Legal Business Technology

Have you heard about "Twitterology?" It's the latest hot new science.

mcmurray@contentpilot.net (Deborah McMurray) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:14:00 -0400

Ben Zimmer is a self-described all-around word nut. He is the former On Language columnist for The New York Times Magazine, the executive producer of VisualThesaurus.com (an entirely useful tool when you're looking to add color to your prose) and vocabulary.com.

In a recent New

Online Tools for Law Blogs and Other Website Owners | Alexa

jln@lawgravity.com (Jayne Navarre) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:11:00 -0400

Last week on VirtualMarketingOfficer.com I wrote about How To Promote Your Law Blog and it turned out to be a pretty popular post, so I figured there are enough readers who are looking for ideas in this regard-thanks to all who re-tweeted the post; Twitter was driving a lot of the traffic according to my WordPress Stats. Over the weekend, I thought, hey, I wonder how many blogger/readers are using Alexa? (I have no business interest or other connection to Alexa, except being a registered user.) Then I thought, why not ask? Are you using Alexa to monitor the health of your blog, understand your audience, and build a more strategic approach?

If the purpose of your blog or website is to gain exposure and influence readers to pick up the phone

The Social Media conversation we should be having - Part 1.

mcmurray@contentpilot.net (Deborah McMurray) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:14:00 -0400

There is still a lot of hand-wringing about social media by law firm partners. A surprising number of firms still don't have approved policies - they are in permanent "draft" mode, perhaps because they don't really want to commit to anything they don't fully understand.

I have given several presentations to partners and marketers recently about social media. Not the typical "how do you craft a catchy LinkedIn profile" commentary (although I'm not dismissing the value of that), but rather, I focus on the real

Should you use social networking to develop new business? – Part 2 of 2

jhassett@legalbizdev.com (Jim Hassett) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:33:00 -0400

The internet is full of testimonials and case studies from lawyers who have had marketing success with social media (online tools for sharing and discussing information) and social networking (groups of people with common interests mixing together on social networking sites to build relationships). For example, in an article in Law Practice, Ernie Svenson (author of the widely read blog Ernie the Attorney) explained how he used internet tools connect with a large network of other lawyers:

Now I have at my disposal a very broad

Should you use social networking to develop new business? – Part 1 of 2

jhassett@legalbizdev.com (Jim Hassett) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:11:00 -0400

Of all the topics discussed in my new book on legal business development, the role of social networking in legal marketing is the most controversial. Some experts believe that social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogging and more are transforming the way lawyers develop new business, and that people who ignore the role of new media are making a huge mistake. Others feel that the hype for these media far exceeds the evidence that they help lawyers to bring in new business.

From a hard-headed marketing point of view, one of the biggest problems with social networking is

Hasta la vista baby – the termination of the legal profession

mark.s.smith@lexisnexis.co.uk (Mark Smith) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:14:00 -0400

Later this week I'm running a session for a group of leading technology lawyers which will explore the future of the profession.

Why I think this will be particularly interesting topic for this group is that I believe technology will be the single biggest driver of change for the legal sector in the long term.

Sure, globalisation, outsourcing, commoditisation, changing procurement patterns are all shaping the market now, but technology has the potential to change it to a much greater degree.

Here's why.

There are a number of technology trends that have already influenced

Martindale's Counsel to Counsel Forum - Managing Investigations, Compliance and Audits in Today's Tough Markets

mcmurray@contentpilot.net (Deborah McMurray) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:29:00 -0400

I have facilitated Martindale Counsel to Counsel forums all over the world since 2000. These discussions are "best practice" exchanges by corporate counsel and law firm lawyers about a particular topic. Consistently, they are the best received CLE programs by buyers of legal services and senior law firm partners of any I've seen.

Yesterday's program in New York was a popular one - it always is, given the

One of the next big things in law firm websites: Video done right.

mcmurray@contentpilot.net (Deborah McMurray) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:50:00 -0400

Everyone who knows Adam Stock, the Director of Marketing and Business Development at California law firm Allen Matkins, understands that he is an early adopter of most things technology. He's a capable developer, program and website designer and, in his spare time, he is Chair of the upcoming 2011 Legal Marketing Technology Conference in San Francisco - September 15, 2011.

I wanted his opinion about a new product we are launching - a mobile app

Always Connected | A day in the digital life

jln@lawgravity.com (Jayne Navarre) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:47:00 -0400

WHAT'S IN YOUR DIGITAL LIFE?

