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My latest “Kennedy on Tech” ABA journal column is my attempt to answer a question I frequently hear from lawyers – “What mobile apps should I have?”

ABAJ Column - Feb 2015

One of the things that intrigues me most about our new world of apps is how personalized each of our experiences using tech, especially mobile devices, has become. The apps that I like might not be the ones you like. The apps I use most might well be apps you don’t even use. It becomes more difficult than ever to compare what I’m seeing on my screens to what you are seeing on your screens.

As a result, I find that lists of “best” apps or even app reviews to be somewhat unhelpful for me.

In my new column, the title largely reveals my point of view: “Which apps are must-haves? It depends on your practice.”

In the article, I set out a framework for you to use when considering what mobile apps might work best for you.

I divided apps into four categories:

  1. Apps for programs you already use.
  2. Apps for convenience.
  3. Apps for how you work.
  4. The elusive “other” types of apps.

The money quote:

There are plenty of useful apps out there, especially if you take a step back and think about how you practice, how you use mobile devices and the intersection of the two.

Mobile apps are especially good for three things: allowing you to perform tasks anywhere and at any time, extending the range of what you can do with computer programs or Web services, and taking advantage of the features of a mobile device (camera, microphone, sensors) to give you new tools right at hand.

As always, I like to hear what you think of these columns. Let me know. Longtime column readers will notice that the column has a new photo of me.

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

View Dennis Kennedy's profile on LinkedIn

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers (Second Edition), the new book from Allison Shields and me, is now available (iBook version also available). Our previous book, Facebook in One Hour for Lawyers, is also available (iBook version here). Also still available, The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

If you will be in the St. Louis area on October 3 and 4, there’s a great legal tech conference called Lex Port that the Missouri Bar Association is putting on. In just its second year, Lex Port has a great schedule of programs, national legal tech speakers (Mike Downey, Ben Schorr, Jeff Taylor and Paul Unger), an attractive price, and, I’ve already been told, an impressive number of attendees already registered, I believe doubling the excellent attendance of the inaugural event last year.

Lex Port logo

However, there’s always room for more, and walk-up registration is still possible. Check with the Missouri Bar. We’d like to see you at the conference in St. Charles, Missouri.

The agenda (see details here) is wide-ranging, with lots of great topics, from Microsoft Office programs to ethics to tablet and apps to technology law topics and much more.

I’ll be speaking at three sessions on Friday, October 4:

FACEBOOK IN 50 MINUTES FOR LAWYERS

Facebook has more than 1 BILLION users. What does this mean for lawyers? Is Facebook right for you and your practice? Whether you simply want to know enough about Facebook to advise your clients or you want to jump in or improve your Facebook presence, this practical session will provide you with strategies, lessons and tips for using Facebook to achieve personal and professional goals. You will learn how to decide whether Facebook makes sense for you and your practice, setting up a personal and/or professional presence, dealing with privacy and security settings, and much more.

DEATH, DISABILITY & DIGITAL ESTATE PLANNING

We all now have a growing base of digital “property” – passwords, online accounts, photos and much more. What happens to your digital assets on death or incapacity? Do traditional probate rules and concepts work in the parallel universe of digital property? Who can access online accounts? How do you obtain passwords? How can digital property be accessed and transferred to heirs? How do we prepare for dealing with our increasingly online world? This practical session will look at the issues that have already arisen, future concerns and how laws and lawyers are trying to keep up with online trends.

50 APPS IN 50 MINUTES (with Jeff Taylor and Lucas Boling)

Over 1,000,000 Android Apps, more than 900,000 iPhone and iPad apps, and 130,000+ Windows Phone apps – with so many choices, how do you find apps relevant to your practice and your busy life? You will not want to miss this fast-paced session that highlights 50 of the best apps for the legal professional.

The great people at the Missouri Bar Association always do a great job with conferences and I expect this year’s Lex Port conference to exceed the high standard set by last year’s event.

I hope to see you there. As always, I enjoy meeting readers of this blog. Please feel free to introduce yourself.

– Dennis Kennedy

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

View Dennis Kennedy's profile on LinkedIn

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers (Second Edition), the new book from Allison Shields and me, is now available. Our previous book, Facebook in One Hour for Lawyers, is also available (iBook version here). Also still available, The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Let me recommend two new episodes of The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast in which Tom and I take a look at how technology can enhance your summer vacation and discuss the “other apps” – browser extensions, apps and plugins. These are are first two regular episodes after our blockbuster hundredth anniversary episode for the Legal Talk Network titled “Pardon Our 100th Interruption“.

