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SmallLaw: ABA TECHSHOW 2010: The Year of Living Practically

By Mazyar Hedayat | Monday, April 12, 2010

Originally published on April 4, 2010 in our free SmallLaw newsletter.

This year's ABA TECHSHOW focused on practicality (and I'm not just saying that because it's on the Web site). In that spirit, let me begin by giving readers what they want most, followed by a little perspective on how we got here. To begin with then, below you'll find my picks for the year's 12 Best of TECHSHOW. Also, don't miss my TECHSHOW interviews.

Best Of TECHSHOW (In No Particular Order)

Clio: For SaaS practice management Clio still rules. Rocket Matter has much catching up to do.

Contracts Express: Formerly known as Deal Builder. Contract drafting in the cloud. Subscription pricing.

Worldox: For document and information management Worldox is the worst. But the best. Go figure.

SpeakWrite: Love this idea — dictate into any phone and get the document in 3 hours by email.

Certex: Professional checks prepared in the cloud. Old idea. New twist. Way to innovate on a budget.

SurePayroll: Payroll sucks, but preparing it at your leisure sucks slightly less. That's a win-win, baby.

Walz Group: Certified mail is a necessary evil. Walz figured out how to save money and time. Sweet.

Proximiti: Proximiti Communications makes automated billing software that works. Plus VoIP phones that save money and integrate with your billing.

FastCase: I've said it before and I'll say it again — for free and mobile research FastCase is it (for now).

WestlawNext: What? I can change my mind. WestlawNext really is better — so much that I use it myself.

Lexis for Microsoft Office: Recognizes and updates case citations as you put cases in your brief. Awesome.

DirectLaw: Like the Highlander, there can only be one. DirectLaw is still the one to beat for a virtual practice. An oldie but a goodie.

How We Got Here

We all know that ABA TECHSHOW 2010 caps a decade marked by relentless churn. We also know that despite such turbulence (or maybe because of it) the biggest law firms got bigger while others blinked out of existence.

As a result, there are fewer large firms than there were a decade ago and the firms still in business employ fewer lawyers than their predecessors. The upshot is that more lawyers are on their own.

Hypothetically then, if a piece of legal technology or office appliance can't save me time or make me money, why buy it? The concept seems simple enough, but it turns out that until recently the ABA TECHSHOW floated above these economic facts of life.

In fact, it was just a few years ago that the show's organizers deviated from their traditional focus on big firms, big vendors and big price tags — right about the time in 2004 that I asked a group of assembled ABA TECHSHOW board members why they favored big firms so heavily "Tech Show favors large vendors?" they answered. "Ridiculous." Or was it?

ABA TECHSHOW 2.0

Despite those ardent denials, the following year's show was markedly different. Ask any of the attendees, vendors, or speakers who were there: clearly the balance had shifted away from biglaw vendors in favor of more agile developers and competitive pricing. I am happy to stay that 2005 became the tipping point.

Every TECHSHOW since has continued the trend toward technology startups, smaller vendors, and lower cost alternatives to big ticket staples — even going so far as featuring SaaS vendors on an equal footing with the vendors of desktop-based solutions.

Maybe it was something in the water back then because 2005 was also the year when the technology industry recovered from the dot-com debacle with thousands of twenty-somethings around the country producing Web-based applications to handle everything from photographs (Flickr) to instant messaging (Dodge Ball).

This wave of Web 2.0 innovation was inspired by necessity. Lawyers, no less than any other group, were in need of a technological shot in the arm to deal with the pressures of a dwindling client pool, downward pressure on income, and soon the added pressure of rapidly declining asset values. Practical technology could mean the difference between remaining the profession and packing it in. At that point the stage was set for a revolution in getting smaller, simpler, cheaper, and, oh yes — faster.

Coming Full Circle

Given the trend that started 5 years ago, we can clearly see why TECHSHOW 2010 was so full of practical developments. Instead of trying to sell solutions for problems nobody had, this year's crop of vendors appears to have been busy in 2009 applying technology to virtually every workaday task in the average law firm — from depositions to drafting, research to practice management, even virtualizing practice itself. So it makes perfect sense that this year's TECHSHOW was not about who made the biggest and best, but rather who can provide the most affordable and efficient with a small footprint that doesn't require a Ph.D. to install.

I've never been more satisfied, and I'm sure that I wasn't the only one. TECHSHOW this year wasn't just about the latest crop of sexy gizmos. It offered a solid helping of legal technology comfort food and office must-haves that would be a relief to veterans and a revelation to young lawyers. And after all, what could be more practical than that?

