008You may recall that I told you about how impressed I was with Best Buy -- especially its Kingston, N.Y. staff, who strongly urged me to take the extended warranty on my Garmin nuvi 200 GPS device. It's a good thing I listened to them. On my Mpls trip, the charger didn't seem to be working, and "Jill" flat-out died midway to the suburbs of Eden Prairie...
BEST HEADLINE OF '08?
Posted on April 13, 2008Try to top this headline: Boring Couple Sues Google Over Street View The Recorder Aaron and Christine Boring say they enjoyed the quiet life in the countryside outside Pittsburgh -- until Google showed up in the driveway. The couple is suing the Mountain View, Calif...
MAILBOX #041308
Posted on April 13, 2008Checkin' the inbox after my Twin Cities trip: * Peter Buck, the ever-hip San Francisco-based "chief technical architect" at Baker Robbins & Co., wants to give you a heads up if you are planning to attend Interwoven's upcoming Gear UP 2008 conference later this month...
PASSION & WORK
Posted on April 13, 2008Got to Minneapolis last Saturday, in time for the Minnesota Daily's annual awards and alumni dinner. I cut my journalism teeth at the Daily in the '70s, at the height of Watergate, when everyone wanted to be a journalist. We watched Nixon resign, all huddled over the lone TV in the newsroom...
WHY I LOVE MINNESOTA #2,547
Posted on April 13, 2008Sure, it takes a certain kind of person to live in a state where there's two kind of weather: winter, and August, and neither are good for baseball. But why should that stop the Twin Cities from building a new ballpark -- WITHOUT A ROOF??? (Hey, the Yankees' new stadium doesn't have a roof either, but we don't routinely have 20 below Aprils, and our state bird isn't the mosquito)...
TROUBLE & OPPORTUNITY
Posted on April 13, 2008During our visit with the Kroll Ontrack folks, they shared with us the results of their 2008 international survey of in-house counsel re: practices for managing ESI in lit and internal investigations. The findings are very consistent with the warnings of EDD Update authors, especially Michael Arkfeld -- who has been hollering to lawyers that they really need to pay attention to all of this, or be prepared to pay a hefty price, literally and figuratively...
QUICK TRIP TO MSP
Posted on April 13, 2008Special thanks to the gang at Kroll Ontrack and at Merrill, for taking time from their very busy schedules to meet with us last week in the Twin Cities. Our conversations were terrific, and nuanced. We talked about everything from how customer service will be a differentiator as the vendor wars escalate, to how everybody's trying to position themselves to provide effective counseling to their clients who are struggling to grapple with e-discovery...
MAILBAG #040708
Posted on April 07, 2008Joe Howie reports that the latest edition of the Association of Litigation Support Professionals' ALSP Update newsletter is available here. It includes an overview of ARMA Int'l (records/info mgmt), and an advisory about new North Carolina regulations for forensics folks (e...
IT'S SPRING... FINALLY!
Posted on March 25, 2008What a wonderful break from New York's winter weather... Five days in Tampa, with the good company of some of our legal tech denizens in Rays-ville. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's no longer the toothy, gritty DEVIL Rays, it's just plain bland Rays. Somebody ought to fire THAT marketer...
DRIZZLED OUT IN TAMPA
Posted on March 22, 2008I won't even begin to bore you about how difficult it was to fly on Thursday. Two words: Spring Break (for every child in America.) Two more words: Easter weekend. Two more words: Winds & LaGuardia. One word: Delays. Two words: Tight connections. Opps...
SNEAK PREVIEW: ALMOST-LIVE FROM L.A.
Posted on March 15, 2008Speaking of live blogging, plans are underway for LegalTech West Coast, in Los Angeles, June 25-26 to repeat our popular "Almost-Live from New York" blog-o-rama. We'll once again have live reporting on Legal Blog Watch, which will again serve as a central clearinghouse for other posts from other bloggers covering the show...
LIVE FROM CHICAGO: ABA TECHSHOW
Posted on March 15, 2008Just arrived at ABA TechShow late Friday.... I'm presenting Saturday morning (i.e., today) on one of two "Green" panels... Do stop by if you're in the 'hood (Chicago Hilton): * Lara Pearson and Arthur Harrington will present "Meeting the ABA EPA Law Office Climate Challenge, from 8:30 am - 9:30 a...
(SOB) AU REVOIR JO HARAF
Posted on March 08, 2008Jo Haraf, one of my favorite LTN edit board members, has finally done what she has been threatening to do for a bit -- leave legal tech! We are soooooo gonna miss her! I'll turn over the mic to her: After 10 exciting and productive years, I'm leaving my home at Morrison & Foerster...
