Legal industry investing in future

While legal industry advisor David Baker thinks there are a lot of “heads down, get it done” efforts underway by law firms of all sizes, he sees some taking steps to take advantage of potential opportunities on the other side of the economic downturn.

We talked with Baker at LegalTech New York. He is the chairman and co-founder of Baker Robbins & Company, part of Thomson Reuters. Baker specializes in strategic technology planning for law firms and lawyers.

We interviewed him about the impact of the economy on technology spend, the fate of e-discovery vendors and also got his take on the attendance at LegalTech 2009:

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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Outsource e-discovery?

One of the trends that Adam Schlagman, editor of LJN’s Legal Tech Newsletter, will be paying attention to this year concerns e-discovery.

We caught up with Schlagman at LegalTech New York 2009, and he told us what the e-discovery decision comes down to, for the average firm:

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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Videos from Incisive Media at LegalTech

The host of LegalTech, Incisive Media, compiled video interviews from the show. They are interesting conversations with a variety of people about technology and the practice and business of law.

Two of the interviews feature connections to the legal businesses of Thomson Reuters:

Mark Medice, Peer Monitor
(Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4)

Kurt Engelmeier, director, West

You can see all of Incisive Media’s video interviews on their YouTube channel.

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters 

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LegalTech’s “Ten Tech Stars”

Bob Ambrogi, who we talked to at LegalTech New York for this post, has offered up a recap of the show on Legal Blog Watch.

He’s also posted the latest Lawyer2Lawyer podcast, with J. Craig Williams, titled “LegalTech NY 2009 Ten Tech Stars.”

The podcast features an interview with Preston McKenzie, vice president, Client Development, Thomson Reuters.

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters 

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Monica Bay on legal technology in 2009

Monica Bay, editor-in-chief of Law Technology News and the authority on all things LegalTech, spent some time with us catching up after her Tuesday panel, “What I Hate About Technology.”

Here are three things the panel hates (and loves) about technology:

Hates

• Everyone thinks they’re an expert (which usually leads to someone who doesn’t want to listen)
• It never works in the manner it’s supposed to work in order to get my stuff done
• “I’ve never seen that problem before.”

Loves

• Technology makes painful tasks painless
• It saves time so I can focus my attention on things other than technology
• I can connect from anywhere; it allows us to be better at our jobs and more efficient.

We’ve learned that technology is important, indeed. But in the context of the current economic state, Monica stresses the importance of a law firm’s adaptability. The latest issue of Law Technology News features several stories that offer advice to legal professionals on how to stay strong and adaptable in these tough times, including “Can Technology Thrive in a Bad Economy?” by Michelle Mahoney and George Rudoy; and “Five Tips for IT to Survive the Plunge” by Ross Kodner.

Monica outlines her compelling case for how law firms can and should ride out the storm in this video interview for WestBlog:

Posted by Angelique Schaffer, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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Lawyers and mobile technology

We talked with Neil Squillante, the publisher of TechnoLawyer, Tuesday night at about the items crossing his desk this year. And, in addition to his Five 2009 Legal Industry Predictions recently published on TechnoLawyer’s blog, he tells us what he thinks will be particularly useful to lawyers this year, mobile technology:

Posted by Angelique Schaffer, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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Customers come first for ProLaw

The people who come to LegalTech New York come for many reasons. For Matt DeVoll, vice president of ProLaw, part of Thomson Reuters, LegalTech is a place to connect with customers.

We talked with DeVoll about that, how he uses LegalTech and what he hears from customers, in this video interview:

DeVoll says LegalTech is a great conference for ProLaw because it tends to attract small and medium-sized law firms looking for what ProLaw offers for their practice.

ProLaw recently unveiled a new version, with a profiling feature which allows lawyers to establish a matter number to emails, attachments and documents in Word and Excel, among other things; it also offers outside counsel invoice tracking for corporate legal customers.

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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Electronically stored information in litigation

This is a guest post to WestBlog from Greg Bell, principal attorney editor at Thomson Reuters in Rochester, New York:

In the new era of e-discovery you need to think globally and act globally

The globalization of business, workplaces, finance and other areas of our lives has spread to all areas of legal practice. An emerging issue in discovery, and frankly in litigation itself, is the effect of this internationalization on litigation especially on the discovery process and discovery of electronically stored information (ESI) in litigation.

On Tuesday, the second day of LegalTech NewYork 2009, I checked out the panel, “Multilingual Madness: Globalization is Colliding with the Complexity of E-Discovery,” which explored this emerging issue in discovery and, especially, in the context of discovery of ESI.

The question is not whether you will have international issues in discovery during litigation in cases arising in your own jurisdiction – you will and it will happen more and more often – it has become more about how do you manage the complexity created by those differences? That’s evident, even when litigating a case that on its surface doesn’t involve another country.

CIO Forum features legal expertise

From marketing to managing and more, CIOs in law firms need all the advice they can get right now. Though it was separate from the LegalTech curriculum, a CIO Forum also held at the New York Hilton drew key leaders from law firms anxious to learn practical information they could take back to their colleagues and firms.

Thomson Reuters sponsored a lunch session at the forum that provided useful information to the attendees regarding the current economic situation for law firms and advice for how to succeed.

