Legal Commentary

The Best Journalism Job Post Ever Written

Posted on March 25, 2011
http://bit.ly/ew9APU. Hat tip to "Ed Post" of BlawgReview

Swooning Over SXSW

Posted on March 24, 2011
O.K., this will totally date me ? but one of the dumbest mistakes I made as a 20-something was to pass on the opportunity to go see the Monterey Jazz Festival because I wanted to go visit a potential boyfriend in Berkeley. Yes, that one ? 1967 ? where the likes of Janis Joplin and Jimmy Hendricks took the stage...

iPadmania

Posted on March 21, 2011
My colleague, Anthony Paonita, editor-in-chief of Corporate Counsel magazine, is our internal "go-to-guy" for all things Apple. He's started a deliciously simple new blog, iPadmania, that started out as an inhouse project, but now is open to the universe...

Fix Those Annoying E-mail Disclaimers!

Posted on March 21, 2011
Consultant Joseph Howie isn't the only one who's annoyed with those boilerplate disclaimers that clutter the bottom of almost every firm or company's e-mail messages. We all know the panic of realizing that you accidently sent e-mail to the wrong person, thanks to overly helpful autofill features ? or that queasy feeling when you hit "reply-to-all" rather than reply-to-only-one...

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Any Place I Have Wi-Fi Is Home

Posted on March 21, 2011
Randall Harris, senior deputy counsel for Los Angeles County, says its time for the law to catch up with reality: Many youngsters (and parents) are homeless, but not disconnected ? they can be easily reached via cellphones. "[A] large percentage of homeless people have cell phones, smartphones, e-mail addresses ? and even blogs...

2010 E-Discovery Case Reviews

Posted on March 21, 2011
In our February issue of Law Technology News magazine, Cecil Lynn III did a wonderful job identifying and analyzing the most important 2010 cases that addressed electronic data discovery issues. See, "Drama & Destruction." He's not the only person parsing the year: ? David Lender, a partner at Weil Gotshal & Manges, and Andrew Peck, Magistrate Judge, U...

Tick Tock: Your Comments Wanted!

Posted on March 21, 2011
Just a reminder that the deadline is approaching for you to provide your comments on two important projects: ? Frustrated with your legal technology? Elated? Share your experience and help your peers pick the best technology vendors. The second annual ALM Technology Vendor Satisfaction Survey is underway, via a simple online survey...

Meetup's Pashman to Keynote Legal Tech L.A.

Posted on March 16, 2011
There?s a new date and return venue for LegalTech West Coast 2011. We?re headed back to the recently-renovated Westin Bonaventure, but a month earlier than in the past: May 17-18 (rather than late June). Details soon will be posted at www.legaltechshow...

Hands Across the Water

Posted on March 14, 2011
John Tredennick, CEO of Catalyst Repositories Systems, is among the many in our community who have been deeply touched by the earthquake and tsunami that has crippled Japan. The events hit close to the heart for Catalyst: It has offices in Tokyo and Hong Kong and maintains a secure data center in Japan for Asia regional hosting...

War of Words

Posted on March 03, 2011
Not surprisingly, as a journalist and lawyer, I feel very strongly about the right to free speech. Nothing makes that position stronger than seeing what happens when dictators and governments try to suppress those rights, as we continue to see in China, Iran, Libya, and so many other places across the globe ? and sometimes, even at home...

Raise Your Voice

Posted on March 02, 2011
The eDiscovery Institute has changed its name and website ? to The Law Institute ? www.lawinstitute.org ? and is kicking off a survey on options for processing voice files as part of discovery, reports Joe Howie, director of metrics development and communications...

Capturing Lightining

Posted on February 28, 2011
One of the lessons of The Social Network is how lightining fast a new technology can feel like it's been with us forever. It's almost impossible to grasp that Facebook was launched in 2004 ? the same year Google had it's initial public offering. 2004 ? seven short years ago...

Three's the Charm

Posted on February 28, 2011
The always-prolific Craig Ball has sprinted faster than even his usual brisk pace, with not one, not two, but three contributions to Law Technology News in the last few days. Last week, he shared details of how Facebook has added a new tool that will be a boon for e-discovery, allowing its users to easily capture their content on the sizzling social media site...

2011 Technology Vendor Satisfaction Survey

Posted on February 22, 2011
Frustrated with your legal technology? Elated? Share your experience and help your peers pick the best technology vendors.The second annual ALM Technology Vendor Satisfaction Survey is underway, via a simple online survey. Conducted by our "Legal Intelligence" research unit, the survey asks questions about technology products and servcies, such as software and web-based offerings that target law firms and law departments...

Socha & Gelbman Go High Tech

Posted on February 17, 2011
Among the famous "couples" of legal technology (no, not THAT kind of partners, no Brangelinas!) are Minnesota consultants George Socha and Tom Gelbmann ? who have been monitoring electronic data discovery vendors since 2003. They conduct exhaustive research, publish an summary of the results every August in Law Technology News, and make drill-down information available to subscribers...

Another Exit from Fios

Posted on February 17, 2011
CEO John Hesse, president and CEO of Oregon-based Fios, abruptly left the company Wednesday (Feb. 16) after a "personal disagreement" with its board of directors." The board of directors immediately added CEO to the title of its chair William Lyons. Fios' Publicist Donna Peterson is framing the departure with a positive spin: This is an orderly transition, continuing Fios? positive momentum coming out of 2010, which was a banner year for processing volume and repeat customer business...