Written by Mazyar M. Hedayat of M. Hedayat & Associates, P.C.

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Small firm, big dreams. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, SmallLaw provides you with a mix of practical advice that you can use today, and insight about what it will take for small law firms like yours to thrive in the future. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Topics: SmallLaw | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

Hamachi Review; In Defense of Solos; Vista Tip; Apple Forever; Another Lunch Faux Pas

By Sara Skiff | Friday, April 9, 2010

Coming today to Fat Friday: David Estes reviews LogMeIn Hamachi, Diana Brodman Summers responds to a recent issue of SmallLaw about solo life, Tom Trottier shares tips for increasing the speed of Windows Vista on a laptop, Jonathan Jackel discusses Apple's software update strategy, and Patricia Joyce adds one more business lunch faux pas to Lee Rosen's recent SmallLaw column on 15 rules of etiquette for business dining. Don't miss this issue.

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Topics: Coming Attractions | Fat Friday | Laptops/Smartphones/Tablets | Law Firm Marketing/Publications/Web Sites | Law Office Management | Networking/Operating Systems | Technology Industry/Legal Profession | Utilities

SmallLaw: Cloud Computing (SaaS) Dominates Discussion at ABA TechShow 2010

By Ross Kodner | Monday, April 5, 2010

Originally published on March 29, 2010 in our free SmallLaw newsletter.

In my last SmallLaw column, I explored (okay, ranted) about moving past the objections to software as a service (SaaS), and instead shifting the focus to functionality and suitability for daily law practice use. At ABA TECHSHOW last week in Chicago, it was impossible not to get caught up in the buzz that continues to build around cloud computing. With practice management SaaS leaders Clio and Rocket Matter both announcing feature expansions and five full quarters of business operations under their collective belts, the market felt oddly "mature." In short, I detected a paradigm shift. Let me explain.

Small Firm Lawyers Receptive To SaaS but Concerns Remain

I had the pleasure of participating in the "Meet the Authors" series with Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson, co-authors of my ABA book, How Good Lawyers Survive Bad Times. We hosted a suiteful of attendees for a free-wheeling, wide-ranging discussion of legal technology topics. The subject of the viability, suitability, and practicality of SaaS dominated the lively and interactive conversation.

What struck my co-authors and me perhaps the most was the acceptance of cloud computing as an accepted, standardized, institutionalized option that merited equal consideration along with Ground Computing (okay, we really do need a phrase to describe traditional, installed applications).

The idea that the holy trinity of legal technology — case/practice information management, document management, and billing/financial management — could entail both traditional locally installed programs such as Tabs3/PracticeMaster, Amicus Attorney, PCLaw, Time Matters, etc. and SaaS products is huge.

The discussion seemed to be a reasonable microcosm of small firm life, with lawyers from across North America actively involved, and spanning the entire range of ages as well. While hardly scientific and not rising to the level of being empirically sound, it felt representative of the buying marketplace. Below I recap the two most interesting discussion points to emerge from this discussion.

1. Hey You, Get Off of My Cloud

Yes, it's the increasingly tiresome and hollow "Connection Objection" — the inevitable objection raised early in a cloud computing discussion is "what happens if I lose my Internet connection and can't access all my stuff?"

Absolutely a critical point, but as attendee and ABA TECHSHOW faculty member, Nicole Garton-Jones of Vancouver's Heritage Law so succinctly put it, "the Internet connection issue is a red herring." She explained that her office has it's own virtual server and is its own cloud computing provider, delivering apps via the Web, controlling access and leveraging a dual failover pair of Internet connections, much in the same manner as a larger corporation would.

Someone else said, "fine, go across the street to a Starbucks for a few minutes" or "take out your wireless broadband card or your MiFi and share a wireless connection until your regular connection is back up again."

The point is that this objection just rings hollow today — you can find a way to nearly always stay connected, which leads us to a different angle on the connectivity issue.

2. Keep Me Working No Matter What

The other takeaway point is that cloud computing vendors need to take the idea of offline access seriously. Multiple attendees echoed this concern. It's not "I can't get online because my Internet connection is down, but more that sometimes I'm not somewhere I can stay connected." For example, when traveling sometimes wireless broadband coverage can be iffy and slower, and even in the middle of Manhattan's concrete jungle, laptop-wireless access can be spotty.