BYE BYE ROB
Posted on March 07, 2008Rob Robinson is shuttering his Information Governance blog. Check it out here.
ESTRIN LIT SUPPORT LEADERS CONFERENCE
Posted on March 07, 2008Campers: I'm live blogging over at EDD Update today, so click on over and see what the gang (Mike Arkfeld, George Socha, Craig Ball, Tom O'Connor, Lisa Rosen, et al. ) are doing and saying across the hall. Mon
MAILBAG #030308
Posted on March 03, 2008Rick George is on a roll... First his eccentric and always interesting FutureLawyer blog was featured on Typepad as its Featured Blog on Feb. 13. (Where DOES he find all that stuff?) Now, Rick is featured on the March cover of The ABA Journal -- he debates fellow lawyer Ben Stevens over Mac v...
DRINKING THE CUPERTINO KOOL-AID
Posted on March 03, 2008Well, I finally did it. After months (hell, years) of procrastination, foot-dragging, hesitation, I finally got fed up with lugging CDs around; finally had memorized UAL's XM radio menu and was sick of it; finally was sufficiently motivated by Craig Ball's speech that I owed it to my readers to use the tech that all our sons/daughters/nieces/nephews/parents have been using for decades now, and finally succumbed to the sneers of my beloved staff...
LTNY 2008: AUDIO, VIDEO & BAD HAIR DAYS
Posted on February 18, 2008We've been scurrying to get the March issue to bed, and I've been also trying to catch up on my sleep post LegalTech New York, so apologies for the quiet. Here's a few post-LegalTech items for your consideration: ? Robert Ambrogi & J. Craig Williams had LTNY covered, shall I say, "coast to coast...
WHO SIZZLES @ SKADDEN?
Posted on February 18, 2008A little late because I've been just a bit pre-occupied by post-LegalTech New York stuff, but this is too much fun not to revisit: ? Sizzing hot: The powers-that-be over at Skadden ain't too thrilled about the latest non-billable-hours activities at Skadden Insider, a blog written by two anonymous Skadden-ites...
LTN AWARDS: AND THE WINNERS ARE...
Posted on February 06, 2008Law Technology News held its fifth annual awards program Tuesday night, and the vendor winners -- in 14 technology categories -- are announced here. The awards are based on votes by LTN subscribers, and some familiar names dominate the list: LexisNexis took four awards and CT Summation took three...
ALMOST LIVE FROM NEW YORK!
Posted on February 05, 2008The Common Scold will be taking a break during LegalTech New York, and moving the party for the next few days over to our special edition of Legal Blog Watch! We're offering a BlogFest river at LBW, where you can find reports from ALM reporters and bloggers, as well as almost-live blogging from bloggers from throughout our legal community -- journalists, analysts, consultants and vendors -- check out the action! If you are at LTNY, stop by the ALM booth and say hi to our team -- and if you are blogger, don't forget to join us Wednesday at 9 am in the Pettite Trianon room for our 2nd not-quite-annual Bloggers' Get Together...
COURTROOM LIVE LAUNCHES TODAY
Posted on February 05, 2008ALM and Courtroom View Network, a legal video news organization, today announced the launch of CourtroomLive, a new service bringing exclusive live and on-demand video coverage of newsworthy and precedent-setting legal proceedings direct to professionals' desktops...
JUNGLE FEVER
Posted on February 04, 2008It's set-up day at LegalTech New York, and the fun is just beginning! Here are some photos by Russ Curtis (click to enlarge) of the gang from Attenex, Cisco, ARMA and Thomson.
ALMOST LIVE FROM NY - BLOGGING LEGALTECH '08
Posted on February 01, 2008We're excited to announce that Law.com, in cooperation with Law Technology News magazine, will be offering a special platform for those of you who will be blogging from next week's LegalTech New York event. We'll devote Law.com's Legal Blog Watch Web page and newsletter to LTNY coverage from Tuesday through Thursday, Feb...
WEST PODCAST & BLOG
Posted on February 01, 2008Thomson West offers its Legal Tech blog here as well as a special podcast, featuring The Wall Street Journal's legal correspondent, Ashby Jones; Legal Blog Watch's own co-moderator Robert J. Ambrogi; and LTN editor and yours truly, here.