Me. Well, I recently moved and do not have an extra outlet at my bedside so I've been recharging my iPhone at night beside my desk-in another room. The difference is noticeable. Before I used to wake up in the middle of the night and look at the email. Then before I got out of bed in the morning I'd check my email and chat. Now, I open my eyes, step out of bed, open my curtains and greet the morning sky (and usually sun) with a big stretch and thanks to the heavens for

65% of All Adults Use Social Media

Vogel@placeholder.com (Peter S. Vogel) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:26:00 -0400

Only 5% of all adults used Social Media in 2005 when Pew Research first asked, and as ofAugust 2011 Pew now reports more than 65% of all adults use Social Media. To be more precise about what going on with online adults here's the daily breakdown from another Pew report:

92% use search engines
92% send or read email
76% get news online
71% buy a product online
65% use Social Media

So even though 65% of users are active with Social Media, 92% are busy with search engines and email, here are even more interesting

Happy 20th Birthday World Wide Web!

mcmurray@contentpilot.net (Deborah McMurray) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:34:00 -0400

August 6, 2011 was the twentieth birthday of the first website being launched. For the hundreds of millions of hourly web users across the world, the day came and went without so much as a piece of cake or a candle. As Mark Giangrande noted in his August 10 Law Librarians Blog post, the anniversary "didn't have enough impact to justify a Google doodle."

http://dictionary.refrence.com integration is the act of combining or adding parts to make a unified whole. Integration matters because many times what is being called an integration is actually a link. And the experience an integration brings an end user is very different than a link. So what is the difference between integration and a link?

Integration is when two applications share data. Frequently a software development kit (SDK) or application programming

Social Media and Legal Ethics | No New Restrictions, Just Clarification

jln@lawgravity.com (Jayne Navarre) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:30:00 -0400

The jury is (almost) in. We do not, thankfully, anticipate a Casey-Anthony-super-sized-post-verdict outrage when the American Bar Association codifies its Commission on Ethics 20/20 proposed amendments to the Model Rules in 2012. According to the Commission's recent proposal and report

My Technology Wish List

ScottKadish@ulmerplaceholder.com (Scott P. Kadish) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:42:00 -0400

By Scott Kadish

Technology has revolutionized our practice. Faxes used to be the greatest thing ever, and we have moved way past faxes in the last 10 years. Technology will continue to evolve. My wish list:

1. Phones as we know them are eliminated. All phone calls will be video calls over the computer, screen to screen (or tablet to tablet, or PDA to PDA, or any one of these to another.)

2. The keyboard will be eliminated. Instead, we can just dictate what we want and the computer will print it.

Social Media Secrets Revealed

jln@lawgravity.com (Jayne Navarre) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:17:00 -0400

Raise your hand: How many of you are stuck in the PUSHING TOO MUCH INFORMATION trap of social media? Right, just as I expected...too many.

Pushing information on social media is like using a garden rake to comb your hair. It's the wrong tool for the job.

Just today, while explaining the finer details of a successful Twitter presence to a #lawyer, I emphasized the old don't-toot-your-own-horn let others toot it for you approach to social media. To be interesting, be interested-and not just about what you think. It is most important to stimulate the conversation and draw attention to the ideas of others, inserting your expertise and opinion where it adds value, or entertainment in some cases.

Still, we forget: As witnessed by the incessant stream of look at me Tweets (including those with links to perhaps interesting articles, but no commentary) showing up in my Twitter stream because I follow a lot of law firms and lawyers. That is PUSHING.

While timesheets rule but chargeable hours suck

mark.s.smith@lexisnexis.co.uk (Mark Smith) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:16:00 -0400

There was something deliciously ironic about me trying some new time recording software this week. It's many years after I left life as a private practice lawyer but I can still remember that huge sense of freedom at escaping the tyranny of the timesheet. The feeling of being able to work on what mattered most and be judged on results rather than be measured purely on how much time I had spent working on client matters was incredibly liberating.

The IT director proudly unveiled the firm's latest time recording application - robust, wireless and mobile, it represented the future of the firm's management information system

Subsequent conversations with other in-house lawyers validated that I was not alone in those feelings

Cloud Computing May Be Bad for Marketing

tkane@KaneConsultingInc.com (Tom Kane) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:29:00 -0400

With cloud computing being all the rage, be very cautious about thinking that you can undertake your business development activities from behind your desk utilizing only your computer. It is true that the "clouds" may actually increase efficiency in handling and collaborating with your client on a case or transaction. The danger arises when it comes to marketing in that such efficiency also reduces face time, and THAT can be bad.

What raised this red flag in my mind was an article on Attorney at Work by Jack Newton, president of Clio, a web-based practice management systems company

Facebook for Lawyers: Don’t overlook the efficiency and power of a network on Facebook

jln@lawgravity.com (Jayne Navarre) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 12:04:00 -0400

The other day, I added a "new" Friend to my Facebook network, someone I see maybe once a year at a professional gathering. I thought: This is great. Can it get any easier to stay in touch and up to speed on what's going on in her life so that the next time we meet we can immediately ease into a relevant conversation? No, it can't. I love what Facebook brings to the flow of my professional (and personal) life.

