Dennis Kennedy

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June 30, 2005

Lunch with Randy Holloway

I was interviewed this morning for an upcoming article about lawyer blogging and ended the interview with my usual comment that the coolest thing about blogging is being part of the community of bloggers and getting to talk with, meet and become friends with other bloggers.

I got off the phone from that interview and had lunch with St. Louis blogger and star Microsoft employee, Randy Holloway. It was great fun and Randy has posted some very nice notes about our conversation on his blog. After those flattering comments, which make me blush, I'll think I'll be buying lunch next time. We have a mutual admiration society going because he is very talented and impresses the heck out of me - and he's fun to hang out with.

I was thinking after Randy and I spoke about some of the difficulties in the field of legal technology. Often, I speak with lawyers who don't quite get technology or the benefits it can bring. More often, the technology people don't understand what lawyers do. It can be quite a disconnect.

That's why it was fun talking with Randy today. He spent a bit of time working at a law firm on a big case with lots of discovery (in the pre-electronic discovery era) before his Microsoft career. He obviously knows the tech side, but he has an uncommon grasp of what lawyers do and how they work. He asks great, insightful questions and has a lot of useful comments and ideas for me. Plus, we get to talk about blogging, podcasting and stuff like that.

I'm also looking forward to getting the chance to see Randy speak at an upcoming SQL 2005 rollout event this fall.

[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.

Posted by dmk at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

New Issue of Law Practice Today is Out and Has Podcasting Resources for Lawyers Article

As you know, I confess to a little bias because I am an editor and board member of the ABA's Law Practice Today webzine, but the new issue is out, with a solo practitioner theme, and it's great. Lots of good articles and columns.

I must especially recommend Tom Mighell and I's "Strongest Links" column, called "MP3s, Podcasts and Internet Audio Resources for Lawyers," which points to a variety of great resources for lawyers interested in podcasting, either as consumers or producers.

[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 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2005

Answering Your Questions About Internet Telephony

I've been thinking a lot about Internet telephony (VoIP, Skype, et al.) after seeing a great presentation on VoIP and demo by Christian Na of Mitel in May.

One of the most helpful intros to Internet telephony I've seen is James Gaskin's "Top Ten Questions People Ask About Switching to Internet Telephones." For more reading, you can grab a chapter from his forthcoming book on the subject - Talk is Cheap: Switching to Internet Telephones - on the O'Reilly website (PDF).

As he says, "Everyone leaves home sooner or later, and thousands of people just like you are weaning themselves from Ma Bell every week."

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.

Posted by dmk at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

A Great Primer on Collaboration Tools

Denham Grey has a great, short primer on the various types of collaboration tools out there today and when, where and why you might find each of them useful. Very helpful, as are the other recent posts on Denham's blog, making it well worth your while to visit.

[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 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2005

Springsteen on the Floor - Part 2

For those of you who were curious . . . .

Doctor Jeff and I had great luck on Saturday, landing sixth row, orchestra pit tickets for the St. Louis Springsteen show. These are the best seats I've ever gotten for a Springsteen concert. Our results for the Milwaukee and St. Louis shows almost make up for the terrible luck we've had for the last few tours.

For those of you who like to keep track of these things, my best reserved seats for concerts have probably been:

second row, right in the center, for John Cougar Mellencamp; second row for the Joe Strummer version of the Clash; second row for Neil Young on his great tour with the country band, the International Harvesters; fourth row for Midnight Oil; and fourth row for Neil Young's "grunge" tour. I'm probably forgetting something that a friend of mine will remind me about.

This doesn't count the results of various efforts to work my way to the front of shows, especialy in the days of festival floor seating before the Cincinnati Who concert tragedy (like others of my age, I do know someone who was knocked to the ground in that incident, but fortunately was not hurt). I'm also not counting shows in very small venues.

There are, of course, plenty of not-so-good seats on my concert list.

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

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy’s eBooks - Preparing Your Law Firm for the Internet Era, Dennis Kennedy’s Legal Technology Primer and Unlocking the Secrets of Legal Technology and Technology Law.

Posted by dmk at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

Is CaseMap's New ReportBooks Feature a Secret Weapon to Improve Client Relations?

The title of this post is a rhetorical question, as you'll see in my article called "Revolutionizing Client Relations with CaseMap's New ReportBooks," just published on the fantastic LLRX.com site. As usual, there are a number of great articles in this edition of LLRX.

I often hear people saying that there's not much "new" or "cool" happening in legal technology. I just smile at them. They ain't looking in the right places, if they that's what they think. There's a lot of cool things out there, You just gotta know where to look.

I've become such good friends with Bob Wiss and Greg Krehel of CaseMap over the years that I don't really pretend to be objective about CaseMap, but I encourage you to read my article, think about the ReportBooks feature with an open mind and fresh eyes, and I think you'll see ways to give your clients some of the things they really want from their lawyers.

The money quote for lawyers:

"I suggest that you get to ReportBooks before either your clients tell you to start using them or your clients stop calling you and move their work to competitors who do use them. As always, the choice is up to you, but this choice is much clearer than most of the technology choices you have these days."

