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November 30, 2005

Beating Information Overload with News Aggregators - Article

[NOTE: This is another in the series of repostings of my previously-published articles. This article, from the fall of 2003, over two years ago, was my effort to explain RSS feeds and news aggregators (or news readers) in plain language and to show why I found them so exciting and, even, a "world-changing" technology. If you still visit this blog on a regular basis, you'll want to read this article to see how you can get the posts on this blog to come to you without you visiting this blog. People describe RSS as a "disruptive" technology and all kinds of other things. But until you "get" the newsreader experience, this is all just theory. Use of RSS feeds and a news reader can dramatically change your everyday experience of the Internet. It's powerful stuff, if it fits the way you use the Internet. It's worth making the experiment.]

Beating Information Overload with News Aggregators

I knew the world had changed the first morning I checked my news aggregator before I checked my e-mail.

We all have our routines for getting our daily dose of information. We might read a newspaper or two. We check our e-mail for messages and newsletters. We have our favorite web sites we check every day. The mail brings magazines, advance sheets and other information resources.

And it all overwhelms us.

“Information overload” is no longer a catchphrase – it is an illness that leaves us with a sense of being overwhelmed and falling further behind. Being a lawyer means that we are definitely in the information business.

I have found a solution that really works. The same tools can work for you.

Let me start with a paradox. The amount of information I now handle on a daily basis has grown dramatically, but the amount of control I feel that I have over that information has increased exponentially. You might be thinking: is he actually going to try to talk me into adopting a new technology that brings me more information? Yes, I am.

I’m also going to try to sell you on a new technology and hardly tell you any details about the underlying technology. Why? Because it’s not about the technology—it’s about how the technology can help you in what you do every day.

Some of you might remember back to a three-month period in the late 1990s when “push” technology was the hottest tech trend going. The idea was that rather than going out to the Internet to find information, we could have information “pushed” to our desktops. Pointcast was a classic example. “Push” was not ready for prime time and it disappeared off the face of the earth.

However, one of the ideas behind “push” – that it is better to receive some information, especially updates and news items, automatically rather than to go out and search for it – continued to be attractive. For the most part, e-mail and e-mail newsletters have since filled the role expected for “push.” Savvy e-mail users could subscribe to relevant newsletters and had friends and colleagues who sent them relevant material off the Internet.

Unfortunately, in the last year or so, the sheer volume of e-mail, spam and the danger of attachments, drastically reduced the effectiveness of e-mail for these purposes. It has become difficult to find relevant material in your inbox.

At the same time, it has become harder to find the information you want on the Internet. When you do find a valuable page, it takes work to keep up with developments on the site. Essentially, you have to remember to visit each page that you want to follow on a regular basis. I’ve tried a variety of techniques, from a “daily” favorites list to “tabbed” browsers to some “automated browsing” techniques. None of them work. The difficulty is that you have to make an ongoing effort to go out to each page.

As a result, I found that I never remembered to check a wide variety of useful sites, especially those of my friends, and I missed all kinds of useful material. I had accepted that as the cost of living in a world of information overload.

Enter newsfeeds and news aggregators. A news aggregator is a software program that automatically retrieves newsfeeds from web pages that supply these feeds. Newsfeeds come in a number of standard formats and are relatively simple items of code that (1) can be retrieved and read by news aggregators and (2) may contain headlines, summaries, excerpts, full text of articles, links or even images. That’s all you really need to know about the underlying technology in order to use it.

What are the benefits and advantages of news aggregators and newsfeeds?

• I do not have to visit each source site individually. Once I find a site with a feed (and I’ll talk about that below) and "subscribe" to the feed via my aggregator, I get the information the site feeds without taking affirmative steps to visit the site.
• I can review new information from a large number of sites in a short time.
• I can sort my feeds into groups categorized by subject matter.
• I can add and delete feeds easily.
• Because I receive information via feeds in a highly useful manner, I can deal with information easily and efficiently.

The last point touches on the essence of the usefulness of newsfeeds and news aggregators. With respect to new information, we, and lawyers especially, ideally want to do the following:

1. Know that the information is there (Alert).


2. Quickly determine what it is (Headline).


3. Quickly scan or get the gist of the information (Excerpt or Summary).


4. Read the full article if we are interested (Full Text).


5. Deal with the information – typically act on it, move it on, delete it or file it (Take Action).

If we could find a tool that allowed us to take these steps easily, not only would our lives be easier and less overloaded, but we could, in fact, take on and handle more information, especially if, at the same time, we are improving the quality and the relevance of the information we get.

News aggregators give us precisely such a tool.

In my news aggregator (I'm using FeedDemon as my example), I have a number of subject matter folders. In each folder are the feeds (sometimes called channels) that I have affirmatively added to my list of feeds. When my news aggregator updates (either on launch or when I manually trigger it), I will see in the left column a highlighted feed and the number of new items sent out by that feed. When I click on that feed, I see in the middle column the headlines of these feeds, with the unread ones in bold. If I click on a headline, then, in the right column, I will see either a summary provided by the author of the feed, a short excerpt, or the full item, in each case with a hyperlink to the page on the site providing the feed on which the item is located. Today’s news aggregators, for the most, look very much like the Outlook e-mail interface many of us use on a daily basis.

In short, I quickly see the Alert, the Headline, the Excerpt or Summary, and either see or can quickly jump to the Full Text. Therefore, I get four out of the five ideal steps in a matter of seconds, or less, per item, and I take full advantage of my ability to scan quickly. I also have the tools to perform the Action Steps in an efficient manner.

As a result, I have a great deal of control over the information I receive because I can “triage” it very quickly, and move on or go deeper easily and efficiently. If the headline doesn’t affect me, I move on. If the headline interests me, I look at the summary or excerpt. Doesn’t affect or interest me? I move on. If it does, I look at the full text. Then I act on it – bookmark it, delete it, forward it on to a colleague, whatever.

As you will notice, e-mail newsletters, web pages and other approaches, do not give you the benefit of following these five steps so easily. For example, many e-mail newsletters are full text. If you like, as I do, e-mail newsletter that provide a short blurb and a link to the full article, you’ll see the benefit of a news aggregator right away.

We now have access to a rich information environment that brings material to us on a regular basis in a manner we can work with. But what can information can we really get?

It is now time for a brief digression about weblogs or blogs. Newsfeeds and blogs are almost invariably talked about at the same time. Here is all you have to know: A blog does not need a newsfeed and a newsfeed does not have to be connected to a blog. That said, newsfeeds definitely play a major role in the world of blogs and some of the best feeds come from blogs.

You can now get feeds from newspapers, magazines, news networks, headline services and a wide variety of content sources as well as from blogs. If you want to monitor, on a daily basis, a dozen of the most well-known newspapers in the world, you can easily do so. If you want to see headlines on your favorite sport or subject of interest, you can do that. There are now hundreds of law-related feeds.

As a result, you can be more up-to-date, spot trends, see what some of the leading thinkers on a variety of topics are writing, and learn of new developments quickly and easily. I will tell you that you can realistically manage several hundred feeds in less than half an hour in the morning.

How do you get started?

Here is the path I suggest. There are a number of sites that point you to legal blogs with newsfeeds. I'd start at Blawg.org (http://www.blawg.org) and see what is out there and what might interest you. Technorati (http://www.technorati.com) is a good general search tool for blogs and newsfeeds.

Once you get a feel for the information that is available and want to take the next step, check out a news aggregator. There are a number of them and new ones appear regularly. If you ask me today, I would suggest trying NewsGator (http://www.newsgator.com) or Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com), an online newsreader. There are many newsreaders these days. I generally recommend using Bloglines as an easy way to get started.

\You will gradually learn a number of tricks to locate feeds and there are some helpful resources. However, you will want to start looking on your favorite web sites either for an orange, rectangular button that says “XML”, the phrase “Syndicate this site” or something similar that indicates a newsfeed, an “XML” feed, an “RSS” feed, an “RDF” feed or something along those lines.

Click on that link. You will be taken to a page of code that is all but incomprehensible. That’s OK because all you want is the URL. Copy the URL and go to your news aggregator and following the steps for adding a new feed or channel and paste the URL in the appropriate blank. In some cases, an aggregator may automatically pick up the feed.

From that point on, when your aggregator updates you will get fresh headlines and material from that feed and it will appear in a convenient place with the other feeds you monitor. You never have to go to the website or blog, or the incomprehensible XML page, again, unless you want to. New posts and items will just come to you.

As a result, you will find yourself better informed and more in control of the information tidal wave in which we now live. I have been looking for a tool that will produce these results for many years. News aggregators have dramatically changed the way I deal with information, especially developments that affect my practice, in a manner that is extremely positive, productive, and, I hope, profitable. I definitely encourage you to take a test drive with these new tools and technologies. They will help you where you need it on a daily basis and give you a greater sense of control, and that’s something all of us can use.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's legal technology consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 07:28 PM | Comments (0)

BlawgWorld 2006: A Great Chance to Join TechnoLawyer and Get an eBook Featuring Some Great Legal Blog Posts

BlawgWorld 2006 is is a great present from Neil Squillante at TechnoLawyer.com and a great sampler of useful, thought-provoking and enjoyable blog posts from more than fifty of the many legal blogs out there these days.

BlawgWorld is both a free gift to current TechnoLawyer members (like me) and a promotion to encourage people who read and want to read blogs and who are also interested in legal technology to join the TechnoLawyer list (it's free). As I've said many times before, if you are a regular reader of DennisKennedy.Blog, you should also be a TechnoLawyer subscriber. It's that simple.

Neil and I go back a long way, I consider him a good friend, and the TechnoLawyer group has been very good to me over the years. I don't even pretend to be impartial about TechnoLawyer. It was a pleasure to have the chance to participate in BlawgWorld 2006, which includes entries from both this blog and Between Lawyers. I appreciate Neil suggesting which post of mine to include.

I'm also struck by how many bloggers chose one of my favorite posts from their blogs. There's some excellent stuff in there, especially Matt Buchanan's excellent "Texaco" post, a personal favorite of mine.

BlawgWorld 2006 gives those new to the world of legal blogging a great sampling of the range and nature of the legal blogs. It's not comprehensive, or even designed to be, but it's a very nice sampler, especially for those who have heard about blogs, but haven't really read any blogs yet.

Now for the details if you want to get your own free copy of BlawgWorld 2006. \It's free, but available exclusively to TechnoLawyer members. To receive your free copy, please go to http://www.blawgworld.com, register as a new TechnoLawyer member (be sure to try out a few of the newsletters), and you'll be emailed a link to download the eBook. You'll get the book and then, assuming that you subscribe to a newsletter, receive the occasional email with great legal technology information from TechnoLawyer. In no time, people will consider you the local expert on legal technology - not a bad result for a free subscription. As I said, I don't pretend to be impartial about TechnoLawyer - I'm a big fan.

Although I think that it's easy for people these days to over-think and over-discuss the whole "blogging phenomenon," I will note that if you read through BlawgWorld 2006, you'll see why I've begun to describe blogs as "online newspaper or magazine columns without the newspaper or magazine."

BlawgWorld 2006 gives you plenty of reason to join up with TechnoLawyer and to sample the world of blogs as well. A very nice combo, especially for regular readers of this blog.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Like what you are reading? Check out the other blogs where I post - Between Lawyers (feed) and the LexThink Blog (feed).

Posted by dmk at 06:24 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2005

Web 2.0 and the Practice of Law

I've been wanting to write more frequently about Web 2.0 and its implication in the practice of law. The Wired GC has stepped up to the task and hit a home run with his post "Web 2.0, Law Style," a must-read if you're interested in the application of new Internet technologies and applications to the delivery of legal services and the practice of law.

The money quote:

This could have all sorts of ramifications as to what law firms are really selling (information or insight), how they are organized (partner/associate) and how they are valued (finders over minders over grinders). It may also mean that a corporate legal department lets more work be done by clients themselves.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's legal technology consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 07:28 PM | Comments (1)

Flashback: My Legal Technology Predictions for 2000 - Article

[NOTE: This is another in the series of repostings of my previously-published articles. As you may know, I have a long tradition of writing an annual legal technology predictions article. I was gazing into the legal tech crystal ball recently and came a way with a bit of a sense of pessimism and a large sense of deja vu. I mentioned this to some of my legal tech buddies. They quizzed me a bit and I mentioned that 2006 in legal technology reminded me a lot of the year 2000 in legal technology. I dug out my predictions article for 2000 and quickly realized why I had that feeling. I'm finding that writing these predictions articles increasing involves a balancing between developments that really interest me, such as Web 2.0, and developments which are likely to happen in the use of technology by lawyers. With that in mind, I'm republishing my predictions article for 2000 without any changes. You'll seem some of my common themes and I'll let you judge how accurate my predictions were – some wags might say that certainly many law firms have had much financial success ignoring my predictions. The article may be especially interesting to those who contend that the legal profession are "slow adopters" of technology.]

A Legal Technology Agenda for 2000

Assuming you have put the aftermath of the Year 2000 Problem behind you, 2000 will be a year in which you will find that your clients more so than innovations in technology will dictate changes in the way you practice. In 2000, it will be more a question of implementing existing technologies well rather than preparing for strikingly new technologies. It will be a year of great opportunity for lawyers and law firms, especially those looking toward the Internet.

Here are twelve items to put on your technology agenda for 2000:

1. How Will You Do Windows? Lawyers live largely in a Windows world. You may hear a lot about Linux, Macintosh and other alternatives, but most legal applications are Windows applications.

The biggest technology release of 2000 will be Windows 2000, Microsoft’s much ballyhooed and much delayed successor to Windows NT 4.0. A major new version of Windows is big news in any year, but Windows 2000 is the proverbial 800 pound gorilla – much of your thinking about upgrades and new systems will be a reaction to Windows 2000.

Microsoft clearly wants business users to move to Windows 2000, which it sees as the next generation in operating systems. Expect to see availability and support for Windows NT and Windows 98 dwindle as the year proceeds.

You may still conclude that you will stay with Windows 98 or NT for the foreseeable future, but you have to look at Windows 2000 and understand the reasons for choosing it or not choosing it. Your thinking, unfortunately, will be further complicated by the Microsoft antitrust case. Although there’s always a reluctance to move to the first release of any software, it’s hard to imagine a more thoroughly tested product than Windows 2000. There’s a feeling of inevitability about Windows 2000.

2. An Explosion of Non-PC Options. How much longer PCs will be the "computers" of choice? Some predict that as early as 2001 the number of "information appliances" purchased, such as Palm computing devices, "smart phones" and the like, will surpass the number of PCs purchased. We soon will be seeing the decline of the PC.

Information appliances focus on a limited number of specific tasks (calendaring, e-mail, paging, web access) and are generally portable in a meaningful way. They tend to be "instant on" (no waiting to boot your PC) and extend the reach of your office computer in user friendly ways. The cost is more likely to be a few hundred dollars rather than the few thousand dollars you might spend for a PC.

While Palm computing devices are the hot items in this category and the new Visors from Handspring have gotten a lot of attention, watch this year for e-mail appliances, web pads that allow you to browse the Internet, wireless devices and other specific-purpose devices. These devices are tailor-made for the ways many lawyers work and may improve your productivity while trimming your technology costs.

3. A Move Toward Knowledge Management. Knowledge management gets a lot attention these days. From simple efforts to make earlier work available to reduce the need to "reinvent the wheel" to more elaborate efforts to capture and exploit the accumulated "wisdom" inside your firm, innovations in knowledge management continue to grow.

Knowledge management really means finding ways to move beyond simply processing data or managing information to unlocking the "knowledge" in your firm. You and your firm have a lot of knowledge – methods, people to talk to get things done, strategies. Typically this knowledge is in the head of only one person. The result can be inefficiencies and duplication of effort when someone doesn’t know the right person to ask, can’t find a file that shows how something was done in another case or can’t locate a research memo on the same topic.

Firms and software companies have put a lot of effort into "unlocking" this knowledge and finding ways to make it sharable and more usable. In larger firms, attorneys use intranets, Lotus Notes applications and databases. In smaller firms, attorneys use case management packages, litigation database programs and simpler databases.

Law firms have been slow on the draw in this area, especially when compared to the massive efforts of the Big 5 accounting firms and other professional service firms. In part this slowness is because knowledge management is usually cast as a highly invasive, retooling of a practice. The better approach is to pick discrete areas in which to experiment, focus your efforts where they may bring the best results, limit the scope of projects, and try to measure your success.

Here’s a move toward knowledge management for trial lawyers that everyone can afford: (CaseMap). CaseMap costs less than US$500 and this powerful software allows you to capture the knowledge you have about a case, categorize and rate your evidence, see patterns in evidence, analyze evidence and even share results with others on a team. I’m a big fan of CaseMap. Another development to watch in this area is Microsoft’s Digital Dashboard initiative, which turns Outlook into the primary means of access to a variety of information you use on a regular basis.

4. Security Is No Longer Just a Blanket. Over the past year or so, hackers and virus creators have made the world much more dangerous for computer users. Your computers and your networks have become increasingly vulnerable to attack from a variety of sources.

While you might expect lawyers, with their concern for confidentiality, to be in the forefront of computer security, the sad story is that many law firms keep information on systems that are shockingly vulnerable and commonly allow practices that make virus infection all but inevitable.

The security issues with Microsoft products alone dictate a policy of installing a regular set of upgrades, patches and industrial strength security and virus protection. Even the most secure networks are vulnerable because firms allow easy-to-break passwords. Hacking "tools" and scripts are readily available on the Internet to assist even the novice hacker.

Simply put, you must get security issues onto your technology agenda. The program to watch in this area: BlackICE. You will also want to add Stuart McClure and Joel Scambray’s weekly Security Watch column in InfoWorld to your regular reading list.

5. Web Presence Matters. More than ever, law firms must have a professional web site. While many law firms now have web sites, it is time to move these sites to a second generation and use the sites to provide real value.

Current Internet usage statistics show that today’s user is not the stereotypical 15-year-old, but a member of a demographic group that should be attractive to almost all lawyers. A surprising number of people look for lawyers on the Internet and if you don’t have a site or if you have an amateurish site, you will not get these clients.

People are developing Internet expectations and a professional web presence is one of those expectations. Take a hard look at your web site and compare what it does to what you want it to accomplish. A major revision is probably in order.

6. There’s Gold In Your Networks. It’s not what you know but who you know, right? Most of us do not do a good job of capturing or mining the information we have about contacts. Address books get out of date. We have a collection of business cards of people who we no longer remember. We can’t remember our last conversation with a client, her birthday, names of children, et al.

It’s not only embarrassing, but it hampers our practice. Programs like ACT!, GoldMine, Outlook, TimeMatters, Amicus and others all provide "contact management" options. In a sense, this is a subcategory of knowledge management. Contact management turbocharges your address book. You can keep expanded types of data on a contact and, most important, keep historical data. And you can pull useful information out of your contacts.

Such as: contacts most responsible for referrals, clients with wills over two years old, prospects who are basketball fans for the extra tickets you have, the names of art appraisers you’ve used in the past. You get the idea. Some programs can work with caller ID and even pop up the caller’s information as you are picking up the phone.

7. Expand Your Network with E-mail Discussion Lists. One of the great Internet phenomena we’ve seen is the development of e-mail discussion lists. For virtually any topic you can think of there is a discussion list.

They work like this: You "subscribe" by e-mail to a list. You receive a copy of every e-mail sent to the list manager. Copies of any e-mail you send to the list manager are sent to everyone on the list. This mechanism produces an ongoing and wide-ranging discussion.

Why are they so useful? Many times, the leading lights in a field are regular participants. People tend to share a lot of practical knowledge. It is rare to see a question that goes unanswered. You can make friends all around the word. And, there is no better way to learn about new developments. Start at TileNet (http://www.tile.net) to find lists that appeal to you.