ALMOST LIVE FROM NY - BLOGGING LEGALTECH '08
Posted on January 31, 2008We're excited to announce that Law.com, in cooperation with Law Technology News magazine, will be offering a special platform for those of you who will be blogging from next week's LegalTech New York event. We'll devote Law.com's Legal Blog Watch Web page and newsletter to LTNY coverage from Tuesday through Thursday, Feb...
ALSP @ LEGALTECH
Posted on January 30, 2008Many thanks to Joe Howie, right, of the Association of Litigation Support Professionals, for this very kind profile in the Jan. 30 issue of the ALSP Update. I'm so honored! Howie is director of product marketing, with Syngence Corp. ALSP is dedicated to "establishing global professional standards for the litigation support profession, through collaboration, education and certification...
LEGALTECH NY 24/7
Posted on January 28, 2008It hardly seems possible, but LegalTech New York, at the NY Hilton, is NEXT WEEK!!!!! Gather up your comfy shoes (and those dance slippers for Tuesday night) -- it's time to triage! ? First, do your homework by taking a quick look at LTNY e-newsletters: Here's the latest edition...
REACHING TALL
Posted on January 28, 2008Deborah Novachick, president of San Francisco's Strategic Automation Consulting, is celebrating her company's 15 year anniversary ? and her 50th birthday ? by participating in the Tall Ship Women's Challenge, to support the work of the Tall Ship Education...
NEW CMO for LEXISNEXIS
Posted on January 28, 2008LexisNexis Group has signed Joe Eberhardt to the new position of Global Chief Marketing Officer. He joins LexisNexis from DaimlerChrysler and is based in the company?s New York City headquarters reporting directly to Andy Prozes, Chief Executive Officer...
MOTHER NATURE'S CRUEL BEAUTY
Posted on January 28, 2008Rob Robinson, of the Information Governance Engagement Area blog, came across these utterly amazing photos of Hurricane Katrina. They show the astounding beauty of Mother Nature, even at her most devastating. Incredible. Click to enlarge this example...
EYE ON THE PRIZE
Posted on January 23, 2008Richard Branson's not the only one out there offering significant prizes (in the case of Sir B, $25M) to stir the minds of inventors and motivate creativity. Branson's offering a bounty to whoever can figure out how to create munchkin devices or other ways tol gobble up excess CO2 in the atmosphere, to combat global warming...
MAILBAG #080122
Posted on January 23, 2008Just sent February LTN to bed, now dealin' with the flurry of activity before LegalTech New York, but want to play catch-up with da ol' in-box: ? Kudos to Susman Godfrey, one of four law firms selected by The National Law Journal for its 2008 Pro Bono Awards...
CIO FORUM - EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT
Posted on January 16, 2008Long-time LTN board member Judith Flournoy, CIO of LA's Loeb & Loeb, and David Rigali, CIO of St. Louis' Husch & Eppenberger, are co-chairs of the 2008 Law Firm Chief Information & Technology Officers Forum, which will be held Feb. 6-7, as part of LegalTech New York...
ALOHA
Posted on January 16, 2008I've been ridiculously swamped with LegalTech NY prep and trying to close the February issue, so apologies for the radio silence. I've got quite a backlog, so I'm just gonna post a couple quick items and then I'll get back to you later. First, the revolving doors: ? Silvia Coulter and Jim Cranston have merged their consultancy, CoulterCranston, into Hildebrandt International (a Thomson entity)...
MAILBAG #010208
Posted on January 02, 2008I don't know about you, but it just seems impossible to me that we are really in 2008. Where did the 90s go? Or the 80s for that matter? :) Anyway, happy new year, and may the sun shine (not too) brightly on you this coming year, may moonshine and the stars bring you joy as well...
BUSINESS GREEN
Posted on January 02, 2008Our colleagues in the UK have recently launched BusinessGreen, a terrific new website that is loaded with news, articles, webinars, links, a blog, and other resources to help your organization reduce its "carbon footprint." Among recent items: ? UK battery recycling rules on horizon ? Cheat sheet on carbon offsetting ? Cisco's plan to make departments responsible for carbon quotas ? Green computing Check it out!
MAILBAG #122407
Posted on December 24, 2007A bit of catchup before I head back to the beach (the news never sleeps).... * First, thanks to Pro Bono Net, and in particular, Pam Weisz, for this kind write-up of our new Law Technology Now podcast. ALM's CEO, Bill Pollak, serves on the board of this terrific organization, which helps facilitate pro bono services by our legal community...
CLEAR CHANNEL
Posted on December 24, 2007All I can say is "Wow." To be honest, I really didn't have high expectations about the new Clear airport security service, mostly because so few of the airports where I regularly travel have it. For example, it's not (yet) available at the United gates at LaGuardia, my primary "home" airport...