Here are the show descriptions:

#102 – Summer Vacation Technology [LTN] [LTRC]

Summer and vacation seasons are approaching. Some prefer to completely disconnect on vacation, while others like to stay connected. Work aside, those who choose to stay connected can use technology to make their trips more manageable and stress free with travel apps, adapters, and travel-friendly cameras. In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the intersection of technology and vacation, whether to connect or disconnect while traveling, and some of their favorite vacation and travel tech tips. In the second half of the show, your hosts will cover the accelerated speed of cloud-based interface updates and how to keep up.

This episode takes a very practical look at technology in the non-work context and shares lessons from Tom’s recent Mediterranean vacation. In the B segment, we vented a bit about how many of our favorite web services seem to be making major interface changes these days, often overnight and with no warning. You might have noticed the same thing. I’m not sure what we can really do about this, other than to be adaptable and resilient.

#101 – Taking Advantage of Apps and Plug-ins [LTN] [LTRC]

Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell enter the realm of apps and plug-ins. Also known as web extensions, browser apps, add-ons, and bookmarklets, these additions to web browsers are made to make your Internet browser experience more efficient. Learn your hosts’ favorite web extensions when browsing for leisure and for work, and how to manage your apps and plug-ins so they don’t slow down your browser speed. The second half of the episode turns toward Internet communication, more specifically, how Twitter users are creating hashtags to express their moods in posts and how this changes the meaning and use of the hashtag.

With all of the focus on smartphone and tablet apps (I’m actually speaking on that topic later today), you might overlook the world of browser apps (Google Chrome extensions, Firefox add-ons, and the like) and how they can enhance your Internet browsing experience. Tom and I explain how they work and suggest some helpful apps. I’ve been wanting to increase my use of these apps and got to take advantage of Tom’s expertise in this area. I suspect that you’ll find some helpful advice, too. In the B segment, we look at the cool trend in hashtags (on Twitter and, increasingly, elsewhere) to use hashtags to make comments and meta-observations in addition to the original use of self-categorization (#ifthatisthataword). I used to think that the 140 character limit made it difficult to say that I wanted to say, but now I find that that I have plenty of room to make a point and also use a hashtag to make a metacomment (#funnyhowthatworks).

Remember the podcast is now available at two places: the Legal Talk Network and the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center. And it’s available in iTunes, where you can subscribe and have new episodes appear in iTunes automatically when they are released. As always, if you have ideas for topics or questions for us to answer on the podcast, let us know.

– Dennis Kennedy

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

View Dennis Kennedy's profile on LinkedIn

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Facebook in One Hour for Lawyers, the new book from Allison Shields and me, is now available (iBook version here). Our previous book, LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers is also available and also can be downloaded as an iBook. Also still available, The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

My latest two ABA Journal tech columns are called “Apt to make apps? What you need to consider before jumping in” and “5 tech policies law firms should consider to prep for job departures.”

1. Apt to make apps? What you need to consider before jumping in

In this column, I did a little investigation into mobile apps (really, iOS apps) that law firms and lawyers had created so far. My research was not scientific or thorough, but it gave me an indication of what the typical person looking for law firm apps would find. I didn’t find a lot of these apps, but, to generalize, most fell into the megafirm category or the auto accident firm category.

Some of the apps look to be be useful, and some are underwhelming.

The exercise gave me something think about in how lawyers might create mobile apps and I try to draw a few practical conclusions and give some tips about costs and approaches to apps.

The money quote:

In some ways the current app environment is reminiscent of the early days of webpages in 1995 or blogging in 2002 or 2003, when there was a small number of early adopters among the legal profession. For some, moving to the Web or blogging was a rewarding and successful step. For at least as many, it was a move that did not make sense. And for the majority, their efforts did not make much of an impact.

While I don’t expect law firm mobile apps to become as ubiquitous as law firm websites, I’m intrigued by the ways law firms might take advantage of the apps platform.

Read the entire column at “Apt to make apps? What you need to consider before jumping in.”

2. 5 tech policies law firms should consider to prep for job departures

This column was suggested by a lawyer friend of mine in St. Louis when we had breakfast a few months ago. He mentioned that knowing what to do when a lawyer (or any staff member) left a firm was hard enough, but determining what to do about technology when someone left was really difficult. He talked about some of the approaches he had seen and taken and thought that the topic would be good for a column. I agreed.

I focused on five key policies, but want to emphasize how important it is to be flexible and have a good understanding of what is happening at the time and what is at stake.

