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May 31, 2006

Electronic Discovery Predictions and Trends Presentation at LegalTech WestCoast 2006

Thanks to the very nice people at Caselogistix, I'll be speaking at the LegalTech Westcoast 2006 show on the afternoon of June 5 about electronic discovery trends and predictions. The panel for this presentation consists of me, so you'll get a lot of my favorite ideas, for better or worse. I guarantee I'll give you plenty of things to think about.

This presentation will be an update of the presentation I gave back in January at LegalTech New York that was one of my best-received presentations, so I'm excited to get to give it again. There will be changes from the earlier version. In fact, quite a bit is changing in the world of electronic discovery these days.

If you are attending the show, it'd be great if you would attend my session and say hello. I'll be around the show as well and don't have much in the way of specific plans. If there's a group of bloggers who might like to get together, let me know and we can get the word out. Otherwise, I'll probably focus on seeing what's going on with vendors these days.

After LegalTech, I'll give two presentations at the always great Missouri Solo and Small Firm Conference - one on email management and information overload (and the role of blogs) and the other on inexpensive technology choices for litigators (where I'll get the chance to co-present with my friend Bob Wiss from CaseSoft).

Then . . . I looked at my calendar and saw that I have no other presentations scheduled for the near future. Of course, that means that I should be reminding you that this is a GREAT time to schedule me to speak for your group or event. However, I must admit that it's nice to have a little break from speaking this summer.

In any event, I hope to see you in Los Angeles or Missouri next week. Be sure to say hello if you see me.

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

Learn more about electronic discovery at Dennis Kennedy's Electronic Discovery Resources page.

Technorati tags: legal technology electronic discovery

Posted by dmk at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2006

Special Offers from Conference Calls Unlimited for Readers of DennisKennedy.Blog

Zane Safrit, CEO of Conference Calls Unlimited, has put together some special offers for readers of DennisKennedy.Blog and I'm offering them to you as another blog reader appreciation gift (like the recent X1 offer).

I met Zane at the original LexThink event and saw him again at the LexThink Lounge event. He also recorded my first podcast when he interviewed me last year. I'm a regular reader of Zane's blog and I always enjoy talking with him and hearing about his insights.

I'm always on conference calls lately where someone conferences people in and asks, "Is everyone still on?" Or people apologize in advance in case they drop someone while trying to conference someone in.

The conference call services at Conference Calls Unlimited just plain work. It's a pleasure to use the service.

If you are considering a conference call service, or reevaluating an existing one, take a look at the offers from Conference Calls Unlimited for readers of this blog. Thanks again for reading my blog.

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

LexThink!(R) - The Legal Unconference. Ask us about private LexThink retreats and conferences for your firm, business or organization.

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

May 25, 2006

NY Times on Employee Blogging Issues - With a Quote from Dennis Kennedy

Check out the article in today's NY Times called "Interns? No Bloggers Need Apply" by Anna Bahney, which explores the intersection of blogging and employment.

Anna and I spoke earlier this week while she was working on the article and there's a quote from me in the article toward the end of the piece. Our conversation was quite interesting and I may return to some of the ideas we discussed in future posts on my blog. I thank Anna for including me.

I've written quite a bit on blogging policies and blogging and employment/expression issues on the Between Lawyers blog. Our archive of posts on blogging policies is an excellent collection of writings on these topics.

As they say, there's nothing like being able to drop casually into a conversation, "oh, I was quoted in the New York Times this morning."

[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).

Technorati tags: blogging policies

Posted by dmk at 04:17 PM | Comments (1)

Testing the MacBook Pro - Report #1

As many of my regular readers know, Apple recently selected me for a special program to evaluate the MacBook Pro in the context of the legal profession.I've been busy putting it through the paces, with some invaluable help from my daughter and Steve Nipper and Doug Sorocco of the RethinkIP group.

Other than a thorny network connection problem that related more to my ISP's instructions than anything else (thanks to Doug Sorocco for some very valuable help and then not stopping me from trying something I know he disagreed with), my experience has been great so far. It's a beautiful machine and it takes me back to the late 80s and early 90s when I was the happy user of a Mac SE and regular attendee of the Gateway Mac User Group meetings in St. Louis.

Earlier this week, I wrote a new, long article from scratch on the Mac and thoroughly enjoyed the writing experience. The keyboard feels great and this is the first touchpad I've used in a while where I don't accidentally drag my thumbs across the surface and send the cursor all over the place while typing. The best part about the keyboard, however, is how it lights up in low light. Awesome.

Based on my experience so far, I'll make a couple of observations for those lawyers thinking about making the shift from Windows to Mac (which is the focus of the Apple evaluation program).

1. I never realized how important the notion of right-clicking my mouse had become to me. Macs have a one button mouse (although you can easily add a two-button USB mouse). Once I learned and got used to the fact that control-clicking accomplshed the same thing as right-clicking, I was in good shape.

2. Similarly, Macs use the "option" key rather than the "control" key for a number of actions. No big deal, but it takes a little getting used to.

3. I'm as comfortable in Microsot Office for Mac as I am in Windows.

4. I haven't yet started to experiment with running Windows programs - that's on my to-do list - maybe with the brand new release of CaseMap 6 (congratulations to Bob, Greg and everyone at CaseSoft on the sale to Lexis!).

5. I did a lot of copying of files to the Mac in a variety of ways (USB drive, Bluetooth and, after I got the networking going, over a network). As of now, I still somewhat prefer Windows Explorer to the Mac Finder, but that's largely because of familiarity. There are subtle differences to me that probably will not matter much to other people.

6. Oh, yeah. It does get hot, but so does my Tablet PC and most recent notebook, depending on how and where I use them. I'm not sure that anyone would want to place any notebook on his or her lap for any extended period of time. Like others, I'm following the discussion on the heat issue.

That's a down payment on my progress report. I'm very positive about the Mac and my experience so far. My main glitch was a home networking issue - connecting to WiFi networks at restaurants and elsewhere has been a breeze. I'll also note that I have the 17" model, which has an amazing screen, but it is a little big for me. I'd see it more as a desktop replacement with some mobility rather than a travel notebook, but I'll do more testing on that.

However, the real reason I wrote this post was to point you to a great review of the MacBook Pro by Brett Burney in the new issue of the ever-excellent LLRX.com. I agree with what Brett has to say and the way he says it.

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

Learn more about legal technology at Dennis Kennedy's Legal Technology Central page.

Technorati tags: legal technology macbook pro macinstosh lawyer

Posted by dmk at 03:33 PM | Comments (6)

May 24, 2006

DennisKennedy.Blog Reader Appreciation Gift - Free X1 License Download Offer

The nice people at X1 have graciously agreed to provide up to 50 of the readers of my blog with a free license to the X1 Desktop Search tool ($75 regular price). The downloads are my way of saying "thank you" to the readers of this blog.

There is no software that will improve your daily life as a computer user more than a desktop search tool like X1. I use X1 to search both my local hard drives and, most importantly, as the fast, effective search tool that I've always wished that Microsoft Outlook would have had. I can tell you that Microsoft Outlook seems like a completely different program once you use X1 a desktop search tool for searching your email.

How often do you have trouble finding a file or wish that you could find all of the documents that contain a certain word or phrase. Now you can do that. It's fast and it works very, very well -- across your entire desktop as well as your enterprise network.

There will be a limited number of these licenses available. Simply click on the link here and you can download your copy. When the licenses run out, you won't be able to download a copy. So, if the last time we did a promotion like this is any example, you will want to act quickly.

Thank you again for reading my blog. A special thank you to Gregg Coapman and Ann Kuo of X1 for making this happen.

[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 blogging consulting, technology audit, strategic planning and technology committee coaching packages especially for medium-sized law firms (15 - 100 lawyers) and corporate legal departments. More information on the "Second Pair of Eyes" packages for legal technology audits and strategic planning may be found here (PDF).