8. Taming the E-mail Tiger. Many attorneys have seen great benefits from using e-mail and clients increasingly want to contact attorneys by e-mail. E-mail, however, raises many important management issues. How long do you store e-mail messages? Must you protect messages to clients with encryption techniques? How do you ensure that an e-mail with important information is integrated into a client’s file? How do attorneys manage growing numbers of messages? You will want to implement management solutions well before you and your attorneys are run over by the volume of e-mail they face.

9. Computers Continue Their March into the Courtroom. One clear trend in legal technology is the march of computers into the courtroom. Litigation technology includes real-time transcription, litigation databases, trial management and trial presentation. Projectors and large monitors are becoming more common in trials. This technology can dramatically level the playing field for small firms and solos against much larger firms. Expect to see continued explosive growth in this area. From video depositions to PowerPoint slides to digital cameras, trial lawyers are seeing the benefits of using technology to present cases to jurors (and judges) who are part of the TV generation. Litigators ignore developments here at their peril.

10. Collaboration Counts. Intranets allow you to turn all the information contained in your firm into a giant, private web site. All that information can then become easily accessible to other members of the firm. While intranets offer a great way to share information of all types within a firm, extranets allow you to create a private web site for a client that the client can reach over the Internet and see work in progress, billing information and other information that can enhance the client relationship and offer novel ways to work together more closely and more cheaply. Clients are starting to put pressure on firms to create extranets or to implement other collaborative software (sometimes called "groupware") such as Lotus Notes.

Extranets are becoming popular as a way for co-counsel to collaborate on complex, far-flung litigation matters like tobacco or other mass tort cases. By going to a secure, private site on the Internet, co-counsel can share information, discuss cases, work jointly on projects or documents and stay up-to-date on case developments. Other firms, large and small, are starting to use extranets for clients who want access to drafts of documents, billing information and the like. Extranets have potential to both aid in collaboration and to help save money – a dynamite combination.

11. Browser Interfaces Become Ubiquitous. A hot new Internet topic is "web-enabled" technology. In essence, this means that you can access programs and underlying information using only an Internet browser (Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Netscape’s Navigator). For example, many firms now give attorneys access to e-mail through a secure web site interface. Another example to watch: the application Service providers (ASPs) such as the Serengeti project (http://www.serengetilaw.com), which plans to provide a web interface to high-powered legal software applications that are hosted by a third party rather than at your firm. Expect to see even more of this trend, including in bread-and-butter applications like document management. The benefits: reduced training time and ability to access information from almost any computer.

12. Training Takes A Front Seat. Most law firms I know tend to skimp when it comes to training. This approach can be short-sighted and foolish. Excellent training can bring you excellent results. As you consider your technology agenda for 2000, think hard about dramatically increasing your training budget and focusing on how to make that training more effective. Consider a variety of training options and remember that lawyers who refuse to participate in training can generate substantial support and other costs.

Bonus Point. Try Something New that Can Revolutionize Your Practice. There are a lot of great new technologies available to lawyers. I recommend that you pick one technology that can have a dramatic impact on your practice and invest in it. For litigators: real-time transcription, databases like Summation, trial presentation packages like Trial Director, or a trial strategy program like CaseMap. For lawyers who produce a lot of form documents: document assembly software. For presenters: Powerpoint. For all: getting your practice onto the Web. Best advice: turn your young lawyers loose on some technology projects.

Conclusion. You may notice that I did not mention much hardware and only a few software programs. More important than gee-whiz new hardware in 2000 are the Internet and your attitude toward technology and your motivation to find ways to make technology work for you in your practice.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Like what you are reading? Check out the other blogs where I post - Between Lawyers (feed) and the LexThink Blog (feed).

Posted by dmk at 07:23 PM | Comments (1)

November 28, 2005

A Practical and Reasonable Approach to Working with Open Source Licenses

LLRX.com is my favorite place to publish my new articles. The newest issue of LLRX.com, in addition to its usual excellent collection of articles, contains a new article from me called "Best Legal Practices for Open Source Software: Ten Tips For Managing Legal Risks for Businesses Using Open Source Software." I like the description of the article on the site: "Dennis Kennedy's checklist is a practical evaluation of key factors that will ensure a sound decision making process in the adoption and implementation of open source applications within various legal settings."

The article grows out of a presentation I've given (and would like to give much more often) that introduces the Open Source licenses and then discusses how best to assess and manage the legal risks involved in using Open Source software. I also wanted to write something that was practical - there are plenty of good academic articles on the Open Source licenses. I should know - I've written a couple of them, including this law review article a few years ago.

Here's my variation from the standard legal presentations you might see and hear on this topic: I take the approach that you've made the business decision to use Open Source software and that you want to take a realistic approach to handling the legal issues, not that you want to hear from a lawyer a million reasons not to use Open Source software regardless of the business rationale for using it. I also tell the audience how to talk to their lawyers about Open Source, what questions to ask, and how to tell if your lawyer really knows what he or she is talking about when it comes to Open Source. Sometimes it's better to know more than the lawyers when you go into the meeting.

In any event, I gave the presentation from which this article comes to a group of IT and business people (no other lawyers there) and it was one of the most fun presentations I've ever done.

During the presentation, it struck me that, especially in this context, legal risks are just one component of the total risk management picture and, this may be why people say that I don't sound like all the other lawyers they know, it may not even be the most important component. As I said, there are many ways for lawyers to say "no" to Open Source software - I want to provide a framework where you can say "yes, and here's how," if that's where the business logic and your approach to risk management lead you.

So, the article pulls from a "practical tips" section of that presentation and offers what I hope are some helpful tips to help you make good, solid decisions about when and how to use Open Source software in your business.

At the same time, the presentation and the article helped me think through some of the aspects of what I might call "open source law," or ways that we can apply Open Source licensing principles to the delivery of legal services. I write about that topic from time to time, but not as much as I'd like to, on the Between Lawyers blog.

Let me recommend my article and this whole issue of LLRX.com to you, especially Donna Cavallini and Sabrina Pacifici's article on resource for competitive intelligence and John Alber's important article on ERP and data warehousing (trust me, it's a must-read). Sabrina has done her usual stellar job with this issue and it's always a pleasure for me to publish my new articles there. As an aside, I thoroughly enjoyed getting the chance to present with and talk with Sabrina at BlawgThink.

Oh, yeah. The money quote from my article:

If the lawyer only looks at the legal issues and the CIO looks only at the IT issues, you increase the likelihood of finger-pointing when an unexpected, but quite predictable, bad result occurs. No one, especially me, likes the idea of yet another committee meeting, but Open Source is a good example where time and effort spent on the front-end will pay off substantially over the alternative of cleaning up potentially messy and expensive situations in which you may one day find yourself.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's speaking services. Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm, legal department or other group.

Posted by dmk at 05:12 PM | Comments (1)

November 23, 2005

Fast Fish and New Technologies - Article

[NOTE: This is another in the series of repostings of my previously-published articles. Here's an oldie that someone recently reminded me about. I wrote the first version of this article way back in 1997 and the version you see here was published in this form in 1999, but many people still like this article and tell me that they have found it valuable. It shows my belief that thinking carefully about how to use technology well is usually much more important than over-focusing on features of specific hardware or software products. As you begin to think about ideas like "Web 2.0," you might want to give careful thought to the "fast fish" metaphor used in this article. It also applies to individual departments within larger organizations and other collaborative efforts.]

Fast Fish and New Technologies

We have moved from a world where the big fish eat the little fish, says Tom Peters, the famous management consulting guru, to a world where the "fast fish eat the slow fish."

I've noticed lately that many of the most innovative developments in legal technology have come from smaller firms and solo practitioners. Small firms and solos have developed some of the most successful legal web pages, pioneered voice recognition and other applications, and taken the lead in developing "paperless" office strategies. They have become the faster fish.

While much has been written (including by me) about the difficulties small firms and solos have in finding good technological assistance, the flip side of the story is that small firms and solos have some advantages over big firms that help them leverage new technology and level the playing field against larger firms.

Here are ten advantages that small firms and solos have over large firms when it comes to innovation and technology:

1. The People Most Affected by the Technology Decisions Actually Make the Decisions. Large firms generally have an IS department that handles technology matters. Technology decisions are generally announced to lawyers rather than discussed or voted on. As a result, decisions tend to be based on what is best for the organization as a whole rather than what it best for individual lawyers.

In a small firm, the people most affected by the decision actually make the decision. There is more opportunity to tailor technology to individual needs. More importantly, the decision-makers will directly experience the impact of their decisions. A critical factor in the success of the adoption of any technology is the amount of "buy-in" from the people who will be using the technology. Better participation leads to better attitudes about changes, greater success with training and more effective use of new technology.

2. Decisions Can Be Made Quickly. Some large firms have spent years debating whether to have a Web page. Some small firms have gone from decision to implementation over a weekend.

Any process that involves a long series of committee meetings will foster an atmosphere of cynicism and frustration. In a small firm, decisions often can be made over lunch or when several attorneys decide to make an impromptu trip to a computer store. For solos, important decisions can be made in the shower or on the drive to work.

3. The Need to Find Cost Savings Drives Innovation. In a small firm, every little bit of cost savings can have a direct impact on an attorney's earnings. In larger firms, cost savings have more indirect results. Cost savings can be an important motivation for adopting new technologies.

If you are starting up or maintaining a small practice, the cost of a library can be prohibitive. Purchasing library material strategically on CD-ROM rather than in book form can result in both space and cost savings. Wise choices made while attempting to cut costs can result in an innovative use of technology that leads to a more productive practice.

4. The Size of the Project is Less Daunting. It is easier and cheaper to set up a network of three computers than it is to set up a network of three hundred computers. Adding a new hard drive to one computer is far easier than to add several mirrored hard drives to a network server.

5. Technology Improvement Can Be an Important Use of Downtime. Smaller firms and solos sometimes have alternating cycles of busy periods followed by slow periods. In a large firm, the constant push to bill hours does not allow for that type of cycle and puts pressure on attorneys to focus exclusively on generating billable hours and not on developing systems or improving technology. In a small firm, a slow period in the practice may be a perfect time to implement new software, to use document assembly to automate forms, to try a new calendaring or contact management program, or simply to plan for future technology requirements. Taking more time to think about technology and to explore options will result in more successful applications of technology.

6. Small Firms Are More Willing to Adapt Their Practices to Shrink-wrapped Software. In a large firm, different departments often do things in very different ways. In addition, there may be a "Firm" way of doing things which has not been modified for many years. These firms will often spend enormous amounts of money to customize programs to match existing practices.

Small firms, on the other hand, are likely to use commercial legal software, and even commercial software designed for home users, and adapt their practice to the software. This flexibility will often allow a small firm to use a time and billing program costing a few hundred dollars as opposed to a $100,000 time and billing package which might produce no significant practical difference in results. What matters is that time gets recorded and bill get sent out, not that you are using "legal-specific" or customized software to do it.

7. The Payoff From Technology Investment is More Easily Seen. If every time that you want to print a document you must copy the file onto a floppy disk and take it to another computer which is physically attached to a printer, you will clearly and concretely see the benefits when you network your computers and printer. A larger monitor may give you an immediate impact by reducing the need to squint to see details. A Web page might start producing clients that can be readily traceable to the Web page. A small firm's return on investment can be easily seen and measured. In a larger firm, return on investment can be harder to identify and may take place over a longer time frame.

8. Small Firms Are Willing to Experiment. Small firm lawyers are usually the lawyers speaking at seminars about voice recognition software and other innovative technologies. As a general rule, lawyers are not known as "early adopters" and many large firms are extremely conservative and unwilling to take risks when it comes to technology.

In small firms, there tends to be more of an attitude of experimentation and a willingness to try new things. There is also a willingness to admit that an experiment has not worked and to try something new. This attitude allows smaller firms the opportunity to match technology to their needs and to keep them in some cases closer to the leading edge of technology than many larger. Smaller firms seem more willing to try new options like leasing technology and breakthrough legal software like CaseMap.

9. The Need to Level the Playing Field Drives Technological Change. Some of the more innovative uses of technology by small firms came in response to the practice of larger firms of trying to bury smaller firms in paperwork during discovery. The use of programs like Summation, or other litigation management software, can give a small firm control over mountains of evidence in a way that can be superior to what can be achieved by a team of big firm lawyers not using the same technologies.

Because it is all but impossible for a small firm to compete with a large firm in a war of attrition using human resources, small firms have tremendous motivation to leverage technology to level the playing field against big firms. Competitive factors often drive excellent decisions about technology.

10. Small Firms Focus on the Practical. Often big firms seem to be preoccupied with the theory of technological improvement and with thinking about how technology might work rather than actually using the technology. In the meantime, small firms are adopting new technologies that streamline their practices, putting up Web pages that draw in clients, and producing charts and visuals that help them to win cases.

An important example is law firm web pages. Large firms have a tendency to put out web pages because it is seen as a requirement for a firm of stature, with no real expectation of getting clients, often a self-fulfilling prophecy. Small firms put up web pages that work and get clients.

Here are five final points to remember about technology and the small firm:

1. Be flexible and willing to experiment.

2. Build on your successes. Constantly try to extend the efficiencies you have already gained through other technology and systems you've developed.

3. Try to identify areas where cost savings will also result in innovation and increased productivity in your practice.

4. Focus on practical and measurable results.

5. Get on the Internet.

Be a fast fish. By being flexible, practical and innovative, small firms and solos can use technology to increase their effectiveness and productivity and level the playing field against slower-reacting large firms.

[NOTE: This is another in the series of repostings of my previously-published articles. I wrote this article in January 2004 for the ABA's GP Solo Magazine. Please note that parts of this article are dated, but I've not updated it to give you a sense of history. This article sets out several of my key principles in making legal technology decisions.]

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's legal technology consulting services, featuring website and blog consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Dennis Kennedy

legal technology

Posted by dmk at 10:31 AM | Comments (1)

November 22, 2005

To Tech or Not to Tech? - Article

[NOTE: This is another in the series of repostings of my previously-published articles. I wrote this article in January 2004 for the ABA's GP Solo Magazine. Please note that parts of this article are dated, but I've not updated it to give you a sense of history. This article sets out several of my key principles in making legal technology decisions.]

To Tech or Not to Tech? Important Questions (and Answers) for Your Practice

Hamlet, in Act III, Scene 1, delivers these immortal lines:

To tech, or not to tech: that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The crashes and reboots of outrageous operating systems, Or to take arms against a sea of software glitches, And by opposing delete them?

Or he might have, if the play was written now and set in a small law practice.

Trying to make good technology decisions has left many otherwise skilled and confident lawyers feeling like TechnoHamlets – seeing and speaking with ghosts and making friends and colleagues wonder about their sanity.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way. This article will show you how to think about systems and technology and give you a solid foundation upon which to build a framework for making good decisions about legal technology.

Technology is both a tool and an investment. As does any good craftsperson, we must try to find tools that are both the right tool for the job and of sufficient quality to give us a good return on our work.

A Story of Technology as Both Tool and Investment.

My wife's brother went back to law school at the age of 40 after working in the real estate and art gallery businesses in the San Francisco area. He wanted to open his own law firm from day one. We had a number of telephone conversations about what computer and software he needed when he started, primarily focusing on a laptop computer and speech recognition software. He would ask me about specs, memory, screen size, percentage accuracy of the programs, and the like. After a while, we seemed to be returning to the same questions without getting a decision made.

Finally, I asked him what he really wanted to do with a laptop and speech recognition software. It turned out that, as a practical matter, he could expect to pay about $4,000 (about the price of the computer and software at the time) a month to hire a good legal secretary. He didn’t know whether he could make enough in the first months to pay the secretary, let alone leave anything for himself.

Now, we were on track. If the only thing the laptop and speech recognition software did for him was to delay the need to hire a secretary for a few months, buying them would be a good investment. In fact, he bought himself nine months. That's $36,000 of value for a $4,000 investment in just nine months, not a bad return. He has told me several times that my "advice" made all the difference in getting his business off the ground.

I don't think that I gave him "advice." I simply asked the right question. When you ask the right questions, the answers get a lot easier. What I want to teach you is how to ask the right questions about technology.

The Right Questions.

The question whether "to tech or not to tech" is one of the right questions, but, properly understood, it is a question that comes later in the process.

There's a great scene in my favorite science fiction TV series, Babylon 5, where one of the main characters is suspended in a state between life and death, bathed in waves of light, with disembodied voices asking repeatedly, "Who are you?" and "What do you want?" Because the character can answer those questions with clarity and authenticity, he goes on to fulfill his great destiny.

"Who are you?" "What do you want?" It really doesn't get much more basic than that. However, these are pretty deep questions to answer when you really thought that your question was "should I get an inkjet printer or a laser printer?" My argument is simply that the better the answers you have to these two questions, the better decisions you can make about technology.

Here's the Key.

You must choose technology on the basis of whether it helps you be who you are and do what you want better than the other alternatives that you are considering.

There are several consequences of this approach. First, my best technology choices will not be your best technology choices. Second, although you should listen to advice and recommendations, the final decision must be your decision. Third, this approach forces you to think of technology as both a tool and an investment.

Do Not Separate Technology From Systems.

Lawyers create and are creatures of systems. A law practice incorporates a large number of systems. There are systems for:

• Running your office (Workflow management, operations and procedures, hiring and training, accounting and financial, planning and continuity)
• Getting clients (Contact management, marketing materials, follow-up, client intake, engagement letters)
• Serving clients (Project and workflow management, procedures, filing, forms, calendaring and docketing)
• Getting paid (Fee setting, timekeeping, billing and collections, banking and trust account, procedures)
• Complying with rules (Conflict checking, confidentiality, calendaring and docketing, recordkeeping, training and CLE, taxes)

It's no wonder you are so tired at the end of the day. There's plenty of work involved in creating and maintaining systems before you even get to the practice of law stuff.

I have two core principles about systems:

1. You always have a system, but it may not be the one you want.

2. Your systems should work for you, not against you.

We all know lawyers who use the following "system" for locating notes, correspondence and documents. Every piece of paper is stacked in tall piles on desktop, credenza, office chairs and floor. When something is needed, the lawyer digs through the papers until frustrated and then calls in a secretary who assists in going through the piles until the document is found or another emergency arises.

This is, in fact, a system for retrieving needed documents. Is it a good one? Is it an efficient one? Is it one that the lawyer would have designed or ever have intended?

Technology in Proper Context.

Technology must always be viewed within the context of your existing systems. Thinking about technology outside this context will lead you in the wrong direction. Unless you consider how a technology fits into this context, you cannot read reviews in a meaningful way and lists of "editor’s picks" may lead you to unsuccessful purchases.

Consider the previous example of a "system." The question of whether the lawyer should buy one brand or another is not useful. The "best" scanner is the one that will hold the highest pile of papers stacked on it when it is treated as another storage space. The better question is: does any scanner make any sense in this type of system or are there better options?

If you want to implement any technology, the introduction of the new technology must do one of two things:

1. It must implement a better system; or

2. It must improve an existing system.

If it will, it makes sense to proceed. It's as simple as that. Even a technophile like me will admit that in certain cases a technology solution may not be the best approach.

Technology is only a tool; it is not a panacea. As a practical matter, technology simply enhances the habits and skills you already have. Technology does not magically give you new skills. Speech recognition only makes it easier to get your words into a document; it does not magically make you a better writer.

It all comes back to the basic question: does the technology help you be who you are and do what you want? If the answer is that you want to be a better writer, speech recognition will not be as good an option as some non-technological efforts. If, on the other hand, you want to be able to launch a practice with minimal expenditures and only bring in a secretary when you feel that you need one, then speech recognition makes a great deal of sense.