This area struck me as one where lawyers were likely to be advising clients on appropriate employee manuals and policies, but not bother to implement them for their own firms. It’s also an area where manuals and policies can only take you so far. I vividly remember when the IT director at my then firm left a manila envelope with some notes and a “yesterday was my last day” letter on my chair for me to find when I came in in the morning.

The column focuses on some of the biggest issues (there are more, to be sure) and makes a few practical suggestions for each.

The money quote:

Common responses to the technology issues raised by a departing lawyer or employee can be ad hoc, chaotic and woefully incomplete, raising more problems than the firm solves.

If you haven’t given this subject some attention recently, there is no time the present to revisit it with fresh eyes.

Read the entire column at “5 tech policies law firms should consider to prep for job departures.”

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

View Dennis Kennedy's profile on LinkedIn

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Facebook in One Hour for Lawyers, the new book from Allison Shields and me, is now available (iBook version here). Our previous book, LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers is also available and also can be downloaded as an iBook. Also still available, The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Tom and I have rebooted our podcast after a brief hiatus with four really good new shows, a second channel and what feels like a bright future for the podcast.

First of all, we’re grateful to Adam, Trent, Keoki and the team at the new Legal Talk Network for keeping LTN going and keeping our podcast in their lineup, with all the archives (and iTunes subscription feed) still available and a lot of fresh new ideas for the podcast. Check out what LTN is doing.

And we are also grateful to Josh Poje at the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center for helping us set up a second channel for the podcast at the LTRC site as part of a new legal technology podcast network.

What does that mean? Existing subscribers (RSS and iTunes) should be receiving the new shows automatically. New listeners will find the past four episodes and future episodes on both the Legal Talk Network and the Legal Technology Resource Center. Think of the new approach as a dual-channeled effort to get the podcast to new audiences. At both places, you’ll get the audio content Tom and I create, but in a slightly different wrapper (sponsorship, identifiers, etc.), depending on how you access the podcast.

We’ll be releasing new episodes every other week.

The new episodes are episodes 94, 95, 96 and 97. Observant readers will note that we are fast approaching episode 100 and plan to do a special episode in honor of that.

The new episodes:

#97 – The Internet of Things and Our Virtual Lives. [LTN] [LTRC]

In this episode, we discuss the idea of “the Internet of Things” and the implication of a world where more machines now connect to the Internet than people. Perhaps we have yet to see how much the Internet can do for us. I also talk a bit about my cool experience with personal genome sequencing with the 23andMe service.

#96 – Taking Control of Your Mobile Apps. [LTN] [LTRC]

In this episode, Tom and I confess to how many apps we have downloaded and installed on our mobile devices. I try to blame Tom’s iPad App in One Hour for Lawyers book for that. We talk about the growing need to organize and manage apps and then explain the basic ways to do that. We also answer a question about whether you should choose and iPad Mini or an iPad.

#95 – Digital Cameras in Law: Are Smartphones Enough? [LTN] [LTRC]

In this episode, we turn my recent failure to get a decent photo of two bears fishing salmon out of a stream near Lake Tahoe into a meditation on the role always-at-hand digital cameras in smartphones and devices can play in today’s practice of law. We have a lot of ideas and practical suggestions. We also answer a question on what are our best new presentation tips for 2013.

#94 – Top Legal Blogs & State of the Blawgosphere in 2013 [LTN] [LTRC]

In this episode, we are happy to be back to the podcast and discuss what seems to be a renewed interest in law-related blogging, my 2012 Blawggie awards, and our favorite law-related blogs. We have many new blogs for you to try if you don’t already read them. We also take the bold step of revealing our own 2013 technology resolutions.

To longtime listeners, we thank you for your patience and hope that you return to regular listening. To new listeners, sample a few episodes and consider subscribing.

We’re happy to be back. As always, if you have ideas for topics or questions for us to answer on the podcast, let us know.

And, if you will be at ABA TECHSHOW, consider joining Tom and me at a Taste of TECHSHOW dinner we will be hosting. Even if you don’t attend the dinner, make sure that you say hello at TECHSHOW and let us know that you listen to the podcast. We really enjoy meeting our audience.

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

View Dennis Kennedy's profile on LinkedIn

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Facebook in One Hour for Lawyers, the new book from Allison Shields and me, is now available (iBook version here). Our previous book, LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers is also available and also can be downloaded as an iBook. Also still available, The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Tom Mighell and I have recorded two more episodes of The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast since I’ve last posted about podcasts on this blog. They are now available on the Legal Talk Network and on iTunes, with an RSS feed here.