Todd Hauschildt, vice president, Thomson Reuters, explained for us in this interview what he felt was accomplished in the luncheon:

As Todd said, Preston McKenzie, vice president, Client Development, Thomson Reuters, also participated in the CIO Forum. During his presentation, McKenzie told the session’s attendees that technology must remain a priority when business is challenging:

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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Ambrogi is tuned in to social media

Every year when we come to LegalTech New York, we make it a point to meet up with Bob Ambrogi.

A blogger (LawSites, Legal Blog Watch, and Media Law) and award-winning podcaster (Lawyer2Lawyer) in the legal space, Ambrogi has a keen eye for the trends in legal technology. So, we talked with him about the increasing use of Twitter, blogs and podcasting which, Ambrogi says in this interview, could lead lawyers to get more involved in producing multimedia as an educational tool, especially video:

As far as Ambrogi’s take on Twitter, read his “Tweet Sixteen” post via his LawSites blog. You also can hear his Lawyer2Lawyer podcast about Twitter, co-hosted with J. Craig Williams.

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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West author/blogger making her name known

Attorney Nicole Black has a lot on her plate these days.

A lot. On the Web, and off.

For starters, she’s a practicing attorney for Fiandach & Fiandach in Rochester, New York. But, add to that her work on the book, Criminal Law in New York, published by West, a regular legal newspaper writing assignment called The Daily Record in Rochester and a side business that she’s just getting started to help teach lawyers about legal technology and how to use it in their practices.

Then, there’s her extremely active presence on Twitter (as @nikiblack).

And, oh yeah, she writes four blogs: Sui Generis, Practicing Law in the 21st Century, Legal Antics and Legal Tweets, which of course plays off her interest in Twitter.

So at LegalTech New York, we asked her about Twitter. Black admits it’s not for every law firm. But it can serve a purpose:

Black also told us her high-profile in legal circles on Twitter and the Web has led to people finding her when looking for legal help online.

As for blogging, Black says she initially started blogging to build up a body of writing work after taking a couple of years off from practicing law. That led to her involvement in the book she co-authors for West and her writing in The Daily Record.

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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Global focus brings analyst to LegalTech

There are many people who follow the comings and goings of the companies competing for attention from LegalTech attendees.

But industry analyst Charles Christian is doing it for his readers and subscribers across the globe.

Christian, who blogs at The Orange Rag and publishes the Legal Technology Insider and American Legal Technology Insider newsletters, met up with us at LegalTech on Tuesday and told us in this interview that the global nature of the practice of law requires his global focus:

Christian, who is based in the United Kingdom, also told us that LegalTech allows him to meet with dozens of vendors in a short amount of time and learn about their latest innovations. This year, given the effects of the economy, he says he’s also interested in what customers are telling vendors in terms of their buying patterns and how some customers may be focusing on getting more out of their existing systems rather than upgrading to new technolgies.

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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What is case management?

As past co-chair of LegalTech (2000-2007) and chair of the ABA Techshow (2000-2001) Andy Adkins of the Legal Technology Institute at the University of Florida has been at the forefront of innovations for how law firms use technology to practice law and manage their operations.

At LegalTech, we got a chance to talk with Adkins about the trends in legal technology that’s he’s been following and found out he’s about to publish a book on case management titled The Lawyer’s Guide to Computerized Practice Management Systems, due out in April.

Adkins says there’s confusion in law firms over the definition of case management versus matter, or practice management:

Adkins told us he spends most of his time at LegalTech in the exhibit areas, talking with vendors and developers that he knows from seeing them year after year. “Everything changes so fast,” Adkins says. “It’s not only the technologies but how people are using them.”

As a legal technology consultant, Adkins has worked with more than 350 law firms, law departments, law schools, courts and companies in the last 15 years. He’s also published two books, several newsletters, national studies, and more than 100 articles on legal technology, including his 2008 essay titled “Techno Retro: What I’ve Learned in the last 20 Years” (PDF).

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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Good start to LegalTech New York

We’re in the middle of another busy day at LegalTech New York. Once again, it’s being held at the Midtown Hilton, with numerous sessions and exhibit halls to educate the attendees.

We spent some time in the booth area for the legal businesses of Thomson Reuters yesterday, and talked with Kathy Granger, the director of trade shows for the company. She said LegalTech is as popular as ever:

Here are a couple of photos of the Thomson Reuters exhibit area:

Posted by Kevin Hunt, senior communications specialist, Thomson Reuters

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Welcome to LegalTech New York 2009

A guest post to WestBlog from Peter Warwick, president and CEO of Thomson Reuters Legal.

As LegalTech New York 2009 gets underway, I want to extend a warm welcome to the attendees and exhibitors who will take part in this year’s conference.

Thomson Reuters is proud to be there with you. Our legal businesses are represented throughout the conference in sessions and panels, customer events and, of course, in the exhibit hall.

We recognize that LegalTech fills an important need for law firms and legal departments, providing hands-on practical information about the new products and technologies that can improve how they manage their firm and their practice.

LegalTech is a showcase for innovative new products and services, and for us, a great place to connect with our customers. If you’re there, I invite you to stop by our exhibit booths to learn more about the legal businesses of Thomson Reuters. Ask questions. Give us your feedback.

And if you can’t make it to the show, I encourage you to follow WestBlog for ongoing coverage of the people and products that make LegalTech such an important event for our businesses, and our customers.

Peter Warwick
President and CEO
Thomson Reuters Legal

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