Practice Technology

Online Applications Too Risky? One Firm Takes the Plunge

Like anything new, cloud computing inspires both interest and caution in its users, and for the risk-averse legal business, even early adopters prefer to move a few applications online rather than commit entire operations to the ether. But then there’s Bradford & Barthel. Eric Hunter, director of knowledge management at…

Apr 1, 2011 6:20 AM CDT

School of e-Discovery: Online Course Aims to Help Lawyers Bone Up

A 2010 study by Socha Consulting found an expanding, maturing e-discovery market, and the Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery Survey says there’s money to be made by those who know how to work in that market. Trouble is, not many lawyers do. Ralph Losey is trying to change that with a new…

Apr 1, 2011 6:10 AM CDT

The 25th ABA Techshow Recalls the Pioneer Days of Legal Technology

The IBM AT, enhanced for business use, was the hot computer to have in 1986. As much as 360 kilobytes of information could be stored on 5-inch floppy diskettes. Letter-quality documents could be churned from a daisy-wheel printer. Or, if you wanted to spend around $4,000, a high-quality laser printer…

Apr 1, 2011 6:00 AM CDT

Some Federal Courts Ban Smartphones Because They Could Be Bombs

Some federal courthouses ban smartphones because of fears that could be used as weapons by terrorists. A memo issued last week by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts outlines the dangers, Wired’s Threat Level blog reports. “These common devices present security issues because some can be and have been…

Mar 29, 2011 11:27 AM CDT

Law Firm’s Defamation Suit Against Ex-Paralegal Claims Lost Business from Online Review

A Texas law firm has sued its former paralegal and her husband claiming they are responsible for a fake online review that resulted in lost business. The Bellaire law firm Weston & Associates and name partner Michael Weston are seeking $1.25 million for the review posted at Citysearch.com, Texas Lawyer…

Mar 28, 2011 11:30 AM CDT

How People Find Lawyers: Referrals Are Popular, Blogs Not So Much, Poll Finds

The Internet age has changed the way that people look for lawyers, as fewer would-be clients rely on the Yellow Pages and more indicate an interest in innovative websites. Research in the late 1980s and 1990 indicated that between 13 percent and 34 percent of adults relied on print directories…

Mar 23, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Law Students Use Laptops to Goof Off in Class, But They Also Aid Learning, Survey Says

First-year law students at Temple and George Washington University acknowledged in a survey that they sometimes use laptops to goof off in class, but most felt the benefits of the devices outweigh the distractions. The survey findings led Temple law professor Kristen Murray to conclude that law professors should allow…

Mar 21, 2011 5:43 PM CDT

Keeping Score: 6 Ways to Know if Change Is Really Happening

I attended an excellent meeting at Georgetown University Law Center last week, “Trends in the Delivery of Corporate Legal Services.” The theme was “is change really happening?” We can point to conflicting signs: Some firms are thriving, some are failing, many clients are touting “alternative” fee structures, others are hesitant…

Mar 21, 2011 1:53 PM CDT

Prosecutor’s Apology for Home Raid Highlights the Dangers of Unprotected WiFi

A Buffalo businessman learned about the dangers of unprotected WiFi earlier this month when he was awakened by federal agents who battered open the back door of his home, pointed guns at him and seized his computer. The man got his computer back three days later when authorities arrested a…

Mar 18, 2011 12:44 PM CDT

Troubled Law Firms Remained Upbeat Online Before Dissolution, Wayback Machine Shows

Law firm websites remained upbeat in the face of impending doom, according to a check of the Internet archives. Law Technology News used the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to check out the websites of these dissolved law firms: Howrey; Heller Ehrman; Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison; and Altheimer & Gray. “Irony…

Mar 16, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Help Wanted: Latham Seeks Social Media Specialist

In a sign of the times, Latham & Watkins is seeking to hire a social media specialist. The new hire is expected to help develop and implement the firm’s social media strategy, according to the job post. Legal Blog Watch and the Legal Skills Prof Blog have the news. According…

Mar 15, 2011 3:21 PM CDT

As Law Student Readies Reverse Auction Site, Law Bloggers React to ‘eBay’ of Lawyering

Updated: At 21 years old, Robert Grant Niznik began asking himself the same stress-inducing question looming over all law students: What am I going to do after graduation? Niznik’s graduation musings led him to contemplate the plight of indebted law students struggling to find jobs in a bleak economic climate…

Mar 14, 2011 3:26 PM CDT

Why Enron’s Downfall May Be Hurting the Legal Job Market (Hint: It Involves Technology)

The federal government’s collection of more than 5 million e-mail messages obtained during its Enron-related prosecutions proved to be a treasure trove for researchers developing better e-discovery software. A computer scientist paid $10,000 for a copy of the e-mails and made it available for free to researchers, the New York…

Mar 7, 2011 12:00 PM CST

Judge Refuses Class Action Status for Suit Claiming ‘Time Bomb’ in Law Firm Software

A federal judge in New Jersey has refused to grant class action status to a lawsuit that claims law firm management software contained a hidden “time bomb” that caused it to shut down. The suit by New York intellectual property law firm Kalow & Springut claimed that software made by…

Mar 3, 2011 5:23 PM CST

Administrator for Law Firm Portrayed in ‘Erin Brockovich’ Has 50K Twitter Followers

The Masry Vititoe law firm in California achieved fame after its portrayal in the movie about its persistent law clerk, Erin Brockovich. Now the law firm’s administrator, Christopher Levinson, is also attracting some attention. Levinson has more than 52,000 Twitter followers, according to the Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog. The…

Mar 2, 2011 12:00 PM CST