Our last two episodes:

Missing Manners for the Digital Age (#56)

The episode description:

Should you really be checking your BlackBerry while I’m having a conversation with you? Do you need to reply to every email, text message, cell phone call and Twitter direct message? When is it OK to unfriend people on Facebook? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the evolving notion of “digital etiquette,” where people are most likely to make missteps in digital manners, and their take on guiding principles for good and polite behavior in our digital world.

Sometimes Tom and I know exactly where we want to go with our podcasts and sometimes it’s a surprise to us where they go. This episode is an example of the latter type. Before we hit record, we were saying that we had no idea where this one was going to go. At the end, we were quite pleased with the directions it had taken and some of the topics we touched on. See what you think.

The genesis for this episode was our appreciation for the new Slate podcast on digital manners called “Manners for the Digital Age” with Farhad Manjoo and Emily Yoffe. The premise is that our new digital world might well require a whole new set of etiquette rules.

We take a look at whether traditional etiquette rules, the old email etiquette rules, or even good old common sense get us to where we need to be in our new social media world.

We touch on WIlliam Gibson’s notion that, especially with smartphones, the Internet now has intruded into and is part of our “real world” experience. We also have the feeling that “common sense” really doesn’t get us far enough. We discuss some of our own pet peeves and take some tentative steps for suggestions for ways to deal with digital etiquette.

In our Q&A segment, we dive into the topic of QR codes (note this blog’s QR code below). Our Parting Shots deal with gadgets and keyboard shortcuts.

The Legal Technology Multiverse (#55)

The episode summary:

As the number of legal technology options and platforms have increased, management of legal technology has become more complicated than ever before. Routine recommendations are changing because of smartphones, use of Macs, Web 2.0 and other changes. In important ways, our view of technology and even the Internet has become more personalized and less universal. In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss how our technology is becoming more complex and varied, the resulting changes to questions you must ask and traditional recommendations, and ways to start to address the implications of this trend.

I’m of two minds about this podcast. I’m so pleased with the actual content and our treatment of the topic. I also quite disappointed that I had a technical glitch that required the use of the backup recording for me. Thanks again to the stellar crew at the Legal Talk Network for salvaging the episode.

In the episode, we discuss what we are calling the “legal technology multiverse” – the idea that there is no longer one common, universal technology or Internet experience and that each of us is starting to have our own unique technology experience. Apps play a big role in this and there are implications in both tech support and the very discussions we have about technology.

I recently spoke to a group of third year law students and invited them to ask me whatever they wanted about legal technology. I knew that there was a risk I’d get stumped, but I didn’t expect that I might get stumped by the very first question or that the first question would get me thinking about the legal tech multiverse.

The first question was about what might be a good case management software choice for a start-up law firm with a mixed Mac/PC environment.

Now, there are many great experts on case management tools, so it’s never been one of my strong topics – I turn to one of my expert friends. I was immediately on shaky ground, but I took a deep breath, said, “that’s a great question,” and, fortunately, found an answer starting to form.

What I realized, though, is that the “standard” case management advice, which has applied for many years, no longer stands alone. There are many nuances and answers to this question will vary based on a number of factors.

In the podcast, Tom and I explore not just this question, but the transition of legal technology and law firms from a relatively homogenous environment to a much more diverse environment than we’ve ever seen before. It’s not just Macs or the cloud. Smartphones, apps and other Internet technologies are moving into standard use. There is also a growing interest in Open Source software.

All of this raises a multitude of new questions, including, not least of which, where do you find good help for what you want to do.

This episode is one of our best and it was so disappointing to me to find my main recording had come out garbled.

In the rest of the show, we answer a question about recommend iPad apps. Our Parting Shots cover turning dual monitors into quadruple monitors and the valuable blog about using iPads in business, iPadCTO.

I invite you to listen to the episodes that interest you. As I said earlier, I also recommend that you subscribe to the podcast through iTunes to get new episodes as they are released (and not wait until I post about recent episodes on this blog).

Let us know what you think about episodes. And try some of the other back episodes as well. Although we’re working on some technical issues (please be patient), the show notes for the podcast can be found at www.tkmreport.com.

We always welcome your questions and will try to answer them on episodes.

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

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Now Available! The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell. Visit the companion website for the book at LawyersGuidetoCollaboration.com. Twitter: @collabtools

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Kennedy-Mighell Report Podcast
Noted legal technologists Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell bring listeners an in-depth analysis of the latest advancements in legal technology, in addition to best practices for utilizing existing tools.