Two Big Roadblocks.

Most lawyers are aware of only a tiny fraction of the choices available today. For example, did you know that there are more than one hundred "case management" programs? Often, a lawyer or firm will be trying to decide between the lesser of two evils when there are better choices available that they haven’t heard about. The list of resources at the end of this article will help you with this roadblock.

You will also get a lot of well-intentioned misinformation about legal technology. People recommend using Linux instead of Windows to a lawyer who barely knows what a mouse is. People will warn lawyers away from newer versions of software or installing updates and patches (a security problem just waiting to happen), lead them to obscure programs, and draw conclusions from setups that are outdated or clearly inadequate. In simplest terms, they are giving you generic information that does not take into account your specific needs or the context of your systems. The result is that you learn that what works best for them doesn't work out so well for you.

Think about the practice of law. A client comes to you and asks whether they should form a C corporation or an LLC. The best response is to ask, "What do you want to do?" To answer, "I heard that some people had some kind of tax problem with C corporations a few years ago so I tell people never to use them," probably is not a good approach to the practice of law or helping your client.

Key Variables to Consider.

Some factors are especially important in making technology decisions and your needs in these areas can have a dramatic impact on the choices you should consider.

Solo / Solo with Staff / Small firm. The type and number of users will have a huge impact on your choices. If your practice consists of just you, you can look at much simpler choices over a longer period of time. As soon as you move to two users, you must consider networking, training and standardization of software.

Litigation or Not. I do not see how you can be a litigator and not use a laptop computer. Because litigation software, such as CaseMap and Summation, can be so valuable, you will need to devote time to learning more software options. Projectors, wireless access, PowerPoint and other "options" may well become necessities.

At Desk All Day or Not. If you are an at-the-desk lawyer, PDAs and cell phones are much lower priorities.

Volume of Work. This factor may be the most important one of all. The cost of replacement cartridges for an inkjet printer will eat you alive if you print thousands and thousands of copies a month. If you have a small number clients, you may well be able to run your accounting with a spreadsheet. If you have a lot of clients, a range of rates and lots of matters, you probably have to go with a legal accounting package. Asking "how often will I use this?" is an essential part of hardware decisions in particular.

Your Priorities. It could well be that who you are and what you want will be the lawyer who has the coolest gadgets. It might be that you want to reach jurors with a simple, plain-spoken style rather than thrill them with the latest thing in multimedia. Don't ignore who you are.

Area of Practice and Client Needs. In some areas of practice, there may be standard technologies that everyone uses. Some lawyers have told me that to make a decent living in family law these days, you need to automate to the greatest extent that you can. Similarly, you may have clients who require that you provide documents in certain formats, have ready access to e-mail, or implement security measures.

Twelve Tips, Observations and Recommendations.

Because this article argues that a one-size-fits-all approach is never appropriate in making legal technology decisions, I hesitated before setting out a list of general comments. However, I do want leave you with some practical pointers.

1. Even the least expensive of today's computers is a rocket ship compared to the computers of even a year or two ago. Don't limp along with old, slow computers. Four corners not to cut in configuring a new computer are: memory (RAM), hard disk capacity, number of USB ports and CD or DVD burners.

2. The new generation of high-capacity external hard drives offers the best inexpensive backup solution we have seen so far.

3. A laptop now makes sense as the primary computer for all attorneys. It is essential for today's litigator.

4. Windows XP Professional is the operating system of choice for lawyers in the Microsoft world.

5. For any firm putting in a network, the new low price of Windows Small Business Server ($750, or less when bundled with a server) make it a must-consider option to get standard networking capabilities, including remote access, at an affordable price.

6. Volume discounts for many software programs, including Microsoft programs, can be obtained for as few as 5 users and some consultants can offer you programs to roll hardware, software and consulting costs into a monthly payment option.

7. While Microsoft Office 2003, Small Business Version, might be the best option for small firm lawyers, there are now free alternatives such as OpenOffice that may work in your situation.

8. If you are prepared to do a little more research and go off the well-worn path, Macintoshes and Open Source software represent very acceptable non-Microsoft alternatives and no lawyer should dismiss them out of hand.

9. With the advent of electronic filing, a PDF creation program should now be considered essential software. The gold standard is Adobe Acrobat (Writer, not just Reader), but cheaper alternatives are available.

10. If you have a laptop computer, you should have a wireless card (802.11b or 802.11g) or Intel Centrino technology to take advantage of wireless Internet hotspots at airports, hotels and restaurants.

11. If you are not installing Windows security updates and updates for other programs, running an updated antivirus program, and using a hardware or software firewall (ZoneAlarm is free), you might as well turn on a big neon “welcome” sign to the bad guy hackers.

12. Take a class in any program you use on a regular basis.

Action Steps.

So . . . what should you do when you finish this article? Take a few minutes to think about your technology and your systems. Then take the following actions over the next week or so:

• Do enough research to find 3 or 4 software programs you did not know about that can be used in your specific areas of practice.
• Inventory and make a quick assessment of your current technology and systems.
• Look back at one significant technology decision you made in the past and reevaluate it using the principles outlined in this article and write down the lessons you learn.
• Identify one or two technology options that have been on your mind and apply the principles outlined in this article as you make your decisions about them.

Conclusion.

"To tech or not to tech" is only part of the question. Technology should not be seen as an area of bewildering complexity. Instead, treat it as both a tool and an investment. Fit your technology into the context of your existing systems and only make decisions that result in either the implementation of a better system or the improvement of an existing system. If you do so, you will come closer to the goal of having your technology enable you to work the way you want rather than force you to work the way it wants.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's legal technology consulting services, featuring website and blog consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 08:35 PM | Comments (1)

November 21, 2005

Blessed Rage for Simplicity: The Most Important Trend in Legal Technology - Article

[NOTE: This is another in the series of repostings of my previously-published articles. An earlier version of this article appeared in the September 1999 of my legal technology newsletter called "Legal Technology Strategies." Please note that parts of this article are dated, but I've not updated it to give you a sense of history. In many ways, I've long felt that this article captures most closely my general philosophy about technology and its use. ]

Blessed Rage for Simplicity: The Most Important Trend in Legal Technology

When you are around accomplished craftspeople for any period of time, you start to notice how easy their work seems to be for them. You also notice that they have a lot of tools, many of which you've never seen before, all of which seem perfectly suited for the task at hand. I’m often struck by the elegance of their function and how simple and well suited both to the task and to the individual doing the task they seem.

I've noticed this in a number of settings lately. The other day, I got on an elevator with a guy who was delivering five-gallon water bottles. He had a handcart that had a couple of shaped metal tubes that allowed him to slide the bottles securely onto the cart and unload them easily. He could also carry several more bottles than he could with a standard handcart. In fact, I tried to imagine how difficult it would be to hold these rounded bottles on a standard handcart and the time and effort that it would take to try to strap them on and keep them secure. I also pictured myself with a tipped handcart and the bottles rolling across the floor, something that would not happen with this specially-designed handcart.

But I also imagined a day when someone said, "Here's what we need. Why don’t we try welding some tubes onto a handcart so the bottles slide right in and don’t fall out?" In fact, maybe one delivery person got so tired of bottles falling off that he or she welded the bars on a regular handcart. A simple idea makes a great tool. A better result comes from considering the user and the process and by limiting functionality rather than expanding it.

I was reading the story of the inventor of the PalmPilot and his efforts to make sure the first PalmPilot would work as he envisioned it. He focused not just on operating system and technical details. He also cut a block of wood in the same dimensions as the PalmPilot and carried it around for months to make sure that it really worked as a shirt-pocket device. He wanted to understand the user experience. Thinking about this story will help you understand what a Palm device can and cannot do well.

We are moving toward a time when we have technology that fits our tasks rather than having our tasks fit our technology. In other words, I think all the talk about "information appliances" means something.

Part of what's driving this movement is the general sense that our lives, and our PCs in particular, have become too complicated and overwhelming. There's a movement toward simplicity in other technologies we use. Want fresh-baked bread? Push a button on your bread maker. Microwave ovens have one button to push for popcorn and cooking sensors for one-button cooking and reheating. As more intelligence gets built into products, they become easier to use. PCs have even more intelligence built into them, yet it seems that using them is getting harder and harder.

In part, there are, in a way, too many choices - Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows 95, Macintosh, Novell, Linux, BeOS, WordPerfect, Word, 25 different case management programs, Palm, multiple product versions. You finally reach a state where you long for what Wallace Stevens once called a "blessed rage for order." How do you make sense of it?

We are trying to make our PCs and the standard programs we use perform tasks for which they are not optimally suited. Another part of the problem is that clearly the PC environment does not always work for the ways that we work. You see a lot of frustration, primarily focused on Microsoft.

Now, some people seem to deal with this issue by adopting an anti-Microsoft method of dealing with complexity. It goes like this: I don't care how much it inconveniences me, as long as I can avoid using Microsoft products, I am doing a good thing.

As a general rule, this kind of negativity gets you nowhere, in no small part because it does not focus on how you work.

I advocate another approach: a movement toward simplicity. Simplicity in the sense of what works best for the way you, not anyone else, work. And we are seeing some signs of that movement.

Windows can be a maddening environment, but I tend to like it. Microsoft has done some things that really work for me. I really like the right mouse button and knowing that I can click it and most of the things I want to do become available. Coming from a Macintosh background, I'll always prefer a graphic interface. I also like the fact that you get a lot of consistency in the interface. I never liked DOS and DOS programs where F7 would mean "enter" in one program, "print" in another and "exit" in a third. Even if you argue that it is easier to press one key than to use a mouse, that doesn't work for me. The good news, however, is that there doesn't have to be a right and a wrong.

How do you work? Learning to dictate for voice recognition does not make sense if you can type 100 words a minute and have an unusual accent. Learning to type is no solution if you can't type but can dictate 100 words per minute. "Simple" depends on how you work best.
How you work best can vary with each task. It now drives me crazy to wait for Windows to boot. Especially if all I want to do is enter a phone number, make a note to myself or jot down some ideas for an article. Here, the instant-on Palm device is perfect. When I want to write an article like this one, however, a Palm device is not the right tool. A handheld Windows CE device might be perfect for on-the-road presentations because it is so light and will run PowerPoint presentations. If you have to edit your presentation on the fly, however, it's the wrong tool.

Other examples? Bill Coplin, at NetTech, thinks that the "killer app" for attorneys will be the perfection of handwriting recognition on a device like the CrossPad [NOTE: Today the example would be a Tablet PC.] because attorneys are so used to carrying legal pads. On the other hand, Bob Wiss and Greg Krehel at CaseSoft want CaseMap to "replace the legal pad." I'm excited by the cordless flat panel web appliances due out soon from Cyrix and others that will allow you to access the Internet while sitting in your favorite chair. My notion of the perfect simple device has full-time Internet connectivity. [NOTE: These deviices never made it, but a Tablet PC with WiFi access does the same thing I had hoped for.]

The fact is that getting to simple is not so simple. In fact, the whole notion of simplicity is quite complex.

How do we begin to move to simplicity in our computer technology. I want to talk about four possible solutions, all of which open up the paradoxes of simplicity.

One solution is to create simplicity through multiplicity. There's always been a strand in predicting our technology future that focuses on making computers "ubiquitous." An excellent recent discussion on this point of view can be found in an article on MIT’s Oxygen project by Michael Dertouzos in the August 1999 issue of Scientific American (http://www.scientificamerican.com/1999/0899issue/
0899dertouzos.html). The notion is that we can make life easier and simpler by having many computers instead of one and scattering them all over our houses and offices and matching function to location. Lately, this notion includes the idea of having "Internet tone," just like dial tone, so we can plug into the Internet anywhere and anytime.

As an example, we might have a PC on the desk, a Palm in our pocket, an electronic phone book in a cell phone, an electronic book on the night table, and so on. The right tool will always be at hand because there will be many location- and function-specific devices.

This approach becomes more possible as hardware prices continue to drop. In my opinion, the Palm gives us a taste of this approach and it is an attractive one.

A second solution is to create simplicity by standardizing on one interface (and that interface might even be Windows). The most-talked about candidate is the browser. The browser is simple. What if we can use the browser as the main interface and treat all the information we use as if it were a series of web pages? Click on a hyperlink and access information anywhere and retrieved information from other programs or even get Java applets to do word processing and other functions.

This approach really appeals to me because I sometimes feel that I'm one of the half dozen people outside Microsoft who really likes browser integration in the operating system. Think about it: whether you are accessing files on your local computer, your network or the Internet, all you're doing is accessing files. Why use a different program? This approach to file access and management is so obvious and desirable to me that I literally cannot even understand the arguments to the contrary.

But the browser is not the only option. Look at is how you use your computer. In what program do you spend most of your day? It might be Outlook (check out Microsoft’s Digital Dashboard initiative), ACT, a word processor, a PIM, a case management program, an e-mail program. An approach to simplicity would be to add functionality and access to your data to that program.

A third approach is to create simplicity by limiting functionality. Palm computing is one example. Another example is something like a Java-based approach that would allow you to grab as much functionality as you need at the time.

Here's an example. As I write these words, I’m looking at a screen that has shockingly close to 100 buttons and menu items on the screen as I simply type text. If I step back from writing and look at the screen, I feel a bit like a jet fighter pilot.

What if I could grab versions of a word processing program that gave me only the functionality I needed for the task at hand? A couple of fonts, spell checker, word counter. When I needed more functions, I could just grab that specific functionality as, for example, a Java applet. [NOTE: Sounds a little like AJAX and Web 2.0.]

Or, maybe I could rent the additional functionality or even other programs only if I need them from an Internet-based service. Presumably, a limited-function version of our standard programs would run faster and cause fewer glitches.

A fourth approach is to create simplicity through customization. A custom approach tailored to how we work might require the underlying programming to be more complex, but what we will see and use will be much simpler - to us. It's going to be more expensive, and more work to set up and get right, but it gives us some interesting possibilities.

Consider this example. Think of a lawyer who doesn’t want to use a computer, but when pushed, says that what really frustrates him or her about computers is that they can’t do what would be most useful to him or her: calculating settlement figures. When an opposing party makes a settlement offer, it might take days and several people using several programs to put together disbursements, fee arrangements and the like into a form where the lawyer could decide whether the offer was "reasonable" or not. Far too often, these settlement calls come on a Saturday or after hours, at a time when the lawyer can not get any information. That lawyer might very well say that if you could give him or her one button to click on that would produce that information, he or she would immediately buy whatever technology that could make that happen because the technology would solve the lawyer’s business problem.

A programmer might be able to give the lawyer that button to produce that customized result. Clicking on that button would set of a process, invisible to the lawyer, that pulled information transparently from a variety of underlying programs and then displayed the necessary result in an understandable and usable form.
Custom approaches are funny things. Most people have a reluctance to go that route. The upfront costs are certainly higher than off-the-shelf solutions, especially where you don't put a cost on frustration and wasted time. In this country, "custom" seems for many people to be synonymous with "decadent," or seen as a luxury.

On the other hand, custom can bring us closer to getting the right tool for the job, Just as the carpenter has a specialty router jig for certain cuts that saves a great deal of time, gets the job done right and allows the carpenter to enjoy the craft, a settlement calculator may do the same thing for a busy personal injury attorney. Ironically, the better the custom design and the more upfront work put into it, the more effortless and simple the results.

I'm fascinated by this notion of simplicity and the "complexity" that seems to underlie it. My friend Howard Smith is a serious cyclist (he owns 15 bikes) and was helping me buy a bike recently. He ended up building a bike that he thought would work best for me and I learned a lot during the process.

At one point, Howard introduced me by e-mail to Grant Peterson, something of a legend in bike design circles. We had an interesting discussion about handle bars and other things, all in the context of how I would actually use a bike. After I got my bike, I began to subscribe to Grant's great newsletter (www.rivendellbicycles.com). Even if you don't ride a bike, the newsletter is fascinating for the glimpse it gives into how a gifted designer sees things. Grant's comments on things outside the realm of cycling are often incisive and profound. Another great source of ideas about simplicity is Jakob Nielsen's writing on web design at Useit.com.

Both Peterson and Nielsen advocate a highly user-focused approach that moves you toward customization, where it makes sense, and lots of upfront effort in the design stage of a project. Both leave you with a sense of simplicity and effortlessness in the actual use of a bicycle or web site that you will want to apply in other areas.

There's a lot to think about on this subject. I recommend taking a look at the technology tools you use and thinking about how they work for you and how they could better fit what you do. It's that aspect of simplicity that I would suggest that you focus on and make a guiding principle. Resist the urge to make a dislike of Bill Gates your motivating principle in making technology choices. You still may end up miles away from Microsoft, but do so in a way that reflects the way you work best.

The great news is that there are so many technology choices and so much power in those choices that we can come much closer to finding the tools that suit us best than we ever have before. And that trend is likely to continue. Paradoxically, it may be in more complexity and looking forward rather than backward, that we move to a simplicity most of us crave.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's legal technology consulting services, featuring website and blog consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2005

Starting off my Vacation with Ross and Paul

It's nice to take a little vacation.

I started off my vacation visit with my family for Thanksgiving week by speaking with Ross Kodner and Paul Unger at an all-day seminar on legal technology for the Allen County Bar Bar Association. We covered almost every aspect of legal technology during the day and I really enjoyed myself doing the event.

Ross, Paul and I spoke for the same group last year and I believe it was even more fun than last year. As most everyone knows, you won't find anyone more knowledgeable about legal technology and how to present it than Ross is. Paul is also quite knowledgeable and a pleasure to present with.

I took the lead on a digital marketing session and chipped in with a few insights, ideas and tips of my own throughout the day. Well, maybe more than a few, because my voice is gone today. Anyway, the whole day was just a pleasure for me and I left thinking about how genuinely fun the day had been. Thank you Ross, Paul, Maribeth and the other people at the Allen County Bar and all the attendees.

We're back for Thanksgiving visiting my parents, brothers, nieces, nephews and other relatives. I'm planning to take some time to rest and relax and might avoid, to a large extent, the blogosphere and email.

Matt Buchanan of RethinkIP is nearby and we'll probably get together one day this week and that likely means some "rethinking" will be going on. It's unavoidable when you get together with those guys.

But otherwise, I may decide to stay pretty far off the radar for a week or so. I'm sure the blog world will get along just fine without me for a few days.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Posted by dmk at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2005

Hanging Out Your Shingle on the World Wide Web: Promoting Your Practice in a Digital Era - Article

[NOTE: This is another in the series of repostings of my previously-published articles. This article is another favorite ofmine. Earlier versions of this article appeared in the September 2000 issue of the Missouri Bar Bulletin and the Spring 1997 issue of the St. Louis Bar Journal. Please note that parts of this article are dated, but I've not updated it to give you a sense of history. This was my first significant to capture what I thought I had learned about the use of web pages by lawyers. It's instructive to see how many of the links are dead in even an article like this one with a short list of footnotes. In early 1997, there were only a few articles like this one available and it seems like all of the authors sought the other others out for guidance. In a real sense, this article led to my chance to meet Jerry Lawson and built the foundation for the Internet Roundtable columns that Jerry Lawson, Brenda Howard and I (along with the occasional guest author) wrote on LLRX.com that I think constitute some of the best analysis and advice about lawyers using websites that you can find. It's also interesting how blogs, by their nature, create the content-based approaches I advocated in this article.]

Hanging Out Your Shingle on the World Wide Web: Promoting Your Practice in a Digital Era

While many attorneys have focused on the use of the Internet for legal research, others have learned that the most innovative uses of the Internet by lawyers can be found in the area of marketing. In January 1995, no more than twenty law firms had web pages.[1] In the past few years, however, thousands of law firms and lawyers have created web pages and many more firms will debut web pages this year. If you have not thought seriously about implementing a web page for yourself or your firm, now is the time to consider your options.