Technorati tags: legal technology x1 desktop search

Posted by dmk at 04:51 PM | Comments (2)

St. Louis Blogger Get-Together

Let's put aside for the moment whether St. Louis really is Blawg City USA. One thing for certain is that there is a great group of bloggers in St. Louis and I always enjoy getting the chance to meet them.

We recently got together for lunch (details here) and to exchange a few ideas. We might even start a regular event we are calling the Soulard Idea Market. However, we'll definitely continue our new tradition of having regular lunch events. Let me know if you are interested in the Soulard Idea Market or the next St. Louis blogger lunch. And, yes, we would consider sponsorship offers.

I highly recommend that you take the chance to get together with bloggers in your town and meet them in person.

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

This post brought to you by LexThink!(R) - The Legal Unconference. Ask us about private LexThink retreats and conferences for your firm, business or organization.

Technorati tags: bloggers LexThink! soulard idea market saint louis blawg city usa

Posted by dmk at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2006

Moving Toward Open Source Contract Law? The IACCM Project

Let me recommend a fascinating post from David Munn called "Contract Terms and Negotiation - IACCM Project."

David comments on a new project called the Contract Negotiations Guide project from the International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM). IACCM's Executive Director,Tim Cummins, says:

Our aim is to create a baseline that is broadly accepted as 'reasonable' for both buy side and sell side, to generate greater mutual understanding of the factors that cause variations from this position, to outline the spectrum of negotiated terms that typically result. We believe such a guide will assist in cutting lead-times and reducing the extent of confrontation when one side or the other is seen as 'unreasonable' in its position, relative to the value or risks perceived by the other side.

The money quote (from David):

At the very least we should end up with a thoughtful analysis of contract terms that we can use for reference and training. At best it could result in a set of best-practice contract terms that reasonable buyers and sellers can use to greatly reduce the amount of time spent on unproductive contract review, revision, and negotiation.

Since I routinely review and assist in negotiation of software licenses and IT contracts in my law practice, I've seen some of the same trends that David notes in his post and I, too, welcome an effort that might produce some basic reasonable models that many companies will find useful to adopt as more or less standard approaches. It's easier to make it to common ground if the starting point is closer to the likely ending point of the negotiations.

These types of group approaches at creating reasonable legal models and letting people adopt standard approaches that work well reflect some of the spirit of the Open Source licensing approach and may be help us move to both friction-free capitalism and what Bill Gates has called friction-free innovation.

I will be taking a close look at the IACCM project and encourage other technology lawyers and executives who deal with these kinds of contracts to consider getting involved in the effort.

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

Learn more about electronic discovery at Dennis Kennedy's Electronic Discovery Resources page.

Technorati tags: technology law open source law contract+law Law2.0 contract negotiation guide IACCM

Posted by dmk at 09:52 PM | Comments (1)

May 22, 2006

Honoring the Tradition of Training: Ten Tips for Running a Summer Program

Denise Howell's recent post mentioning summer programs in law firms made me think back to the first article I ever wrote for publication, just over ten years ago. The article was called "Honoring the Tradition of Training: Ten Tips for Running a Summer Program." It was published in the ABA's Law Practice Management Magazine and I'll always be grateful to John Tredennick for deciding to publish the article.

I scoured my hard drive and found a copy of the article, which might be the original draft. I decided to republish it on my blog without making any changes to it.

This is the time of year that law students start summer jobs and law firms try to find ways to give law students a good summer associate experience. I know that there is still not a lot of material to help lawyers who run summer programs, so I hope that making this article available online will help some people.

I didn't re-read the whole article today. I did notice that it had some of the characteristics of what has become my writing "style" and I noticed that the paragraphs are so lo-o-o-ong, reminding me how writing styles have changed during the Internet era to reflect the way readers prefer to scan shorter paragraphs.

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Honoring the Tradition of Training: Ten Tips for Running a Summer Program

"How would you like to be in charge of our summer program?" So begins one of the most rewarding roles a younger attorney can have in the administration of a law firm.

You should take a momentary pleasure in the vote of confidence being so selected represents. The increased workload and time commitment, however, may seem a bit daunting. You probably know what you liked, and what you didn't like, about your own summer experiences. You have undoubtedly had some involvement with your firm's summer program and may even be a graduate of your firm's summer program. And you probably had at least an inkling that you would be asked to take on the leadership of the summer program. Where do you find help? What are the best sources?

I've just finished a four-year tour of duty in charge of the summer program at my firm. I was somewhat surprised to find that there are few articles and other materials available to help design and administer summer programs. Some of the more useful articles and sources may be found in the bibliography at the end of this article. Even better is to take over a well-designed program with a predecessor who will serve as an ongoing source of wise counsel and sage advice. That, however, may not always be the case.

This article lists my ten best tips for running a summer program. My firm has a relatively small summer program, but I have chosen the tips which have the most universal relevance. I have tried to combine both the practical and the philosophical and to place the role of running a summer program squarely within the tradition of training that is an integral part of the profession.

1. Involve Yourself in the Hiring Process. You have probably been interviewing law students for a number of years. Being part of the interview process allows you to develop relationships with summer associates early in the process and gives you an opportunity to evaluate potential recruits. When you are put in charge of summer program, you should become more than a mere participant in interviewing and hiring process. Becoming a member of the hiring committee or at least having significant involvement and input in the decision-making process is vital to the success of your summer program.

I tried to interview every candidate that we brought back to the office for a second interview and did a number of our on-campus interviews as well. This approach requires a significant time commitment and may not be practical in your situation. By interviewing each candidate, I could provide consistent answers to questions about our summer program and use my enthusiasm about the program to help sell the firm and the summer program. As time went on, I found that my experiences with summer program helped me identify potential candidates more easily and see potential problem areas with various candidates. I also found the interview process very helpful for getting feedback from students about what aspects of our summer program appealed to them and for getting responses to new ideas that I was considering for the next summer.

Because I saw a large part of my role as an interviewer to be providing information about the summer program, my interview techniques became friendlier and less-threatening. This approach pays dividends in helping you build an early relationship with offerees and allows you to be more active in actual recruiting of individuals. This early relationship also makes early and consistent contacts after a person accepts an offer a more natural process.
Being involved with your firm's hiring committee is useful for at least two other reasons. First, you will learn why offer decisions are made and what factors the other members of the hiring committee feel are important. This learning process will teach you many things about your firm, its culture and its mission. Second, after a couple of summers, you will have had the opportunity to field-test the results of those decisions and the assumptions on which they are based. Your observations become very important feedback to the hiring committee and should help to improve the hiring process.

2. Early Preparation Pays Off. It is difficult to exaggerate the time and energy commitment which is required to run a summer program. When the interviewing component of the job is included, running a summer program requires a significant amount of attention on a year-round basis. After the summer associates leave in August, you will find yourself writing memos to Managing Partners about the summer program, making your own notes about what worked and didn't work and deciding what might be new ideas to try the next summer.

It hardly seems that the summer associates have left (and sometimes they haven't) when you start interviewing law students for the next summer. You will be helping recruit your former associates who received offers and giving references for others. There might be 1-L interviews in December and January. In St. Louis, there is a Minority Clerkship Program which involves additional preparation and interviewing in the spring. By April I felt that I had to focus on the summer program and get set up for the arrival of new summer associates in May.

I also liked to incorporate new ideas in the summer program each year. I spent time looking for new articles and talking to others with the same job in other firms in the "off-season." I also talked to a number of people in the firm after the summer was over to help decide what went right and what went wrong. Also, there were always a number of people in the firm who sought me out to tell me what went right and what went wrong. I am afraid to add up all the hours that I spent in conversations with people about the summer program. As I suggested earlier, you learn many things about the culture, philosophy and mission of your firm by running its summer program.

