TechnoLawyer: TL Editorial

Over the years, people have raved about various Windows experts. While I respect these Windows wizards, I never became a follower. That changed recently when I stumbled upon Paul Thurott who serves as the editor of SuperSite for Windows and also hosts a podcast entitled Windows Weekly. If you manage the Windows computers in your firm, he is worth a look and a listen.

SuperSite for Windows

Windows Weekly

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Two weeks ago, I poked fun at legal technology predictions.

But that's not to say I don't like reading them. How timely then that Dennis Kennedy has issued his latest predictions in a report entitled: Seven Legal Technology Trends for 2007: Widening the Digital Divide in Law Practice.

Of note, Dennis predicts that:

• BlackBerry usage may have peaked among lawyers.

I disagree, particularly in light of RIM's push into the small business market. I do believe that Treo usage may have peaked because I think Apple's iPhone will grab market share from Palm. I don't think the iPhone will have as much impact on the BlackBerry.

• A sizable number of lawyers will begin using MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks since they can run Windows.

I agree, and hope to see some enterprising legal technology consultants add Windows installation on these notebooks to their repertoire (it's not trivial to install Windows).

• The growth of all-in-one electronic discovery tools for smaller cases that law firms can handle in-house.

I agree since even your run-of-the-mill slip and fall case involves electronic evidence nowadays (such as email admissions).

• A shift from Yellow Pages advertising to search engine advertising among law firms.

I agree. Yellow Pages has not kept up with the times. No one under the age of 30 Fewer people use the Yellow Pages now than during its heyday 20-30 years ago. I use a Yellow Pages as a laptop stand.

Read Dennis' Seven Legal Technology Trends for 2007.

What do you think of his predictions and predictions in general?

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

In this video deposition, a lawyer (who bears a striking resemblance to Michael J. Fox) has difficulty answering this question: Are you truthful in your dealings as an employer? Take a look before it gets pulled (click here if you can't see the video below).

Have you ever deposed a lawyer? What was that experience like?

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Remember that fable about the city mouse and the country mouse?

Well, I have a tale (tail?) of two mice for you so gather round. A few months ago, a publicist for Logitech contacted me and asked f I would like to try the new MX Revolution mouse. "Sure," I said.

But upon receipt, I could not use the MX Revolution because it's for right-handed use only. I'm a righty, but use my left hand for the mouse.

So I gave it to Sara, our senior production manager. She loves it. In particular she likes the way it feels in her hand, the ability to scroll horizontally as well as vertically, and fact that it's wireless but not heavy. What doesn't she like? Remembering to place it in the recharger every Friday before leaving for the weekend.

Read Gizmodo's review.

Read ExtremeTech's review.

But that still left me without a new mouse — and I really needed a new one as wear and tear had taken a toll on my Logitech MX-310.

First, I tried the Razer Pro 1.6. This mouse feels great in your hands, but doesn't work well with the native OS driver. I don't like installing third-party drivers so I returned it.

Next I tried Apple's wireless Mighty Mouse — too heavy because of the two AA batteries. Apple is the king of rechargeable batteries (think iPod) so why did it use disposable batteries in this mouse? I returned that mouse as well.

Finally, I bought Apple's wired Mighty Mouse — bingo! It scrolls in every direction, the buttons require only a light press, and it fits well in small-normal size hands. As for the cons, the cursor sometimes jumps to the top right corner of the screen, and the side buttons are too easy to click by accident (I turned them off).

Read Ars Technica's review.

Read MacWorld's review.

Did you recently buy a mouse? If so, please post a review.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Given that I'm the publisher of TechnoLawyer, I probably shouldn't say this, but sometimes it seems like the same legal technology predictions make an appearance every year, but nothing really changes. In fact, you could probably whip out a predictions article from 2004, change the date to 2007, and republish it. Ha!

For example, legal technology prognosticators have long predicted that corporate counsel would demand that their outside counsel become more technologically adept. These soothsayers have also issued advisories about e-discovery.

Cliches? Up until this year, maybe. But in 2007, these predictions might actually come to pass — according to a Law.com article entitled Legal Departments Tell Firms: Get on the Tech Train.

The article discusses the gaining momentum of electronic billing whereby law firms must buy and maintain a billing system that can deliver electronic invoices to their corporate clients in a standardized format.

The article also discusses the very real problem of managing email and other potentially discoverable electronic data.

These trends certainly exist. I met with both e-billing vendors and e-discovery vendors at LegalTech earlier this year. They're all growing like gangbusters.

But in the aggregate, do these trends represent a tsunami, a trickle, or something in between?

Please discuss your own adoption rate of e-billing, e-discovery, and other technologies as well as your thoughts on the legal profession as a whole.

(A tip of the blog to Dennis Kennedy for the article link.)

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

My Thoughts on CLE TechnoEditorial touched a nerve!

I would like to thank everyone who responded both publicly and privately. Please keep it coming as I personally consider this issue important. CLE, like all information, should be portable.

Kathryn Bellman, Director of Continuing Legal Education at the Nebraska State Bar Association, writes: "A number of CLE providers are taking their CLE content and making it available for podcasting. Our link is through LegalSpan. I think lawyers are slowly beginning to make greater use of podcasts because of their convenience — download to your computer or listen on your iPod. But every new technology has a learning curve, and the learning curve is not always about the ease of use, but rather: How will I use it in my own practice?"

Barry B. Ansbacher, a real estate lawyer in Florida, writes: "Neil, you will be pleased to learn that the Florida Bar has just joined modernity. In a huge leap from cassette tapes actually, the Florida Bar now offers MP3 downloads of its sponsored CLE courses. Many of the courses should be eligible for MCLE credit in other jurisdictions. Now if they can move to allowing downloads of a la carte topics like ALI-ABA. Sometimes there is just one seminar topic of interest for a current case or such, and it would be great to be able to purchase just those materials and audio.  With MP3 the technology will accommodate more creative policies."