The money quote for clients of lawyers:

"If you are a client of a law firm, or a client of many law firms, as many corporate general counsel are today, then pick up the phone and find out why your firms haven't told you about ReportBooks yet. In today's world, the bill for that call from your lawyer might be more than the upgrade price for CaseMap, but it will pay for itself many times over if you improve the quality of information about your matters as much as ReportBooks can do for you."

[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 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2005

WSJ Grokster Roundtable Illustrates Benefits of Blogs for Serious Discussion of Legal News

The traditional model: Supreme Court decides major case and 6 to 12 months later (or even later) serious discussion of the case and its implications appear in law review articles.

The new model: Supreme Court decides major case and immediately serious discussion of the case by a stellar panel of experts appears on a group blog set up for the purpose.

Check of the WSJ Grokster Roundtable and see which approach you prefer and ponder the future of the traditional approach.

[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.

Posted by dmk at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2005

Like Burningbird, We're Burning in St. Louis

Shelley Powers accurately captures the today's summer feeling here in St. Louis in her post "Don't Visit St. Louis." It's demoralizing and a little dangerous. This afternoon, My daughter and I drove over to the bookstore and passed two banks with signs indicating the temperature was 105 degrees. And it's that wet, humid kind of heat. Apparently no relief in the forecast.

Steve Nipper was in town yesterday at the rethink(ip) tour made its second stop in St. Louis in recent weeks. Doug Sorocco was here a few weeks ago. We got a few hours to have a great conversation, but I think that Steve experienced enough summer weather to be in hurry to get back to Idaho.

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

Posted by dmk at 08:11 PM | Comments (2)

My eBooks Now Available at the Professional Marketing Store

A big thank you from me to Larry Bodine for making my eBooks available for purchase at the Professional Marketing Store.

There are three eBooks for you to consider purchasing (and remember buying the eBooks is a great way to support this blog).

1. Preparing Your Law Firm for the Internet Era: 150 Steps Toward a 21st Century Practice of Law - 150 tips, action steps, key questions and other insights in the best ways to prepare your firm for and help it thrive in the Internet era.

2. Dennis Kennedy’s Legal Technology Primer - a collection of more than one hundred of my articles articles on a wide range of legal technology topics. From the blurb: "My approach to technology has always been to focus on what helps lawyers and users. I always try to focus on the practical aspects of how a technology can be used rather than on esoteric technical details. I also have the point of view of a practicing lawyer. This combination has, I believe, accounted for the longevity and popularity of many of my articles."

3. Unlocking the Secrets of Legal Technology and Technology Law: Finding Your Way in the First Internet Era - A "best of" collection from all of my writings on legal technology, technology law and other musings, including some of my favorite blog posts, all in one collection.

Check out the eBooks, consider buying one or more to supoprt this blog, and take the time while you are there to browse the other offerings at the Professional Marketing Store.

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

Posted by dmk at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2005

Summer Reading Recommendation - Stealing History

I finished reading Roger Atwood's Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient World last night and recommend it as a good book to add to your summer reading list.

It's a sad and compelling story about the staggering level of looting of ancient graves and archaeological sites, giving both some history and a glimpse at the unprecedented level of plundering of cultural heritage of countries, the loss of knowledge of ancient civilizations and the trade that facilitates it all. What are we doing to ourselves? This is stuff that we all need to know about.

A rain forest here, a previously unknown civilization there - pretty soon it adds up to something tragic.

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

Posted by dmk at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2005

LexThink - The New Website and Blog

We'll have some more news coming out soon about the future of LexThink (or, perhaps more accurately, future LexThinks), but, for now, I can tell you LexThink website is live, complete with a blog that will focus on innovation in the professional services.

Please make a visit and check out the new digs.

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

Posted by dmk at 05:55 PM | Comments (0)

Congratulations to Jim Calloway and the Other TechnoLawyer Award Winners and Finalists

The annual announcement of the TechnoLawyer @ Awards is out. Neil Squillante at TechnoLawyer has created a great tradition to give some recognition and props to some of the best people and products in the legal technology field. Check out the list of this year's winners.

I wanted to single out my friend Jim Calloway for winning in the "Favorite Law Practice Management Blog" category. I've done presentations with Jim on a number of occasions and had the pleasure of serving on the TECHSHOW Board with Jim for the last two years. We've worked hard, had more than a few laughs and I'm endebted to him for many things, not the least of which is taking us on a evening trip to the site of the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.

Jim and I spent some time together at the Missouri Solo and Small Firm Conference a few weeks ago, got the chance to speak together on stage for the first time in ages, and got to spend some time together without talking about TECHSHOW planning. We also talked a bit about this award and Jim's chances for winning it. No one deserves it more than Jim. I know how delighted he is about winning this award, but I'll let you in on a little secret - I'm even more delighted and happy than Jim is that he won. He's done so much to help lawyers in their practices and it's great that he gets this recognition and public pat on the back.

Unfortunately, there's no cash prize for the award. Perhaps Jim's employers might find room in their hearts for a little raise or bonus in recognition of the work Jim has done, the high regard in which he is held, and the good reputation he has generated for the Oklahoma Bar.

Congratulations, Jim. A job well done, my friend. Keep up the good work.

Check out the list of winners to see some new names, some familiar names and to get a good view of what products are attracting the most attention in the use of technology in the practice of law.