You must have early and continuing contact with each person who accepts an offer with your firm. It can be as simple as a congratulatory note upon acceptance of the offer, a note to say good luck with finals at the beginning of December, a note to touch base with some information about the program in February and then a note every few weeks from April to the starting date. The worst mistake you can make is to have one of your summer associates call you up to confirm that he or she does, in fact, still have a job with you for the summer.

I also highly recommend some form of written manual and taking the time to do a comprehensive orientation on the first day a summer associate arrives. A manual can take many forms. I simply adapted our firm's staff manual into what I called a "guidebook" to help avoid any potential "official employee manual" employment issues. The guidebook contained a description of firm policies, phone numbers, computer, mail, copier and fax information, maps and biographies and secretarial arrangements. While I touched on much of the information covered in the guidebook during the orientation, the guidebook contained the type of material that will not be remembered after one listening. Our summer associates found it useful to have a written source to turn to for answers to basics questions. Never underestimate the importance of accurate office maps to your summer associates. In addition to the manual, I gave each summer associate and information packet with samples of written work and time sheets, an updated firm resume and telephone list, and articles useful to someone starting his or her legal career.

I have never liked to put someone right to work on his or her first morning on the job, but most summer associates arrive ready and raring to go. My compromise was to spend a few hours in the morning doing an orientation, touring the offices and introducing the summer associates to attorneys, taking them and their "buddies" to lunch, and then letting them get started on a project or two in the afternoon. It is unrealistic to expect that summer associates will hear and digest everything that you tell them in an orientation, but there are a number of items that they need to hear on a number of occasions and it is good to start immediately. I generally began with an introduction to the firm and its history, clients and structure. I proceeded to talk about matters specific to the summer program and then covered a broad range of practical details. I always took the approach that summer associates had not worked in a law firm before and stressed the practical while incorporating a few of my philosophical points about the program. I gave people practical tips about handling their first assignments and soliciting feedback, but I did not feel that walking through a sample assignment was useful. I also experiment with involving other people - managing partner, hiring partner, office manager, librarian - in the orientation itself. Involving others may make sense in your situation and it may even be part of your firm's culture, but I decided that it was best to keep the orientation focused and personal and, except for library tours, everything was covered by me.

The importance of early preparation for administrative matters - offices, secretarial arrangements, network setup, phone numbers, parking - goes without saying. It is good to get on top of this by April so that everyone is thinking along the same lines. If there is a problem with office space or number of secretaries, you can get it worked out much more easily over a six-week period than you can, say, over a six-day period.

Confidentiality and ethics issues involving summer associates have become far more significant in the last few years. There has been a growing awareness of potential conflicts of interest involving a summer associate who may have worked on the other side of a case at another firm the previous summer. Because summer associates are given small parts of cases, a summer associate may have worked on a case at another firm during the previous summer and have no idea of potential conflicts. A summer associate can get caught in the middle of these types of conflicts checks. The better approach seems to be to initiate contact, probably at an appropriate higher level, between your firm and the prior employer to work out the conflicts check issues and keep the summer associate out of the loop.

A large part of my early preparation went toward promoting interest in the summer program and increase participation by members of the firm. Make sure that people who will be participating in the program as "buddies," speakers, hosts of social events or in other capacities are contacted well in advance of the summer. I sent a memo to all attorneys and staff several weeks before the summer associates arrived describing the summer program, giving starting dates and providing brief biographies of summer associates. The day before a summer associate started an item containing a more detailed biography ran in our daily bulletin. Another item was placed in the daily bulletin on the actual start date and informed the receptionists when summer associates arrived so that they would be expected and warmly greeted. The little details really do matter. I also spoke about the summer program at the firm meeting in the spring. Participation by everyone at the firm is a large component of any successful summer program. Getting the summer program on peoples' minds is a first step toward getting that participation.

3. Make Use of Mentors. The summer program is probably not a place where you want to tough it out and go it alone. Although you are likely to run into a few things that no one else has ever experienced, many of the situations that arise during a summer are ones that arise fairly commonly. You will not have all the answers.
Your predecessors will most likely be tremendous sources of assistance to you. I talked to my predecessor on a regular basis and he was an enormous help to me. This type of regular consultation is a way to check your new ideas. Perhaps your ideas were considered or tried earlier. You should definitely learn where the potential pitfalls are as well as get a good sense of what has worked well before.

I also found the members of the hiring committee and the hiring partner to be good sources. It is good to remind them that the decisions they make have real consequences. People on the hiring committee are very interested in the training of younger attorneys and are often very willing to help you.

Your own mentor in the firm, even though he or she has little or no connection with the summer program, is often the best person to help you with some of the thornier issues or to give you important insights. In fact, tip #8 is a near quote from a comment made to me by my mentor as I lamented last summer that I felt I had the system really worked out, but that I was spending more time on the summer program than I ever had previously.

4. Consider Using a Buddy System. I am a big advocate of using a "buddy" system for your summer program. A "buddy" is a young associate who is paired up with a summer associate for the summer. I thought of them as "designated friends"; the buddies would have preferred the title of "associate advisor." A buddy's role, as with many things, lies somewhere in between. Each summer associate was paired with an associate in the firm with whom I thought he or she would be most compatible. The buddy helped the summer associate learn the culture of the firm and the many subtleties that are difficult to pick up in a short period of time - appropriate dress for casual day, forms to use, where to eat lunch and general information about working with individual attorneys. My notion was to try to have the assignment of a buddy act be a catalyst to a friendship that would be likely to develop over the summer in any event. I was not always successful at that, but I didn't expect to be.

The buddies also helped me by being my "eyes and ears" for potential problems and addressing other concerns before they became problems. For example, many summer associates will say that they can take on work even though they are swamped. A buddy could give me a more accurate assessment of the summer associate's workload and I could make the appropriate adjustment. On a lighter note, another example is the issue of what to wear to the firm picnic. I also found it infinitely preferable to pass off the issue to an appropriately-gendered buddy than try to answer questions about whether what type of swimsuit to wear to a pool party or float trip.

Although the use of buddies can take a good deal of the day-to-day load of running the summer program off of you, use of a buddy program does involve additional time to select buddies, keep them informed about what you want and to listen to their comments on summer associates. There are also tricky issues of confidentiality and objectivity. In my view, a buddy's job is to help the summer associate get an offer to return to the firm. As a general principle, a buddy could not give his or her summer associate a project. A buddy was not asked to give me a yes-no recommendation on the summer associate, although I would ask them for a more general assessment on the issue of "fit" and their opinions on whether a summer associate had a good experience and was likely to accept an offer.

For a buddy system to work well, a summer associate has to be able to feel that he or she can confide in a buddy. I chose to emphasize that aspect of the buddy relationship and respect the confidentiality of the relationship. There are obvious pluses and minuses of this approach and you might decide to take another approach. Disclosure of whatever the buddy's role is in the evaluation and information-gathering process, however, is essential.

Finally, a buddy system can help you handle the friend/evaluator dynamic that is an integral part of running a summer program. On the one hand, you want to have enough distance and objectivity to be an effective evaluator. On the other hand, it is unrealistic to expect that you won't end up liking everyone and rooting for them to get an offer. The buddy system allows you to be a bit stronger in the evaluator role. Because buddies are much nearer in age to the summer associates, a buddy system also helps you avoid looking foolish by trying to act like you are younger and hipper than you are.

5. Involve Attorneys on a Regular, Structured Basis Other Than Simply Giving Assignments. I met with all the summer associates on a regular, weekly basis. We would meet each Friday morning in the same conference room. The meetings had two purposes. First was the business side of the meeting. This part of the meeting lasted above five minutes and allowed me to discuss upcoming events, any problems that had arisen, workload issues and the like. The summer associates then had an opportunity to raise any issues that applied to the group at large (individual matters had to be discussed with me individually). The second purpose of the meeting was to have one of the partners in the firm give a talk to the summer associates. Partners could talk on any subject related to their specialty with only the instruction to make their talks personal rather than institutional. Partners were to talk about how they chose their specialty, what they liked most about their work and what they actually did on a daily basis. Invariably, this approach resulted in a discussion of advice that the attorney would give to a young law student. I followed the talk with a short homily emphasizing a point or two that the speaker made. Parents with children who watch Barney will recognize this approach.

