ABA TECHSHOW delivers value

ABA TECHSHOW, presented by the ABA’s Law Practice Management Section (LPM), just marked its 23rd year. The event in Chicago is billed as “the world’s premier legal technology CLE conference and expo,” with three days of educational sessions in legal technology and networking for legal professionals.

Several of our colleagues within the legal businesses of Thomson Reuters were on hand and we did some video interviews with a few of them on April 3, the last day of the show, to get a sense of what they were hearing from customers.

Sean Carter, field technology manager for West, discusses a presentation he gave on delivering value and using technology wisely to improve efficiency and workflow in this video interview:

We also talked with Jill Dabrowski, a product developer at West, who discussed the importance of understanding chronology and timelines for attorneys – especially litigators.

Knowing when things happened or what’s happening next is important- not only in managing a case, but also versions of documents and overall workflow. Here’s Jill’s interview about West Case Timeline:

And, Donna Weinberg, product specialist at West, told us about LiveNote and Case Notebook and the positive response from attendees about the products. Watch her overview of the features of Case Notebook in this interview:

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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Challenges for the small firm and solo attorney

I attended the ABA Annual Meeting in New York this past weekend. We conducted a focus group of attorneys while at the conference. Attendees were either small or solo practicing attorneys using our products.

About 15 attorneys attended our session, where we discussed Westlaw products and services and future customer needs. We also had a lively discussion about the challenges facing small firm and solo attorneys today.

These included: recruiting talent to their firms, managing the “business of law” (as one attorney said, ‘we went to school to learn the law, not how to do a payroll!’); the round-the-clock connections to the firm; and the changes in client knowledge of the law and fee structures.

We find these focus groups to be very beneficial, and the attorneys in attendance agreed that it was worth their time to talk about ways we could make their lives easier with our products and services.

What are the challenges that you are facing? And, do you agree with those suggested by this group of attorneys? Let me know – I’d love to get your perspective.

Bob Azman
Vice President, Customer Experience Operations
West
Email: west.customerexperience@thomsonreuters.com
Phone: 1-800-249-WEST 

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Scalia honored by Scribes

We wrapped up our three-day visit to New York City today at the Scribes 2008 Annual Luncheon.

West was a sponsor of the event honoring excellence in legal writing at the Harvard Club of New York City. This year’s awards program drew additional interest because Scribes recognized United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia with its Lifetime-Achievement Award.

Bryan Garner, Scalia’s co-author on their West book “Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges,” presented Scalia with the award.

Here are some of their remarks:

Scribes is a professional association whose main goals are to honor legal writers and improve legal writing. Its members are judges, lawyers, law professors and legal editors. It is the oldest and most prestigious organizations of its kind.

Scribes publishes The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing, The Scrivener newsletter and sponsors the Book Award, the Law-Review Award and the Brief-Writing Award.

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Special night on Ellis Island

Ellis Island’s history came alive last night for the Liberty Achievement Award ceremony from the ABA’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS). As we mentioned in a previous post, West is proud to sponsor the award.

The inaugural Liberty Awards were handed out to Judge Bernice Donald, U.S. District Court, Tennessee; and Catherine Christian, president of the New York County Bar Association, for their contributions and commitment to diversity and the law.

We have some photos of the evening on our Flickr page. We also put together this highlight video of the evening, featuring comments from the winners and from Peter Bennett, chair of TIPS:

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Wall Street Journal’s Dan Slater

We ran into Dan Slater, legal reporter and blogger for The Wall Street Journal, after he moderated a discussion here at the ABA’s 2008 Annual Meeting in New York City. We asked him about the Law Blog he contributes to and the rise in blogs at the Journal, in general:

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West booth at ABA Annual Meeting

The West booth in the ABA Annual Meeting exhibit hall in the New York Hilton has a coffee shop theme.

We asked Bob Grabowski, national book sales manager, about it:

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Trends for lawyers and law firms

Here in New York City at the ABA Annual Meeting, we did some video interviews with two noted lawyers and analysts of trends in the practice of law.

Jeffrey Allen, who is on the editorial board of GP Solo, talks about the use of technology to practice law – including e-discovery – and possible changes in billing structures, in this video clip.

While David Bilinsky, editor-in-chief of Law Practice Magazine and the blog Thoughtful Legal Management, gave us his thoughts in this video clip about lawyers turning to blogs and other new media to increase their personal relationships with clients.

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Thomson Reuters in Times Square

We just had a chance to meet some of our colleagues who work at the Times Square location for Thomson Reuters.

Here’s another photo of the actual front of the Thomson Reuters building:

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Message from West president and CEO

Tonight, the Torts Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association will award its first Liberty Awards to the Honorable Bernice Donald and Catherine Christian, President of the New York County Bar Association.

West is the sponsor of this award, which honors diversity in the practice of law. The award ceremony will be held at Ellis Island – fitting since this was the entry point for so many people who came to the United States to seek new opportunities for themselves and their families.

Watch a video message below from Peter Warwick, president and CEO of West, about the Liberty Awards and the importance of diversity to West.

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ABA Annual Meeting

We’re bringing WestBlog back to the Big Apple. We’re in New York City through tomorrow for several events related to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) 2008 Annual Meeting.

Our reports will include a recap of a special event on Ellis Island tonight, the inaugural Liberty Awards from the ABA’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) celebrating diversity and the law.

We’ll also be at a Scribes luncheon for an award for United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Both events are sponsored by West.

As for the ABA Annual Meeting, you can see the ABA’s coverage here.

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