HIGH TECH HOLIDAZE
Posted on December 17, 2007Call it green, call it inexpensive, call it creative, but I just LOVE getting (and sending) holiday e-cards. And it's a hoot to see how the technology is getting so sophisticated that you can even personalize the cards. I just sent a batch out from Hallmark...
PAKISTAN & THE RULE OF LAW
Posted on December 17, 2007I belatedly turn the mic over to ABA president William Neukom: Dear Fellow Lawyer, Each day, evidence mounts that pressure brought by Americans and people of other nations is forcing Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf to soften his assault on the rule of law...
LTN AWARDS: AND THE WINNERS ARE....
Posted on December 11, 2007The jury's in.... with wonderful results, for our fifth annual LTN Law Firm & Law Department Awards. The lucite will be presented at our gala LTN Awards Dinner, Tuesday February 5, during LegalTech New York at the Hilton N.Y. See post directly below for info on how you can join us! Here are the 2007 winners: IT Director of the Year John Sroka - Duane Morris Champion of Technology George Rudoy - Shearman & Sterling Most Innovative use of Technology by a Law Firm Goodwin Procter (iStaff) Most Innovative use of Technology by an In-house Legal Department Gene Stavrou - Kraft Foods Most Innovative use of Technology during a Trial Ropes & Gray Graphics and Litigation Technology Support team Most Innovative use of Technology for a Pro Bono Project Wills for Heroes Foundation CONGRATULATIONS to all! Special thanks to our independent jury, Andrew Adkins III, of the University of Florida's Legal Technology Institute; Fredric Lederer, of the William & Mary School of Law; and David Whelan, of the Law Society of Upper Canada ? all members of LTN's Editorial Advisory Board.
LTN AWARDS: & THE FINALISTS ARE:
Posted on December 11, 2007The results are in! Here are the finalists for the 2007 LTN Vendor Awards, which will be presented at our fifth annual LTN Awards Dinner, Tuesday, Feb. 5, at the Hilton New York, one of the highlights of LegalTech New York. The finalists were chosen by YOU, our loyal LTN readers! Thank you for your enthusiastic participation in this year's competition...
DELL STARTS SELLING AT BEST BUY
Posted on December 07, 2007My colleague Sean Doherty, tech editor of Law.com, picked this up from Associated Press: Dell Inc. will start selling notebook and desktop computers at electronics retailer Best Buy Co. in a few weeks, the PC maker said Thursday. Beginning in January, Best Buy said it will sell Dell's XPS and Inspiron desktops and laptops computers in more than 900 stores...
BUYING & USING GREENER COMPUTERS
Posted on December 07, 2007From our colleagues at The Legal Intelligencer, "Buying & Using Greener Computers." (Hat tip to Law.com's Sean Doherty): By Brian R. Harris We hear a lot these days about how a little action by each of us can go a long way in helping preserve the environment for all of us, and that extends to the use of technology as well...
GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNIN'
Posted on December 07, 2007I've been meaning to tell you how much I just love my Garmin Nuvi 200, which I've been using for about two months now. I am wondering how I ever took a business trip without it. I picked up the unit (the basic model, other version have lots more bells and whistles) at Best Buy, on sale for about $200...
MURDEROUS URGES ...
Posted on December 06, 2007Lois Meltzer, a Seattle-based lawyer (and former humor columnist of our San Francisco-based newspaper, The Recorder) checks in to report that her new novel, The Murderous Urges of Ordinary Women, is now available on Amazon.com. The book chronicles "the comic adventures of four 50-ish friends who take up vengeance as their mid-life hobby ? the way other women might take up the autoharp or learn Portuguese...
LAW TECHNOLOGY NOW
Posted on December 05, 2007Radio Daze: I'm beginning to feel like I'm going full-circle back to my radio days! I've been enjoying moderating our Law.com E-Discovery webinar series (currently sponsored by Zantaz); I'll be presenting a live webinar next Tuesday for the National Constitution Center ("Media Relations Bootcamp for Lawyers;" and we've just launched our new monthly Law...
MEDIA BOOTCAMP
Posted on December 04, 2007LTN's editor-in-chief Monica Bay will present a live webinar, "Media Relations Bootcamp for Lawyers," on December 11, from 1-2 p.m. (Eastern), presented by The National Constitution Center. For registration information, click here.