This approach built on some of the things which were already being done in the program and reflected part of my answer to my consistent question: "What would I have liked to see when I worked during the summer?" Although this type of program results in a larger expenditure of time, it is very worthwhile. First, it is a non-threatening way to introduce attorneys to the summer associates and to help break down perceived barriers for the summer associates. After speaking to the group, a partner would be more inclined to take summer associates to lunch, to have them accompany him or her to a deposition or closing or to give out more projects. Summer associates were also more likely to seek the partner out either for projects or to discuss some of the points raised in the talk.

Second, it helps law students learn what lawyers actually do. Many law students simply do not know what an average lawyer does let alone what lawyers do in some of the more esoteric areas. Third, because I usually had eight to ten speakers in the course of a summer, I was able to promote participation from attorneys in various departments. Fourth, I could tailor speakers and, in a few cases, topics, to the particular group that I had for the summer. Some attorneys who I wanted the summer associates to meet might not be able to give projects, but were able to speak to them. I also let the summer associates pick one speaker at the end of each summer, which proved to be a very popular and successful experiment. It is a powerful motivator to tell an attorney that the summer associates have picked him or her as the one person they would most like to hear.

You can also benefit immensely from learning about the firm and its history and culture and, more importantly, about your partners and their history, work and interests. You will certainly benefit from being able to refer potential clients to others in your firm and to cross-sell existing clients as a result of the knowledge you gain about your partners that you might not have otherwise known.

6. Adopt a Structured Approach to Feedback and Evaluations. The two dragons of the summer program are feedback and evaluations. These two areas are largely a function of firm culture and you may be able to do little to change existing practices. To paint a fair picture of life at your firm, you will want to develop a feedback and evaluation system that is not too different from the one that is being used for young associates. I focused on eliminating barriers to feedback and evaluation and tried to minimize the amount of paperwork involved. I developed an explicitly two-tiered approach to feedback.

For feedback on the specifics of a given project, I simply relied on the one-on-one relationship between the assigning attorney and the summer associate. I told the summer associate that I would get involved in project feedback only if asked. Part of what I wanted to do was to push summer associates to seek feedback and to help them recognize feedback when they got it. Learning to get and interpret feedback is an essential skill that must be learned and practiced by young attorneys.

My focus was on the general evaluations rather than on specific project feedback. I gave two evaluations during each summer, one in the middle of the summer and one at the end of the summer. Each attorney with whom a summer associate had worked received an evaluation form and I concentrated on ways to get the highest level of responses. I experimented with different evaluation forms and finally decided to use a simplified form with 4 or 5 rating areas that forced a general conclusion. Attorneys seemed to write more comments when I left little space for comments than when I left large white spaces for comments. I used these evaluation forms as the basis for my own comments to the summer associates and filtered the responses back to the summer associates. This approach was preferable to showing summer associates the individual evaluation forms. Personally soliciting oral evaluations from attorneys may sometimes result in more in-depth evaluations, but the enormous amount of time that can be involved probably does not make this method practical in most firms.

Students generally will tell you that they are most interested in getting a thorough and honest evaluation at the middle of the summer. I put a lot of effort into the mid-summer evaluation. A mid-summer evaluation can be very inaccurate since it tends to highlight the comments on the first few projects done by the summer associate. Nonetheless, it is vital to get summer associates as information as possible by mid-summer.

I preferred a structured format for evaluations. I used the same format for each summer associate. Each summer associate review lasted at least 20 - 30 minutes. I began by explaining how the information was gathered and the potential inaccuracies that might arise during the evaluation process, especially at mid-summer. I then discussed with as many specifics as possible the positive aspects of the evaluations. I then mentioned at least three areas for improvement, again using as many specifics as I could. It is one thing to say that someone is "careless"; it is far better to say that the person needs to pay attention to detail and point to a specific oversight, like leaving out a page of a copy of a memo that was turned in to the assigning attorney. An evaluation of the summer associate's written work was next on my agenda. I tried to read some examples of each summer associate's writing, but I focused on a general set of points I wanted to emphasize during the summer - attention to detail, use of citation, drawing conclusions, considering the audience - and then made a few specific comments on the written work. Finally, I asked the summer associate for a self-assessment and his or her view on how things were going. The summer associate and I then tried to develop a plan for the rest of the summer to address the improvement areas or any other problems and to try to get specific types of work in which the summer associate was interested. The final evaluation followed the same format except that I asked for the self-assessment at the beginning of the meeting before giving my comments and I solicited feedback on the summer program and talked specifically about the summer associate's desire to return to the firm.

I liked this highly structured approach because it allowed for criticisms to be made in a positive framework, it ensured that each evaluation was similar, it made it easy for me to keep notes of each evaluation and to eliminate the complaint that "you never told me there were things I had to improve," and it promoted a two-way flow to the evaluation. It is important to seek information as well as impart it. My approach takes a good deal of time and effort, but it provides good information to the summer associates and it helps eliminate misunderstandings from evaluations which can take endless amounts of time to sort out.

7. Handling Social Events. My least favorite part of running our summer program was organizing and promoting social events. The social events were great, but working around schedule problems, work emergencies and other distractions was extremely difficult. And that was just getting the summer associates together.

My conclusion is that no matter how great a social event may be you are always better off getting summer associates out of the office, and out of the library, to attend trials, depositions, closings or any other work that shows what an attorney actually does. The time spent riding and talking with an attorney in a car to and from a deposition will likely turn out to be a more pivotal experience for the summer than will a night at the opera. Similarly, lunches and small group activities are also preferred by most summer associates.

The key, however, is to be who you are. Social events which fit within the firm culture and which are in line with your own personality as well turn out better than a great new idea that you may have. What you want to achieve is a setting where both attorneys and summer associates are relatively relaxed and comfortable (even though most law schools seem to counsel students never to let down their guard at any time) and the summer associates can get a better sense of what the attorneys in your firm are like outside a work setting.

I did not like to schedule many social events in the first few weeks of the summer. You will want to get a reading of what your summer associates' interests are first. Last year's most successful activity might be a disaster with this year's group. Remember also that a summer associate can get overbooked for the summer. Be sure that you do not plan so many activities that summer associates have little free time on the weekends or begin to see the events as a burden.

I always preferred a realistic approach. If there are twice as many social events in the summer as there are in the rest of year, you probably need to rethink your approach.

Remember that you do not have to do everything with respect to the summer program. Delegation is key. Getting several people, especially the buddies, to take over the planning of social events can be a big help. Another good idea is not to attend every event. Your presence can inhibit summer associates and, if you are not there, they can feel that they are not necessarily being told the party line.

8. It's a People Job, Not a Systems Job. Last summer was my fourth summer of running our summer program. I had all of my systems worked out and running smoothly. But I found that I was spending even more time on the summer program than I ever had before. It was frustrating me until I heard the words: "Well, it's a people job, not a systems job."

The systems that you design can make things flow more easily and smoothly, but running a summer program is a very high-maintenance operation. Many people are involved who need to be given attention on a regular basis. Do you really want to go for a week or more without chatting with each summer associate? Do you want to have regular meetings with buddies? Friday morning meetings may take up another hour or two. Managing workload can take up a good deal of time. Gathering evaluations from attorneys who do not turn in their forms can take a great deal of time. Evaluations take time. During the last few weeks of the summer, people who rarely, if ever, speak to you, will spend a great deal of time asking how summer associates are doing and speculating on offers. It is not uncommon to have at least one day during the summer where you find that it is time to go home and you know that all you have done is deal with summer program issues and you have no idea what they all were.

