Law Technology

Bruce Olson - ONLAW Trial Technologies Debuts

By Ross

A message from my techno.pal, Bruce Olson. Bruce has spent many years as a litigator with various firms including Hinshaw, his own firm for awhile (when I worked with him - he was my client in the mid-90’s) and most recently at Davis & Kuelthau in their Green Bay, Wisconsin office. Bruce was bitten by the trial technology bug after we worked together and he went on to become a well-known and widely respected technologist in the area of e-discovery. He served as ABA TECHSHOW Chair and is the co-author of a number of ABA Law Practice Management Section books on litigation technology and discovery issues.

Bruce recently decided to leave the active practice of law and join the ranks of those in the legal technology world, specifically focusing on trial technology and e-discovery work. Here’s the message I received from Bruce:

“I wanted to let you know that as of the end of this week I will be done working at Davis & Kuelthau.  I have created a new legal technology consulting firm and plan on leaving the active practice of law to concentrate on legal technology issues.  My new contact information is:

Bruce A. Olson, Pres.
ONLAW Trial Technologies, LLC
Phone:  920-750-8083
Email:   bolson@onlawtec.com
Web:     www.onlawtec.com

My new phone and email are already up and running.  The website should go live within the next few weeks.

So you have an understanding of what I’m going to be doing let me give you a brief description of my plans.  My company will provide turn key trial and litigation support for electronic trials, including the use of TrialDirector and/or Sanction, equipment procurement, setup and the like.

It will also provide E-Discovery services where I will assist small and medium sized law firms in developing plans for handling E-Discovery issues on specific cases, help them to decide which tools to use, vette the potential vendors, handle RFP’s, handle deliverables, help them decide if an online repository solution is better than traditional network based solutions, etc.  I’ll also be providing expert witness testimony in this area and in electronic records management.  (I have several expert gigs lined up which could not be handled if I stayed with the law firm, so that was the impetus for my new venture.)  I will also offer computer forensic and ED collection services in Wisconsin.

I will work with various forensic experts I know as subcontractors, helping a client match the right type of expert to a given case, and to help them balance the cost versus the needed level of sophistication.  I think there is a great need for a knowledgeable independent person who can work as the vendor go between for clients and smaller law firms who don’t have the time or inclination to delve deep into this area.

I will also be doing some software design and development work for various litigation applications which should be a lot of fun.  I’m also under contract to write two new books for the ABA, one on developing a fully electronic file leading to the presentation of fully electronic trial, and the other an E-Discovery book with Craig Ball, Sharon Nelson and John Simek.  I’ve got a full plate already, and am really looking forward to working full time in the legal technology space I truly love.”

Bruce, congratulations on your bold move - I know you’ll be a great success!

Full post as published by Ross Ipsa Loquitur on June 02, 2009 (boomark / email).