So to the cloud computing folks, give us some real offline access! That means the ability to have a scheduled or real-time time mirror of our practice/document/billing management data to an applet of some sort that will let us actually keep working (not just an exported CSV file that no one can really use immediately in any meaningful way). Then provide some type of smart syncing to return our offline-entered data to the mother ship when we're able to reconnect. Seriously guys, it's time.

Get to Work SaaS Vendors

So in my continued examination of cloud computing for solo and small firms, the answers sort of exist — just finish the puzzle guys, deliver on offline access, educate us about the fallback connection approaches, and of course provide the features law firms need. Then, welcome to the mainstream … but truly, not until then.

Written by Ross Kodner of MicroLaw.

How to Receive SmallLaw
Small firm, big dreams. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, SmallLaw provides you with a mix of practical advice that you can use today, and insight about what it will take for small law firms like yours to thrive in the future. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Topics: Online/Cloud | SmallLaw | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

Casemaker Review; Building Value; RAID 1; iPod Touch Tip; iPad

By Sara Skiff | Friday, March 26, 2010

Coming today to Fat Friday: Robert Rice reviews Casemaker for legal research, Damian Christianson continues the build your own PC debate, Michael Jones discusses RAID 1 and his preferred online backup provider, Jonathan Jackel explains how to make a phone call using the Verizon MiFi and an iPod Touch, and Richard Ure shares his thoughts on the iPad. Don't miss this issue.

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Topics: Backup/Media/Storage | Coming Attractions | Desktop PCs/Servers | Email/Messaging/Telephony | Fat Friday | Laptops/Smartphones/Tablets | Law Office Management | Legal Research | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

Confessions of a Lawyer Blogger Plus 101 More Articles

By Sara Skiff | Monday, March 15, 2010

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 70 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

Is Acrobat Really Necessary?

Hit the Road, Jack: Secure Mobile Computing

Why Lawyers Struggle With Psychotherapy

Why Some Crappy Lawyers Have Happy Clients

This issue also contains links to every article in the March/April 20010 issue of Law Practice Magazine and the March issue of Law Practice Today. Don't miss this issue or future issues.

How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.

Topics: Automation/Document Assembly/Macros | BlawgWorld Newsletter | Coming Attractions | Laptops/Smartphones/Tablets | Law Firm Marketing/Publications/Web Sites | Law Office Management | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

SaaS Debate Continues; Drobo Review; Speak Up; Music Subscriptions; Typewriters

By Sara Skiff | Friday, March 12, 2010

Coming today to Fat Friday: Leonard Johnson discusses Software as a Service (SaaS), Geoff Ormrod reviews Drobo and DroboShare, Tom Rowe continues the debate on music subscription services, Mary Bellusci comments on a recent SmallLaw column about speaking opportunities for lawyers, and Stephen Asbel explains why the typewriter still has a place in the law office. Don't miss this issue.

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Topics: Backup/Media/Storage | Business Productivity/Word Processing | Coming Attractions | Document Management | Entertainment/Hobbies/Recreation | Fat Friday | Gadgets/Shredders/Office Gear | Law Firm Marketing/Publications/Web Sites | Online/Cloud | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

Drunk Dial This Lawyer Plus 93 More Articles

By Sara Skiff | Monday, March 8, 2010

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 75 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

What Will Legal Technology Do to the Cravath System?

Security Issues Causing Some Law Firms to Ban iPhone Use

The Office Coffee Is More Important Than it Seems

Link Building vs. Link Marketing: What's The Difference?

This issue also contains links to every article in the March 2010 issue of Law Technology News. Don't miss this issue or future issues.

How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.

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BigLaw: One Way To Use Your Legal Skills To Make The World A Better Place

By Liz Kurtz | Monday, March 8, 2010

BigLaw 03-01-10-450

Originally published on March 1, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.

When disasters like the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile strike, many lawyers want to offer assistance, but don't know how to put their skills to use. Given the complex problems that exist in the developing world, writing a mean summary judgment motion may not seem like a particularly transferable skill. Since 2001, the New York City Bar Association's Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice has offered lawyers in New York and around the country an opportunity to get involved in pro bono work on international legal issues.