Another great job on the awards from Neil - although I still miss the online awards ceremonies that Neil used to do. TechnoLawyer continues its tradition of being a must-read for anyone interested in the use of technology in the practice of law.

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

Posted by dmk at 04:13 PM | Comments (1)

June 21, 2005

Scott Brewer, Indianapolis Poetry Reading

It's been one of those stretches lately where I keep hearing from my college friends.

My friend and Indiana poet Scott Brewer sent me a press release about his new book of poetry and a reading scheduled for next week in Indianapolis. I can guarantee that Scott will do a great reading - he was a great actor in college theater, with tremendous presence, and his performance in a theatrical version of Rashomon was as good as anything I've ever seen on stage. He was also known to slip into verse when hurling insults (and the occasional firecracker) at other friends across the courtyard at our fraternity house on otherwise quiet evenings in battles of words that became legendary, so perhaps this poetry thing is not so surprising.

In other words, Scott is a good friend and a great guy and I'm thrilled as can be about this new turn in his career and his return to the arts.

If you are in Indianapolis, take the time to check out Scott's show, tell him I sent you, and ask him how he got the nickname "Buck." I wish I could be there.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The Big Car Gallery and the Poetry Alliance of Indy collaborate for local poets reading and book release event on the 26th of June.

A local poets reading and book release party for Indiana Instinct - Everyday Blues a book of poems by local author Scott Brewer, will be held on Sunday afternoon, June 26th from 4 pm to 7 pm at the Big Car Gallery <http://bigcar.org/pr/>. The gallery is located on the second floor of the Murphy Arts Building, 1043 Virginia Ave., Suite 215, in Indianapolis. Scott is a member of the Poetry Alliance of Indy <http://www.webspawner.com/users/poetryjam/> and received a 2005 Indiana Arts Commission Individual Artist Project grant to publish his first book.

Brewer has been writing poetry for 10 years, and has taught poetry workshops for the Education Center of Tipton County. He is a member of the Writer’s Center of Indiana. The subjects of the poetry found in Indiana Instinct - Everyday Blues range from love, family, and friends to art, music, and other poets from an Indiana viewpoint.

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

Posted by dmk at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2005

On the March with General Sherman

I've been spending most of my spare time in recent days immersed in reading the two volumes of General W. T. Sherman's highly-regarded memoirs. I read the presumably definitive Library of America edition, which has much to recommend it, except that I wish they would have bumped up the font size a notch or two.

I found the memoirs absolutely compelling and recommend them to anyone wishing to take on a big reading project (over 1,000 pages) that will greatly reward you for the effort.

I have not written yet about the recently-concluded season of "24," but there was a fascinating parallel in the way that Sherman barely had a chance to rest after ending the war before he was under heavy attack from politicians with their own agendas.

A few other observations:

1. Over and over, I was struck with the notion that here is the portrait of the truly competent man, one who gets things done.

2. I was fascinated by the Sun Tzu-ian way that Sherman's genius at strategy was revealed in the battles he did not fight. Time after time, you see him approach entrenched, well-positioned and fortified forces, and then maneuver in ways that the opposing forces retreat from those seemingly superior positions.

3. Although Sherman's reputation for "telling it like it is" is well-deserved, I was also struck by his generosity. How many famous people would prepare a second edition of their memoirs with the goal of correcting mistakes and allowing people who disagreed with his interpretation of events to submit their stories and printing them in that second edition? In an odd sense, the appendix to the memoirs almost feels like a comments section of a blog.

4. Sherman also seemed to be one of those people who was everywhere and knew everyone in the 19th century and the memoirs abound with fascinating stories of the California Gold Rush and a variety of other events and figures in addition to the compelling story of his war years.

The money quote (for me):

"Some men think that modern armies may be so regulated that a general can sit in an office and play on several columns as on the keys of a piano; this is a fearful mistake. The directing mind must be at the very head of the army - must be seen there, and the effect of his mind and personal energy must be felt by every officer and man present with it, to secure the best results. Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster."

Sherman's work has application in many areas, but I hope that people at the Pentagon are still reading this one, along with John Robb's Global Guerillas. I didn't plan this, but so far this year I've been reading a lot on military strategy - Alexander the Great, Patton, John Boyd and now Sherman.

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

Posted by dmk at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)

Springsteen - On the Floor

My pal Doctor Jeff saw the Chicago stop on the current Bruce Springsteen tour and raved about it. He got in touch with me when the new US tour dates were announced and said that we had to try to see the shows in St. Louis and Milwaukee.

A quick look at the recent set lists shows why. That, and a 27 year tradition since the first Springsteen concert I attended - a magical show at Notre Dame in 1978.

So, Jeff and I, more like a couple of college kids than the seasoned professional services providers that we are, were on the Ticketmaster website ready to go on Saturday morning and talking on the cell phone so we could make a snap judgment about the quality of the seats we might get and whether to forego poor seats at Milwaukee to roll the dice on concentrating on St. Louis tickets next Saturday.

After a few failed attempts, Jeff says, "I got floor seats." We decided to take them. 19th row on the floor - some of the best seats I’ve had for a concert in quite a while.

However, there's always room to improve, and we'll see what we can do for the St. Louis show when tickets go on sale next Saturday.