Because it is a people job, the best skills that you can have are flexibility and adaptability. Part of my enjoyment in running our program was making successful modifications in the way I did things during the course of the summer in reaction to the different people and situations we had. I tried to give the summer associates a high level of input into the way the summer program ran. There was also at least one issue which arose every summer for which I was completely unprepared and which I could not have predicted.

By all means, work on setting up a good system. But remember that any system you design will have to be modified over the course of a summer.

9. Practice Patience. My philosophy was to create an atmosphere where summer associates had a chance to show what they could do and then to let them do it. It is better to let a summer associate adopt the approach that he or she believes best than it is to force them into a mold that you think might be best. I did, however, try to do some steering if it seemed appropriate or necessary.

There are a tremendous number of practical skills that a summer associate has to learn over the course of a summer. Part of the summer experience is learning how to deal with these practical issues: How do I get my work done when my secretary is sick? Or, by "memo", did the assigning attorney mean a two-page action memo like my last assignment or twenty-page "law review" memo like the one before that? Or, how can people say that because the assigning attorney rewrote every sentence of my memo and kept rubbing her temples while talking me I should get the message that I had done a good job?

Most of these lessons should be learned by the summer associate himself or herself. Unless the summer associate is really floundering, it is probably best to resist the urge to jump right in and bail him or her out at the first hint of a problem. The vast majority of problems work themselves out in a fairly short period of time. This is especially true of the problems you hear second-hand. When a summer associate comes to you directly, though, you have to deal with the issue directly.

Some issues that arise during the summer should be delegated appropriately. I did everything possible to stay out of issues involving office furniture, for example. Secretarial and administrative issues should be handled by the summer associate with the office manager. Running the summer program gains you precious little weight at the firm - you do not want to be reminded too often how little - and you will want to choose your battles carefully.

Using a buddy system also gives the summer associate an initial friendly first step for advice on handling some issues. Generally, a summer associate is disinclined to bring every little issue to you. You want to be sure that they understand that you are always available when needed, but that there are often other avenues to try.

10. Don't Be Afraid to Stamp Your Imprint. Everyone runs a summer program in response to his or her own summer experience _ keeping the parts you liked, downplaying or eliminating what you didn't like and adding some of the things that you wished would have been part of your own experience. No matter how structured your summer program is, there will be some opportunities to have the program reflect your personality and your insights. It is wrong to simply be a care-taker of your firm's existing program. Every program can be improved.

I tried something new every year. My particular interest was in using the summer program to provide educational opportunities during the summer. For example, I talked one of my partners into being a writing advisor for summer associates. Once I was comfortable with the general structure of the program (and I inherited a good one), I enjoyed trying new things during the summer. As a result, our summer program had a spontaneous feel that reflected my personality.

What I learned at the end of my fourth year was that the person who runs a summer program, in many ways, the first mentor law students will have. Your philosophy about the profession, your enthusiasm about the practice and your firm, and your approach to the training of young lawyers will probably be passed on to your summer associates. That is at the same time both a sobering and exciting realization. George Leonard, in his book, Mastery, says that in choosing a teacher it is good to know who that teacher's teachers were. As I thought about this statement, I decided to make my last talk to summer associates about my own mentors and teachers. It is fascinating to see your own training as part of a historical tradition of teaching and to realize, as I did, how greatly you have benefited from the instruction you received early in your career. You honor your teachers by continuing their tradition of training.

Conclusion

I don't know whether I decided to stop running our summer program because the summer associates kept calling me "Dad" or because I heard myself saying "what a great group of kids." Running a summer program is and should be a young person's game, for many reasons. But I had a four great years.

The great enjoyment and reward of running a summer program comes largely from the opportunity to know, teach and assist the extremely bright, motivated and interesting law students who will end up working at your firm for a summer or, you hope, much longer. I had four "great groups of kids" who impressed me greatly and from whom I learned many things. I am richer for knowing all of them and hope that I have contributed in some small way to helping them become the excellent lawyers, and people, that they are capable of becoming.

I interviewed a law student this fall who told me a story of working with an older sole practitioner for period of time while she was deciding whether or not to go to law school. He gave her a lot of work, but also took a lot of time to talk to her about law school and the profession. When she told him that she had decided to go to law school, he told her that he had spent all the time with her because when he was young an older attorney had done the same thing for him. And, he told her, if she became a lawyer, she would have the same obligation to another young person in a similar situation. This is part of the tradition of the profession.

Often today you see and hear of an obsession with the "career path" and staying on it and fearing that you might fall even one step behind, that time spent working with young law students is time that might be better spent working on your own specialty, and that no one has any time for anyone other than himself or herself. I strongly believe that there is plenty of time and, if running a summer program is a detour off the fast track, it is a detour well worth making, a detour that has long been part of the tradition of the profession.

+++++++

Bibliographic Note: In many ways, the best general reference is Arnold B. Kantner's chapter on summer programs in The Lawyer Hiring Handbook (NALP). A good general article is Daniel F. Hinkel's "Success With Summer Associates" in the April, 1987 ABA Journal at pages 66 -70. An excellent practical article which focuses on orientation is Michele Mainaro's "How to Start Off a Summer Program" in the May 20, 1991 issue of The National Law Journal. You may also have access to seminar materials. The National Association for Law Placement is another source of information. Tapes of sessions relating to summer programs from the NALP annual convention are readily available and can be helpful as would attendance at the seminars.

Written in December, 1995/January, 1996

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

This post brought to you by LexThink!(R) - The Legal Unconference. Ask us about private LexThink retreats and conferences for your firm, business or organization.

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Posted by dmk at 06:41 PM

May 21, 2006

FeedPass as an RSS Subscription Option

I'm always looking for ways to demystify and make easier the RSS subscription process. Marshall Kirkpatrick's recent post on FeedPass (read the comments, too) got me interested in exploring FeedPass.

Part of what FeedPass does is to create a handy subscription page that is designed to make it easier for people to learn about your RSS feed and subscribe to it.

If you are a new reader of my blog or have been thinking about subscribing to the RSS feed, please take a look at the subscription page and let me know whether you think it makes it easy for your to understand RSS and subscribe to the feed.

[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).

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Posted by dmk at 11:36 AM | Comments (3)

May 18, 2006

The Difference Between a Blog and a Website

It can be surprisingly difficult to describe to people the differences between blogs and websites in ways they will understand.

I like to describe blogs by their impact, not their attributes: "A blog is an online newspaper or magazine column without the newspaper or magazine."

To people who have worked on their own websites for a long time, I like to describe blogging software as a great, lightweight content management system for a website that allows you to focus on content rather than HTML.

There is a lot of overlap between blogs and websites and it's fair to say that blogs are a subset of websites, or that a blog is a form of website.

Kevin O'Keefe pointed today to a great post from Dave Taylor that will definitely help you understand the difference between blogs and websites. I highly recommend it to anyone who has struggled with trying to learn the difference or who has to try to explain the difference to someone.

The money quote (from Dave Taylor):

In my opinion, this separation of content from presentation is a wonderful reason to consider using a blog as the foundation of your entire Web site. Being able to focus on the words--on what you want to say, on your content--is not only a wonderful relief (no worrying about breaking HTML with an edit hiccup!) but lowers the barrier of entry for new Web site creators/bloggers to almost zero.

[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 blogging consulting, technology audit, strategic planning and technology committee coaching packages especially for medium-sized law firms (15 - 100 lawyers) and corporate legal departments. More information on the "Second Pair of Eyes" packages for legal technology audits and strategic planning may be found here (PDF).

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Posted by dmk at 07:43 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2006

Bill Gates Sends Me an Email That Pulls Together Some Ideas I've Been Thinking About Recently

I received an email from Bill Gates today. Well, so did thousands of others, I'm sure, but I've always wanted to start a blog post off like that. Unlike many who received it, I would bet, I read it from beginning to end. I encourage you to do the same.