William D. Elliott, a tax and estate planning lawyer in Texas, writes: "The State Bar of Texas uses MP3 format for their CLE courses available for purchase. The quality is of the highest grade."

David A. Stewart of Jeffrey Long & Associates in Portland, Oregon writes: "FYI the American Association of Justice (AAJ formerly ATLA) distributes it's CLE's in MP3 format. AAJ covers a wide variety of subjects including some commercial litigation and intellectual property. Most of it is of course geared to personal injury, professional negligence, products liability, pharmaceutical, etc., but there is a lot of other stuff as well. In my experience, the caliber of their CLE programs is outstanding and keeping apprised of litigation trends and outcomes seems like a worthwhile CLE pursuit for lawyers of most any stripe."

Finally, David M. Heisler, Operations Counsel at GE Capital Solutions, writes: "Neil, my company's legal department just inked a subscription arrangement with Practicing Law Institute, and in perusing the site I noticed that they have no less than 742 downloadable CLE courses in MP3 format. Hopefully there might be something there that would both satisfy your CLE requirements and keep you awake — just click on "Downloadable MP3's" under "Recorded Programs" in the left-hand column on the main page, or go directly to www.pli.edu/product/mp3_viewall.asp and sort by title or interest area. This afternoon I noticed at least 20 downloadable MP3's covering Internet, computer and technology law."

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

With so many forms of marketing available, you would think law firms would shun video since it's the most difficult to pull off. But YouTube's enormous audience lures more and more law firms every day since uploading a video doesn't cost anything.

Today, I bring you two law firm marketing videos. One features Michael Lynch at Levin Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Echsner & Proctor discussing food poisoning, and the other features Greg Schlender of the Schlender Law Firm discussing estate planning.

To its credit, Levin Papantonio has produced a slick TV magazine-style video in which Michael Lynch interviews an expert on food poisoning (no doubt the firm uses this expert in its cases). During the interview, you're treated to music, graphics, B-roll, and even a news crawl along the bottom of the screen. Michael is a natural with a smooth delivery (the expert less so, but she knows her stuff). Great job!

By contrast, the Schlender Law Firm's video features Greg Schlender sitting in front of a camera at his desk. The camera angle never changes, and Greg often looks at his notes. This is a shame because the Schlender Law Firm has branded its approach to estate planning, referring to its method as the "Family Fortress." This creative touch deserves a creative video to match.

While video is challenging to pull off successfully, it's not expensive thanks to desktop video editing software, royalty-free photos, videos, and music, and lots of film school grads seeking work. Do it right or don't bother.

Watch Food Poisoning — A National Epidemic? (click here if you can't see the video below).

Watch The Family Fortress (click here if you can't see the video below).

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

I no longer practice law, but since you never know how this here Internet thang will pan out, I do maintain my license. That means 24 hours of CLE every two years.

Despite not practicing law, I still have an interest in learning about interesting new developments in areas applicable to TechnoLawyer.

But sadly, I've found only one CLE provider — the National Academy of Continuing Legal Education — that offers its courses in my preferred format — MP3 files (the files are on a CD-ROM, but they are not restricted so you can easily transfer them to iTunes and then to your iPod).

I say sadly because the NACLE doesn't have material of interest to me. So last year, I listened to 24 hours of lectures on my iPod bored out of my mind. Nonetheless, kudos to the NACLE for providing its lectures in MP3 format.

Why don't other CLE providers? Why instead do they stream their courses on the Web? It makes no sense!

Being chained to my desk is better than being chained to a hotel ballroom, but it nonetheless prevents me from listening while walking or in my car.

Earlier this month, Apple CEO Steve Jobs published an article entitled Thoughts on Music in which he encouraged music companies to sell songs free of digital rights management (DRM).

I agree with Apple that doing so would boost sales, but I also understand the reluctance of the music companies to embrace it since the recording is what they sell.

But this situation doesn't exist with CLE providers. They don't really sell recordings. They sell verification and credits.

For example, if I buy a CLE course in MP3 format and like it so much I send it to 10 friends, I haven't hurt the CLE provider in the slightest. By contrast, that CLE provider should sing my praises! For my friends to get credit for listening to that lecture, they would have to register with the CLE provider — i.e., pay up. Only the CLE provider can provide verification and grant the credits.

In short, file sharing is a great business model for CLE!

So I hereby call upon all CLE providers to sell their lectures in MP3 format (MPEG-4 format for videos).

We lawyers will then buy them, listen to them on our iPods (or on our PCs), and share the ones we like with friends, thereby providing you with free marketing.

Capisce?

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Not to be outdone by their peers at the University of Alberta, law students at George Washington University have posted a video of their own revue. In this skit, a 1L returns home for Thanksgiving break to find himself besieged with legal questions. Amusing throughout, the best punch-line comes at the end. Take a look (contains some vulgar language) (click here if you can't see the video below).

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

One of life's simple pleasures is discovering new functionality in something you already have.

Laser toner running low? Remove the cartridge and rock it gently side to side for a minute to two. You should get another 1,000 pages though your mileage may vary.

Looking for a quick and dirty way to track your time? Your iPod has a built-in stopwatch that records each entry. It's not the best way to track time, but can work in a pinch when the only alternative is your wristwatch.

Need to call someone in Sydney? Google provides time zone information with just one click. Just enter a city and state or a city and country plus the word "time."

Got any tips of your own?

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.