EDD IN SAN FRANCISCO
Posted on December 03, 2007Warm thanks to the wonderful audiences last week in San Francisco, where I spoke to the Women in eDiscovery's new Bay Area chapter, (left, hosted by Bingham McCutchen) and at the Estrin Paralegal SuperConference. One of the themes I'm particularly fixated on right now is the impact of EDD costs on litigants...
Day 99 - IT'S (ALMOST) OVER
Posted on December 03, 2007I arrived back from California to find a check from Delta, for $912 (to add insult to injury, they discounted my claim of $1014 for "wear and tear" of the lost items). I'd rather have my luggage, thank you. According to Delta, they will keep looking for up to 180 days from the date of the incident, but I'm not holding my breath...
MAILBAG #120107
Posted on December 03, 2007Mark Osborn, of LexisNexis, checks in with the news that his company has created an Environment and Climate Change center on lexis.com. It's designed to help companies and their law firms better understand the relevant law, prepare for changes, and respond to litigation...
GIGGLE TIME
Posted on December 03, 2007This one -- from attorney Edward Evans -- is just too funny. I'll turn the mic over to him for the dialogue between the customer and the Walmart clerk: Okay so this is how I imagine this conversation went: Walmart Employee: "Hello -- how can I help you?" Customer: " I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week...
TOM COLLINS HANDS OVER THE REINS
Posted on November 29, 2007The fabulous Tom Collins, formerly top dog at Juris Inc., is handing over the reins of his very popular blog, More Partner Income, so that he can spend more time enjoying golf... and he's threatening to write a novel. Let me turn over the mic to him: Blogs like law firms require a life of their own if they are to continue to serve the community...
MAILBAG #112007
Posted on November 20, 2007We open the inbox and find a variety of items: ? The ever-prolific Mark Reichenbach blogs in On the Mark about the Georgetown eDiscovery Institute sessions. A highlight of the meetings, he says, was the closing roundtable: Moderated by John Rosenthal, (an expert in e-discovery and a litigation partner at Howrey, LLP) , the event closed with a roundtable composed of judicial heavy hitters in the field, including Judge Lee Rosenthal (former chairperson of the Federal Rules Advisory Committee), Judge Shira Scheindlin (former member of the Federal Rules Advisory Committee), Judge Kent Jordon (3rd Cir...
LAPTOPS FOR KIDS
Posted on November 20, 2007Sheila Mackay, of Daegis, and Colleen Clark, of Bingham McCutchen, are involved with a terrific project to help youngsters in Otavalo, Ecuador. They will travel to the country next month, on a volunteer mission with an organization called People Helping People...
FIRST SNOW
Posted on November 20, 2007A perfect day to play catchup ... as I have no desire to venture outside on the roads. The first snow of the season has coated tiny Lakeville with a thin veneer of white over the green grass. First, for all the whining I do about lousy service, I need to sing the praises of two organizations up here in the Berkshires...
ORRICK ENROLLS ITS FREQUENT FLIERS IN CLEAR
Posted on November 08, 2007Steven 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...
WOMEN IN E-DISCOVERY CHARITY DRIVE
Posted on November 07, 2007Lana Schell checks in to let us know about a project underway by the new group, Women in E-Discovery (affectionately nicknamed, "Skirts in EDD"). WiE has adopted the Susan G. Komen Foundation as its national charity, and is establishing teams in each of the cities where the annual three day, 60-mile walk is held...
SLOW TECH
Posted on November 06, 2007Bob Ambrogi, LTN's wonderful Web Watch columnist, (he also co-edits Law.com's Legal Blog Watch), got some nice coverage in Denise Magnell's "Legal industry slowly lifts the bar to tech adoption," which originally ran in the Boston Business Journal. The article also cites the most recent Am Law Tech Survey, conducted by our colleagues at Law Firm Inc...
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My children's school is falsely charging me with truancy. The local district justice works for the school in the most blatently open way. And his wife works for the district, too! They have violated private health record
I am no lawer by any means, so I would love for someone to verify what I have to...
Am I considered to be common law married to my boyfriend?
If the common law marriage is recognized in that state then the 2 people can fil...
First off, I am not sure what to call my relationship with my partner (female), I am male who has been living with me for the better part of the last 6-7 years. We broke up for 3 months this year, she moved out and now s
First it depends on the state your in, is it a commonwealth state? Like PA? If s...
I live on 10 acres in a "residental" area of homes. Even though we are not zoned commercial my next door neighbor obtained a variance from the county and is running a business. The traffic is right next to my
The time to protest was when the variance was being deliberated by the County. Y...
Does a pre-existing common law marriage survive a change in state law?
Yes I'm almost certain. The only preclusion would be you being subject to t...
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