The email is called "Beyond Business Intelligence: Delivering a Comprehensive Approach to Enterprise Information Management" (note: URL for this email will likely change in the future, so check the archive of emails at that link) and, in it, Gates offers some thoughts about the next ten years.

I like the email because I noticed that Bill and I are thinking along the same lines. For example, he ends the piece with:

"As we look ahead to the next 10 years and the promise of the New World of Work, I believe we are on the verge of an idea that is even more powerful: the age of friction-free innovation."

Friction-free innovation. Matt Homann and I have been talking about and working on improving innovation in professional services for the last year-and-a-half through LexThink. It's nice to be on the same page with the richest guy in the world.

That aside, however, I recommend that you read this email. It's not too long, and I'm intrigued by the vision of the future of technology sketched out there.

There are a number of ideas that caught my attention.

1. The yin/yang notion of information overload (which we all know) and information underload, a way of looking at the other half of the equation of how technology seems to leave us so unsettled these days. He says: "The other problem is something I call information underload. We’re flooded with information, but that doesn’t mean we have tools that let us use the information effectively."

He goes on to sketch out those tools and the business priorities they must address: Productivity; Collaboration; Business intelligence; Workflow optimization.

People who talk to me these days about where legal software needs to go have certainly heard these four topics from me a lot lately, especially the fourth one.

2. Gates, in some comments that I'm not necessarily sure are directed at Google (although I'm sure that's the way some will take them), mentions "enterprise-enabled search" as one direction we must go. If you've talked to people facing the gargantuan issues involved in records management, compliance, information governance and electronic discovery, you will know that "enterprise-enabled search" is not a buzzword du jour. It focuses on some real issues that must be addressed sooner rather than later.

3. Gates also mentions, almost in passing, knowledge management in the context of "enterprise-enabled search." This goes back to business priorities. Are we managing information just for litigation purposes (e-discovery) or just for regulatory purposes (compliance) or should we take the opportunity to extend and close the circle and use that information in creative, positive and broader ways? Again, this is a theme that has been filtering into my presentations on electronic discovery and information lifecycle management.

4. Sharepoint Server as a platform. I've given two presentations in recent weeks on legal technology trends in which I highlight ten trends. One of them is the growing interest and likely uses of Sharepoint Server in law firms. Gates, in his email, sketches out the role Sharepoint Services may play and points to something new called Knowledge Network for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. He says, "Another new technology aimed at streamlining information access that should be available in the near future is an enhanced search tool called Knowledge Network for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. This add-on will track expertise and relationships in an organization so information workers can quickly connect to people with the right skills and knowledge."

5. At TECHSHOW 2005, Marc Lauritsen was reviewing the histroy of legal technology and made a comment about tasks that it made sense for computers to do and tasks that it made sense for humans to do. It struck me then, and does even more so today, that part of the reason we see dissatisfaction and burnout in the legal profession is that, arguably in many cases, lawyers are still doing work as humans that should at this point be done by computers, freeing them up to do more of the creative things that play such a big part in being a lawyer. Properly understood, we should be trying to use technology to enable us to move in that direction.

In his email, Gates says: "In this New World of Work, repetitive, uninteresting tasks like moving data from one system to another will be automated and employees will focus much more of their time and creative energy on work that generates real value and growth."

And that should be the money quote for this email.

My point here is not to say, "hey, Bill Gates and I are thinking a lot alike these days," but to say that there are some trends, forces, needs and tools that are starting to come together. Some of these I had noticed; some I hadn't. But the email frm Bill Gates helped pull together a lot of different pieces in a very helpful way for me. Some may say that nothing in here is all that original, but it is the synthesis of these ideas and the vision and direction that is revealed in the email that is original and. to me, quite exciting, even if it might be ten years away.

I invite you to read the email and see what impact it has on you.You can subscribe to these emails from Gates from the page you will find the email.

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

This post brought to you by LexThink!(R) - The Legal Unconference. Ask us about private LexThink retreats and conferences for your firm, business or organization.

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Posted by dmk at 06:05 PM | Comments (3)

May 16, 2006

Reminder: Technology Primer for Solo and Small Firms Teleseminar on Thursday

On Thursday, May 18, the American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section, ABA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division and ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education are presenting a teleseminar called "Technology Primer for Solo and Small Firms." The program features the lead editor (Bill Gibson) and three contributing authors (Natalie Kelly, Dan Pinnington and me) of the latest edition of the excellent "Flying Solo" book.

From the program description:

This teleconference and live audio webcast will show you how to make better use of legal technologies to improve your practice. Join our expert faculty to learn how you can use technology to be more effective and efficient.

Attend this program to learn how to:

+ Protect the security and privacy of client and firm data from viruses, worms, hackers and your own staff
+ mprove client service and communications through the amazing power of practice management software
+ Avoid malpractice claims and ethics complaints that can result from the improper use of technology
+ Manage email communications to ensure that the flood of business-related messages and SPAM does not affect your client relationships or your ability to practice
+ Find and use the best online legal resources and marketing tools to improve and build your practice
+Train yourself and your staff to maximize your practice and technology investment

Our seasoned presenters will give you their favorite practical tips and tricks for doing more with and getting more from legal technology.

The teleseminar, on May 18 from 1:00 to 2:30 Eastern, is a full 90 minutes, and will be loaded with practical tips and recommendations. Natalie and Dan are two of my favorite presenters to listen to and to work with.

More details and online regisration is at http://www.abanet.org/cle/programs/t06tps1.html.

This will be a valuable program for current solo and small firm lawyers and those thinking about becoming solo and small firm lawyers. One great thing about this teleseminar for big firm lawyers - you don't have to worry about running into one of your colleagues as you might at a traditional seminar.

I hope you can join us.

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

Learn more about legal technology at Dennis Kennedy's Legal Technology Central page.

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Posted by dmk at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)

Cautionary Tales from Government IT Efforts

Allan Holmes' article, "Federal IT Flunks Out" on CIO.com tells the sobering and ultimately frustrating story of where tons of money and effort have been squandered in federal government IT projects over the past ten years. The focus is on the role of CIOs in government agencies.

The article also discusses the law that was passed to avoid this very result.

The Clinger-Cohen Act, passed in a rare act of bipartisanship 10 years ago, outlined steps that were designed to cast federal CIOs in the role of strategists who could help agencies formulate new business processes to streamline operations, improve the delivery of public services and reduce the risk of system disasters that test citizens' faith in government—and, from time to time, put their lives in danger. Officially known as the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 (and later renamed the Clinger-Cohen Act after Rep. William Clinger and Sen. William Cohen, who pushed the legislation through), the law demanded that federal agencies follow corporate America's best practices for managing IT. Agencies were required to hire a CIO, institute investment controls and establish performance goals and metrics to measure progress. The law was hailed as the tool that would finally fix federal IT.

As the article points out, the Act is another example of how legislation on technology issues never quite seems to get the job done (CAN-SPAM anyone?) even with the best of intentions. Paul Brubaker, one of the lead authors of the law when he worked as a Republican staff director for Cohen, has said, "We really thought we had it nailed. . . . We were going to change the way government managed IT and in doing so, possibly change government. . . . The Clinger-Cohen Act was totally bastardized to fit political agendas in both [the Clinton and first Bush] administrations, missing the point of making the CIO a strategic player in an agency rather than just the technology go-to guy. . . . We have the same basic problems we did 10 years ago.""

I highlight and recommend this article not just as another infuriating example of "your tax dollars at work" (or the frightening security threats we continue to face because of these practices), but as a cautionary tale that you will want to consider as you look at your own IT projects and the role that your CIO (or you as a CIO) plays in yor organization's success.