Individual attorneys and law firms have been attracted by the demographics of the hundreds of millions of users of the World Wide Web – generally more educated and more affluent than the population at large. Attorneys have seen their clients, potential clients and competitors establish presences on the World Wide Web. Internet-savvy firms have learned that web pages can be excellent ways to deliver and enhance client services and to develop cross-selling opportunities with existing clients. A web page can also provide a cost-effective way to supplement or enhance other marketing efforts.[2]

Peter Martin has said that "enterprises moving serious commercial activities onto the Internet undoubtedly will want legal counsel and representation from lawyers who understand the Internet and show that they can work comfortably in that environment. They will be looking for law firms with branches already established in this new enterprise zone."[3] A web page offers a lawyer or law firm a chance to create a presence in and gain access to this new enterprise zone.

This article will focus on the two types of World Wide Web pages commonly used by lawyers -- the law firm web page and what I call the specialty page, offer some practical tips on getting started and publicizing your web page, and discuss realistic expectations of results.

The Law Firm Web Page.

There are two general types of law firm web pages: the "static" web page, which is basically an electronic business card or brochure, and the "dynamic" web page, which adds a number of enhancements and interactive features.

A static web page generally is a simple conversion of an existing marketing brochure into electronic form. Such a page might contain biographical information about attorneys, information about firm practice areas, contact information and other marketing materials. In some cases, a static page is no more than an electronic business card or billboard. Other static pages are electronic copies of existing marketing brochures or recyclings of existing marketing materials. The major drawback to static pages is that there is no reason to visit them more than once.

A dynamic web page includes much of the same material found in a static page, but adds a number of important enhancements, such as articles and memos written by firm members, e-mail newsletters, lists of links to other web pages and other information helpful to clients and non-clients alike. Each of these enhancements is designed to prompt some form of interactivity or to encourage a visitor to return to the page on a regular basis. New types of features incorporate the lessons of "e-commerce" learned from Internet companies like Amazon.com and might include personalization, private areas and discussion areas.

You will want to have a dynamic web page because the main goal with a web page is to create a high volume of traffic and, especially, return traffic from visitors of the type that you want to attract. Return traffic creates potential clients, potential referrals and enhances your reputation or that of your firm.

You can give people a reason to return to your page by providing interesting and changing content which highlights the specific aspects of your firm which you wish to market. One of the key maxims on the Web is that "content is king." Your page should offer content that is valuable to visitors of your page and which gives them value on each visit to the page. Your web site should also provide easy and speedy navigation through all of the pages comprising the site so that visitors can easily find content which would be useful to them and e-mail contact to request more information or follow-up with you.

Law firms that have generated clients from their web pages point to the use of e-mail newsletters and mailing lists as the key to a high number of return visits and the production of business directly attributable to the web page.[4] E-mail newsletters can help enhance your reputation for expertise in a given area or provide you with a ready means of contacts with people who are already interested in your firm, whether they are clients or not. As a result, you can use the e-mail newsletter for targeted marketing efforts. An e-mail newsletter also provides a built-in feedback mechanism to help you measure the impact and effectiveness of your web page.

Since a primary purpose of a law firm web page is to market your firm, you will want to know how well your efforts are working. Web counters are available which will count the number of visitors you have had to your page, but these simple counters do not inform you whether you had one-time visitors or prospective clients. More sophisticated tools are becoming available and should be used as a matter of course, but simple features like e-mail newsletters and guest books will help you count the number of quality visits to your page. A subscriber to your e-mail newsletter shows much more interest in your firm than a casual browser. These simple techniques can help you gain useful marketing data and quantify the benefits of the web page.

There are many innovative and useful law firm web pages. Visiting even a few law firm web pages will give you an idea of some of the potential benefits of a web page for your firm. A great listing of reviews and links to many law firm web pages can be found at http://www.redstreet.com.
[NOTE: Website no longer in existence.]

The Specialty Page.

The second type of web page being used by lawyers is the "specialty" web page. A specialty web page is a page that is devoted to one specialty topic; for example, estate planning. A specialty page can be a stand-alone page done by an individual attorney or it can be a sub-page on a law firm's overall web site.

Specialty pages tend to be built around a set of articles written by an attorney or a set of links to other web pages dealing with the same specialty topic. Specialty pages generally grow out of an attorney's personal interest or as an attempt to fill a perceived need for such a page.

I created my first web site because I simply wanted to have a handy collection of web pages dealing with estate planning and tax information on the Internet. I decided that the information would be useful to a wider audience and my page then grew and evolved to cover a large number of related legal areas. Similarly, a lawyer who has written a few articles might start a specialty page containing only those articles. Over time, such a page might grow to include related links, other articles, practice pointers and recent decisions. A good specialty page can be an excellent starting point to get a quick overview of a specialty area and can also be helpful to those looking for technical and in-depth treatments of specialty subjects. Often such a page can be an excellent point of entry to a specific legal topic.

Specialty pages are typically designed to help others, provide educational materials, publish or publicize written material, or enhance an attorney's reputation as an expert in a specialty area. They are not usually designed with the primary intent to produce clients directly.[6] By developing a reputation on the Web, however, an attorney might expect to get referrals or new clients as an indirect benefit, in much the same way as would an attorney who lectures at seminars.

Not every area of the law currently has a web page devoted to it. With a little effort and persistence you can have a nationally-known specialty page. My estate planning page, for example, was personally rewarding and seems to have been helpful to a good number of people all around the world. Every attorney has a unique perspective and expertise and is capable of producing a creative and interesting web page.

Getting Started With Your Web Page.

The very best way to get started is to spend some time on the Web and look at as many law firm and law-related web pages as you can. There are a number of web pages that will direct you to some of the best legal and law firm web pages.[7] Again, I especially recommend the Redstreet Consulting list (http://www.redstreet.com [NOTE: Website no longer in existence.]). You will know after you look at a number of pages if having your own web page is going to appeal to you. In addition, you will gain a good understanding of what seems to work for other firms and what features might work well on your page.

You will want to take the time to get a strong understanding of what your goals are with your page and how you will determine whether those goals are being met. Sketch out your ideas for the page, drawing the graphics, layout and navigation scheme. You should think at all times like someone who will be using the page. Will the page be easy to navigate? Will the most valuable information be easy to find? Will your features enhance the visitor's experience or simply lead to long, frustrating delays? Will it be easy to contact you from the page? Fortunately, there are many resources on the World Wide Web about effective web page design to assist you in this process.[8]

Before you implement your page, you will need to resolve two important issues. The first question is should you create the page yourself or should you bring in an expert? There are pluses and minuses of each approach. The programming language for creating web pages, "HTML" (HyperText Markup Language), is not difficult to learn. You can buy a book on HTML[9] and put together a solid web page after a couple of weekends of reading and work. Web page creation programs, like Microsoft's FrontPage, make the process even easier because they eliminate the need to learn the underlying HTML code before you create your page.

On the other hand, a web page consultant who comes highly recommended might produce a great web page with graphic design and features that you could not produce or think of on your own. A professional designer might also help you avoid problems that you would only discover through experience. A professional will charge a fee; if you do it yourself, the cost is your time or the time of someone on your staff. Lately, the balance has probably shifted over to professional design of most law firm sites.

The second and more important question, however, is who will keep the page updated? In order to get return traffic, you must have a page that regularly provides new or updated content. Even if someone else created your web page, you will need to decide if that person will update the page on an ongoing basis or whether it is more reasonable to update it yourself. I cannot overemphasize how important it is to update on a regular basis. If you do not, people simply will not return to your page. Nothing turns off a web page visitor more than finding that a page has not been updated for several months.

Five more tips on getting started:

1. Do not overwhelm yourself by trying to design a perfect, feature-laden web page which you never complete. Start with a solid effort and then build and improve as you see what does and does not work.

2. Commit to the web page. If you or your firm has tried other marketing techniques and they have been successful, your web page is more likely to be successful. If you have started newsletters or other marketing efforts which have been discontinued, then you will probably need to hire out the updating of your web page. Be honest with yourself.

3. Be guided at all times by two concerns: (i) your goals with respect to the page and (ii) the viewpoint of the potential user of the page.

4. Find a good, reliable host for your page. Web pages are not self-executing; after you design and code your page, you will need to put your page files on a computer that is attached to the Internet (a "server"). The complications of hosting your own page on your own server are outside the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that most web pages are hosted by a third-party provider.

5. Become familiar with the applicable ethical rules. The use of web pages raises important ethical considerations, but, as an example, the ethical guidance in Missouri has been favorable to web page development. You will need to know the applicable rules of your jurisdiction and monitor developments.[10]

Getting Publicity For Your Page.

The world's greatest web page will do you no good if no one sees it. You will want to make sure that the people that you want to see the page can find it. Your guiding question should be: how do you want people to find your page? By concentrating on this question, you will be forced to consider what your target audience is, how that audience will use your page and in what ways you want your audience to find your page.

I have gradually come to the conclusion that planning for getting publicity for your page is more important than planning for the actual design of the page itself. I suggest taking plenty of time to draw up a written plan for getting publicity for your web page. Do not forget that publicizing your web page is an ongoing project.

Your web page is one part of your overall marketing effort. Once your web page is online, you should send out an announcement about your web page and mention the page in every marketing mailing. The address of your web page should be placed on business cards, stationary, brochures and your yellow pages ad. If you have a newsletter, you will want to run a feature article on the new web page, as well as create an e-mail version of that newsletter which can be subscribed to from your web page.

It is vital to let your existing clients know about the page. One of the best uses of a web page is to help existing clients find out about other services your firm can provide. Every marketing consultant will tell you that the best way to increase your business is to cross-sell your existing clients and provide other services to them that they are not now getting from you and may not even know that you can provide.

How does someone find your page if you do not tell them about it yourself? There is no single index to the World Wide Web. People using the World Wide Web find information by using what are known as "search engines." Search engines are web pages which allow you to use key words to search a database consisting of indexed information from actual web pages and produce a list of links to web pages that best match your search request.[11] Each of these search engines allows you to submit your web page to be added to its index. You should definitely do that as a starting point to publicize your page. But they are only starting points.

You will also want to consider getting your web page listed on one of the Web's directories of law-related web pages. Two examples are the large collections of legal web pages found at Findlaw[12] or CataLaw [13] You will probably want to add a link to your web page from your firm's online Martindale-Hubbell listing.[14 ] If you have done your homework, you will probably have a list of law-related web pages on which you would like to have your web page listed. You simply need to contact those web pages and ask them if they will add a link to your page. A very important way to get publicity for specialty pages is to give and get these "reciprocal links."

If you want people to find your page by searching, for example, for "St. Louis law firms," then you must learn enough about search engines to find out how you can guarantee that your web site will found by someone doing a search using those key words.[15] You should also submit your page to all of the online St. Louis business directories. If you want your page to be found because it contains specialty information, you must design a strategy so that people looking for that type of information will find a link to your page when they use the most likely key words on one of the major search engines. You must stay focused on how you want someone to find your page.

You will get the best results if you develop and execute a plan to gain publicity for your site and monitor your results. Be innovative, take advantage of free publicity and remember that getting publicity for your page is an ongoing process.

Realistic Expectations of Results.

It is probably best to look at a law firm web page, at least initially, as a supplement to existing marketing efforts and part of a total marketing package. Use of a web page can generate substantial savings in terms of reduced printing, publication and postage costs related to ongoing marketing efforts. For example, changes to your marketing brochure require a new printing and a new mailing. Substantial changes can be made to the web page simply by making changes to the underlying computer file and uploading it to your web page.

On the other hand, there are firms, especially in the areas of immigration, intellectual property and technology law, that have developed a significant client base through the use of the World Wide Web. Greg Siskind has said that as much as two-thirds of his immigration law practice arises out of his web page.[16] Lew Rose, an Internet pioneer with an advertising law web page, reported that he had $175,000 of business in 1996 alone that he can trace to his web page.[17] Computer giant Sun Microsystems hired a law firm on the basis of the firm's web page.[18]

Most lawyers and law firms, however, have had difficulty quantifying the dollars-and-cents benefits of having a World Wide Web page. However, remember that for certain firms there may be disadvantages of not having a web page. There is an expectation that leading firms and firms with certain types of practices, especially high tech and intellectual property, will have web pages. Firms without web pages risk creating an impression that they are not current with the cutting edge in either technology or law and losing out in their efforts to recruit young attorneys..

Conclusion.
The use of the Internet is dramatically changing the ways in which all business is being conducted. It is impossible for the Internet not to have a similarly dramatic impact on the practice of law and, especially, on the business of the practice of law. The Internet is certainly a new enterprise zone and that fact must be addressed by you and your law firm. A few years ago, having a web page for your law firm would have been a novelty. It later became a trend. Now, it is a necessity.

---

End Notes

[1] See http://www.collegehill.com/ilp-news/hornsby1.html.

[2] See generally http://www.bamsl.org/inet/dkmark01.htm (which covers topics addressed in this article in more detail and provides links to helpful web pages).

[3] Martin, Prospecting on the Internet, ABA Journal, Sept. 1995, at 52, 53.

[4] See Greg Siskind's article, "Building a Law Firm Using the Internet", at http://www.internetlawyer.com/siskind.htm. Siskind has also co-written the widely-praised book, The Lawyer's Guide to Marketing on the Internet. For more information about his book, see http://www.lawmarketing.com/~law/ or http://www.visalaw.com.

[5] See http://www.estateplanninglinks.com.

[6] See http://www.ca-probate.com/results.htm.

[7] E.g., http://www.legalonline.com/bestoweb.htm; http://www.bamsl.org/inet/sereng.htm.

[8] See, e.g., some of the resources I list on the http://www.denniskennedy.com site and Jerry Lawson’s excellent Netlawtools site at http://www.netlawtools.com. A good discussion of designing law firm pages can be found in Cohen, "What Makes Web Pages Work: The Dos and Don'ts of Cyberspace", 1 AmLaw Tech, Winter 1997, at 56.

[9] I recommend any of Laura Lemay's excellent "Teach Yourself Web Publishing" books from Sams.net Publishing.

[10] For a general discussion of ethical issues, see Mary Toy's excellent article in the Spring 1997 issue of the St. Louis Bar Journal. Informal Advisory Opinion 960151 from the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel is the key guidance in Missouri. For example, in Missouri you also need to be familiar with Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct 4.7.1 -4.7.4. There are two excellent web sites covering ethical issues: http://www.legalethics.com and http://www.computerbar.org/netethics/. A good summary of ethical issues can be found at http://www.collegehill.com/ilp-news/hornsby1.html. Other ethical materials can be found in my discussion at http://www.bamsl.org/inet/dkmark01.htm.

[11] See my list of search engines and related web sites at http://www.bamsl.org/inet/sereng.htm.

[12] See http://www.findlaw.com/.

[13] See http:///www.law.indiana.edu/law/v-lib/lawindex.html.

[14] See http://www.lawyers.com.

[15] See, e.g., http://www.searchenginewatch.com.

[16] See Greg Siskind's article, "Building a Law Firm Using the Internet", at http://www.internetlawyer.com/siskind.htm.

[17] Cohen, "What Makes Web Pages Work: The Dos and Don'ts of Cyberspace," 1 AmLaw Tech, Winter 1997, at 56.

[18] Id. at 57.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy’s legal technology consulting services, featuring website and blog consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 04:39 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2005

The Future of Legal Services - Putting the Consumer First

Tim Allen, Chief Executive of Busines Integrity, the maker of DealBuilder, pointed me to a new article by the renowned legal futurist Richard Susskind called "Backroom boys lead 'positive disruption'" in the UK Times Online (free registration required).

Tim noted that the Susskind article talks a lot about Clayton Christiansen's ideas about innovative disruption, a subject we had discussed in the recent session on e-lawyering Darryl Mountain, Marc Lauritsen and Richard Granat led at the ABA Law Practice Management Section's fall meeting in Philadelphia.

Susskind's article references a white paper I recommend to you prepared by the UK Department for Constitutional Affairs called "The Future of Legal Services: Putting the Consumer First."

The money quote from Susskind's article:

"The top US law firms are hugely and satisfyingly profitable. Accordingly, they seem to be moved to change more by the threat of competitive disadvantage than by the promise of competitive advantage. Without hunger for change, without the worry of being left behind by the competition and, vitally, without clients clamouring for new forms of service, it will be business as usual for the US legal behemoths for many years yet. They will wring every last cent out of the increasingly unsustainable practice of hourly billing and will steer well clear of innovative IT."

Susskind notes that the difference in innovation in UK firms stems from something called "maverick management." He describes this as:

"The reality is that the overwhelming number of innovations (often documented in this column) have evolved from the efforts of mavericks within law firms — energetic, often eccentric, frequently marginalised, invariably demanding, single-minded individuals who pursue ideas that are regarded in the early days as peripheral, irrelevant and even wasteful. But the mavericks persevere and in their dining-rooms or studies at home they beaver away, creating new forms of service for clients. Gradually, their innovations came to be recognised as significant and even client-winning. And soon, everyone claims that the mavericks had the firm’s full support from the outset. A new discipline thus emerges — maverick management. This is the art of nurturing and encouraging mavericks, giving them space to innovate and wrapping some strategy and structure around their innovations only once their ideas have fully gestated. Mavericks are the research and development departments of many law firms."

Important stuff, as is the work Tim Allen is doing. Thanks for pointing out the article and for the great conversation we had on these topics in Philadelphia.

4G legal technology client-driven technology

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's legal technology consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

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Posted by dmk at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

Bringing Presentation Technology into Your Practice - Article

[NOTE: This is another in the series of repostings of my previously-published articles. An earlier version of this article appeared in the Febraury 10, 1997 issue of Lawyers Weekly USA. Please note that parts of this article are dated, but I've not updated it to give you a sense of history. I like this article for two reasons. First, the ten tips about doing presentations I give at the end of the article are still good ones today. Second, it shows how enthused I was about the use of PowerPoint back in 1997 – an enthusiasm that's continued to this day, even though my PowerPoint techniques have changed quite a bit over the years. As always, it's a matter of choosing the right tools and using them well. I'm always experimenting. At BlawgThink, I did a presentation using the presentation mode of MindJet's MindManager program and I really liked that approach for that audience. In the Open Space approach we took on Day 2 of BlawgThink, using PowerPoint doesn't make sense because everyone is both speaker and audience member and there is a conversation rather than a lecture. I sometimes hear or read people who condemn all PowerPoint presentations and PowerPoint itself. While there are plenty of bad PowerPoint slides, I generally think that people who dismiss PowerPoint as all bad haven't seen people who can really use PowerPoint well. It takes practice, ability and understanding of audiences to do PowerPoint really well. If you haven't seen PowerPoint used really well in the legal setting, I recommend that you attend one of Craig Ball's PowerPoint sessions at the ABA TECHSHOW or wherever else he may be delivering it. That will give you an idea of what can be done with PowerPoint in the hands of someone who really gets it.]

Bringing Presentation Technology into Your Practice

You have probably noticed the growing use of projection panels and projectors at seminars you have attended lately. Improvements in technology, some price reductions and the visible benefits to speakers' presentations have hastened the adoption of this technology. If you speak in front of groups of people - and what lawyer does not - you will want to take a look at what now is available in presentation technology.

I am a big fan of presentation technology. In fact, given diminishing attention spans of audiences, I predict that soon no one will be able to give a presentation simply by standing alone in front of an audience and expect to keep his or her audience's attention. In almost every case, your presentation will be improved by the use of presentation technology.

