They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Matthew 23:4
Like so many things, whether you love or hate remote work depends on how you look at it. Do you look at the remote work phenomenon and see multiple problems? Do you
Continue Reading Remote Work and Law Firms: A Glass Half Full
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Want to be a successful lawyer? Think Jimmy Buffett. Wait…what???
Like many of you, I was saddened to learn of the passing of Jimmy Buffett last week. He was a phenomenal artist and a cultural icon. He was a singer, a writer, and an author, among other things. His music, in many ways, was the
Continue Reading Wasted Away In Margaritaville: A Lesson for Lawyer Marketing
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According to various reports, a recent survey from Wells Fargo’s Legal Specialty Group revealed some surprises. It’s been reported for the first six months of 2023, the legal headcount is up 3.9%, but billable hours are down. Significantly down. Wells Fargo surveyed over 130 law firms, including 68 AmLaw 100 firms. The Specialty
Continue Reading The Decline of Billable Hours and the Unproductive Partner Dilemma
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Every time I turn around, there’s another astounding and confounding assault on our rights. This time, it was the Fifth Circuit stepping in to ensure that our right against unreasonable search and seizure stops cold at the border.
On August 15, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a remarkable and
Continue Reading Your Constitutional Protection Against Unreasonable Search and Seizure? It Ends at the Border
The effect will be to handicap DEI efforts, at the cost of business independence and even if sound business reasons exist for inclusion.
The American Alliance for Equal Rights last week sued two law firms, Perkins Coie and Morrison Foerster. Edward Blum heads the Alliance. Blum also headed one of the groups that brought the case against Harvard. That
Continue Reading The Next Salvo in the War Against DEI Has Just Been Fired. And It Focuses on Law Firms
As I previously posted, I spent last week at the ILTA conference in Orlando. Like just about every legal tech discussion and conference these days, talk about generative AI and its uses in the substantive end of law practice dominated. Lost in all this hype, though, a quiet revolution is going on with the use of AI and automation
Continue Reading Using AI and Automation For Back Office Tasks: A Quiet Revolution in Law Firm Management
So there I was in the massive Exhibit Hall at the ILTA conference on Wednesday. I was at the end of my last full day at the Conference. My feet hurt, and I was tired. As I previously mentioned, ILTA provided a start-up alley in the very back of the Hall. In addition to the booths, there was a stage
Continue Reading EvenUp Is Focused on the Holy Grail of Litigation Analytics
This year’s ILTA Conference was held in Disneyworld, the self-proclaimed “happiest place on earth.”
I just returned from this year’s Conference put on by the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA). It’s a massive show held every year for ILTA members and guests. This year, the four-day Conference was held in DisneyWorld.
Conference organizers reported that this was the second most
Continue Reading ILTACON 2023: The Happiest Place on Earth?
We perish for lack of knowledge.
LexisNexis today announced the results of a new generative AI survey. The study was based on responses from some 4000+ lawyers. There were also responses from legal professionals and law students. This new Study furthered the findings of LexisNexis’ prior survey back in March of this year of which I have previously written
Continue Reading New LexisNexis Study Suggests Generative AI May Impact the Attorney-Client Relationship
The typical law firm business model and lawyer hubris often stymie effective succession planning.
Not that long ago, there was a plethora of articles and consultants focused on succession planning for law firms. You couldn’t attend a legal conference without seeing numerous presentations by well-heeled so-called experts on the subject. Of late, though, the craze seems to have died down.
Continue Reading Succession Planning for Law Firms. Hold My Beer
One of my favorite legal tech Conferences is put on by the American Association of Law Librarians, better known as AALL. I attend every year and write about what I observe. My articles on previous shows can be found here, here, here and here.
This year’s Show was July 15 through 18. Unfortunately, it was sandwiched
Continue Reading Navigating the Evolving Legal Landscape: The 2023 AALL Conference and the Brave New World
Trellis’ new state court analytics tools provide much needed insights into litigators and their law firms which will lead to better strategic decisions. But the real value of the tools may be to firm management, especially for large firms with offices in multiple locations.
Lost in the hoopla recently from the announcements of big players in legal tech of their
Continue Reading Trellis New State Court Analytics Tools: Improved Litigation Decisions and Better Firm Management
Richard Tromans is fond of saying, “It’s a game changer when the game has changed.” NetDocuments’ new generative AI products may be the game changer.
When I was practicing law full-time, we often had discussions and dreamed about a dynamic “past efforts file.” The idea was that we should save documents that others could later use as templates for future
Continue Reading NetDocuments ndMAX. A Generative AI Game Changer?
Back in the day, there was a professional fireman named Red Adair. But Red was not just an ordinary fireman. He became famous for his knowledge and expertise in fighting oil well fires. Even more than that, he was known internationally as an innovator in a highly specialized and hazardous business: extinguishing and capping oil well blowouts. These blowouts
Continue Reading Tackling Mass Tort and Complex Case Challenges with Redgrave Data’s Innovations
A few years ago, when contemplating whether to continue working full time in my law firm, perhaps as a CIO, or start my blog, I talked to Aaron Street, co-founder of The Lawyerist. Aaron told me, “There are firms that want to be innovative, and then there are firms that just want to say they are innovative.”