The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your decisions. And the quality of your decisions is determined by the quality of your thinking. We’re not talking about intelligence, by the way. We’re talking about thinking, and making good decisions. Here’s a thinking test that supposedly only 50% of students at Harvard got right. It’s a test developed by Nobel prize-winning psychologist . Are you ready to test your thinking? Here’s the question: A bat and ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs one dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?…
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The effects of the pandemic on women lawyers, especially mothers, have been documented by many surveys and articles over the last year. However, a recent American Bar Association report “Practicing Law in the Pandemic and Moving Forward” is valuable because it includes action items for employers and lawyers to cope with the challenges brought on or revealed by the pandemic. “New Normal” survey of lawyers In September and October of 2020, the ABA surveyed more than 4,200 lawyers across the U.S. about their expectations, concerns, and goals, reflecting the context of the pandemic. At that time, more than…
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The Illinois Supreme Court took another step forward in prioritizing mental and behavioral health in the state’s courts with the hiring of a Statewide Behavioral Health Administrator. Scott Block will serve as a mental health voice and resource for the Illinois Judicial Branch, furthering local, state, and national behavioral health and justice initiatives that impact the courts. This includes providing guidance to the Illinois Courts’ on the intersection of behavioral health and justice and serving as project director for the Illinois Supreme Court Mental Health Task Force, according to a press release. “We welcome Scott and look forward to his…
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Way back when I practiced law, few one- and two- lawyer offices prepared a budget in advance for the year. Their budget, and in many cases their “partnership” distribution formula, was the tried-and-true formula “you eat what you kill.” Had we questioned the lawyers about that omission, many would have responded that budgets weren’t important because that wasn’t real money. Revenue received was real money and they generally understood their monthly overhead requirements. Yet these same lawyers would have advised their business clients that running their business without a budget was a terrible idea. Why should a solo or small …
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Hanzo, a company that helps e-discovery and corporate compliance teams preserve and manage data from enterprise collaboration applications and complex websites, said today that it has secured a $10.5 million investment from Recurring Capital Partners.  The company said that it plans to invest significantly in product development to expand and enhance its e-discovery and compliance platform. It also will invest in building up its sales, marketing and support operations. Founded in 2009, and with offices in both the U.S. and the U.K., the company’s technology enables inhouse legal and compliance teams to capture and preserve dynamic data from…
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One of the hottest segments of legal tech is contract lifecycle management, which is becoming an increasingly competitive market with numerous vendors jockeying for their share, and where there has been a spate of notable investments over the past year, including the $100 million funding of Ironclad at a valuation of nearly $1 billion. Given this state of the market, it is notable that the technology directory G2 has released its latest grid scores for contract management software. G2 says the scores represent “the democratic voice of real software users” and are created algorithmically based on data sourced from product…
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While technology is part of innovation, technology alone is not innovation. We brought in three guests this week to talk about what they are doing to innovate in the area of process improvement and give us some examples of some of the projects they are working on. Tiffany O’Neil is the Director of Knowledge Management & Technology Innovation at Procopio in San Diego. Alana Carson is the Client Success Manager at Thomson Reuters HighQ. Jack Godsey is the Account Executive at Thomson Reuters HighQ. There is a methodology when it comes to how law firms handle process improvement.…
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You wouldn’t expect to see Gordon Ramsay cutting into a perfectly cooked beef wellington with a cheap knife he picked up at the grocery store. Danica Patrick wasn’t winning NASCAR races in a street-legal daily commuter car. Artists, skilled craftspeople, artisans, and athletes all bring phenomenal talent and years of dedicated effort to their work. But they don’t stop there: they also invest in the right tools to support their unique needs. What’s perfectly adequate for an average person’s everyday use isn’t up to the needs of a professional at the top of their game.…
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With both Arizona and Utah now allowing nonlawyers to deliver legal services through alternative business structures, the American Bar Association today issued a formal ethics opinion that addresses the question of whether lawyers outside those states may passively invest in an ABS. The issue hinges on ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 5.4, which prohibits lawyers from sharing fees with nonlawyers or practicing in an entity in which a nonlawyer has an ownership interest. Last year, Arizona eliminated Rule 5.4, allowing the certification of ABS entities to deliver legal services. Also last year, Utah launched a pilot “regulatory …
On August 24, IAALS co-hosted the second session of the Redesigning Legal Speaker Series, bringing together an audience of 145 people to learn about and discuss how lawyers and other legal professionals can help to solve access-to-justice problems using new advances in technology—while building sustainable practices at the same time. “Legal Tech—Using Technology to Build Sustainable Practices & Expand Legal Services” featured a panel including Erin Levine, founder of Hello Divorce; Chas Rampenthal, head of industry relations at LegalZoom; and Lori Gonzalez, founder of the RayNa Corporation. Their conversation was moderated by Cat Moon, director of innovation design at…
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I’m going to tell a story on myself. Our kids fall about laughing when it comes up, which, inevitably, it does. I enjoy crafting things. I’m not great at it but I’ve gotten better and, as you do, over time, you add new tools and techniques. When I was building foam knight’s armor for a Hallowe’en costume, I decided to take the plunge for a heat gun. Little did I know that it would provide more than 100 opportunities for amusement. Sometimes we are so focused on the trees, we miss the forest. Here’s the costume: A photo of…
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In its second acquisition in six weeks, law practice management company Clio has acquired Lawyaw, a document automation and assembly platform designed for solo, small and mid-sized law firms. This news follows Clio’s July 28 announcement that it acquired CalendarRules, an automated court calendaring product. It is Clio’s third acquisition ever, including its 2018, acquisition of Lexicata, the client relationship management platform that formed the basis of Clio Grow.  Lawyaw, founded in 2016 and based in San Francisco, was part of the startup accelerator Y Combinator’s winter 2018 class and was also one of the 15 companies selected…
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With companies facing a Nov. 1 deadline to comply with China’s new Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), SixFifty, the technology subsidiary of the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, is today launching a product to help organizations automate the paperwork they need to comply with the law, generating the necessary documents in both English and Chinese.  China’s new law, just passed on Aug. 20, is similar to Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applies to any organization that has employees in China or does business in China. Organizations must comply with the law by Nov. 1.…
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Our smart phones are so powerful and there are so many apps available for them, it is hard to keep up with everything that is possible. For iPhone users in the legal profession, Jeff Richardson’s iPhoneJD site has been a resource for many years. If you are interested in a new app, you can go to iPhone JD’s “Index to prior posts” and you will likely find a review of the app. In fact, it is likely Jeff has reviewed prior versions of the app as well. One of the other popular features is his regular news roundup In The…
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For all of you loyal attendees of the Legaltech Week journalists’ roundtable, your previous registration will no longer work. To attend today’s program, you will need to re-register. It only takes a moment and you can do so here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iVjHf2yORBOyn0e8BqvSZg. If you have not previously attended, please join us. Every Friday at 3 E.T., our live panel of journalists and bloggers review the top stories of the week in legal tech and legal innovation. It’s all free and your one-time registration is good for future episodes. We have a returning guest panelist joining us today:  Jeffrey Brandt,…
Playwright Anton Chekov once observed that “any idiot can face a crisis.” Unfortunately, while that makes for a nice theatre quote, it’s not true in everyday life. I was thinking about Chekov during in New Orleans, which was caused . In hurricanes you see people making some poor decisions, and making a challenging situation even worse. These folks are not necessarily dumb. They just aren’t dealing with effectively with reality. You don’t need a crisis to observe people distorting reality. It happens all the time, everywhere. But, let’s just focus on disasters. Crisis Management…