I'm starting to get the bug for this tour. Here's my new discount. If you book my half-day electronic discovery seminar and provide me with a good seat for a Springsteen show in your city on the evening before the seminar, I'll waive my travel expenses. The tour calendar is here.

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

Posted by dmk at 09:04 AM | Comments (1)

June 15, 2005

Great Article on Improving Diversity in Law Firms

Virginia Grant at Altman Weil has written an article called "For Law Departments: Five Strategies to Help Your Outside Firms Increase Diversity (PDF file)" that will reward you greatly for the time you spend reading and thinking about it, and then acting upon its recommendations.

Diversity, like technology, is an area where clients definitely will begin to drive the actions of law firms, with increasingly less patience. Are you going to keep talking about these issues or are you going to do something about it?

The money quote:

"Law firms tend to give the same reason for why their diversity demographics are not at the level they would like: not enough qualified candidates, or an inability to attract minority candidates.
Corporate law departments should not continue to accept such excuses. Law departments must remind law firms that they are in the business of providing solutions and resolving difficult situations." (emphasis added)

Highly recommended, as is a subscription to Altman Weil's email newsletter called Altman Weil Direct.

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

Posted by dmk at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2005

By Request Tuesday - What Do You Think About The Recent Discussion And Interpretations Of The Legal Marketing And Advertising Rules As They Apply To Blogs?

To be honest, I find them impossibly confusing. I generally write about this issue on Between Lawyers, but since you asked, I'll take a stab at it here.

By way of background, I think I first started speaking about legal ethics rules for web pages back in 1996 or 1997, so I have some history on these topics. I think that the web page rules evolved in a fairly straight-forward way, with a few standard requirements, usually being the placement of some disclaimer language.

What concerns me is that there appears to be a trend of not treating blogs under the web page rules, as would be logical, amd instead treating them as some new kind of animal.

Personally, I see the debate from the academic viewpoint. My blog is, as I say repeatedly, an experiment in writing. It has nothing to do with my legal practice – ask the legal marketing people if they recommend writing about Metallica documentaries and NASCAR to advertise a legal practice. To the extent I use my blog to promote anything, I promote my speaking and consulting businesses.

In fact, lately I have done all my law-related posts to Between Lawyers, which is an educational and, hopefully, an entertainment vehicle, not a law practice marketing or advertising vehicle.

Some people do not understand why I have taken this approach. Allow me to illustrate. At the recent Missouri Solo and Small Firm Conference, I had a discussion with the main education specialist for my legal malpractice carrier about whether a Missouri lawyer may do legal work for non-Missouri clients under the current or future multi-jurisdictional practice rules. Most lawyers will know what the answer was.

If I used my blog to "advertise" my legal practice, I'd simply get inquiries from clients whose work I couldn't take. The current ethics rules make it all-but-impossible as a practical matter to refer work to another attorney and try to take a referral fee – the reasons are far to complex to get into while sitting in a drum store - so there's no reason to try that approach.

As a result, I've decided not to mention my law practice on my blog. I market the law practice in non-Internet ways in Missouri, although I provide standard information on my website, as I have done for almost ten years.

The recent discussion and interpretation have given me concern that I still might not be doing enough and that the mere fact that I am a lawyer who writes a blog will make me subject to a regime of rules designed for lawyers who run yellow page ads, billboards and the like.

As I said, I find it all confusing and hope that, as was the case with web pages, there is a move toward clear and easy to follow rules.

As an interesting aside on this whole legal advertising rule, I'll note that when I was in large firms, my friends in small firms complained all the time that there was one set of ethical rules (as they were enforced) for big firms and one set for small firms. I used to laugh at them and tell them to chill out. Now, I find that I'm talking like they were.

Here's an example. I received a blow-in card with a publication that was an ad for the Orrick law firm.

The ad had a very large green "$O" and then made a reference to how they "win cases" in the first sentence.

As you probably know, the recent talk about blogs has focused on creating unreasonable expectations of results, mentioning past successes, and unsubstantiated factual comparisons.

I admire Orrick for being willing to prepare and use an ad that seems to go right in the teeth of the type of reasoning that has been used in connection with blogs. I simply don't have the guts to do anything like that. I suppose that some cynical small firm lawyers will say this is another example of one rule for big firms and one rule for small firms, but I simply think of it as being "aggressive."

To be crystal clear, I personally have no problem with the Orrick ad - I actually like it. I'm just confused by the interpretation of the advertising rules as they apply to lawyer blogs.

And that's the end of another edition of By Request Tuesday. Thanks for your questions.

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

Posted by dmk at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

By Request Tuesday – How Do We Know Which Questions Are Real Requests And Which Ones You Make Up?

Hmm, I'm not sure that I do either. I've noticed that I tend to ask me easier questions.

The important point is that the answers are all real and that's what matters.

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

Posted by dmk at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

By Request Tuesday - Are You Wasting Another Whole Day by Answering These Questions or Otherwise Neglecting Your Work?

I'm writing this post and many of the other posts I'll put up this evening while sitting here in a drum store while my daughter has her drum lesson. I think that even the strongest critics of lawyer blogging will think that this is OK.

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

Posted by dmk at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)

By Request Tuesday – Did You Ever Decide What to Do about Ads in Your RSS Feed?