Presentation equipment may be either (1) a projection panel used in combination with an overhead projector or (2) an all-in-one projector. In each case the panel or projector is connected to the video output of your computer (typically a laptop computer). Once everything is connected, you can display whatever is on your computer screen in an enlarged form upon a projection screen in the same way you can show transparencies on an overhead projector. Anything that you can do on your computer, including animations and sound, may be seen and heard by your audience.

[Note: this article was written in 1997 and the marketplace has changed dramatically. The following section on hardware is interesting historically.]

Projection panels are small panels about the size of a laptop computer screen which are placed on an overhead projector so that the projector's light source shines up through the panel and projects the panel's images onto a projection screen. Panels once dominated the presentation market. They are generally cheaper than all-in-one projectors, lighter in weight and easier to transport (as long as you don't have to carry your own overhead projector with you). Panels range in price from about $3,000 to $7,000 for a quality active-matrix panel. Do not consider passive matrix panels because their quality simply is not adequate. A high quality overhead projector will cost another $500 to $1,500. You will definitely want to use a high-quality overhead projector with a panel. The overhead projectors we remember so well from eighth grade science class will not provide sufficiently brightness.

All-in-one projectors combine the panel technology with a high-intensity light source in one unit. All-in-one projectors have recently become very popular and are predicted to capture 75 to 80% of the presentation hardware market in the very near future. Generally their displays are significantly brighter and sharper what you can get with a panel using an overhead projector. They are also relatively compact and usually have built-in multimedia capabilities (speakers and audio/video inputs). Typically, all-in-one units range from about $5,000 to $10,000, although while researching this column, I saw an ad for an all-in-one projector on sale for $3,000.

One of the newer newest developments is called digital light processing ("DLP"). DLP is a technology which uses thousands of tiny mirrors to project an image. The projected image is brighter than the LCD technology which is being used in most panels and projectors. DLP units tend to be more expensive than LCD units.

Manufacturers of presentation hardware include Proxima, Sharp, In Focus, Boxlight, Canon, NEC, Sanyo and 3M. Most companies seem to have a number of models at a number of price ranges. Because a panel or projector is not a typical consumer item, you will probably buy your unit on the basis of a demonstration by the vendor in your office rather than by going to your local computer store. This approach is a good one because you will want to see each model in action and learn whether it will work with your current computer and with you.

Other features which are available with your presentation hardware include an infrared or remote mouse or other remote control so that you can walk around the room or away from your computer and still control the computer and the presentation, and in some models, software or an electronic tablet that allows you to write or draw on what appears on your screen during the presentation. Some projectors allow you to run a version of your presentation on a floppy drive built into the unit in case you have a problem with your computer.

The most significant technical issue to be concerned about is ensuring that the display of your laptop computer (typically VGA or SVGA) matches the display of your panel or projector. Most presentation panels and projectors have a VGA display. Newer notebooks which have SVGA (better) displays cause problems with VGA panel or projector. In most cases, the problem is that the panel or projector will not display anything at all.

There are two solutions to this problem. You can purchase a more expensive SVGA panel or projector or, less expensively, change the video display of your computer to VGA. It is not difficult to change your computer's display from SVGA to VGA, once you have learned how to do it. On the other hand, if you find the problem 5 minutes before your presentation and do not know how to change those settings, you may have a disaster.

Since you will likely be buying your panel or projector from a vendor who has demonstrated the product to you, you should insist that they ensure that your panel or projector works perfectly with your laptop computer. If the laptop computer you currently own does not do that, consider buying a laptop computer dedicated to use for presentations.

Another important consideration if you travel a lot is the weight of an all-in-one projector. These projectors have gotten much lighter in the past few years, but can still cause arm strain on a long trek through an airport. Newer models, however, can weigh less than ten pounds. The near-universal presence of projectors at most facilities can alleviate the weight problem by eliminating t he need to carry your projector with you to every presentation. Another alternative is to purchase a carrying case with wheels for your projector.

[Note: this article was written in 1997 and the marketplace has changed. The following section on software is interesting historically.]

Presentation software programs are extremely easy to use, allow you to include some impressive effects with the simple click of a mouse, look great and generally work as tools should work. Presentation software allows you to generate presentation slides with colorful backgrounds, bulleted text, graphics, animations and a wide variety of transition effects. The universal comment I heard about presentation software was how easy the programs are to use. There are probably four major programs designed for presentations and graphics - Microsoft's PowerPoint, Lotus Freelance, Harvard Graphics and Astound.

Microsoft's PowerPoint is the most commonly used presentation package and, even if you do not use it, you will want to save your presentations in a PowerPoint format to make it easy to transfer to others. PowerPoint is a very easy to use program.

However, since you'll be able to display whatever is on your computer screen, any software program can be used for presentations. For example, in a talk about the Internet, you might be live on the Internet showing web pages to illustrate your points. Another example is using your presentation hardware to display language that was being negotiated and revised in a conference room with all attorneys able to see the changes.

Presentation software can be used to create a set of slides which highlight your main points and become your speaking outline. You no longer have to read your speech and guarantee that you will lose your audience or refer constantly to your outline. In most cases, the room will be set up so that you can look at your laptop computer in front of you on the podium while your audience sees your computer screen displayed behind you on a large display screen. As a result, you can talk to your audience without any need to turn your back on them to point to text or graphics on the display screen.

New presentation technology will give you more control over your presentation, allow you to create better and more impressive presentations at a low cost and generally save you the embarrassment of dropping overhead transparencies or having slides upside down or out of sequence in a slide projector. However, like any new technology, presentation technology also opens the door to new concerns. There are more things that can go wrong.

Here are a few tips from my experience with presentation technology:

1. Arrive early to check all the equipment at your presentation site and make sure that your presentation looks the way that you think it should look at the site. You can make adjustments to improve the visibility of slides, change background colors or font sizes, or move screens and projectors.

2. It's better to be safe than sorry. I take two backup floppy disks of my presentation slides and a set of transparencies. You may also want to take along extra cords, outlet strips, extension cords, bulbs and a few tools. And, as I've learned, a small screwdriver.

3. Make sure that your screen saver program is turned off. It is embarrassing to have cute screen saver images appear just as you are ready to make a major point.

4. Do not run your laptop computer off its battery. Use the AC adapter. Don't ask for problems.

5. Do not use all the features of your presentation software in your first presentation. Use these features and effects gradually and as they make sense for each presentation. If you use a lot of effects and features, the medium, as Marshall McLuhan said, will become the message. People will remember the effects and the capabilities of the presentation program and not a word of what you said.

6. Practice giving your speech while using the equipment. You need to get the feel of using a mouse and changing slides.

7. Keep in mind the audiences point of view at all times. Think about the backgrounds that you are using and be sure that the text can be read. A rule of thumb is that if you can read the text eight feet away from a 15 inch monitor it will probably be okay.

8. Do not overload each presentation slide with information.

9. Use your slides as a speaking outline and move around, if you can, while you speak. You will give the impression of speaking extemporaneously, enhancing your authority, when your actual speaking outline is appearing on the screen in front of everyone.

10. Anticipate the unexpected. I learn something new about potential problems every time I speak. [NOTE: Yes, every single time.]

Attorneys speak in front of people on an everyday basis. Everything that you can do enhance your ability as a speaker will work to your benefit. This technology can definitely enhance you speaking abilities and you should look into it if you have not already done so. One final bit of advice: your image will be a reflection of your ability to present, your presence and charisma, and the presentation technology you use. There are a number of places in legal technology where you can choose to "go cheap," but presentation technology should not be one of them.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's half-day electronic discovery seminar - "Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery." Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

Posted by dmk at 07:29 PM | Comments (1)

November 14, 2005

Blawgspace is a Generous Place - Round 2

If you asked me to pick out my favorite blog posts on this blog, I know that a post I wrote in December 2003 called "Blawgspace is a Generous Place" would always, always be on my list and I recommend that you read it.

On my plane ride home from BlawgThink last night I found that when I wasn't looking forward to getting home to my wife and daughter, I was thinking about that post.

There was a session on Saturday morning, which we had called a "Five by Five" where five of the first and best legal bloggers were going to be asked five questions as an introduction to the day of Open Space discussions. Matt and I were to be the moderators. Just before the session, I talked through the way we would handle the moderating with Matt and how my goal was to stay out of the way of our speakers. I was going to ask the first question and we then alternate asking the questions.

Matt surprised me (and for those who saw my surprise, I can assure you it was genuine) by asking the first question and turning the session into a Six by Five by telling me that I was part of the panel when he asked the first question. When he started asking the question, I couldn't believe that he had forgotten the sequence we had talked about moments before. Of course, as soon as I felt a microphone in my hand, I was ready to join right in.

At more points than you can imagine, I looked down the line of speakers - Ernie, Marty, Sabrina, Tom, Carolyn - who I now know so well and have admired so much for so long, and realized that I am the "baby" blogger among them and that I truly felt honored to be with them and thankful for all the help and friendship they've given me and so many others over the years.

The word I also think about with them is "generosity." There is a generosity in sharing information, insights, time, experience, wisdom and friendship. They and the other "First Ones" of legal blogging - we wish that all of the others in that first group of legal bloggers could have been there, especially Denise Howell and Sherry Fowler - created something unique and special in the world of legal blogging. It's something that made me want to be part of it and to carry on, in my imperfect way, the generosity, helpfulness and sharing that they have always shown.

What's really cool is that each succeeding group of legal bloggers have shown that same generosity, a willingness to help others and a tendency to push toward new forms of collaboration. I get so much energy and so many new ideas from the newer bloggers. They are show their own kinds of generosity and also seem to be reaching out to build bridges and create new kinds of relationships. I don't want to mention names (because this post is already long and the young bloggers love to tease me about my tendency to write long posts), but examples would be the role Evan Schaeffer has played in helping law student bloggers and almost everything the RethinkIP guys have done (even teaching me Skype instant messaging so I can hang out with them in real-time).

These days, you can get all wrapped up and even exercised about the blogging phenomenon, blogging as a marketing or even whether everyone should or should not be a blogger. So much so that you can forget that blogging is ultimately about people and people who care about words, getting the word out, about causes and getting the word out, and about helping people and getting the word out.

From BlawgThink, I 'll remember many things, but the ones I'll carry with all involve people and people meeting people.

As just one example, I knew that BlawgThink was going to be the first in person meeting between Ernie and Marty. From the time I first saw Ernie in Chicago, he kept saaying "I can't wait to meet Marty." He kept asking when Marty was getting in and what time we'd get to meet him. I started joking with Ernie that he was acting like meeting Marty was like meeting the one of the Beatles. Ernie said, "No, it's better than that." Of course, even as I teased Ernie, I couldn't keep from saying, "Marty is such a great guy!" and trying to be sure that I was there when they first met in person.

The meeting was magical, in case you wanted to know. And, one of these days soon, we're all getting out to California, or wherever, to get the whole Between Lawyers group together.

It's easy to get over-analytical about blogging. Today, I see blogging as being about good people with good hearts trying to do good things and make this world a little better place who have found a communications tool that works for us. We don't always succeed and blogging may well not be the right tool for everyone, but sitting on that panel Saturday morning made me feel like I had found a great place and a great community of kindred spirits, and that Blawgspace in 2005 was still a generous place.

As I've also said in another of my favorite posts, which referred to the great song "People Get Ready" - you don't need a ticket, just climb aboard.

Thank you to everyone in any way involved with BlawgThink (especially JoAnna), everyone who has helped on inspired me with my blog, and to all the readers of this blog. And to Matt, I think we really did something we can be proud of - there could have been no better partner to work on this than you, my friend.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog)]

blawgthink

Posted by dmk at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2005

BlawgThink - Initial Post-conference Results

I'm tired, but it's that good kind of tired.

Let me point to a few other bloggers:

Dave Gulbransen's excellent work at live-blogging sessions on his Preaching to the Perverted blog. Thanks - I really enjoyed getting the chance to meet you.

Fellow St. Louis bloggers George Lenard and Michelle Golden offer some reflections. Let's get that St. Louis lunch scheduled.

Today - some wind-up, some continuing discussions, some rest and getting back to be with my wife and daughter, who I very much wish could be here with me.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Posted by dmk at 09:41 AM | Comments (1)

November 12, 2005

BlawgThink - Day 1

A few observations:

I find myself saying "thank you" so many times at BlawgThink. I'm so pleased with the job our presenters have done. Question: Does blogging, as a communications tool, also help make people great presenters?

As we hoped, we have as engaged and active an audience as I've seen at a conference lately. There has been a really good exchange of ideas and information. A number of attendees and speakers have posted from BlawgThink and I encourage you to search them out.

I learned tons of things today - from the sessions, from the attendees and just from hanging out with everyone here.

My biggest smile and "thank you" was for the moment when we got Ernie, Tom, Marty and me together for the first time (and Ernie and Marty met in person for the first time). It was also the first time we've ever had four of the five of us at Between Lawyers together in person. Thankfully for Denise, we considered, but decided against, making a late night call to her from all of us.

I'm looking forward to a full day today of talking with this great group of people here at BlawgThink using the Open Space method.

Back to work on the event.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Posted by dmk at 07:38 AM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2005

If You Get a Last-minute Craving to Attend BlawgThink . . .

(and I can see how you might), Matt has the details on what to do here.

Posted by dmk at 09:09 AM | Comments (0)

November 08, 2005

Thinking About BlawgThink

[Note: On what I'm sure will be the last eighty degree day of the year in St. Louis, I took a long bike ride. As long-time readers of this blog have learned, my long bike rides often lead to long blog posts. I think that this one is worth your time investment in reading it, but wanted to give you warning that it's kind of long.]

One of the smartest moves Matt and I made when putting BlawgThink together was to bring in event planner JoAnna Forshee to handle many of the details for us. If you are ever planning an event, JoAnna should be on your short list of people to talk to.

Matt, JoAnna and I had our last conference call today before BlawgThink. When we hung up, I decided to take a long bike ride, like a long exhale after a period of really hard work.

My wife always tells me to take more pleasure in what I have accomplished and not focus so much on things I haven't gotten done. I thought I'd try that exercise on the bike ride.

It always seems that when you work on a big project, there are really two projects – the one you initially envisioned and the one that you really have produced.

I wanted to leave the fantasy project behind and get more fully focused on the reality.

The initial vision, or the fantasy, of course, is vital to the process. It gives you the motivation, the vision, the goals.

I took a quick look at some of my early notes on BlawgThink and set off on my ride.

What struck me, as I rode, was that the reality of the BlawgThink we have created is far more like the initial vision than I thought. In several important ways (speakers, sponsors and quality of attendees), it exceeds what we mapped out initially.

As I rode, I decided this was good. I also owned up to the fact that both Matt and I could fill a whole stadium for an event and still be thinking about "the ones that got away." As I rode, I laughed about that and decided that my wife was right – I could let the fantasy event blow away with the wind and focus on what we have accomplished.

As people who know us can see, Matt and I really like working with each other on these things. I appreciate greatly Matt's enthusiasm, passion, endless great ideas, boundless energy and capacity for hard work, and his ability to live on the telephone. Together, we've developed a knack for bringing people together, for making things happen, and getting people to think seriously about ideas, innovation and action.

As I rode, I then started to think more specifically about the actual BlawgThink and I allowed myself, finally, to get excited about the event.

My focus of BlawgThink has always been Day 2. It will be my third experience with Open Space Technology. Open Space is like HTML was for me when I first learned it – I want to do everything in Open Space. I'm so intrigued by the approach and what it accomplishes. The fact that we have a leading Open Space facilitator, Michael Herman, to run Day 2 is one of the coolest things we have put together. Personally, I'd consider going to an Open Space event on any topics, but to go to one on blogging-related topics is a can't miss for me.

There is a core notion of Open Space that the people who are there are the right people to be there. It's an amazing group we've put together for Day 2. As Mick Jagger might say, wild horses couldn't drag me away from the opportunity to be part of that session. This is a unique chance to take part in a discussion of legal blogging with a group of legal bloggers at a point where most of us agree the world of legal blogging is about to change and move into a new direction. Everyone has to make their own choices in life, but, if you are passionate and care about what you are doing in blogging, it has to be hard to stay away. I couldn't do it.

As I rode, I realized that my experiences at BlogWalk 6 and LexThink 1.0 with Open Space give me a different perspective on Day 2 than others.

So, I turned to Day 1. Here, it struck me that we had really accomplished something. I've been saying lately that we have an amazing set of speakers. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But, it seems like a good adjective. I'm not sure where the future of blogging will lead, but I don't know that you'll ever again get a set of speakers comparable to this group on this comprehensive set of topics.

Here's what I see.

You start the day with a choice of (1) long-time legal blogger Brandy Karl giving a blogging 101 talk; (2) leading blog advocate and designer Kevin O'Keefe talking about using blogs for marketing; or (3) long-time blogger and now FeedBurner executive Rick Klau talking about RSS feeds.

Take a break and your choice becomes: (1) one of the acknowledged best writers among legal bloggers, Evan Schaeffer discussing writing great blog posts, (2) Matt Homann talking about using blogs to create a professional impression and build reputation, and (3) a great teacher and one of the first education podcasters, Steve Dembo, teaching about podcasting.

Move on to your choice of: (1) Henry Copeland of BlogAds giving his highly-regarded talk on the "Zen of Blogging"; (2) highly-respected patent Blogger talking about how to put together a practice-specific blog; and (3) in the session Matt and I most wanted to put together for BlawgThink, leading KM experts and bloggers Jack Vinson and Jim McGee discussing collaboration, internal blogging and KM implications (wow!).

Then break for lunch and talk with other attendees and speakers and learn about our sponsors and the great attendance prizes our attendees get – free licenses to MindManager Pro and ResultsManager (yes, you have done the math correctly – the retail value of these licenses exceeds your registration fee).

Then jump back into it with your choice of (1) noted law librarian bloggers Dianne Murley and Bonnie Shucha introducing you to the world of RSS feeds and news aggregators; (2) search engine optimization expert Tim Stanley explaining why Google loves blogs and other issues; and (3) highly-regarded web designer Peter Flashner showing you why blog design matters.

Catch your breath and then choose between: (1) learning about the new world of group blogs and witnessing the first live performance of the RethinkIP group, Matt Buchanan, Steve Nipper and Doug Sorocco; (2) gaining Ernest "Ernie the Attorney" Svensen's observations from his years of blogging and his recent journey through Hurricane Katrina; and (3) law tech guru Jeff Beard and I discussing some of the advanced blogging tools you can use to improve your blog for you and your audience.

But, there's more. Move on to choose between: (1) learning about blawgs for firms of every size from Carolyn Elefant, Patrick Lamb, Cathy Kirkman and David Bowerman; (2) ethics experts Ben Cowgill and Will Hornsby discussing the current state of ethical rules for blogs; and (3) ABA webmaster Fred Faulkner leading a discussion on "how did they do that?" about features of blogs that you have seen.

Then, we do something that I think will work really well. Michael Herman will lead a session using Open Space that will help us pull together what we learned today and get us thinking about Day 2.

On Friday evening, we focus on helping build new friendships and learn from each other by putting together small dinner groups led by our speakers.

I may be biased, but that's a great program.

We'll kick off Day 2 with a tribute to the feature that helped Matt Homann develop his reputation – a Five by Five, in which Matt and I will moderate a discussion with some of the most-respected of all of the legal bloggers – Sabrina Pacifici, Carolyn Elefant, Ernie Svensen, Tom Mighell and Marty Schwimmer to help us gain some insights and kick off the discussions on Day 2.

As with any event I get involved in, I want you to be tired at the end, but that good kind of tired.