Holmes, through a series of many interviews notes four key factors that have led to the problems:

1. The CIO's lack of authority, specifically over budgets.

2. Cultural and political resistance that derails sound IT practices.

3. Poor project management discipline.

4. Paperwork exercises that require CIOs and their staffs to spend huge amounts of time proving that they are adhering to administration directives.

Sound familar?

As Holmes notes, the solution lies in leadership.

The money quote:

John Flaherty, chief of staff for Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, stood up to say a few words about [retiring Department of Transportation CIO] Matthews' accomplishments, pointing out that Matthews was always quick to help Mineta when his BlackBerry wasn't working.

Flaherty wasn't kidding.

A number of people present saw Flaherty's comment as a perfect illustration of why IT at the federal level is so troubled. Government CIOs are still seen as guys who fix BlackBerrys.

Important topic - great article - highly recommended.

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

This post brought to you by LexThink!(R) - The Legal Unconference. Ask us about private LexThink retreats and conferences for your firm, business or organization.

Technorati tags: legal technology CIO

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

May 15, 2006

DIY Electronic Discovery

Feeling brave? Maybe it's not quite like DIY brain surgery or DIY rocket science, but maybe a lawyer might try his or her hand at do-it-yourself electronic discovery.

A great new article from computerforensics and electronic discovery expert Craig Ball called Do-It-Yourself E-Discovery raises the important question of when and how you might want to deal with certain parts of electronic discovery matters yourself.

In Craig's article, the example is email and .pst files. Craig looks at a number of software tools before deciding on dtSearch. He invites others to suggest other options, with all due warnings about understanding the "chain of custody," spoliation and other evidentiary issues inherent in any DIY approach. Do not underestimate these issues. You must understand the risks (see the quote from Craig below).

Note that you might also obtain the forensically-sound copy you need and then have a second copy prepared that you will use these DIY tools on to screen the copy without compromising the evidence of the other copy.

I suggest taking a look at some free and inexpensive tools and some tools you may already own - the X1 search tool, Adobe Acrobat 7 (import the PST files into Outlook and then use Acrobat to save the folders as PDF files to work with) or the free Copernic Desktop search tool,. You might even try to import the PST file and then export it out of Outlook into an Access file. There may be other creative options. I'm looking forward to hearing about them.

Remember that (1) you might get the opposing party to agree to using these simple and cheap tools and get a judge's approval as an alternative to full-blown approaches in appropriate cases, (2) these tools might help you see whether use of more expensive and more elaborate tools will be needed, or (3) you might use these tools for other screening purposes.

As Craig says:

As a computer forensic examiner, I blanch at the thought of lawyers harvesting data and processing e-mail in native formats.

"Guard the chain of custody," I want to warn. "Don't mess up the metadata! Leave this stuff to the experts!"

But the trial lawyer in me wonders how a solo/small firm practitioner in a run-of-the-mill case is supposed to tell a client, "Sorry, the courts are closed to you because you can't afford e-discovery experts."

This is an intriguing, potentially quite important, topic that deserves some serious thought and attention. I congratulate Craig for raising the topic and look forward to the discussion it raises. For example, see Evan Schaeffer's post here.

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

Learn more about electronic discovery at Dennis Kennedy's Electronic Discovery Resources page.

Technorati tags: legal technology electronic discovery do-it-yourself

Posted by dmk at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2006

Are Tech Costs Spinning Out of Control?

Good question. I participated in a roundtable article in the latest issue of the ABA's Law Practice Magazine called "Tech costs spinning out of control? What you should and shouldn't do: Pointers and predictions for solos and small firms." The article has a stellar list of legal technologists as participants: Sharon Nelson, Craig Ball, Jim Calloway, Dennis Kennedy, Ross Kodner and John Simek. Lots of great ideas and useful information for law firms considering technology options. The issue also has a great article on blogging from Tom Mighell, my partner in the new podcast, The Kennedy-Mighell Report.

In related news, Helen Gunnarsson's great article on legal blogging, "Do We Blawg and How?" (formerly available only in print) is now available online.

And, the May issue of the ABA's Law Practice Today webzine has also just been published.

Finally, I noticed that I'm quoted in a third article this week on Law.com. This time it's in a very good article by Ann Sherman called "Firms See Waves of Problems from Employee Web Surfing," which covers some of the important issues raised in technology use policies, or the lack thereof.

Lots of good reading.

[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 blogging consulting, technology audit, strategic planning and technology committee coaching packages especially for medium-sized law firms (15 - 100 lawyers) and corporate legal departments. More information on the "Second Pair of Eyes" packages for legal technology audits and strategic planning may be found here (PDF).

Technorati tags: legal technology blawg

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

May 10, 2006

Extranets and Disaster Recovery on Law.com

Law.com has posted good articles in the last two days on extranets and disaster recovery, two topics law firms should have high on their priority lists for this year. I'm quoted in both articles and enjoyed speaking with Ari Kaplan and Leigh Jones as they prepared the articles.

The money quote from the disaster recovery article:

Kennedy also warns that firm management should maintain a working knowledge of their disaster plans. Frequently, he said, they delegate the responsibility to the firm's technology professionals without understanding it themselves. That approach can create problems if employees leave. It can also backfire in an emergency, if management and technology staffers haven't developed the plan together.

The money quote from the extranet article (a big thank you to Ari for distilling our conversation into one paragraph that captures the essence of what I was trying to say):

"There are some people who have done some pretty great things with extranets, but there is room to do more," he says, adding that the real potential for extranet is through incorporating decision trees, artificial intelligence, instant messaging and document assembly. "Extranets are like Web sites; their potential is limited only by our imaginations."

These two articles should be on your reading list for today.

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

Learn more about electronic discovery at Dennis Kennedy's Electronic Discovery Resources page.

Technorati tags: legal technology disaster recovery extranet

Posted by dmk at 07:18 AM

Episode 3 of The Kennedy-Mighell Report Podcast Now Available

The latest episode (#3) of The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast is now available. Tom and I like to describe the podcast as being about legal technology, with an Internet focus.

In the new episode, we sat down to talk about our "take-aways" from our recent trip to the ABA TECHSHOW. We touch on some of the highlights of what we saw there, both in terms of products and what we learned in sessions, and then spend some time talking about the current state of technology in law firms and where it all might be leading us.

Please take a listen and let us know what you think about this podcast and any topics that you'd like us to cover.

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

Learn more about legal technology at Dennis Kennedy's Legal Technology Central page.

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Posted by dmk at 06:57 AM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2006

Two Good Causes: Asking for a Little Help from Legal Tech Vendors

I've been asked by the organizers of two upcoming conferences to see if I can lend a hand in asking vendors to become exhibitors and sponsors and to donate door prizes. I have the highest opinion of both conferences and believe that they represent an excellent forum and value for legal tech vendors.

1. The first is New Orleans, New Law conference on May 22 and 23. The sponsor information page is here.

I have many friends who are actively participating in this conference and this good cause. Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita and other disasters may be receding in our memories but the problems faced in their aftermath remain very real.

From the press release:

The two-day session titled New Orleans, New Law: Community Revival with Technology is critical to jump start the areas’ legal revitalization and teach attorneys about the technology tools and resources they can access and utilize to get them back on their feet. The newly established resource center will be critical to help them maintain their practices, have a place to meet clients, and have access to resources not available at their homes and temporary office spaces.

2. There is a consensus that the Missouri Solo and Small Firm Conference is the best conference of its kind in the country. I thoroughly enjoy presenting at and attending this conference, as I will be be doing again this year. Linda Oligschlaeger of the Missouri Bar does an amazing and greatly-appreciated job of organizing and putting on this conference every year.

She is once again expecting over 700 solo and small firm lawyers to attend this event. She mentioned to me that she'd always appreciate a few more items from legal tech vendors for door prize drawings.