Yes and no. I decided to take a wait-and-see attitude until June 30. I decided that if there is not clear community consensus that ads in feeds and ads on blogs are a bad thing or will get me shunned, I'll go in that direction if I find sponsors or advertisers who are interested in paying me to do so.

I just have never been convinced that the Amazon tip jar was a good way to go.

I still struggle with the issues of independence, objectivity and the like. And they are very difficult issues. One of the most interesting approaches someone suggested was to move away from sponsors and advertisers in the legal technology space (my most natural sponsors, but also the ones that raises the thorniest issues for me) and seek out advertisers outside my subject area. I think I was flattered that the two sponsors he mentioned first as examples were Jaguar and Mercedes, but his idea of looking at banks, credit card and financial organizations, rental car, airline and travel companies and others for whom my audience is a good match struck me as a good way to bring in revenue while avoiding the different types of conflict issues that can arise when you use sponsors who are in your field. Unfortunately, I have the contacts in the legal tech industry, but I don’t know how to get out to the decision-makers in the other types of companies. I'd appreciate any help on that. It seems like there would be a niche for a marketing person who could pair up blogging sponsors with bloggers. And I'm referring to sponsorships rather than traditional online advertising approaches.

The answer: We'll see. June 30 arrives soon and I'll look into some options. I welcome any inquiries.

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

Posted by dmk at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

By Request Tuesday – How Many RSS Feeds Do You Currently Subscribe to?

My favorite piece of writing this year was the post I called "Heart of Blogness – My Journey into Scoble Country," which told my tale of getting up somewhere north of 1,000 feeds in my newsreader.

I recently talked with someone who had 778 feeds in his newsreader. I told him that it took 1,000 or more to impress me.

My answer: I don't know. I'm in the process of pruning the list and probably will delete any feed that is not a full-text feed (unless it's really good). It's a lot. I might have crept back in Scoble Country, but I won't admit to that.

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

Posted by dmk at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)

By Request Tuesday – Will You Be Writing a Book?

I get asked this question a lot. I've been talking with Yvonne Divita about turning my eBooks and perhaps other writing projects into books or booklets that Yvonne would publish through her print-on-demand publishing business.

I've written three chapters of the brand new fourth edition of Flying Solo, published by the ABA's Law Practice Management Section. The book's official release is June 28 and there is a pre-publication discount available. I've seen page proofs for a good number of chapters and I was a co-editor of the technology chapters. I think it will become a must-have book for any lawyer (and perhaps other professionals as well) who has started or plans to start a solo practice.

I've also contributed a couple of chapters to an upcoming ABA book on information security issues.

For the most part, however, I'm more interested in shorter works and audio these days than book projects, although I do discuss ideas people have for me from time to time. I've turned a couple of those down. I have talked to people and have found myself receptive to the idea of doing a co-authored or multiple-authored book.

And, every time I see someone mention as a new and novel idea something that is in the draft of the book project I worked on in 1998 called "The Fully Connected Law Firm" (publisher went out of the publishing business in mid-project), I get tempted to resurrect that project.

However, I don't foresee any new books for traditional publishers on the horizon as solo efforts from me.

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

Posted by dmk at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)

By Request Tuesday – Will You Be Doing Some Podcasts?

I have been talking with people about doing audio seminars or podcasts for the past year. As you may know, I've done a couple of webinars for Fios on electronic discovery and I've been pleased to hear about the traffic the on-demand electronic seminars I recorded for Merrill have done.

Zane Safrit of Conference Calls Unlimited interviewed me for what technically was my first podcast.

People have talked to me about a number of types of podcasts or "internet radio" shows. Examples have included a regular interview show and a "reader's guide" to what's worth checking out in the blog world, in addition to webinars on various topics. It should surprise no one that we have been talking about both a Between Lawyers podcast and a LexThink podcast.

To this point, I've been the hold-up because I wasn't convinced about the medium. My opinion has changed dramatically in recent weeks and I've been telling people that listening to the Adam Curry / Ron Bloom Podshow Strategycast was a watershed event for me.

I've become very intrigued by the medium and its potential. I want to explore the idea of podcasting and potential podcast efforts with much more urgency. I'm about to start actively looking for partners, sponsors, producers and others who want to work with me in producing shows in the podcast medium.

I think that means the answer to your question is "yes."

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

Posted by dmk at 08:34 PM | Comments (0)

By Request Tuesday - Where are You Going with LexThink and When is the Next LexThink Conference?

Matt, Sherry and I have been putting our heads together about the future of LexThink. You might even argue that we've done too much thinking and not enough action on LexThink.

That's about to change.

What I'm writing here is not the official announcement, but I'll give you a preview. You'll see some of this at the new, not-quite-done, version of the LexThink website.

You will see three primary efforts from LexThink:

1. Follow-up and networking opportunities for the attendees of the first LexThink conference, including conference calls, blog content and other resources.

2. Private LexThink Conferences. We've tested the idea and it meet with great success. We'll provide these to professional services firms, associations and groups as a innovative and productive option to traditional firm retreat speakers and activities.