Fast Takes on Scheindlin's Latest Opinion

Posted on February 16, 2011
U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin, perhaps the most influential jurist in the development of electronic data discovery protocols, has issued another opinion that has the EDD community a-flutter, ruling on Feb. 7 that metadata must accompany documents that federal agencies send in response to Freedom of Information Act requests...

IT Talent Shortfall? Blame it on the Boomers!

Posted on February 07, 2011
Is an IT talent shortage on the horizon? That's what CIO Insight suggests in a recent article by Dennis McCafferty. Just another thing you can blame on the Baby Boomers, who are beginning to contemplate retirement, according to two surveys (CareerBuilder and the National Association of State Chief Information Officers) that will give law firm leaders another reason to reach for the Prilosec...

LegalTech NY as Kingmaker?

Posted on February 07, 2011
Everybody at LegalTech New York was abuzz last week as speculation increased that Mohamed ElBaradei will be the next president of Egypt. Why the trending spike? Because the Nobel Peace Prize winner spoke a year ago at LegalTech -- on Feb. 1, 2010 -- about The Rule of Law and the Role of Information in Verifying Compliance in Developing Nations...

Don't Buy that iPad Yet!

Posted on January 28, 2011
One of the time-honored traditions of LegalTech New York is the unofficial competition among vendors for the most memorable tchotcke of the year. I can only imagine the conversations of legal technology marketing teams as they try to "outwit, outplay, and outlast" their competitors on the exhibit hall battlefield by offering a giveaway or drawing that becomes the talk of the Hilton...

LegalTech New York: Editors' & Bloggers' Breakfast

Posted on January 12, 2011
Editors' Breakfast: We are happy to announce that we will be hosting our traditional Editors' Breakfast, on Tuesday, Feb. 1, from 8-9 a.m., in the Petit Trianon room of the New York Hilton, as part of LegalTech New York. It's a great opportunity for vendors, consultants, freelancers, and lawyers with an interest in writing to meet many of ALM's national editors, including many of our Law Technology News team...

One Laptop Per Child

Posted on January 12, 2011
Consultant Anne Kershaw, a co-founder of the e-Discovery Institute, is raising support for "what was once a radical idea for eliminating poverty -- portable education in a box, called One Laptop per Child." OLPC distributes rugged, internet-connected, educational laptops (that don't need electricity) to kids...

Windows 8?

Posted on January 12, 2011
More reports about the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, from my colleague Brendan McKenna, LTN's news editor (while I'm hunkered down with the LTN magazine launch): Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, described what some are calling "Windows 8" (O...

Here Comes Verizon (Whooppeee!)

Posted on January 12, 2011
Because I've been immersed up to my eyeballs in deadlines for the soon-to-be-unveiled revamped and redesigned Law Technology News magazine, I haven't had a moment to post. But I was very happy to FINALLY hear that Verizon will soon sell iPhones. I've been coveting iPhones for years (my entire family, including my 83-year-old mom has one) but ALM is a Verizon customer ? and I don't want a fifth phone number, so I have resisted...

Happy Holidays

Posted on December 28, 2010
On behalf of our entire Law Technology News team, let me send you and your loved ones the very warmest of wishes for the winter holidays. May the year's end bring you a respite of unexpected music, enough quiet, sweet companionship, a good book (via paper, Kindle, iPad, or nook), the time to actually play with your favorite app (my current obsession is Angry Birds), the company of an enthusiastic four-year-old, the comfort of a dog at your feet and a cat in your lap, corduroy, the smell of Peet's coffee and cinammon rolls on a cold morning, an afternoon with a steady friend, laughing so hard your teeth hurt, enjoying Handel's "Messiah" no matter how you define faith, a twilight walk through fresh snow, the opportunity to sleep without an alarm clock, and of course, peppermint ice cream...

John Cleaves Debuts JuryTracker

Posted on December 20, 2010
John Cleaves, supervisor of practice support in the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins, practices what he preaches in his November article in Law Technology News, "Build Your Own App." His JuryTracker app just debuted in Apple's App Store. It helps trial teams observe and report juror behavior in a consistent, clear, and concise manner, says Cleaves, a member of LTN's editorial advisory board...

EDD in the Clouds

Posted on December 09, 2010
With the explosion of interest in cloud computing, aka software as a service (née application service providers), it's no surprise that issues are arising about the e-discovery ramifications when your data is floating up in the ether of the web. Internet...

In Vino Veritas

Posted on December 08, 2010
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...

Collision Course

Posted on December 07, 2010
I turn the microphone over to my colleague, LTN's news editor Brendan McKenna: The American Bar Association has drafted two issue papers that have the legal technology community on high alert: "Client Confidentiality and Lawyers' Use of Technology" and "Lawyers' Use of Internet Based Client Development Tools...

Awards & Accolades!

Posted on December 06, 2010
In the December issue of Law Technology News, we announced the winners of the 2010 LTN Vendor Awards. The awards have evolved from the early days of LTN, when they were calculated by how many folks requested information via the "bingo" postcards included in each issue...

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