Lost in the acrimonious abortion debate in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court ruling are fundamental and downright scary questions. What does the brave new world of privacy? What privacy protections are there, or what should there be now that abortion is illegal in so many states? A brave new world that may terrify tech companies and ultimately all…
Continue Reading Privacy Just Took On a Whole New Meaning

I had an interesting discussion recently with Peter Baumann. Peter is the CEO and founder of data privacy and governance software provider ActiveNav. According to its website, ActiveNav, founded in 2008, helps “privacy and compliance teams quickly identify, inventory and map sensitive data.”
 
Peter’s present goal is to develop solutions that address what he calls the “elephant…
Continue Reading Law Firms and Unstructured Data: A Disaster Waiting to Happen?

Several articles have recently discussed the claim by a Google computer scientist that a Google AI system was a sentient being. The scientist, Blake Lemoine, used his interview with the AI program to support his claim that the program appears to have consciousness. If you go by some of the interview responses, I got to wonder whether a lot of…
Continue Reading Are Lawyers Sentient?

At the risk of stating what perhaps should be obvious, lawyers valued for their abilities and insight are generally happier. They are certainly happier than those valued almost entirely on their production (i.e., billable hours). The latter group is by and large less healthy than the former. And in the long run, the happier lawyers are more–not less– productive than…
Continue Reading Lawyers Valued For Insight and Ability Are Happier. And More Productive

Data doesn’t lie. But sometimes, you have to ask it better questions to get anywhere meaningful.

In making criminal justice decisions, courts and prosecutors have tried to use data and algorithms to determine things like the risks to society a particular accused may pose. The concept is simple: look at the data and determine who is likely to…
Continue Reading Data Analytics: It’s All About The Question You Ask

Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced via Twitter that Tesla “is building a hardcore litigation department where we directly initiate & execute lawsuits.” The lawyers will report directly to him. Said Musk, “Looking for hardcore streetfighters, not white-shoe lawyers like Perkins or Cooley who thrive on corruption.”

Musk is soliciting responses from lawyers. Those interested should send him 3…
Continue Reading Do Streetfighters Make Better Lawyers?

Early on in the ABA’s most recent annual diversity Survey Report, the authors quote the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr: “The more things change, the more they stay the same”. The bottom line from this year’s Survey is summed up in one sentence from the Report:  “White attorneys, male attorneys, non-LGBTQ+ attorneys, and attorneys without disabilities dominate in representation…
Continue Reading When Will We Ever Learn: The Sad State of Diversity in Our Legal Profession 

Early this week, Richard Tromans at Artificial Lawyer reported on a Survey done by the ContractWorks group of Onit. Onit is an enterprise workflow solutions provider. Onit acquired ContractWorks earlier this year.
 
ContractWorks surveyed some 350 general counsel, in-house lawyers, and other legal department members in the United States and the United Kingdom. The purpose of the Survey was…
Continue Reading Legal Tech: a 77% Failure Rate?

A couple of commentators noted the announcement by AmLaw 100 firm Hogans Lovells last week that making partner requires “being all in .” According to Hogans Lovell, being all in typically means 2400 hours per year. (Hogans Lovell says it recognizes this “goal” could be achieved by billable hours and “further contributions .” But Hogans is clear that a “significant…
Continue Reading Want To Make Partner? Bill 10 Hours a Day. Every Day

Law firms and legal departments need a legal operations platforms that allow adaptability and individuality within an overall system and parameters. And firm management needs the ability to assess what’s being done, and its profitability, and compare the business lines of a firm and legal department. Litify believes the future is cloud based platforms that provide this kind of adaptability and…
Continue Reading Litify Sees Adaptablity and Flexibility As The Future of Legal Ops Platforms

I just returned from helping teach a 2 ½ day intensive training workshop for trial lawyers. The workshop focuses on how to better use technology in the courtroom and to persuade generally. The workshop and program, called FedTechU, is put on by the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (better known as the FDCC and of which I am a…
Continue Reading Three Lessons In Persuasive Trial Technology

In the following Guest Post, Aaron Lee discusses the challenges and opportunities facing small to midsize law firms. A new era of outsourcing services is a breath of fresh air for small and mid-sized law firms, allowing them to survive and thrive not only despite, but because of the Great Resignation.
Aaron Lee is the CEO and Co-Founder of Smith.ai. He…
Continue Reading Small and Midsize Law Firms Turn to Virtual Tech to Grow Business in the Teeth of the Great Resignation

Over the past couple of weeks, there were a couple of developments that could—and I emphasize could—impact the business of law.

First, California has flirted off and on for a while now with changing the ownership rules for law firms and allowing nonlawyer ownership. Unlike regulators in Utah and Arizona, though, the good folks in California have never been…
Continue Reading Two Recent Ethical Developments Could Impact the Business End of Law Practice