As I rode on (to continue the bike ride metaphor), I then thought about where we are in legal blogging today. In the conversations I have with bloggers, there seems to be a sense that we are definitely reaching a turning point where we move into a second generation of legal blogging. It's perhaps hard to pin down what this transition will be, but I suspect it will involve some of the following: (1) group blogs and other collaborations (for example, RethinkIP and Between Lawyers), (2) a much greater focus on RSS and use of RSS feeds, (3) loose networking of various kinds (the Law.com blog network; the Law Profs network and other future networks); (4) combinations that cross legal blogging categories (expect to see law librarians, lawyers, law students and, I hope but am somewhat pessimistic, law professors putting together efforts based initially on blog combinations); and (5) the adoption and creation of the web tools known under the category of "Web 2.0" and other experiments with technologies that might be considered "e-lawyering" (the PatentMojo experiment is the first and best example – the jury is still out on that Lawyer X experiment at Between Lawyers).

Although I'm reluctantly to saddle these trends with a moniker, you can think of these developments as Blawg 2.0. In many different ways, these developments will be the subject of discussion at BlawgThink by some of the people who are moving these trends forward.

If you think simply in terms of blog collaborations, I'm looking forward to having the RethinkIP group, LexThink and four out of the five of the Between Lawyers group meeting face-to-face for the first time and getting the chance to talk about our experiences in collaboration with Jack Vinson, Jim McGee and others.

There will be a lot of energy there.

Here’s what I think. If you have read all the way to this point, are a blogger or planning to be a blogger or are greatly interested in the blogging world, I suspect that you are now wishing you could be there. If that's the case, let Matt and me know. We're happy with where we are, but we do want to enable the people who are meant to be there to be there.

And, as I finished my ride, I realized that, once again, long bike rides lead to long blog posts.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink!™ - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world. November 11 & 12 - LexThink's BlawgThink 2005.

Posted by dmk at 08:36 PM | Comments (1)

A Prudent Approach to Legal Technology Spending in a Slowing Economy - Article

[Note: This is another in the series of my previously-published articles that I'm reposting on my blog. An earlier version of this article appeared in the April 16, 2001 issue of LLRX.com and I've left in some references that are historical – anyone remember that Y2K thing? This article sets out two important themes in my writing about legal technology that still carry through my writing. First, there is a notion of "prudence" that should be applied to technology investments. Second, the elements of portfolio theory play an important role in making technology decisions and are part of my notion of prudence.]

A Prudent Approach to Legal Technology Spending in a Slowing Economy

An interesting new survey of 300 IT and business executives from Information Week magazine reveals that, for the first time in the four-year history of the survey, more than half of the respondents say that their technology budgets are either flat or declining. Just three months ago, that percentage was only 28%. Since law firms tend to be more conservative than businesses in general when it comes to technology spending, expect flat or declining technology budgets at many law firms in the current slowing economy.

The Information Week survey indicated that cuts are coming in custom software development and large-scale PC rollouts. Investment is continuing to flow into intranets, extranets and enterprise projects.

Whether from a recession or simply as a result of concerns about a recession, we are likely to see a pronounced tendency toward retrenchment in technology in the legal profession. Firms that have recently sunk large sums into network and hardware upgrades and Y2K-motivated projects are, frankly, looking for a breather.

Some effects are easy to predict: delays in moving to Windows 2000 (or XP), fewer hardware upgrades and a general willingness to push "enterprise" projects such as overhaul of document management systems off to a later date. There will also be a more hard-headed approach to requiring projects to be justified in terms of investment.

Does it make sense to buck the trend and invest in technology now to take advantage of some unique opportunities rather than to focus only on retrenchment?

In slow economic times, there are deals that can be made. Hardware and software vendors are more willing to bargain. The best consulting firms have more time available for new projects. Lots of talent is becoming available as dot-coms burn out.

There are extraordinary technologies now available that will revolutionize the practice of law over time. Investing in a few of them now could have dramatic payoff in the future. Taking advantage of the current market can help a law firm or individual lawyer get positioned for a "21st century practice" and be ready when the economy takes off again or help cope with an extended slow-down.

A Portfolio Approach

The key: being willing to think of technology in terms of investment. I like to think of technology investing as a form of portfolio investing. Much as we rebalance our investment portfolios in changing economic conditions, the same principles apply to technology investment.

If we learned anything at all in 2000, it is the importance of having a diversified investment portfolio that is line with our notions of appropriate risk. We tend to find a mix of low-risk, medium-risk and high-risk investments that fit our personalities and risk-tolerance levels. The best investment portfolios, over time, must include elements from each category. The interesting conclusion in modern portfolio theory is that the most prudent approach, over the long term, includes a reasonable proportion of high-risk, high-return investments, regardless of the investment climate. In a slow economy, sticking with a diversified approach is mandatory.

Investing in technology requires a similar portfolio approach.

The more technology options you can consider, the better. Gather a list of potential technology projects. Do a little brainstorming and include projects that are innovative and "push the envelope." Then sort them into categories based on the risk and potential return you assign to them. Focus on what makes sense for you, not on what "everybody" is doing.

You or your firm can decide on a conservative or an aggressive approach based on your personality or tolerance of risk, but the portfolio of projects you decide on must be diversified and contain some higher risk projects if you are to be prudent - an interesting paradox. A more conservative firm might try only a few high-risk technology projects and concentrate on "safe" projects. A more aggressive firm might decide that "safe" projects in this environment are the most dangerous of all and adopt a much higher-risk approach.

Here are six areas to think hard about when developing your technology portfolio:

1. Technology That Cuts Costs

If the economy slows, cost cutting is an important strategy. Does a Palm device or a Blackberry e-mail pager make more sense than a new notebook computer? Does scanning documents rather than storing them in your Class A office space make good economic sense? Will intranets save you printing, paper and copying costs? Will extranets save you long distance, Fedex and copying costs? More important, will offering an extranet save your clients on those costs?

Here’s a simple example: my brother-in-law, a solo in California, invested in a high-end notebook computer and speech recognition software with the hope that it would help him enough at the start of his practice that he would not have to hire a secretary for a least a few months. The $4,000 invested in that approach saved him six months of a secretary’s salary and benefits and played a key role in getting his practice off the ground.

2. Technology That Makes You Indispensable to Your Clients

You will want to hang on to your best clients. Look for technologies that help you do that by providing better service and saving your clients money. Extranets are the obvious approach to take, but web sites, e-mail newsletters, wireless technologies and contact management software offer significant opportunities.

3. Technology That Helps You Get New Clients

What does your web page look like? Is it working for you? Frankly, it had better be. A great web page works for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A bad web page works against you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The choice is yours.

Contact management software and better use of e-mail programs also fit into this category.

4. Technology That Helps You Move into New Practice Areas

Every law firm or law practice has a treasure trove of useful information, forms and the like that can help you move into new practice areas or find productive niches. In general, the technology category that helps you exploit this information can be called "knowledge management."

Whether you use case management programs, databases or other software tools, you need to learn what you do best, what you have done before and whether you can reposition yourself to take advantage of that internal knowledge to target new markets or to establish yourself firmly in the best part of an existing practice. Even simple document assembly applications will help you mine your expertise. Web pages, obviously, play a key role in establishing new practice areas and strengthening your position in existing niches.

5. Technology That Helps You Recruit and Retain Great People

Talented people want great technology. Here’s a hypothetical: Imagine that you are a bright young attorney. At firm A, a team of lawyers using CaseMap to develop trial strategy and put together cases. At Firm B, you get all the legal pads you want. What firm do you choose?

Law students don’t like to find that they are taking a step backwards in technology when they join a firm. Lawyers who grow to use technology don’t like to fight every step of the way to get basic tools. Look for ways to use technology to attract and keep good people.

6. Technology That Makes You Saner

Two words: remote computing. Do you want to shovel your car out after a snowstorm or do you want to stay home and telecommute by modem? Do you want to have to cart around boxes of documents or do you want to carry scanned images of all those documents on one CD-ROM? Do you want a case management program that shows you what you need to get done, gives you information you really need and also puts that information on a Palm device for you?

Identify sources of real aggravation and deal with them. If you are overwhelmed by e-mail, learn to use the management features of your e-mail program. If you can’t convert documents you routinely receive because you have an old version of Word or WordPerfect, step up to the plate and get the new version. Efficiency and productivity are great goals, but the best technology makes your life simpler and easier.

Concluding Thoughts

In a slow economy, you need to make smart choices about technology. Focusing hard on return on investment is important, but not if you are using that as an excuse to shut down technology investment. A better approach is to get a lot of options on the table and consider their likely risk and potential return. Then prudently pick a diverse portfolio of technology investment projects and step boldly forward. Not all of them may work, but the diversification will, and you’ll find yourself well positioned for the changes to come, both in the economy and the practice of law.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy’s consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)

Randy Holloway and I Are Interested in a Big St. Louis Tech Event - How About You?

Randy Holloway at Microsoft is looking for feedback on the idea of staging a low-cost tech event (perhaps on Web 2.0?) in St. Louis. Count me in. It'd be great to have a big, cool tech show in the middle of the country,

Randy says:

"If a free (or very low cost) technology conference were hosted in the St. Louis area (or perhaps at a nearby university), would there be any interest? Something like this takes about 100 people to gain critical mass."

If interested, please respond to Randy's poll or or email at the addresss he gives in this post.

Randy is a great guy and very passionate about blogging, technology and the tech community. You might enjoy the podcast Randy and I did together a few months ago.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy’s consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 10:14 AM | Comments (1)

BlawgThink 2005 - Sponsor Update

Matt and I are so pleased with the response to BlawgThink 2005 both inside and outside the "blogosphere." We are amazed by our speaker list, have a stellar list of attendees and anticipate two truly valuable days for everyone who will be there.

We are also grateful for the generous support we've gotten from sponsors, who are making this event possible. We're happy to have attracted support from a great mix of blogging, innovation and technology companies who are enthused about hte world of legal blogging.

We've posted information about our sponsors on the LexThink blog, but I'd like to give a shout-out, as they say these days, to our BlawgThink sponsors: Intel (our platinum sponsor - see the resource center for lawyers accessible at http://www.intel.com/business/smallbusiness/wireless/benefits.htm) and, in alphabetical order, Box.Net, CasePost, Gyronix, LegalZoom, MindJet, Netcentrics and Six Apart.

As you may know, MindJet and Gyronix are providing attendees with licenses to their great software products, MindManager Pro and ResultsManager, respectively.

A number of other companies are providing giveaway items and prizes for drawing.

As I've mentioned, Matt and I have turned our focus to the event itself, but would be happy to make time for inquiries from new sponsors and your request for an invitation to attend.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world. November 11 & 12 - LexThink's BlawgThink 2005.

Posted by dmk at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2005

Ten Tips to Improve Your Presentations with PowerPoint

[Note: this is another in the series of my previously-published articles that I'm reposting on my blog. Although my own thinking on PowerPoint use has evolved to be largely in line with Cliff Atkinson's Beyond Bullet Points approach, I still like this article a lot. So have many others and it has long been my most popular article. It's been reprinted many times and used in classes from elementary schools to colleges. I seem to have struck a chord with this one, originally written in 1999.]

Ten Tips to Improve Your Presentations with PowerPoint

PowerPoint has dramatically changed the way people make presentations. Some accountants, engineers and other professionals consider PowerPoint a more essential tool than a word processing program. We are beginning to see lawyers use it in the courtroom, seminars and other legal settings. Lawyers use PowerPoint for opening and closing arguments to summarize witness testimony, outline the basic points of the case, and explain complex concepts.

PowerPoint takes advantage of the fact that most of us learn best visually. We are members of the TV generation and like variety, visuals and variation in the ways we learn new things. The term "edutainment" accurately describes how most of us like to get our information.

PowerPoint adds visual interest to our presentations, organizes our points, de-emphasizes the need for high levels of personal charisma and "speaking skills," and allows us to present to people in ways that enhance our ability to connect with and persuade audiences.

Best of all, PowerPoint is easy to learn and use. Because it is so easy to use, however, it can also be easy to misuse or not use effectively. Here are ten tips for making good use of PowerPoint in your presentations:

1. Make Use of Other Presentation Elements That Work Well. If you find slides that you like (and get permission), import those slides into your presentations or use them as models. If you like the colors or textures you see at a presentation, find out what they are and use them in your next presentation. Many speakers will give you copies of their slides or tell you how they prepared them. It never hurts to ask. Better yet, make use of the pre-fabricated templates and presentations that come with PowerPoint or that can be downloaded from the Microsoft PowerPoint website or other sites on the Internet. PowerPoint also has "wizards" that walk you through a set of choices and automatically generate the format of your slides. Most of us are not graphics artists, but the people who put the templates and wizards together are. The point is to communicate – if someone has a good way of doing things, learn from it and use it.

 2. Don't Overuse Effects or Overcrowd Slides. Don't let people focus on the "gee whiz" aspects of your program. You want them to focus on the content of your presentation and on you as the deliverer of that content. Crowded slides turn off audiences and obscure your main points. Your slides should be designed to illustrate your speech, not to replace your handouts. Don’t cram them with information that belongs in a handout. Limit your points on a slide to 3 to 6 points. Avoid sub-headings. Instead, break major points into separate slides. Stick with the same backgrounds, styles and transition effects throughout your presentation. Think carefully before using animations, sound and video. It’s best to use those effects sparingly – they’ll have more impact.

3. Use Headlines Rather Than Outline Headings. The typical slide will have 3 to 6 bullet points. Compare the headings I have used for the first three points in this article with ones I could have used: "1. Resources; 2. Effects; 3. Bullet Points." Each bullet point on a slide gives you a chance to introduce, set expectations for and sell your argument on that point. Writing the points as headlines gives your presentation energy and power.

4. Find Your Own Style. On each slide, I like to use 3 to 6 bullet points and a single, simple graphic that illustrates the slide title. I prefer to bring my points onto the slide one at a time with no special effects and I like to "gray out" points after I finish with them. This approach gives better control and pace. I typically don't use sounds or movie clips. I'm just not comfortable with them and think that they tend to make cliched points (e.g., you say: "we hit our target" and then play an animation of, what else, an arrow hitting a target). Other people may find that sound and video work perfectly for what they are trying to do. I’ve seen people incorporate music clips, for example, very effectively. However, they are comfortable in using music. PowerPoint gives you plenty of tools to fit your style.

5. Prepare for the Unexpected. Any experienced speaker can tell you hair-raising tales about air conditioning, microphones, seating and a variety of other elements of speaking that can go wrong. My favorite of these, by the way, is leaving the wireless mike on after you leave the room. Using presentation programs, laptop computers and projectors brings in a whole new dimension of things that can go wrong. Projectors are especially tricky – I wish manufacturers would standardize where to put the on/off switches – and sometimes will not work with your laptop computer. Some speakers carry whole tool kits: extra bulbs, extra hard drives, copies of the presentation on floppy disks, cords, cables and adapters. Most of the time, things work quite well, but your failures are quite visible. The best advice: get to the room early and get everything set up and tested. Find out if the meeting place has a technical person assigned to your presentation. If so, befriend that person. If you make a lot of presentations, give serious thought to buying your own projector.

6. Think Like Someone in Your Audience. Picture what your audience will be seeing and hearing. Spend more time on content than on design issues. You can be creative but don't be silly. A very important point: readability. Use large fonts. If you can’t fit all your points on a slide without moving to a smaller font, break the points up onto separate slides. Colors matter because they have connotations. For example, you want to avoid reds because they can agitate people negatively. Font styles and graphics choices set your professional image, so be smart in your choices.

7. Practice, Practice, Practice. Your success with the PowerPoint presentations will depend on how comfortable you are using the program. It is vital to practice your speech and running the laptop computer at the same time because you have to do both at the same time in your presentation. If you can’t do both at once, it makes excellent sense to have someone else run the laptop computer. You don’t have to do everything, especially if it inhibits your performance. You will want to practice your talk with the person who is running the computer. I have noticed that it is easier to do full rehearsals of talks with slides than it is when using only notes. The slides make the rehearsal more fun.

8. Storyboard Your Presentation. PowerPoint helps you think structurally about your presentation. You know you need an introduction, a conclusion and main points, all supported with arguments, stories and examples. Some people work best with outlines. PowerPoint will automatically turn an outline into a set of slides. I like to sketch out my presentations as a series of slides. This process is called "storyboarding" and is done in moviemaking. I can then conceive my presentation as a set of slides and sketch what kind of graphic I want, how many bullet points, and where anecdotes and examples will fit into the talk. I makes it easier for me to imagine the presentation in its entirety and to visualize my performance.

9. Never Forget Your Conclusion Slide. One way PowerPoint will make you a better speaker is by reminding you that every presentation needs a conclusion. Too many speakers simply end a presentation by saying "that’s all I have." If you have a concluding slide with 3 - 5 summary points or action steps, you’ll leave the audience with a much stronger impression and you can never emphasize and restate your main points too often.

10. Own Your Presentation. It’s very easy to tell when someone is delivering a speech that they haven’t written. It’s just as easy to tell when someone is using a PowerPoint presentation that someone else has put together. You may see expressions of surprise or puzzlement or even comments that a graphic is especially good. You can have someone else prepare the slides and even have someone else running the computer, but you have to own the presentation as if you created it yourself. When you know the presentation and are comfortable working with the slides, you become free to connect with your audience and shine as a presenter.

While PowerPoint will not take the place of communication skills, it can be a great tool for enhancing and improving your skills. You can learn to be a great presenter through practice, repetition, hard work, study and the right tools. Keep in mind, though, that the best speakers are the ones who are able to speak in a way that is most congruent with their own personality. The more authentic you are the more effective the communicator you are. The power of PowerPoint is that it gives you the flexibility to use your own style and get your message across to your audience. These ten tips for using PowerPoint will help make you a top-notch communicator.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink!(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world. November 11 & 12 - BlawgThink 2005 - the legal blogger unconference.

Posted by dmk at 07:47 PM | Comments (1)

Beware of Your Digital Tracks

I had a great time talking with Tim Zeller of the New York Times last week about metadata in Word and other documents and other ways you can find hidden data in electronic documents.

Tim was kind enough to quote me in today's article in the NY Times called "Beware of Your Trail of Digital Fingerprints."

It's a good, and timely, article. There have been a number of public disclosures of revisions and hidden data recently, as the article describes.

It's been fun getting emails today from friends who saw the article. It's also fun to read the NYT convention of referring me to as "Mr. Kennedy."

I recommend that you read this article and start doing some thinking about the metadata issue. I've written about it on this blog and on the Between Lawyers blog as well.

Other legal bloggers have been in the newspapers lately , too, as Steve Nipper mentioned today. I'm sure we'll be comaring notes on being in the papers at BlawgThink.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's half-day electronic discovery seminar - "Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery." Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

Posted by dmk at 07:13 PM | Comments (1)

November 06, 2005

Passwords: The Weakest Link in Your Security Chain? - Article

[Note: This is another in the series of posts of my previously-published articles. This article on passwords was written in 1999. Most of the principles still apply. Most of the poor password practices still exist. The one technology the article didn't mention that has become more prominent is the use of key chain devices that generate new passwords on a minute-by-minute basis. Biometrics have not yet made the inroads into the world of "passwords" as many have predicted. How are your passwords? As the article concludes, today might be a great day to change passwords. ]

Passwords: The Weakest Link in Your Security Chain?

We find ourselves awash in the sea of passwords and pin numbers for ATM and credit cards, voice mail, network logins, Internet access and even some Web sites. What are the best ways to stay afloat?

An unwise selection of a password can compromises security of your computer system, your business and your personal life. A poor job of keeping a password secret can compromise the security provided by a well-chosen password.

Even worse, if you make an excellent selection of a password and do an excellent job of keeping it secret but then forget your password, you may find yourself in a hopeless situation.

