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As the situation surrounding COVID-19 evolves, and thereafter as we start to settle on the new normal of the legal profession, hosting a full or partial practice out of a virtual law office is an apparent reality. In the past, operating a virtual law office (also known as a VLO) meant less overhead, more flexibility, and new marketability to target audiences and geographical regions (e.g., see the Disappearing Rural Lawyer). Nowadays, frankly, it may be less about convenience and more about necessity. With modern technology, lawyers can draft, share, review, and file documents as well as communicate with clients…
Here is a recent Daily Record column. My past Daily Record articles can be accessed here. ***** Maintaining Your Sanity While Working From Home Last week, the world as we know it was turned upside down. Schools closed, businesses, including many law firms, were required to temporarily shut down, and the vast majority of federal and state court proceedings were canceled until further notice. In New York, “shelter in place” has become the new reality as we practice mandated social distancing for the good of the community. These events are unprecedented. As a result most law firms – and lawyers –…
From : Blog Entry>>ILTA’s Blog EntryIn celebration of 2020 Women’s History Month, ILTA was pleased to  announce a list of Influential Women in Legal Technology . Each Tuesday in March, readers will learn more about the women who were selected. Jackie Nagtegaal Futurist & Managing Director,  Law for All Cape Town, South Africa Jackie runs Law for All, the leading Alternative Legal Service provider on the continent of Africa, which resolves approximately 100,000 cases annually on a subscription basis. Not only are [More]…
From : Blog Entry>>Shannon’s Blog EntryLegal team members who decide to take on trial presentation duties often have embarrassing failures in the courtroom. Why does this happen? Failure rarely comes from unfamiliarity with trial software. Failure typically comes from everything else associated with presenting electronically at trial from basic tech skills like connecting multiple monitors together, not having the right equipment or firm support. If you don’t have the right skillset, equipment or firm support for basic competency [More]…
Democratizing COVID-19 resources at a critical time  We talk about how we founded Fastcase in order to democratize the law, and after spending the last week reaching out to our bar partners, firm customers and publishing peers, the result is we have created the free Fastcase Peer Resource Center for COVID-19.  Our goal is to centralize real-time, relevant information and resources about COVID-19’s impact on our community to arm you with information you need. In addition to Fastcase, Docket Alarm and Law Street Media free legal resources, we wanted to support and highlight those resources we consider invaluable and…
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Litera’s business continuity series, which began last week, dives into the unprecedented challenges we are all facing and looks at how technology can help provide what law firms need to continue serving their clients, even while their teams are working remotely, unable to travel or meet face-to-face with clients, and otherwise disrupted from their regular routines. We’re seeing some major changes within the legal industry, where the coronavirus pandemic has spurred lawyers—however reluctant they may have been before—to take a much-needed leap forward in their acceptance and use of technology, especially remote work technology. The challenge is that this change…
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Case Status, a client communications management and marketing platform for law firms that earlier this month raised $1.5 million in seed funding, is today announcing that it has hired Keith Lee, founder of the LawyerSmack online legal community, as chief marketing officer, tasked with directing the company’s continued growth and expansion across the industry. A former practicing attorney in Birmingham, Ala., Lee is known to many as the founder in 2018 of LawyerSmack, a popular online lawyer community that he originally organized as a Slack group. He is also founder of the legal blog Associate’s Mind, which has…
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On April 1st, Intelligize users will experience a major transformation of the platform. The new features will be available to all Intelligize users at no additional cost. I reviewed Intelligize’s unique features when it launched as a startup . It was purchased by LexisNexis in 2016. Intelligize was a late entrant into the SEC research market, but managed to drive most competitors from the field.  It is  built on proprietary algorithms  which streamline not only SEC filings research but more importantly, complex regulatory comment letter and no action letter research. The upcoming redesign will offer a whole raft of new…
Contract management enhanced by AI is already progressing by leaps and bounds . . . imagine what it will look like by 2025? Here, we’ll take a look at the changing nature of contract management software, examine its importance for service-based businesses, project managers and legal teams, and predict what it will look like in five years. AI’s Influence Artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology that will continue to have a significant influence on contract management. Specifically, its potential to make organizations more efficient and to allow crucial data to be extracted more readily will take center stage. AI…
Last week I created a checklist for those organizations that have not had people, at scale, work from home.  There are two lists.  The first list helps someone who has not worked from home previously checkoff that they have all the necessary resources from A-Z to do everything they would normal do at their office.  The other list helps technology teams prepare their internal systems to allow remote work.  You can find these lists here: Law Firm Employees: Work Remote Checklist – Firm Legal and Support Staff – 3-18-2020 Law Firm Technology Teams: Work Remote Checklist – Firm Technology Admin …
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Even as the COVID-19 pandemic scrambled any sense of business as usual last week, the document-automation company Litera seemed to stay a step ahead, becoming one of the first major legal technology companies to take steps to continue operations, quickly pivoting to develop a lite version of its deal-management platform to offer for free, and completing the notable acquisition of Best Authority. Litera has been a company on the move since 2016, when a $100 million investment from K1 Investment Management led to the combination of four document-technology companies – Litera, Microsystems, XRef and The Sackett Group…
Cowritten with Eric Seader. Originally published by Thomson Reuters. The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing changes in the way the world (including the world of business) works to such a degree that the effects are sure to extend far beyond the current situation. Aside from potentially devastating entire industries such as travel, restaurants, and entertainment, the impact of today’s crisis will truly become a watershed event — to be measured in before-COVID and after-COVID nomenclature — that will alter almost every economy, business, and market in the world, including the legal industry. In the legal world, there are currently a variety…
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The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has introduced many unprecedented firsts to the working world-at-large. From social distancing becoming the new normal, to home quarantining, and up to 1/3rd of American workers suddenly finding themselves working remotely for extended periods.  If you haven’t already been a part of the remote workforce, the change may come as jarring at first. The lack of a defined schedule can be disruptive. A new shared workspace with your spouse and children may be distracting. The looming threat of the virus and its impact on friends, family, and loved ones may mean work takes a backseat. And…
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As countless face-to-face legal conferences have been cancelled or postponed, the legal practice management company Rocket Matter has unveiled plans to hold a two-day virtual conference, with all proceeds going to charities to help people impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Rocket Matter says the conference, which is dubbed Rocket Aid, will include online networking and CLE, and is intended to help lawyers connect in this time of social distancing, while also generating much-needed assistance for people most affected economically by the coronavirus. Rocket Aid is scheduled to stream live, online on April 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. to…