I'll go a bit further. Vendors in the solo and small firm space will not find a better venue than the Missouri Solo and Small Firm Conference. It needs to be on your marketing radar screen. I encourage you to get in touch with Linda about not only prizes for drawings, but sponsor and exhibitor opportunities. Sponsor information is here or contact Linda directly.

If you can help out with either event, I (and many others) would be grateful.

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

Technorati tags: legal technology solo small firm conference

Posted by dmk at 08:52 AM | Comments (0)

Upcoming Teleseminar: Technology Primer for Solos and Small Firms

2006 has certainly been my biggest year ever for webinars and teleseminars. And I have the details on an upcoming seminar that should be an excellent program for solo and small firm lawyers interested in technology.

The program, on May 18, is called "Technology Primer for Solo and Small Firms" and will be produced by the American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section, ABA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division and ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education. The program features the lead editor (Bill Gibson) and three contributing authors (Natalie Kelly, Dan Pinnington and me) of the latest edition of the excellent "Flying Solo" book.

Great news for attendees: Register for the teleseminar through Friday, May 12 and you'll be entered into a drawing for a complimentary copy of the Fourth Edition of Flying Solo: A Survival Guide for the Solo and Small Firm Lawyer. The winner will be announced during the live program.

From the program description:

This teleconference and live audio webcast will show you how to make better use of legal technologies to improve your practice. Join our expert faculty to learn how you can use technology to be more effective and efficient.

Attend this program to learn how to:

+ Protect the security and privacy of client and firm data from viruses, worms, hackers and your own staff
+ mprove client service and communications through the amazing power of practice management software
+ Avoid malpractice claims and ethics complaints that can result from the improper use of technology
+ Manage email communications to ensure that the flood of business-related messages and SPAM does not affect your client relationships or your ability to practice
+ Find and use the best online legal resources and marketing tools to improve and build your practice
+Train yourself and your staff to maximize your practice and technology investment

Our seasoned presenters will give you their favorite practical tips and tricks for doing more with and getting more from legal technology.

The teleseminar, on May 18 from 1:00 to 2:30 Eastern, is a full 90 minutes, and will be loaded with practical tips and recommendations. Natalie and Dan are two of my favorite presenters to listen to and to work with.

More details and online regisration is at http://www.abanet.org/cle/programs/t06tps1.html.

This will be a valuable program for current solo and small firm lawyers and those thinking about becoming solo and small firm lawyers. One great thing about this teleseminar for big firm lawyers - you don't have to worry about running into one of your colleagues as you might at a traditional seminar.

I hope you can join us.

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

Learn more about legal technology at Dennis Kennedy's Legal Technology Central page.

Technorati tags: legal technology seminar solo small firm

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

May 08, 2006

Legal Technology Trends from Montreal - A Report

I've returned from a great trip to Montreal for the Association of Legal Administrator's Conference. I had a great time at the conference and in Montreal.

When I went to check out the room in which I was to speak, I found that it was set up with more than 900 chairs. Given the late afternoon time slot that I had and the competing sessions, the room was not full, but there were several hundred people in the audience, by far one of the biggest audiences I've had for a legal tech presentation in quite a while.

A well-intentioned AV tech managed to make one last adjustment that ensured that I had no display on either the projection screen or my notebook, so I once again will remind you of the importance of bringing along a printout of your slides. It can be a lifesaver.

I received good feedback on the talk and got the chance to answer quite a few questions after the session. As I said, it was a great time and I noticed a lot of people taking notes when I made some of my key points.

I'll probably post the materials and slides on this blog in the near future.

I spent a good deal of time at the conference on the exhibit floor, seeing old friends, making some new friends and getting an updated view on the current state of legal technology.

As I mentioned, I really liked Montreal. It's funny how used to seeing signs and written materials in both French and English. I kind of miss that back in St. Louis.

+++

Je suis revenu d'un grand voyage à Montréal pour l'association de la conférence de l'administrateur juridique. J'ai eu un grand temps à la conférence et à Montréal. Quand je suis allé vérifier la salle dans laquelle je devais parler, j'ai constaté qu'elle a été installée avec plus de 900 chaises. Etant donné la fente de temps d'après-midi en retard que j'ai eue et les sessions de concurrence, la salle n'était pas pleine, mais il y avait plusieurs centaines de personnes dans les assistances, de loin une des plus grandes assistances que j'ai prises pour une présentation légale de technologie dans tout à fait un moment. A well-intentioned la technologie de poids du commerce parvenue pour faire un ajustement de bout qui s'est assuré que je n'ai eu aucun affichage sur l'écran de projection ou mon cahier, ainsi je de nouveau vous rappellerai d'importance d'apporter le long d'une liste imprimée de vos glissières. Ce peut être un sauveteur. J'ai reçu la bonne rétroaction sur l'entretien et ai obtenu la chance de répondre à quelques questions après la session. Comme I dit, c'était un grand temps et j'ai noté un bon nombre de gens prenant des notes quand j'en ai fait de mes points clés. Je signalerai probablement les matériaux et les glissières sur ce blog dans un proche avenir. J'ai dépensé beaucoup du temps à la conférence sur le plancher d'objet exposé, voyant de vieux amis, faisant quelques nouveaux amis et obtenant une vue mise à jour sur l'état actuel de la technologie légale. Comme j'ai mentionné, j'ai vraiment aimé Montréal. Il est drôle comment utilisé à voir des signes et des matériaux écrits dans le Français et l'anglais. Genre I de manque qui arrière à St Louis. [Courtesy of Altavista's Babel Fish translator]

+++

[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 blogging consulting, technology audit, strategic planning and technology committee coaching packages especially for medium-sized law firms (15 - 100 lawyers) and corporate legal departments. More information on the "Second Pair of Eyes" packages for legal technology audits and strategic planning may be found here (PDF).

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Posted by dmk at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2006

Legal Technology Trends - Montreal Edition

I'll be presenting a session called "Anticipating Technology Trends for 2006 and Beyond" at the Association of Legal Administrators' Annual Educational Conference and Expo and May 3 in Montreal.

If you will be there, I hope to see you at the session or at the Conference.

The session will be based loosely on this article.

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

Learn more about legal technology at Dennis Kennedy's Legal Technology Central page.

Technorati tags: legal technology trends

Posted by dmk at 06:23 AM | Comments (0)

May 01, 2006

A Podcast of Our Recent "Podcasting for Lawyers" Presentation

Tom Mighell has posted Episode 2 of The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast.

When Tom and I did our presentation on "Podcasting for Lawyers" at the ABA TECHSHOW, I was surprised to find that it was not one of the programs selected for recording and later podcasting. I had a small headset microphone in my bag and decided to see what we might be able to capture. With some editing and enhancement work, I believe that we have a quite serviceable recording of the session and we have now posted it as episode 2 of the The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast.

We cover the whole range of podcasting issues and the discussion is perfect for the newbie or beginner, but also has good tips for people with all levels of experience. We talk about how to find and listen to podcasts, and how to create your own podcast, if you catch the podcasting bug.

By the way, in case it's not clear, I was joking when I made a few suggestions at one point in the session about how you might listen to podcasts in your car. I haven't yet figured out how to add emoticons to the recording.h

If you are interested in the podcasting phenomenon and how it might affect lawyers, this podcast is a great starting point.

Tom and I recorded episode 3 this weekend, in which we talk about some of our reflections on what we learned at TECHSHOW. It will get posted soon. Then we'll turn to some non-TECHSHOW topics, probably in the Web 2.0 area.

Please listen to and/or subscribe to The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast and let us know what you think.

[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 blogging consulting, technology audit, strategic planning and technology committee coaching packages especially for medium-sized law firms (15 - 100 lawyers) and corporate legal departments. More information on the "Second Pair of Eyes" packages for legal technology audits and strategic planning may be found here (PDF).

Technorati tags: legal technology podcasting lawyers kennedy mighell

Posted by dmk at 08:40 AM