Does anyone still use a Rolodex?

Then I thought, how much better than the previous, one-dimensional Rolodex era! As a marketing director in the era of the ROLODEX, I would sometimes suggest to lawyers that they go through their Rolodex contacts once a week and choose someone to call up just to say,

"Hello, how are you doing? I was thinking

The crowd in the cloud

mark.s.smith@lexisnexis.co.uk (Mark Smith) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:47:00 -0400

These days, your knowledge is not enough to stand out from the crowd. But before I explain why that's the case, and what you can do about it, let me quickly explain how this post came to be...

Charlotte, the senior partner in the Family law team spent hours gazing at the clouds trying to guess the weather for the department picnic

One of the benefits of Twitter is connecting with a whole heap of like-minded people, and one of those that I follow most closely is Julian Summerhayes who like me, is a former lawyer who continues to serve the legal profession in a different capacity.

Julian is

Are You [A] Lawyer Online?

jln@lawgravity.com (Jayne Navarre) — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:27:00 -0400

David Fraser (@privacylawyer) is not just a lawyer online; he's a Canadian privacy lawyer-online. Participating on a panel with David last Friday, it was immediately obvious that he "gets social media" when he flat out told a Canadian Bar Association group of Intellectual Property lawyers that ...being a lawyer online does nothing for you. Being anything too broad; and you're going to get lost.

Proskauer Rose goes Mac daddy? | Attorneys to be Outfitted with iPads

jln@lawgravity.com (Jayne Navarre) — Wed, 04 May 2011 11:39:00 -0400

The AmLaw Daily reports that Proskauer Rose announced on Wednesday that the firm plans to supply the bulk of its 700-plus lawyers with iPad 2′s.

I'm a straying out of my comfort zone in this post today-I am not a hardwired techie-but I am all for technologies that enrich our lives and improve the way in which we do our work, whatever that may be. So, I found it interesting, in fact, exciting that a large international law firm was ready to make a serious investment in the iPad, ultimately the Apple iOS 4 mobile operating system. I know plenty of individual lawyers that own them for personal use, and LexisNexis Firm Manager the other day. It's a web-based app like Clio and Rocketmatter, built on the Microsoft Silverlight platform. And I have to say ... I was impressed. Here's what you can expect from Firm Manager:

Dashboard View: A quick, centralized view of cases, appointments, meetings, tasks, recent messages, and more.
Smartphone Integration: Firm Manager syncs with Microsoft® Outlook®, iPhone®, BlackBerry®, Android^TM and the iPad® right away. Nice.
Time and Expense: Track time and expenses for anyone in the office. Firm Manager will compile and display the information by client or matter.
Finally! No Contract, No Install, Pay as You Go, Data Freedom: Month-to

SQL Express,Time Matters 10.0,Time Matters 9.0,Time Matters Install/Upgrade,Time Matters configuration,Time matters support

phager@itprosusa.com (Paul Hager) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 09:40:00 -0400

We work with large firms running TM on SQL servers doing replication to ensure consistency across the U.S. but we also work with solo's and small firms running TM on desktops. Keep in mind that Time Matters does need SQL server which will utilize about 1.5GB of RAM at almost all times. So having a desktop with a minimum of 4GB of RAM is advisable in a peer to peer environment.

When setting up the desktops make sure you have the Windows firewall and any anti virus set to allow both SQL and the Time Matters program files through on both PC's. Also make sure you set both desktops to be a part of the same HOMEGROUP and the same WORKGROUP. This will ensure you have correct permissions when the install is done.

Pick one PC to be the "Server" and install TM and the database. Then located the data folder and share that folder in the workgroup and homegroup. Then go to the 2nd PC and map that shared folder as a network drive

Should Lawyers Check Their Blackberries Hourly?

tkane@KaneConsultingInc.com (Tom Kane) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:34:00 -0400

In our fast-paced world, it seems like such availability is expected. Certainly, a partner at a BigLaw firm apparently thinks associates should, sorta. You can read about it on ABA Journal's Law News Now and Above the Law. In a nutshell, a partner asked an associate to send a fax to a client before the latter left the office, but junior forgot to check his emails and never got the word.

My question to that partner is, "have you ever heard of the telephone?" If it was that important, why didn't you pick up the damn phone and make sure it got done. Also, I don't know about this guy, but I know I have failed to receive emails sent (or received them hours later - really) and others have not gotten some that I've