3. Public LexThink Conferences. We're close to having the details in place to announce a few more of these. We expect to have a series of LexThink Solo conferences in various locations- the first of which will probably be in late August. I would also expect to see one, two or all of LexThink Intellectual Property, LexThink Marketing, and LexThink Electronic Discovery conferences. We're looking for great spaces, like the Catalyst Ranch where we held the first LexThink, and sponsors for each event to help us keep attendee costs down. We got consistent feedback from LexThink 1.0 that the attendees would prefer a two-day event rather than a one-day event and at least one of the next few LexThinks will be a two-day event.

That's what's in the pipeline. Take a look at the new website and watch for official announcements and details in the near future.

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

Posted by dmk at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)

June 13, 2005

Jim Keane, Legal Technology Pioneer

The legal technology is a small and close-knit community and it was sad to hear about the death on Friday of Jim Keane, who lost a battle with lung cancer. Jim was instrumental in a number of initiatives, including Legal XML, and recently had been focusing on the subject of e-lawyering.

I saw Jim at LegalTech in New York in January and got a brief chance to visit with him. He was looking good after a series of treatments. I enjoyed getting the chance to chat with him. He, not surprisingly, urged me to get involved with the ABA's e-lawyering task force that he helped found and seemed full of energy and ideas. It was sad to hear the news.

He'll be missed by the legal tech community.

Contributions may be made in his honor to the American Lung Association of Maryland, 14435 Cherry Lane Ct., Suite 310, Laurel MD. 20707.

There is also an online guest book that you can "sign" at
http://obit.pumphreyfuneralhome.com/obit_display.cgi?id=229739.

The ABA Law Practice Management Section has placed a memorial to Jim on the front page of its website, something I'm sure Jim would have appreciated and something that honors his service to LPM and his legacy and friendships in the Section.

Posted by dmk at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)

Let’s Do A "By Request Tuesday" Tomorrow

It’s been a while since I’ve done a "By Request Tuesday" and I thought it might be fun to try another one.

Email me your questions at denniskennedyblog @ gmail.com and I’ll see if I can answer it tomorrow.

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

Posted by dmk at 07:56 PM | Comments (0)

Back from the Missouri Bar Solo and Small Firm Conference

One of the most enjoyable conferences I get to attend and speak at each year in the Missouri Bar’s Solo and Small Firm Conference. Thanks to Linda Oligschlaeger, her staff, and a large committee of dedicated volunteers led by David Ransin, it is so much fun and so well-managed.

This year, I got the chance to do some presentations with my nationally-known speaking pals Jim Calloway and Ross Kodner. We’re often at the same conferences, but too rarely get the chance to speak together. That was a special treat this year.

I spoke at three sessions: computer security, wireless and mobile computing, and 60 Tips in 60 Minutes. I’d be happy to send you a copy of my materials for the computer security session if you email me your request to denniskennedyblog @ gmail.com.

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

Posted by dmk at 07:53 PM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2005

Rockin' the Legal Blog World

Steve Nipper follows up my now infamous Metallica post, with his new post on Guns N' Roses and intellectual property law on rethink(ip).

The money quote:

"So. Where do you stand? For you, is it about the fans or is it about the music? Are you willing to rethink the band if they won't change...if they aren't willing to produce the music fans want?

Sometimes someone has to get their act together and rethink the band."

I spent a very enjoyable day today with Doug Sorocco, another of the rethink(ip) guys, who was in St. Louis for the day. I got the chance to learn more about the rethink(ip) vision. Trust me, these guys definitely rock. They've made me do some rethinking.

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

Posted by dmk at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2005

Knowledge Work as Craft

Jim McGee has fascinating post called "Apprenticing at Light Speed" about "knowledge work as craft" and the strains that the pace of change place on the apprenticeship model (we are all apprentices).

The money quote (among many choices):

"That leads me to my more fundamental concern about apprenticing our way to improved knowledge work; where are the Jedi masters? Where is that senior research scientist who already understands how to connect robotic gene sequencers and bioinformatics? Where is that senior investment manager who understands how to connect new derivative-based financial instruments with electronic markets? If those people even exist, do they have any real skill at helping those who work for them learn better and faster? How should their managers help them strike the right balance between advancing current knowledge work practice and educating those apprentices in the appropriate mysteries of the craft?"

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

Posted by dmk at 11:17 PM | Comments (0)

June 07, 2005

More Electronic Discovery Resources for June

The new June issue of the webzine Law Practice Today has an electronic discovery and computer forensics theme, along with a ton of other great articles and columns. Highly recommended, especially Daryl Mountain's article on innovation in law firms. I have a column about Internet resources on computer forensics issues.

EDD expert George Socha told me about the new Electronic Discovery Reference Model Project, which is intended to provide:

A common language for talking about electronic discovery processes;
A basis for standards and guidelines; and
A basis for design and evaluation of products and services.

DiscoveryResources.org continues to be an excellent "portal" for information about electronic discovery.

"A Gold Mine of Electronic Discovery Expertise: A Conversation Among Veterans of Electronic Discovery Battles" is now the most popular download on the Law Practice Today website.

New free EDD On-demand webinars for June from Tom O'Connor, Michael Clark and me have recently been posted.

Want to learn a heckuva lot more about electronic discovery? Consider my new half-day seminar called Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery for your firm, corporate legal department or other group.

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

Posted by dmk at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2005

The Verizon Follies: My Continuing Cellular Comedy

My friends get the biggest laughs from my experiences with cell phones. I don't have good luck with cell phones. In fact, I once had to reboot a cell phone because I locked up the cell phone OS trying to see how the IR interface worked.