Passwords pose two key issues: How do you select a good password and how do you manage passwords once you have chosen them?

Selecting a Password

Many of the first computer hackers broke into computer systems by logging on with the user name of "guest" and then trying the password "guest". In many cases, believe it or not, "guest" was the actual password.

These days computer hackers take advantage of readily-available, highly-sophisticated "cracking" programs that try, in rapid succession, most of the common password strategies and variations thereon. These programs use every word in the dictionary and many foreign dictionaries, numerical combinations, and many variations on common password techniques. As computers become more powerful, a hacker can use increasingly sophisticated techniques to become even more successful at cracking your password.

Studies indicate that most passwords fall into several basic categories:

1. Common words like "password", "secret", and other similar words. In fact, one report indicated that at one time the word "password" was the most commonly used password in Germany.

2. Your first name, last name, initials, or a variation on your name or initials.

3. Your spouse's name, the name of a child, the name of a pet or variations thereon.

4. Common numbers based on birth dates, social security numbers, phone number, license plate number and the like.

5. Obscure words.

6. Mythological names, geographical names, common names, characters from TV shows or movies or sports figures.

7. Names of sports teams.

8. Names or words related to your profession or hobby.

9. Simple two word combinations.

Each of these techniques for selecting a password will result in a password that can be broken fairly easily by a cracking program or a sophisticated and persistent person who wants to break into your account and has some knowledge of you and your interests.

A true story: Several years ago, I needed to log on to my old firm's network and found that I was already logged in on my own computer. At the time, I was not allowed multiple logins for my user name and could not use another computer unless I went back to my office and logged myself off of my computer. Not wanting to do this, I went to the nearby office of an attorney who was on vacation and typed in that attorney's initials and spouse's name as a password. I logged right in as that user on my first try. It was that easy.

How do you choose a good password? Here are a few tips:

Avoid the common categories of passwords. In particular avoid any use of your name or any variation of your name, your user name, your spouse's name or your children's names.

Avoid the use of any word or words that can be found in a dictionary.

If you must use words, use nonsense words or intentionally misspelled words.

Avoid purely numerical passwords, especially ones based on easily obtainable personal information about yourself such as the license plate number.

If you use letters, make some uppercase and some lowercase.

A combination of words might be a good choice, but only if you separate them or divide them by using punctuation marks or symbols like "#" or "&".

A good password might be based on the first or last letters of the first eight words of a favorite poem, a favorite quote or a favorite provision of the Internal Revenue Code.

In many ways the ideal password is a random combination of letters, numbers and punctuation symbols with some uppercase letters and lowercase letters.

Based on the advice from experts, your ideal password would look something like "e#2!B5$c". And, ideally, you would have a similar password for each of your account which requires a password. In addition, you would change this password once a month or so.

You should be beginning to see the problem. Creating excellent passwords is not nearly as difficult as remembering them.

Managing your Passwords.

Password management takes two forms. First, you must be concerned about keeping your passwords secure. Second, you must have a way to maintain the passwords in a way that you can remember them. These two concerns are often in conflict.

For example, it is common advice that you should never write down a password. If you don't write down a password and you use an "ideal" password of eight randomly selected characters, you will have done an excellent job on security while all but guaranteeing that you will do a poor job of remembering the password.

Your approach to password management will involve your level of comfort and your compromise between security and ease of recall.

Security.

Here are a few basic tips on password security.

Avoid writing down passwords and keeping them in a place where they can be readily found. Taping your passwords to the side of your computer monitor is not a smart idea no matter how convenient it may be. Neither is writing a password on a piece of paper kept in your desk drawer, your laptop computer's carrying case or a file folder marked "my passwords."

Don't tell anyone your password. If you must do so, change your password after that person is done using it.

Be careful when entering your password so that someone can't observe it easily. Avoid passwords based on easily-observable keyboard patterns such as "aaaaaaaa" or "12345678".

Don't use the same password for all of your accounts. If someone figures out that password, they have the keys to your kingdom.

Don't give your password to anyone who asks for it, no matter how official sounding they may seem. A common scam is for someone to send you an official looking e-mail asking you to give them your password for security or maintenance reasons. Don't do it.

Change your passwords on a regular basis. Some organizations now require users to change passwords on a monthly basis.

If you have any concern whatsoever that your password security has been compromised, change your password. Often the simple act of changing your password will deny the unauthorized user further access to your account or system.

Enforce these rules for every user on your network.

Remembering Passwords.

Let's assume that you have created an ideal password, taken every security precaution, and then one day the password simply disappears from your mind. What do you do? Unfortunately, in some cases you are out of luck. In other cases, your network administrator or a computer consultant might be able to bail you out.

A better approach is to devise a system to help you remember passwords. You have a number of choices, but the two most common are mnemonic and software techniques.

If you use a mnemonic technique, you will use a password selected in a way that will help you remember it. A good example is a password chosen by using the first letters of a phrase that you will remember.

A second approach would be to create a phrase out of the password that you have chosen which will help you remember the password. For example, many people were taught the name "Roy G. Biv" to help them remember the colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet).

Software techniques would include a passworded or encrypted file or a password management program to store and protect your passwords. These types of programs allow you to store and manage your passwords and then to encrypt the file that contains them. As a result, all you will need to remember is the password to the password management program.

Looking to the Future.

Fortunately, new methods are being developed to help reduce the threat of your password being hacked. For example, some networks have intruder alerts if multiple unsuccessful attempts are made to access an account. Other systems allow a user to make only a limited number of incorrect attempts before prohibiting access to anyone using that user name.

The word to remember in computer security, however, is "biometrics." In the future, we can expect to see security based on seemingly science fiction techniques such as retinal scans, fingerprinting, voice recognition, face recognition and even DNA-based systems. The key is the massive increase in power and speed of computer chips which will make such options possible. Until then, today might be a great day to change your passwords.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's half-day electronic discovery seminar - "Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery." Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

Posted by dmk at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2005

Using Computers to Keep a Judge and Jury Interested - Articles

[Note: This is another in the series of my previously-published articles that I am reposting on my blog. This article is an oldie - earlier versions appeared in the March 23, 1998  issue of Lawyers Weekly USA and the July 1999 issue of Res Gestae. It's a somewhat unusual article for me because I usually do not interview people and use their quotes in my articles (or on my blog) much these days. I wrote this one as one of my monthly columns for Lawyers Weekly USA, where I got the chance to work with my favorite editor, Elaine McArdle, and started to build my reputation as a writer on legal technology. I really like this article for a couple of reasons: (1) I get to quote and feature my good friends Alan Steinberg and Art Smith, two of the legal tech pioneers in St. Louis, (2) it shows how you can write about technology in ways that will have longevity, and (3) it illustrates how slo-o-o-ow the pace of change in litigation technology really is for those of you who don't believe me when I make that statement. Most of the tips and techniques in this article from Art and Alan are still fresh and valuable today.]

Using Computers to Keep a Judge and Jury Interested

Computers continue to march from the law office into the courtroom. Currently available technology and techniques make it possible for any attorney in almost any courtroom to streamline case presentation and enhance the impact of a case on judges and jurors. Most important, these new tools are transparent enough to allow jurors to focus on the main points of your case and not on the "gee whiz" aspects of the technology.

Art Smith, of Husch & Eppenberger (over 150 attorneys), and Alan Steinberg, of Steinberg & Steinberg (two attorneys), both of St. Louis, recently completed cases in which they took advantage of technology in the courtroom. When their cases were over, they were so impressed with the technology that they wanted to share their experiences with other lawyers in the community. As Steinberg said, "this is technology that will make you money."

Smith has four important conclusions about using presentation technology in the courtroom:

1. Computer display makes it easier for jurors to see and study exhibits.

2. Presentation technology allows an attorney to focus the attention of the judge and jury on the relevant language of any exhibit.

3. Presentation software specifically designed for trials speeds the presentation of evidence.

4. You can greatly enhance the impact of your documentary evidence.

What is Trial Presentation Technology?

Trial presentation technology is simply the use of computer equipment to display presentation slides and scanned digital images of exhibits. For example, if your case involves a letter that contains incriminating evidence, you might use a scanner to create a graphic image of that letter that could then be identified, labeled and stored in a database. When it is introduced into evidence, the graphic image would be retrieved and displayed to the jury. Each juror can view it simultaneously without the need for you to pass the letter to each juror.

Hardware.

Presentation hardware can be as simple as a notebook computer running into a switch-box which displays information on separate monitors for the jury, the judge, and the attorney. Other hardware items can include a VCR for playback of video depositions and an overhead digital camera (such as the Elmo) which will allow you to display documents and even three-dimensional objects on a monitor for the judge and jury. An overhead projector might also be appropriate. Other useful hardware might include a remote control or wireless mouse, if you like to move around, and a laser pointer.

Smith's trial was a large and lengthy one and required a fairly elaborate hardware setup. It included two 35" monitors for the jury and separate monitors for the judge, witness box and counsel. He also used a VCR for video depositions, a sound system, an Elmo overhead digital camera for displaying exhibits that were not scanned as digital images, a connection box and an uninterrupted power source. The Elmo camera has become very popular among trial lawyers since you can show documents and three-dimensional exhibits using the camera.

This setup cost $1,500 to install and remove, $300 per trial day for hardware rental, and $500 per day for technician to monitor the hardware setup. Because you can use different aspects of presentation technology, you can pick and choose software or hardware that will give you the most advantage for your case at a price you can afford. In some cases, as Smith found, your opponent may be willing to share the costs of the courtroom setup because of the advantage to both sides.

Software.

There are two types of software you might use in the courtroom: (1) Microsoft's PowerPoint, or a similar presentation program, for your opening and closing arguments, and (2) trial display packages such as Trial Link or Trial Director, to display your exhibits and highlight or annotate important parts of those exhibits.

The trial display packages integrate well with litigation management programs like Summation or Concordance and can also be used in connection with real-time transcription software. A combination of all these packages can turn you into a techno-lawyer with your case completely digitized and at your fingertips.

Presentation Software.

You can use a presentation program, such as PowerPoint or Corel's Presentation, for their opening and closing arguments. Presentation software allows you to prepare a set of slides which will display your main points. Graphics, sound, video clips and animation can be added to each slide. The slides can be sequenced as you wish and controlled manually or automatically by timer. The slides can be displayed from your notebook computer onto a screen or monitor or even printed out and used as handouts or transparencies.

These programs allow you to reinforce your main points by displaying them at the same time you are talking about them. You can organize, illustrate and focus your talks in a manner that is entertaining and keeps the attention of your audience. Your opening and closing can be much more effective than what you can do by reading from your notes scrawled on a legal pad. Steinberg commented that he would prefer never to do an opening or closing argument without PowerPoint again.

As an example of how you can use these slides, Smith created a slide that contained a picture of a witness along with a quote from his testimony during the trial that Smith wanted to emphasize. This slide could be used to remind the jury who the person was as well as to emphasize the remark itself.

Trial Display Software.

Trial display software allows you to display images of documents and other exhibits onto a screen or monitor. The programs have a simple, uncluttered interface and tools that allow you to highlight phrases or areas of the image. For example, you might electronically draw a red circle around an important part of a photographic image, use an electronic yellow "highlighter" to mark important phrases, annotate documents, add arrows or use other effects, such as enlarging key language, to emphasize your points. The electronic marking appears only on the display of the document not on the underlying document or file.

Two of the leading programs in this genre are Trial Link and Trial Director. Both are very impressive programs which can integrate well with other programs you might be using for trial management. You will want to look into the features of both to see which program will work best for you.

A large part of the effectiveness of this software is due to its apparent simplicity. Jurors simply see an image of an exhibit on a large monitor and then watch you emphasize phrases, enlarge key parts of exhibits or photos, and even use video and animation. This approach seems to be very effective for jurors used to getting a large portion of their information from television.

Practical pointers.

1. As Steinberg says, the most important advice is simply to "practice, practice, practice." You want to make your presentation more focused, more organized and more effective. You cannot do this if you cannot run the equipment properly or you struggle with the software. Practice until you are able to run the equipment and software smoothly. If you cannot become comfortable using equipment and software, have an assistant who runs the equipment while you do the talking.

2. Take advantage of advanced features of programs but take care not to let the features get in the way of your story. PowerPoint has a many impressive effects and graphics built into the program. Focus the jury on your case, not your visual effects and animations. Stick with fairly simple and straightforward backgrounds and effects until you are comfortable using the programs and are sure that the effects increase the impact of your presentation.

3. Backup your work. Trial presentation technology does not save paper. To prevent mishaps, you definitely will want to take a print out of all of your exhibits, presentation slides and other documents that you might use in the courtroom. You might even prepare transparencies. You will also want to have multiple backups of your data.

4. Have the same setup in your office, or "war room," as you have in the courtroom. If you set up a configuration identical to what you are using in the courtroom back in your office, you can practice under the same conditions. You will also be able to substitute an identical component from your office over a lunch break.

5. Prepare for the unexpected. When speaking, any additional element that you put into your presentation increases the opportunity for something to go wrong. If you write out your speech, you might lose the paper on which it is written. If you use transparencies, the overhead projector light bulb might burn out. If you use elaborate presentation technology, any aspect of the equipment may go wrong or you may experience one quirk or another which can throw off the pace and style of your presentation. Take extra projector bulbs, cords, batteries, transparencies and tools.

6. The client makes the call. Although you can fall in love with courtroom presentation technology, it probably makes the most sense in document-intensive cases or cases where charts and graphics will help reduce complexity. The technology probably makes more sense in longer trials than in shorter trials, although the use of PowerPoint or a similar program in openings and closings could be used in any trial. Your client, however, may be more willing to use this technology in a jury trial as opposed to a judge-tried case or may deem the cost to be prohibitive in any case. It will become a matter of educating your client and showing your client the benefits of this approach.

Conclusions.

More and more judges are become receptive to the use of technology in the courtroom and a good number of courthouses are planning to at least have one courtroom that is designed as a "courtroom of the future." Because this technology can benefit jurors in understanding cases, I expect to see more receptivity on the part of judges. There was no area hotter in legal technology than courtroom presentation technology.

Smith and Steinberg both agree that the main benefit of presentation technology is that it allows you to organize your case and control the flow of the case. By moving your case along in a steady, organized fashion, you keep the attention of the jury and present information to them in an educational and entertaining manner. Jurors seem to respond to this technology. Courtroom presentation technology can dramatically enhance the impact of your arguments, your exhibits and your case. As a result, it can give jurors a better experience with the legal system, something which will benefit all lawyers.

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[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http:///www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's half-day electronic discovery seminar - "Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery." Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

Posted by dmk at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)

BlawgThink 2005: Looking for a Few Chicago Area Law Student Bloggers

We would like to find three or four Chicago area law student bloggers who would be willing to act as note-takers for BlawgThink sessions and otherwise help out with BlawgThink in exchange for the ability to attend BlawgThink for free.

If that describes you, please let me know as soon as you can (email me at dmk @ denniskennedy . com) and we can make the arrangements.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (htttp://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink!(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world. November 11 & 12 - LexThink's BlawgThink 2005.

Posted by dmk at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2005

Creating an Environment in Law Firms Where Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Management Will Work - Article

[Note: This is another in the series of my previously-published articles I'm reposting on my blog. I prepared the original version of this paper was prepared for the Workshop entitled "Legal Knowledge Systems in Action: Practical AI in Today’s Law Office" at the 2001 ICAIL (International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the Law). You'll notice some of my common themes and a focus on how we can use technology to help us rather than fitting what we have to do into what technology (or programmers or IT departments) permit us to do.]

Creating an Environment in Law Firms Where Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Management Will Work

The adoption of artificial intelligence applications and knowledge management technologies by the legal profession has proceeded far less rapidly than many people would have expected or hoped. While vendors of data mining, knowledge management and other information technologies consistently see the legal profession as a fertile market for their products and initiatives, they are often disappointed by the resistance they find by lawyers and law firms. Why have advanced and sophisticated information techniques made so little impact on the information-intensive legal profession? What can be done to open up the legal market? In spite of the general climate of resistance, what projects are good candidates for these techniques?

There is a certain inevitability to the entry of knowledge management and artificial intelligence approaches in the legal profession, whether the push comes from within the profession or from external pressures from clients and competitors. This paper will discuss some of the needs that law firms want to address with artificial intelligence and knowledge management projects, the resistance barriers in law firms, and then move on to list some attractive target areas for these approaches and factors that will contribute to success of these types of projects.

1. Needs Law Firms Seek to Address.

As part of an information intensive profession, lawyers and law firms create, use and store vast amounts of information in connection with their work. This information has a recognized value because it holds experience and expertise learned and maintained by legal organizations. Too often, however, the transfer of this knowledge inside or outside the firm occurs by happenstance or through one-on-one conversations without a sharing of information by all who need the information. Law firms want to tap into the value of their information in systematic and effective ways.

A. Not Reinventing the Wheel. To a surprising extent, in many law firms research is often duplicated, and agreements and other documents are created from scratch when models for such agreements already exist. The concern is not just inefficiency but also the inability to take advantage of best practices and current information and to make proper assignments to people with appropriate experience. With varying degrees of success, all firms have made efforts to implement techniques such as brief banks, standardized forms, training manual and documentation of procedures. Document assembly is one example of a technology used to capture prior efforts and to standardize best practices.

B. Knowledge Transfer and Mentoring. It is highly desirable to transfer the knowledge and even wisdom of older attorneys down to younger attorneys. In many cases, older attorneys may leave a firm or even die without the knowledge and other benefits of their experience being captured in a usable fashion. Not only is there a loss of substantive practice knowledge, but far too often there is the loss of the history and stories of a firm culture. There is a growing recognition of how much information is carried by way of story-telling. Core knowledge about a firm and its practices are encoded in its "myths and legends." Where transfer of this experience and expertise is not encouraged and facilitated, the knowledge of important historical details, such as how difficult management, ethical and other situations were handled, is no longer available for later generations of the firm. The transmission of core values and wisdom is either hindered or does not occur. Increasingly, law firms are recognizing the value of this loss and emphasizing the role of senior attorneys must play in mentoring other attorneys.

C. Efficient Delivery of Legal Services. Attorneys arguably work many more hours than other "knowledge workers." There is often a question of whether attorneys are simply working harder rather than working smarter. Both attorneys and clients see the benefits of more efficient delivery of legal services. Attorneys are increasingly aware of productivity gains achieved in other businesses by use of technology and find that their clients who have achieved such gains through the use of technology are pressuring law firms to adopt the same approaches. In other cases, business clients expect law firms to have certain technologies in place and are not willing to pay lawyers to deliver work in what is seen as inefficient and expensive ways.

D. Information Overload. Attorneys are inundated with paper, e-mail, advance sheets, journals, newsletters, web pages and a rising tide of information falling over them. Keeping up with developments in a practice area can take a substantial amount of time. As attorneys take advantage of e-mail newsletters, e-mail discussion lists, and other Internet resources, the symptoms of information overload can become very apparent. The need to organize, process and store in a retrievable fashion relevant information has become increasingly important.

E. Employee Retention. The new generation of lawyers leaving law school has been raised in an era of computers. Soon we will have a generation of law students who have never known a time when the Internet was not available. The level of expectations and reliance of sophisticated approaches to information and technology of these lawyers is very high. Law firms have found and will continue to find an unwillingness by these lawyers to stay at firms that do not have state-of-the-art approaches to information. Law firms realize that addressing technology concerns is an essential part of attracting and retaining the best talent.

