Practice Technology

3 new products to help with client intake

Given how routinely lawyers perform client intake, the dearth of products that exist to help with it is surprising. That changed earlier this year when, within a few months, three products debuted for enabling client intake online: Lexicata, Intake123 and Rocket Matter Intake. Each allows creation of custom electronic forms…

Aug 1, 2015 2:30 AM CDT

ABA summit discusses new paths for providing legal services

The ABA’s National Summit on Innovation in Legal Services focused on new and innovative ways to deliver legal services to the people who desperately need them, and no ideas were out of bounds. The role of technology, the future of lawyers and law firms, new business models and regulatory reforms:…

Aug 1, 2015 2:20 AM CDT

2 groups seek to solve law firms’ security issues

Law firms have long been perceived as security risks. Attorney Amar Sarwal remembers working on large-scale litigation in decades past during which clients demanded absolute security for high-profile cases. “Law firms were not the most secure to begin with,” he says, “and now you overlay cybersecurity risks, and clients are…

Aug 1, 2015 1:50 AM CDT

Meet ROSS, ‘the world’s first artificially intelligent attorney’

A legal research database utilizing IBM’s Watson computer has won backing from a Silicon Valley company that helps fund and nurture startups. Students at the University of Toronto developed the legal research database called ROSS, which took second place in an IBM cognitive computing competition, according to this press release.…

Jul 30, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Is file-sharing software the solution to evidence ‘blame game’ in DA’s office?

New software may be the solution to a Texas county’s problem getting prosecution evidence to defense lawyers on a timely basis, officials there say. But a number of defense lawyers are dubious, citing a lack of privacy and logistical issues, according to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and KRIS. Warren Diepraam,…

Jul 29, 2015 4:37 PM CDT

Avvo raises another $71.5M to fund continued expansion

Avvo Inc., best known for its online directory for finding and rating lawyers, has announced another round of funding. Founded in 2006, the Seattle-based company plans to use the $71.5 million provided by a group led by Technology Crossover Ventures to expand its product offerings and pay for new hires…

Jul 28, 2015 12:05 PM CDT

Law firms can block hackers with ‘known good’ use of digital documents, expert says

With hack attacks, including infiltration of law firm email, on the upswing, those in charge of safeguarding computer networks may need to change their tactics, international security experts suggest. Responding to a report by a British legal regulator that says it issued nearly twice as many scam alerts in 2014…

Jul 27, 2015 4:25 PM CDT

Arbitration website hack is likely the work of Chinese hackers, cyberthreat group says

A page on the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s website was hacked earlier this month, and the culprits are likely Chinese hackers, according to a cyberthreat research team called ThreatConnect. ThreatConnect’s claim of the hack was confirmed by a source close to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Am Law Daily…

Jul 24, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Judge delays civil trial because of lawyer’s Facebook post

An Iowa judge has delayed a civil trial because of a Facebook post by a high-profile trial lawyer. In a ruling last week, the Polk County judge delayed the trial until November because of the post by lawyer Roxanne Conlin of Des Moines, the Des Moines Register reports in an…

Jul 14, 2015 10:37 AM CDT

Contesting a traffic ticket? Getting divorced? Some jurisdictions use software to resolve the issues

Some jurisdictions and companies are using software to help resolve personal injury claims, tax disputes, traffic tickets and divorce issues. One company, Modria, is branching out after developing software to help eBay and PayPal solve customer complaints, the Associated Press reports. Modria’s software is now used in several jurisdictions to…

Jul 14, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Federal judge says he will stop blogging; Ted Cruz post isn’t the reason

A federal judge says he is pulling the plug on his blog, but the reason isn’t due to the controversy over his blog post this week declaring Ted Cruz to be unfit for the presidency. U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf said his decision to end his Hercules and the Umpire…

Jul 10, 2015 7:17 AM CDT

Liars beware: Fitbit and other technology may expose you

New technology is increasingly providing evidence that can reveal your lies, according to a newspaper essay that provides examples. In Pennsylvania, police examined a woman’s Fitbit activity tracker and used the results to charge her with filing a false police report. Insurance investigators track social media in an effort to…

Jul 8, 2015 3:07 PM CDT

What is your favorite mobile app?

For many of us, our smartphones and tablets are our constant companions. And few of us get through the day without seeking help from an app. This fact is not lost on innovators in the legal profession. There are apps to help lawyers preserve evidence, write wills, navigate natural disasters…

Jul 8, 2015 2:05 PM CDT

Crowdsourcing legal research website adds writing tool that ‘could be a game-changer’

The free legal research website Casetext, which uses crowdsourcing to annotate cases, has launched a new writing tool that publishes lawyers’ articles and links them to cases they cite. The new LegalPad application “could be a game-changer in how lawyers publish and share articles about the law,” according to LawSites…

Jul 2, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Techshow 2015 tackles ethics, the skills gap and the latest gadgets

From paperless practice to glitter bombs, from testing lawyers’ tech skills to outfitting them in the latest wearable technology, ABA Techshow 2015 covered a lot of bases while highlighting the new. A good example came on the mid-April event’s last day, when attorneys’ technology know-how was brought to the forefront.…

Jul 1, 2015 2:50 AM CDT