Ironically, the only thing I really care about with a cell phone is its reception. A few years ago, after unhappy experiences with reception from other carriers, I switched to Verizon. How's it working? You know those “can you hear me know?” commercials for Verizon – I want them to send that guy out to my house.

I once had to call Verizon customer service and, for fun, made the call from my basement. They actually asked me if they could call me back on a land line. I mentioned that, although I was calling for other reasons, my reception at my house and in the areas I would most like to use the phone was terrible. They immediately said that they made no promises about reception.

When I ride my bike, I always take my cell phone in case of an accident or emergency. Today, I was driving along a stretch I ride on a regular basis and noticed no bars on the cell phone. I hope that I don't fall or have the bike break down there.

On the other hand, my reception when I am out of town is usually awesome. I once recorded my message on my voice mail while I was out of town because the reception was so much better.

However, my favorite story comes from a trip we made through Indiana last year on the return home from visiting my parents, brothers and relatives. We wanted to stop at the Indianapolis Speedway and wanted to check as we approached Indianapolis on the availability and times of a track tour. By the way, calling from the road is one of the main reasons I wanted to have a cell phone. I could not complete any calls. I wanted to call customer service, but simply could not find the number under any of the menus. Undeterred, I tried a few tricks to generate an error message and one popped up that gave me a number to call.

After about 20 minutes on the phone, we got the advice to "try the call from a pay phone." I love that.

On Friday, I was going on a family camping trip with my wife's family at Meramec State Park, one of the most popular state parks in Missouri. The park is a few miles from the town of Sullivan, which is right on I-44. In other words, it is not in the wilderness.

I had a conference call scheduled that I planned to make from the campsite and planned to return some other calls. At the time to be on the conference call, I noticed that there was no service available. It's fair to say that this was not something I expected – but, hey, a little professional embarrassment builds character.

As it turned out, this was not just a Verizon problem. No one else there could get a signal on their carriers either. Later, my brother-in-law determined that if you stood at a certain spot near a certain tree using a Sprint phone, you could get a signal to make a call, but you couldn't tell if the person on the other end could hear you.

I recently went through a 24-hour period where I had phone calls with five of the most tech-savvy lawyers in the country and, in each case where someone was on a cell phone, the sound quality of the call was atrocious.

If I hear people talking on cell phones these days (and I will invariably hear them because they are talking so loud), the side of the conversation I overhear goes something like this: "What! Say that again! You're cutting out! I didn't catch the last part of that! What!"

I don't know about you, but I'm starting to have some doubts about this whole cellular system. It seems like we are moving backward, rather than forward. It's not great for making calls, at least for me, but it's given me some great stories.

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

Posted by dmk at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

June 02, 2005

Courage as a Cultural Trait of Successful Firms?

I've been working on the notes from the LexThink 1.0 sessions in order to start releasing them in a public form on the LexThink website. The first installment will appear tomorrow.

This morning, I found the line, "a successful firm must have courage," in the notes about "creating a culture" from a session on what successful professional services firms have in common.

A successful firm must have courage.

This idea fascinates me, and brought me back to the energy and sense of purpose I found at LexThink 1.0. It also emphasized for me how essential it is to return to simple, fundamental questions.

What does it mean for a firm to have courage? How do you create a firm that has courage as a key cultural trait? Would you want to work at a firm that values courage? Or, perhaps a better question, why wouldn’t you always want to work at a firm that values courage? Then, what are the implications of working at a firm that either has courage or does not have courage? Is courage part of innovation?

We don't have this on the LexThink conference schedule (yet), but wouldn't it be cool to spend a day or two working on the question "How do you create a firm that has courage?"

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

Posted by dmk at 11:43 AM | Comments (2)

A Major Change in My Approach: Enabling Comments on DennisKennedy.Blog

I've never enabled comments on my blog before today. I've had a number of reasons for not doing so – most of them familiar to anyone who maintains a blog and struggled with the issue of comments.

At Between Lawyers, we allow comments and, even though the results have been mixed – comment spam is a real issue, I've been rethinking my stance on comments on this blog.

My approach has always been that this blog is a publishing vehicle for me, not a discussion area. People routinely send me emails and comment on my posts on their own blogs, so I've never had the sense that I don't have an exchange of ideas because I don't allow comments.

However, I learned recently that even though I thought I had been blogging for a couple of years, I have not, in fact, had a blog because I did not have comments enabled for this "blog." It seems that a "true blog" has comments enabled. Imagine my embarrassment. Perish the thought that blogs might actually be a vehicle for individual expression when some see the opportunity to proclaim what the on true blog must be so close to their grasp.

While I will admit to ignoring these types of pronouncements about what a blog is or isn't and what a blogger should and shouldn't do (hey, why should government be concerned with regulation of blogs when there are scores of bloggers who are perfectly happy to slap all kinds of guidelines and requirements on bloggers?), the timing and heavy-handedness of this recent post got my attention at a time when I was thinking about enabling comments. So, I thought it was best to bring my "blog" into lock-step conformity with this type of pronouncement of what a "true blog" really is.

Well, maybe not.