2. Resistance Barriers to Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Management Projects.

A. Culture of Individual Practices. Nearly every successful knowledge management project has at its roots an organization in which there is a culture of sharing of information. More important, success grows from a culture of willingly sharing information. While financial incentives can help create a spirit of willingness, the trick is to create a culture where the benefits of sharing information are seen as real and sharing knowledge becomes second nature. Many firms are often described as a collection of individual practices. Even within specific practice areas, lawyers may work in a very autonomous manner. In addition, lawyers in one practice area may see little or no commonality with lawyers in other practice areas. At a more basic level, there is often a divide between litigation attorneys and transactional attorneys that is difficult to bridge.

B. Resistance to Technology. Far too often, the attorneys, especially older attorneys, who must be involved in the transfer of knowledge down to other attorneys have a reluctance to use technology. Ironically, attorneys whose whole careers show a demonstrated ability to learn completely new areas of knowledge during the preparation of cases or through their representation of clients in a particular industry will balk at the notion of using computers. This reluctance to learn hardware and specific software can result in an unwillingness to be involved in "technology" at any level, even including the unwillingness to be assisted in knowledge transfer techniques that would involve the use of technology.

C. Lack of Time. The increasing emphasis on massive billable hour requirements tends to leave lawyers with little time and opportunity to create expert systems, highly organized data structures, or other artificial intelligence and knowledge management techniques. All of these efforts require the investment of substantial amounts of upfront time. Systems that require large amounts of upfront organization have little chance of succeeding in most law firms. Techniques that may involve the ability to process existing information "as it lies" will have the greatest opportunity for success.

D. Inability to Measure Returns. Metrics are not readily available that would help law firms measure the financial return of knowledge management applications. Where billing structures are not changed, the efficiencies obtained through these types of applications may not benefit a firm financially. For example, while the idea of document assembly has long been attractive to lawyers, the reality of reducing a several hour drafting job to ten minutes is not financially advantageous if billing continues to be based on a pure billable hours basis.

E. Incentive Structures. While there are a few firms that have created positions such as "chief knowledge officers," in many cases attorneys interested in knowledge management projects do them on a voluntary basis or may even be penalized for their efforts if these efforts diminish their amount of billable hours. In a traditional law firm, there is often a lack of incentive structures to motivate lawyers to be involved in a knowledge management project. In firms where knowledge management efforts, such as brief banks, or collections of memoranda have been tried, with unsuccessful results, there is often a reluctance to try again and a tendency to dismiss the whole notion of knowledge management rather than to analyze carefully where the prior projects failed and develop more effective new projects.

3. Attractive Areas for Knowledge Management and Artificial Intelligence Projects.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that large-scale, firm-wide knowledge management techniques have little chance of success in law firms, especially if they are the first project undertaken. Discrete, well-considered pilot projects that can be scaled up and rolled out throughout the firm have a much greater opportunity of success. Similarly, targeted, incremental approaches that work within the existing knowledge flow of the firm are preferable to attempts to reorganize how people work. Examples of projects that should be given careful consideration are:

A. Litigation Strategy. A good starting project for many law firms would be an application in the area of litigation strategy. Excellent tools are available and the return on investment in this area can readily be perceived.

Perhaps the most interesting development in knowledge management in law firms has been the success of a software program, CaseMap (www.casesoft.com), over the past few years. CaseMap allows lawyers to pull information that otherwise might be hidden in legal pads, bankers’ boxes, or in the memories of individual lawyers into a format that allows lawyers to gather and analyze facts in a helpful manner. Through a simple method of tagging information, lawyers can use CaseMap to find answers to questions previously difficult to obtain. For example, a lawyer preparing a summary judgment motion can, in a matter of seconds, retrieve a list of all undisputed facts in the case relating to the issue about which they are writing. A lawyer can assess the strength of a case by seeing a list of all undisputed facts that have been judged by that lawyer or other members of the team as highly unfavorable.

CaseMap creates a method for looking at the information involved in the case in a variety of ways and preparing and testing strategies as well as determining where additional work may be required on a case. In addition, a lawyer can determine the strengths and weaknesses of a case and the role that individual witnesses will play in developing a case.

In part the key to the success of CaseMap is its reasonable price, but, more so, its success lies in its use of a relatively simple interface to accomplish a limited number of highly useful things. The program recognizes that there is a great utility in identifying key information and associating it with other information and that a broad-based approach can be much more useful than a method that attempts to implement hundreds or even thousands of rules to create a trial strategy.

B. Client Relationship Management. A highly important area in knowledge management is customer relationship management ("CRM"). CRM is simply a method of gathering, associating and using in an efficient manner information that you have about customers. In many law firms, there are countless examples of lawyers trying to cultivate a potential client only to find later that that potential client was a college roommate of someone else at the firm. Where information about clients is not readily available, lawyers working for a long-term firm client for the first time can easily make mistakes, such as e-mailing clients who have demanded that information only be faxed to them or Fedexing copies to clients who only want e-mail copies. The holy grail of CRM in law firms is to promote the cross-selling of business to existing clients. This area is an especially fertile one for potential knowledge management and artificial intelligence projects.

C. Conflict Checking. Conflict checking is an area of difficulty for many law firms, especially as the number of clients increases and as companies enter into more joint ventures and combinations. While traditional databases can be of great assistance, often potential conflicts can only be seen by lawyers who are personally familiar with the relationships between a variety of companies and people. While CRM efforts will have a spillover effect in the area of conflict checking, the application of artificial intelligence specifically to conflict checking holds a great deal of promise.

A product in development from DolphinSearch (www.dolphinsearch.com) is an example of an artificial intelligence tool that may have application in the area of conflict checking as well as other knowledge management projects. DolphinSearch is based on research that was done on communications between dolphins and then applied to the assessment of data and information. DolphinSearch can be described as a "fuzzy" method of searching because it is based on pattern recognition rather than a top-down, rules-based artificial intelligence approach. As a result, DolphinSearch can recognize connections between documents, clients and other information and retrieve relevant information with striking results. This ability to use the program is a way to identify connections between information has significant promise in the area of conflict checking.

D. Delivery of Client Services. The most exciting area of potential development for artificial intelligence and knowledge management systems is in the area of actual delivery of legal services to clients. This delivery of services might occur through traditional means or over the Internet. A number of examples of this trend are appearing and a good resource for keeping track of this phenomena is the elawyering site developed by Jerry Lawson at www.elawyering.org. The application of technology to the delivery of legal services is especially attractive in the area of what is sometimes referred to as the "latent market for legal services" or the segment of the market where people cannot afford traditional legal services. From document preparation to delivery of relevant legal information to decision tree approaches to transactions, there is a world of opportunity and law firms are only beginning to tap the potential.

E. Managing Information Overload. Lawyers, like many others, are fighting to gain some degree of control over the overwhelming amount of information they receive on a daily basis. Through the use of intelligent agents and other knowledge management and artificial techniques, it is gradually becoming possible to manage that flow of information. Techniques, such as creating daily electronic newspapers, personalized resources, and "push" technologies to deliver specific information, updates and other information of interest can all be highly effective with very tangible benefits. Microsoft’s Digital Dashboard initiative for use of Outlook as a front end for information retrieval and management is a good example of this type of effort. "Personal knowledge management" tools such as Clickgarden [Note: no longer exists, but a program I really liked and where I first learned to love tabbed browsing.] give the ability to harvest and organize information on the web. This area suggests a number of useful, discrete pilot projects that can have a high impact on individual attorneys and develop momentum for other projects.

4. Strategies for Improving the Likelihood of Success of your Projects.

• Choose discrete rather than global projects.
  
  


• Use methods that process existing pools of data rather than require large amounts of upfront coding, organization or tagging.
  
  


• Identify appropriate tools and get those tools into the hands of the people who will actually use them.
  
  


• Choose committed, enthusiastic volunteers for pilot projects.
  
  


• Stay up-to-date about new tools and improvements to existing tools.
  
  


• Achieve buy-in from top levels of management.
  
  


• Develop appropriate incentive structures for attorneys participating in projects.
  
  


• Set goals, supply necessary resources and determine from the beginning a method of measuring success or failure of a project. In part, this involves the ability to answer the two following questions: How will you determine whether a project is successful and who will determine whether it is a successful?
  
  


• Determine whether a chief knowledge officer level position is required. It is difficult to have success for large projects without such a person.
  
  


• Stay aware of developments, talk to others involved in successful projects and keep current with initiatives at other firms.
  
  


• Listen to your clients and try to anticipate their needs as a driving force in your projects.
  
  


• Maintain a high degree of flexibility and willingness to change direction.
  
  


• Try to get as thorough an understanding of the information flows and the information cultures within your firm.
  
  


• Attempt several pilot projects at a time. Diversify your risk.
  


• Be innovative and courageous.

5. Conclusion.

While the past history of knowledge management and artificial intelligence in the legal profession does not show a lot of successes or adoption of these projects, a number of factors, economic and otherwise, are coming into play and suggest that there is light at the end of the tunnel. By being aware of the available tools, the fundamental promise and potential that law firms see in these techniques and being able to deal with the resistance barriers, you improve your likelihood of success. Discrete, high impact pilot projects are a good way to start and build momentum for an evolutionary development of these projects. There are also practical strategies that can further enhance your efforts and open up the promise of knowledge management and artificial intelligence that many people see in the legal profession. Most important, there are others working on similar projects who are willing to share information and provide assistance. The future looks promising.

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Maybe I was a bit too optimistic on how quickly some of these things would happen. From where I stand right now, however, the future looks even more promising in these areas.

[Orignally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Like what you are reading? Check out the other blogs where I post - Between Lawyers (feed) and the LexThink Blog (feed).

Posted by dmk at 07:59 PM | Comments (0)

Speaking at and about BlawgThink

I'm so pleased to be speaking with Jeff "Law Tech Guru" Beard at BlawgThink. Jeff and I first met when we co-presented at a session at the 1998 ABA TECHSHOW and immediately became good friends. Anyone who's ever attended a presentation by Jeff knows what a great presenter he is. I'm looking forward to working with him again.

The session we are doing is called "Tag, you're it. Using Flickr, OPML, De.licio.us, Rojo, and other cutting-edge tools to supercharge your blog." Matt and I conceived of this session as the "advanced blogging tools" session.

If you've seen me present, you know that the more technical and advanced the topic is, the more I try to focus on fundamental principles and how you can use the technology, rather than delving into the technical details.

So, although Jeff and I will be doing a survey of some advanced blogging tools, I want to focus on three fundamental concepts about these tools and why you might want to use them.

I see three categories of these tools:

1. Tools that allow you to improve your audience's experience through benefits or features that require little additional effort on the part of the blogger. An example would be Flickr, which lets you add pictures to your blog experience by means of a simple to use service rather than by learning coding, programming or FTP-ing.

2. Tools that make your blog and your posts more findable and accessible with little additional effort on the part of the blogger. Examples would be Del.icio.us and Technorati tagging.

3. Tools that allow you to collaborate and help create a useful collection of valuable resources with little additional effort on the part of the blogger. Using OPML to share your RSS feed subscriptions, Rojo (and other RSS sharing services) and Rollyo custom search engines are examples in this category.

I think that this set of three categories is a helpful way to think about the various tools out there. I welcome any comments on this approach and suggestions of your favorite tools in each categories and/or useful tips for these tools.

Matt and I were talking, as we do every day, about BlawgThink and we are happy with where things stand. We're ready to focus on making the event experience as good as we can make it and ready to bring the invitation, registration and sponsor solicitation process to a close. It does look like we' ll able to accommodate some more attendees and we'll do everything we can to include others who want to attend - just let us know - but our focus is turning to the event, the sessions, and what I'm sure will be an amazing and unforgettable Day 2 of BlawgThink. I can't wait to see everyone there.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink!(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world. November 11 & 12 - LexThink BlawgThink - the legal blogger unconference.

Posted by dmk at 07:13 PM | Comments (0)

November 02, 2005

Ten Ways to Address Security Concerns in IT Contracts - Article

[Note: This is another in the series of my articles that I've been reposting. I thought I'd add a little variety by reposting an article on technology law rather than legal technology. This article from 2004 is a checklist (or "ten tips") article that covers some of the key points to consider when addressing computer security issues in an IT agreement. Computer security issues have become all too common. Businesses signing IT agreements don't always know that they have a number of approaches they can take to try to address their legitimate security concerns. In general, you will have to negotiate on these issues - don't expect a vendor agreement to give you what you need to cover your security issues. This article will give you some starting points and some ideas on strategies.]

Ten Ways to Address Security Concerns in IT Contracts

While security is rapidly becoming job #1 for IT departments, coverage of security issues has found its way into surprisingly few IT contracts. Many companies discover, far too late, that their contracts are largely silent when security issues arise during the life of an IT agreement.

The following checklist shows you 10 places in your IT contracts where you can address security concerns. You will have to be a good negotiator or have great leverage in the deal to get coverage in all 10 places, but the list will give you a number of strategies to cover security issues.

Warranties

The biggest weapon in your contract arsenal will be a warranty from your vendor. There are two types to consider:

1. Security Warranty. Ideally, you would like a vendor to represent and warrant that the software or services it will be providing will be secure and that your data, systems and networks will be secure from both third parties and the vendor's employees. The language you get will largely depend on your bargaining power. While vendors will balk at warranting complete security, you might try to get a warranty providing security consistent with industry standards or obtain and maintain a recognized security certification. Failing that, you might try to get a warranty that provides reasonable security, keeps passwords safe or meets other specific requirements.

2. No Malicious Code. Another reasonable request is a warranty that software or services contain no viruses, Trojan horses, backdoors, malicious code or other programs that would allow anyone, including vendors, access to your computers or networks.

Procedures

3. SLA Requirements. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) customarily cover areas like uptime, backup, support procedures and other service requirements. A good way to cover security issues is to include specific security requirements, such as firewall specifications, certification, testing and notice of security breaches in the SLA.

4. Specifications. Software and IT services agreements commonly contain an exhibit that sets out a list of detailed specifications. Consider including security requirements in this list.

Action Requirements

You can also create affirmative obligations for the vendor.

5. Security Audits. Providing for annual or more frequent security audits or testing will place a burden on the vendor to provide adequate security and a standard for judging whether they are doing so. Remember to spell out the consequences for a failure to pass the audit.

6. Reporting Requirements. You will definitely want to know when there has been a security breach, especially a major one. A clause spelling out what events trigger a notice and how quickly will address these concerns directly.

Modifying Standard Contract Provisions

Making adjustments to standard contract provisions can provide great results.

7. Confidentiality. Your biggest security concerns will relate to your customer data (for which you may have obligations under your privacy policy or applicable law) and confidential information. Rather than rely on a general obligation of confidentiality, consider setting out additional, specific obligations to protect the information through appropriate security measures.

8. Exempt Security Damages from Liability Cap. Software and IT agreements routinely set limits on liability and caps on damages. It is common to clarify that limits and caps do not apply to indemnification obligations and damages for breach of confidentiality obligations. You can also argue that it is appropriate to exclude damages from a security breach from any limitation or cap because the potential damages are so high.

9. Security Indemnity. A vendor's breach of security obligations could cause damages to a third party for which the third party would sue you. If you have strong bargaining power, you might ask for an indemnification from the vendor for any claims that a third party makes against you as a result of the vendor's failure to maintain security.

10. Termination / Transition. As a practical matter, if a vendor fails to provide adequate security, you will want out of the deal. Consider spelling that out clearly and providing for a short and secure transition to another service provider.

Conclusion

In today's IT contracts, it is important to address security issues during the negotiation process rather than trying to sort them out later in litigation. By consulting the 10-point checklist above, you will have a number of ways to negotiate security protections in your IT contracts by approaching the issues in a number of different directions. You may not get all you ask for, but you should be able to get some protection or get a good sense of how comfortable you will be with a vendor who is not willing to stand behind its security efforts.

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[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world. November 11 & 12 - LexThink's BlawgThink 2005.

Posted by dmk at 07:34 PM | Comments (1)

November 01, 2005

A Vision of Virtual Law Firms - Article

[Note: Another in the series of posts republishing many of my articles on my blog. This article has probably generated a greater ratio of private discussion to public discussion than any other of my articles. I wrote this at the end of 2003, a period when I felt that what I was writing was not finding an audience, only to find later that several of the articles I wrote then have become quite influential. The article, by design, raises more questions than answers. I would note that blogging has brought the issues raised in the article into higher focus, but the changes in the legal ethics in the past few years have created a landscape that is more hostile to the idea of "virtual law firms." I've noticed lately that people are talking these days about approaches that are somewhat different than "virtual law firms." Will virtual law firms and other forms of collaboration be topics for discussion at BlawgThink 2005? Yes, they will. If that's the type of thing you want to be talking about, let me know and let's get you registered for BlawgThink.]

A Vision for Virtual Law Firms – Questions You Should Be Asking

I've had a couple of interesting conversations lately about where we are on "virtual law firms." To me, virtual law firm simply means an affiliated group of lawyers connected by technology rather than co-existing in common physical locations.

What struck me as odd in these conversations was how applicable the arguments I set out in 1998 as part of a draft of an ill-fated book project (the publisher went out of business - I have thought about resurrecting the project from the existing draft).

Several years later, the environment is more conducive to virtual law firms, yet you tend to hear much less about the idea. New efforts and ideas, however, are still bubbling.

Consider the recent rebirth in interest in the DuPont Legal Model. One of the key reasons this ambitious plan for lawyer-client collaboration has now started to work is the increase in sheer horsepower. With broadband, today's chips and storage and workable software platforms, the tools actually exist to accomplish things that were barely workable just a few years back.

Here are a few thought questions about virtual law firms:

1. What happens when you find that the mentors, experts and authorities you grow to rely on are not the people down the hall, in your offices, or even in your geographic area? With email lists [and blogs], this phenomenon is increasingly common.

2. Do you best serve your clients by referring work to your partners when you have professional contacts clearly able to do a better job for your clients?

3. One of my favorite businesses is The Teaching Company, which offers audio and video of great teachers on a variety of college-level subjects. If we are going to learn something new, why not learn it from the best teachers, no matter where they are located. Isn't it a small jump to say why not use the Internet to find the best individual lawyers for your project rather than sticking with whatever lawyers get assigned by your law firm to your project?

4. Tom Peters talks about the "Hollywood model," in which a variety of skilled contractors are pulled together on a project basis because they are the best choices for the project. Once the project is completed, some may work together on another project, or they may split up and then later work together in one combination or another. If you consider this Hollywood model to be a more appropriate model for the future of professionals than the industrial model of most law firms, doesn't it make this approach desirable for lawyers? Again, how likely is it that we can find these teams in today's law firms? Let's face it, if we had a complex legal problem, we would want to assemble the best team and would not want to be limited to other choices in a single firm.

5. The great thing about a law firm is having great partners who you enjoying being around and practicing with. How often are you finding that your most interesting conversations are with people online?

6. Location, location, location is the mantra in real estate. Most of us hate commuting, especially going in to the office on weekends or in bad weather. Prime office locations are expensive. How often do our clients come to our offices? Is physical local or even proximity all that important anymore?

7. Talk to any lawyer who is truly enthused about the application of technology to the practice of law who is in any firm and I guarantee that it will not take you long to uncover a good amount of frustration with the firm's technology tools, practices and procedures. After all these years, you have to wonder: is client-driven, cutting-edge, cool and attorney-centered technology ever going to happen in today's law firms? Will it take a different model?

8. Do current rules on licensure and multijurisdictional practice that are overwhelmingly tied to physical location make much sense in today's world?

9. To the software vendors and others in technology, why not help put together the showcases of your technology in the context of virtual firms and help facilitate them as an alternative to pounding on the same closed doors year after year?

10. If not you, then who? If not now, when?

Discussion of virtual law firms and related topics always interests me. Let me know what is going on out there and what ideas and approaches are working.

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[Originally published on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world. November 11 & 12 - LexThink's BlawgThink 2005.

Posted by dmk at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)