Practice Technology

Some Staff Protest Bay Street Firm’s New Finger Scan ID Plan, Ask Why It Doesn’t Apply to Lawyers

As part of a new security campaign, a Canadian insurance law firm on Toronto’s prime Bay Street is installing a fingerprint-identification program that is expected to be up and running this month. But scanning workers’ prints also admittedly will help McCague Borlack keep track of its employees’ whereabouts. And that…

Nov 1, 2012 7:04 PM CDT

No Twitters: Law Blogs Hold Their Own

While some digital doomsayers warn that a Twitter post will soon be the most our attention spans can deal with, don’t write off the unapologetically cerebral just yet. According to findings from a Pew Research Center Internet study, longer-form Web media—specifically blogging—is actually gaining in popularity among people 34 and…

Nov 1, 2012 7:20 AM CDT

‘Facing’ It: It Can Be Worth It to Join the Social Media Giant

Now that Facebook has hit 1 billion users and the term facebook has become a verb, the world’s biggest social networking platform has become difficult for lawyers to ignore. Many lawyers feel pressure from friends, family and marketing consultants to use it. Yet they struggle with quantifying the value of…

Nov 1, 2012 7:10 AM CDT

Hay from a Hated Task: 2 Big-Firm Refugees Offer Online Help for Contract Signings

What was once the bane of their existence as junior associates is now the cornerstone of a new startup for two major law firm refugees-turned-entrepreneurs. Edwin Hermawan, 27, and Andrew Knepley, 31, got together earlier this year to form Signature Pages, a Web-based software offering that creates, sends out, collects…

Nov 1, 2012 6:50 AM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: ‘Financial Literacy’ at NYU Law; A 10th Law School in Illinois?

Redefining the Basics Last week, New York University Law School announced plans to remake its curriculum. This week at the New York Times’ Dealbook blog, University of Colorado Law School professor Victor Fleischer and Brian Leiter’s Law School Reports took note of NYU’s new mandatory financial literacy course for first-years.…

Oct 26, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Lawyer Is Among Cellphone Users Flummoxed on How to Disinfect the Devices

Apple has a warning for germophobes who want to disinfect their devices. Its customer manual cautions against use of “window cleaners, household cleaners, aerosol sprays, solvents, alcohol, ammonia or abrasives.” BlackBerry offers similar advice. The problem, the Wall Street Journal explains, is that cleaning products may damage the phone’s protective…

Oct 24, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

As BlackBerry Users Face Mockery, One More Law Firm Offers iPhone Option

Once considered ahead of the curve, BlackBerry users are now developing something of a stodgy reputation. The BlackBerry “has become a magnet for mockery and derision,” outranked in status by iPhones and new Android phones, the New York Times concludes. “BlackBerrys may still linger in Washington, Wall Street and the…

Oct 18, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Lawyer Reprimanded for Continued Use of Westlaw After Leaving Prosecutor Job

In a case of reciprocal discipline, the Oregon Supreme Court has publicly reprimanded a lawyer who continued to use a government-paid Westlaw account after he left his job as a prosecutor. Everett Walton used the account for about 14 months when he became a legal aid lawyer in Hawaii, according…

Oct 16, 2012 1:00 PM CDT

Harvard Law School to Interview Applicants by Videoconference in Expanded Program

Harvard Law School is offering more interviews to applicants and adding a technological twist: The interviews can now be conducted by videoconference. The expanded program begins with the current admissions cycle for next year’s entering class, according to a press release. For the last six years, the law school offered…

Oct 12, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

‘Hosting Incident’ Hits 36 BigLaw Sites; Some Visitors Offered Personal Injury Lawyer Search Links

An admitted “hosting incident” by a Chicago-based company that provides technology services to law firms created issues at dozens of BigLaw websites Thursday morning that apparently may have lasted at least several hours. At more than 36 top law firms including Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; Baker & McKenzie;…

Oct 4, 2012 8:39 PM CDT

Burgeoning Blogs: Can They Give BigLaw Firms an Edge?

LexBlog’s 2012 survey of large U.S. law firms has found 155 firms now have blogs or lawyers blogging. That is 77 percent of the Am Law 200. It’s also a 26 percent increase over when LexBlog last did its report in November 2010. As the August report notes in its…

Oct 1, 2012 7:00 AM CDT

LSC to Grant $3.4M for Technology to Improve Access to Justice

Updated: The Legal Services Corporation announced this week that it will grant more than $3.4 million to organizations looking to improve Web-based resources for low-income Americans. The money to 43 organizations in 25 states is meant to be used to enhance pro bono, expand websites for veterans and for disaster…

Sep 28, 2012 10:42 AM CDT

Corner Offices, Suits, Pantyhose Going Way of the Fax Machine and Rolodex

A survey of more than 7,000 professionals by LinkedIn has identified tools that are likely to vanish from offices in the next five years. The tape recorder was the most likely office tool to fade away followed by fax machines, according to a report on the survey by Mashable. Also…

Sep 26, 2012 12:10 PM CDT

Library of Congress Introduces Site Intended to Replace Thomas.gov

The Library of Congress recently unveiled Congress.gov, a legislative information site that is intended to eventually replace Thomas.gov, the entity’s existing research site. According to Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites, Congress.gov will have better search features and is designed to be more user friendly. It will also be easier to use on…

Sep 21, 2012 7:13 PM CDT

Kingsley Martin’s Analysis Software Spots Contract Flaws

A Better Benchmark

Sep 18, 2012 2:00 PM CDT