Actually, I feel like experimenting with comments. I have some ideas for posts for which enabling comments will make sense. I've been generally pleased with my comments experience at Between Lawyers. I'm curious whether enabling comments will bring new energy or ideas to this blog and/or to me. And, it's just fun to change my mind on something every now and then, especially after becoming known for taking the opposite approach.

I have a few concerns relating to spammers and a**holes, but I'm pretty confident that I have neither in my audience.

I will have a comment policy. The basic principle is this: it's my blog and I'll do what I want.

The brilliant Lisa Williams at the Learning the Lessons of Nixon blog, recently posted about the various approaches to comment policies in this aptly-titled post, which I recommend that you read before reading the rest of this post. It should come as no surprise that I fall into the "living room" policy she describes in the post.

I've roughed out the following comments policy for this and welcome your comments about it and ways to improve it. I don't mind throwing it out to the public as a starting point toward evolving some standard comments policies that bloggers might use. I would be shocked if people didn't have some criticism of this policy.

1. I don't want your anonymous comments – stand behind what you are saying. If I can't figure out who you are, I reserve the right to delete your comments. If you want to be anonymous to the public or use a pseudonym on your comments, I'm OK with that if you first email me and tell me who you are and how to contact you.

2. When you post a comment, ask yourself whether you would say the same thing to my face while sitting in the living room of my house after I invited you over for dinner. If you know me at all, you'll know that I have no problem whatsoever asking you about a comment you post when I meet you in person to see if you will say it in person, just to see whether you are a person of honor or someone who will squirm.

3. It'd be bad enough for you insult me by posting a comment on my blog, but I will not tolerate your posting a comment on my blog to personally insult someone else. I'll enjoy either deleting your comment or posting about it separately to publicize what a jerk you are. Use common sense and good manners.

4. While I may monitor comments and manage/delete them, let's face it, I probably can't and won't do that on a regular basis. But I might. I reserve the right not to respond quickly to your comments, not to respond at all, to open, close and delete comments, and to generally act like I, rather than you as a commenter, am the owner of my blog. In general, I'll have good intentions and really mean well about responding to your comment, but sometimes I might in fact be studiously ignoring you.

5. Now, the legal stuff. By posting a comment, you agree that (1) you represent and warrant that your comment does not defame or libel anyone, does not infringe anyone's intellectual property, trade secret, confidentiality or other rights, and does not violate any applicable law or regulation, (2) you grant me a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, distribute, publicly display and/or perform, sublicense and make derivative works from your comment in connection with the normal maintenance and operation of this blog and my website, including archives and collections, and for my personal and internal business purposes, and (3) you will indemnify and hold me harmless with respect to any claim and related expenses (including legal fees) from a third party in connection with your comment. I reserve the right to take down so fast that your head will spin any comment that gives me any concern and may change these rules at any time by posting the changes on my blog and/or website.

I'm enabling comments as experiment in the technology and, more importantly, as an experiment in trusting my audience. I have every confidence in you, but there are some other people out there who have forced me to have a set of rules.

Comments are now open.

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

Posted by dmk at 11:08 AM | Comments (6)

June 01, 2005

Announcing My Endorsements for 2005 TECHNOLAWYER @Awards - Part 1 - Blogs

It's time for the annual voting for the TechnoLawyer @ Awards, which honor favorites in a variety of legal technology categories as voted on by the members of the TechnoLawyer Community. TechnoLawyer.com is a must-join resource for those interested in the application of technology to the practice of law.

The @ Awards are a great way to recognize some of the best products, services and people working in the field of legal technology. I'm proud to be a past winner of some @ Awards.

This year, I thought I'd make my voting more transparent than it has been in the past and post from time to time my votes and endorsements for some of the categories.

I'll start with my endorsements in the two blogging categories: Favorite Law Practice Blog and Favorites Practice Area Blog.

Favorite Law Practice Blog: While there are many worthy candidates, I'll be voting for Between Lawyers (http://www.corante.com/betweenlawyers/), the group blog Denise Howell, Tom Mighell, Marty Schwimmer, Ernst Svenson and I created as part of the Corante family of blogs. Perhaps I'm not being objective on this one, but I'm impressed by the quality of the blog and the blog's goal of opening up some of the doors the legal profession has traditionally kept closed. I also like the Between Lawyers blog's track record of providing fresh insights into the practice of law in addition to providing tips about practice issues.

Favorite Practice Area Blog: This category title perfectly describes my feelings about leading legal blogger Marty Schwimmer's The Trademark Blog (http://trademark.blog.us/blog/). Now entering its fourth year of existence, The Trademark Blog is both a textbook example of how a practice area blog should be done and a genuinely enjoyable regular read, even if you are not working in the area of trademark law. It's difficult for a blog focused on a specific practice area to cross-over into other audiences, but The Trademark Blog, with its insight and wit, has definitely developed an audience that extends well beyond its trademark lawyer base.

Those are my endorsements. To vote, go ahead and join the TechnoLawyer Community (free registration required) and obtain your ballot and vote.

For a handy list of some of my other favorite legal blogs, be sure to check out my now-famous Blawggies post.

As always, I'd much prefer that you exercise your best independent judgment rather than be swayed by endorsements from me. I mainly want to get you to think about the categories and to give consideration to some of the blogs I like best these days.

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

Posted by dmk at 07:36 AM