Legal Commentary

Sometimes, it's incredibly helpful to break your routine, and share ideas with an eclectic group of people over a good meal with a few bottles of wine. David Cowen, of The Cowen Group, understands the power of this dynamic, and puts together "Cowen Signature Dinners" where he invites about 20 members of the legal technology community for a conversation. That number is perfect ? too few and the discussion can be forced; too large and it can be intimidating.



 Monday night, Cowen (whose shop offers head-hunting, management consulting, and industry intelligence), gathered litigation lawyers from firms (Mayer Brown, Ropes & Gray, Proskauer, and others) and corporate law departments (CA Technologies, Marsh & McLennan, Tyco International, and others), to talk about e-discovery migraines in a private room at Mahattan's Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

Thomas Allman, former GC of BASF and an active voice in the development of e-discovery, did a fine job moderating the lively discussion, which covered everything from the realities of legal holds to the year's most debated cases about sanctions. Recommind  picked up the tab, with CEO Bob Tennant, senior counsel Howard Sklar, and assistant GC Jason Robman contributing to the discussion.



Cowen describes these events as "blue-sky discussions that offer a unique venue for senior executives ... to confer over a wide range of legal, business, and technical ides that impact the market, their organizations, and their careers." His goal is "to facilitate a candid conversation about the strategic impact of technology on the legal industry." If Monday's event is typical, Cowen's team hits the mark.

  

P.S. The Cowen Group's fifth annual Litigation Support Salary Survey was released late Tuesday. While the economic recession kept salaries in check, the survey notes that workload has been spiking for the last five consecutive quarters. "Forward-thinking executives should be preparing for increased hiring and a corresponding rise in salaries in 2011."