The Vance Center, which is named for former United States Secretary of State (and New York City Bar president) Cyrus R. Vance, seeks to "give continuing substance to [Vance's] conviction that lawyers have an ethical obligation to play an active role in the promotion of peace, democracy, and social justice." Explains Elise Colomer Grimaldi, an Associate Director at the Center and the Director of its Latin America Program and Clearinghouse, the Vance Center "tries to engage lawyers, in the U.S. and abroad, in human rights work," in order to expand access to justice in young democracies and developing economies. Law firms, Colomer Grimaldi says, are an essential part of the Center's work.

The Center's efforts focus on human rights issues in Latin America and Africa. But, while the Center's partners in the private bar include law firms with practices in these regions, a foreign presence is not prerequisite to any firm's involvement. Rather, Colomer Grimaldi explains, one of the primary assets that law firms bring to the table is knowledge.

"Law firms have a lot to offer in the form of 'know-how' — in terms of legal issues, but perhaps more importantly, with respect to the variety of technical issues involved in implementing a pro bono program, and the nuts and bolts of getting pro bono work done," says Colomer Grimaldi. "Law firms and practitioners here in the U.S. may not have experience working on the actual legal problems that affect Latin America and Africa, but they have a great deal of experience running pro bono cases and programs — from knowing how to use FOIA requests effectively in certain kinds of litigation to understanding how to create groups of lawyers who can work with non-governmental organizations or other human rights advocates."

"The 'transfer of knowledge,' from law firms is invaluable," she adds. "The ability of U.S. lawyers to share that knowledge — about how pro bono programs are structured, how to create opportunities for pro bono work outside of typical business relationships, and how to get young lawyers engaged in pro bono work — is tremendously important to the lawyers we work with in Latin America and Africa." In 2008, the Center and its partners (in the private bar and in Latin America) introduced the Pro Bono Declaration for the Americas, which represented the "first collaborative effort in the Americas to articulate the professional responsibility of lawyers to promote access to justice and provide pro bono legal assistance to those in need."

Law firms bring another important asset to the table: reputation. "U.S. law firms bring clout and credibility to projects and pro bono efforts elsewhere," Colomer Grimaldi explains. "Because U.S. firms are seen as the 'law firm of the 21st century,' they confer legitimacy on their foreign counterparts, which want to be perceived as having the same best practices, and the same value to contribute to social justice efforts."

Some may wonder whether pro bono work and helping to build pro bono networks in other countries is a luxury limited to large firms with ample resources? Not at all, according to Colomer Grimaldi. The Center relies on firms of all sizes for research, "knowledge transfer," and for the assistance they can offer in the virtual realm, through VanceNet, its "Web-facilitated network of lawyers, scholars and advocates working to enhance access to justice and public interest law in their countries and regions."

Through VanceNet, she says, lawyers from small to midsize firms can contribute in a variety of ways, from providing "specific expertise to talking to their foreign counterparts about how to balance the need to make a profit with their legal and social responsibilities to the community." In other words, the Vance Center helps even the most local practitioners find a way to act globally.

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw goes deep undercover inside some of the country's biggest law firms. But we don't just dish up the dirt. We also mine it for best and worst practices and other nuggets of knowledge. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

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Solo Life; Music Subscriptions; Clio Review; 64-Bit Timeslips; Public Health Care

By Sara Skiff | Friday, March 5, 2010

Coming today to Fat Friday: William Shilling responds to a recent SmallLaw column about going solo, Larry Sullivan discusses music subscription services, Andrew Weltchek reviews syncing his BlackBerry with Clio, Bobby Abrams reviews his experience using Timeslips 2008 and Windows 7 64-bit, and Ronald Cappuccio discusses the lawyer's role in the public health care debate. Don't miss this issue.

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Topics: Accounting/Billing/Time Capture | Coming Attractions | Entertainment/Hobbies/Recreation | Fat Friday | Laptops/Smartphones/Tablets | Law Office Management | Networking/Operating Systems | Practice Management/Calendars | Technology Industry/Legal Profession

Greatest Hits: My Favorite Software and Web Sites

By Sara Skiff | Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Coming today to TechnoFeature: Serious computer users usually have their own list of software and Web site "greatest hits" that they use constantly. Lawyer Joshua Stein, one of our earliest subscribers, started using computers for all his written work in 1982. Who better to ask to share his list of greatest hits. Joshua covers just about every topic, including email, document management, VoIP, fax-to-email, backup software, desktop publishing, online printing, conference calls, legal research, social bookmarking, and more.

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Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Topics: Business Productivity/Word Processing | Coming Attractions | Online/Cloud | TechnoFeature | Technology Industry/Legal Profession
 
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