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Avvo Has Your Number, but What Does It Mean?
January 10, 2014
I have a 7.3 rating at Avvo, the online find-a-lawyer site. Why? I have no idea. I'm rated 7.3 ("very good") in both California, where I live and work, and New York, where I'm admitted but don't even know the names of most of the codes. My sister, who's been in practice almost as long as I have, has a 6.5 rating. Why? No clue. She only gets a "good." My daughter-in-law outranks her at 6.8 (also "good"), after just five years of active practice in California. How come? Who knows? All three of us have...
January 10, 2014
I have a 7.3 rating at Avvo, the online find-a-lawyer site. Why? I have no idea. I'm rated 7.3 ("very good") in both California, where I live and work, and New York, where I'm admitted but don't even know the names of most of the codes. My sister, who's been in practice almost as long as I have, has a 6.5 rating. Why? No clue. She only gets a "good." My daughter-in-law outranks her at 6.8 (also "good"), after just five years of active practice in California. How come? Who knows? All three of us have...
Getting Rid of Technology Dinosaurs
January 10, 2014
With new gadgets coming out daily, it’s probably time for many lawyers to do some technology house cleaning, and what better time to embark on this endeavor than the start of a new year. Attorney William Peacock offers advice on some “should ditch” items on FindLaw’s Legal Technology blog, “Technologist.” Landline phones: Yes really! “Sorry folks, but the landline is (near) dead,” says Peacock. Instead of paying for a multi-landline system, “consider using something like...
January 10, 2014
With new gadgets coming out daily, it’s probably time for many lawyers to do some technology house cleaning, and what better time to embark on this endeavor than the start of a new year. Attorney William Peacock offers advice on some “should ditch” items on FindLaw’s Legal Technology blog, “Technologist.” Landline phones: Yes really! “Sorry folks, but the landline is (near) dead,” says Peacock. Instead of paying for a multi-landline system, “consider using something like...
Three in 10 in U.S. Own an Array of Consumer Electronics
January 8, 2014
As electronics enthusiasts gather in Las Vegas for the International Consumer Electronics Show this week, a new Gallup analysis finds Americans falling into four groups according to their ownership levels of the electronic devices already available. At one end of the spectrum, 31% are "Super Tech Adopters," who report broad ownership of the major computing and entertainment devices on the market. At the other extreme, 28% are "Tech-Averse Olders," who own little more than a basic cellphone and DVD player.
January 8, 2014
As electronics enthusiasts gather in Las Vegas for the International Consumer Electronics Show this week, a new Gallup analysis finds Americans falling into four groups according to their ownership levels of the electronic devices already available. At one end of the spectrum, 31% are "Super Tech Adopters," who report broad ownership of the major computing and entertainment devices on the market. At the other extreme, 28% are "Tech-Averse Olders," who own little more than a basic cellphone and DVD player.
Waiting for a Better Smartwatch
January 7, 2014
What do you want from your smartwatch? That was a topic of discussion at Ars Technica just before the holidays hit, and readers weighed in on what exactly a smartwatch should feature. The general consensus is that today’s models just aren’t there yet. A long battery life and a smooth operating system aren’t enough for smartwatches to mainstream, according to Andrew Cunningham for Ars. “It might be that even if smartwatches improve (and they will), or if they pick up all of the features...
January 7, 2014
What do you want from your smartwatch? That was a topic of discussion at Ars Technica just before the holidays hit, and readers weighed in on what exactly a smartwatch should feature. The general consensus is that today’s models just aren’t there yet. A long battery life and a smooth operating system aren’t enough for smartwatches to mainstream, according to Andrew Cunningham for Ars. “It might be that even if smartwatches improve (and they will), or if they pick up all of the features...
Two Sites Offer Platforms for Crowdsourced Legal Research
January 7, 2014
If two heads are better than one, then why should legal research be a solitary pursuit? What if you could put three or four or even dozens of heads to the task? If you could tap into a collective, collaborative research process, it seems fair to say, you could complete your work more quickly and be more confident of your conclusions. Enabling just that kind of crowdsourced legal research is the goal of two innovative websites. But they go at it from different directions. Casetext starts with...
January 7, 2014
If two heads are better than one, then why should legal research be a solitary pursuit? What if you could put three or four or even dozens of heads to the task? If you could tap into a collective, collaborative research process, it seems fair to say, you could complete your work more quickly and be more confident of your conclusions. Enabling just that kind of crowdsourced legal research is the goal of two innovative websites. But they go at it from different directions. Casetext starts with...
No Need to Fear Profile Updates
January 6, 2014
During 2013, I spoke to thousands of lawyers across the United States, Canada and England about how to develop business using...
January 6, 2014
During 2013, I spoke to thousands of lawyers across the United States, Canada and England about how to develop business using...
Disruption: Richard Susskind reviews ‘The Innovator’s Dilemma’
January 6, 2014
In 1999, Elizabeth Broderick phoned me from Sydney to say that I must read The Innovator's Dilemma by Harvard business professor Clayton Christensen. Broderick was a pioneer in legal technology (she is now Australia's Sex Discrimination Commissioner) and I always welcome her advice. These were heady days, of course. The Internet was burgeoning, the dotcom bubble had not yet burst, there seemed to be massive scope for new thinking in the law, and I was thirsty for insight. I was gripped by the book's...
January 6, 2014
In 1999, Elizabeth Broderick phoned me from Sydney to say that I must read The Innovator's Dilemma by Harvard business professor Clayton Christensen. Broderick was a pioneer in legal technology (she is now Australia's Sex Discrimination Commissioner) and I always welcome her advice. These were heady days, of course. The Internet was burgeoning, the dotcom bubble had not yet burst, there seemed to be massive scope for new thinking in the law, and I was thirsty for insight. I was gripped by the book's...
Game On: Will Gaming Technology Infiltrate Law?
January 6, 2014
OK—fess up. How many of you play Angry Birds on your iPhone? What if you could play a game that improves the productivity, collaboration, compliance, or expertise of your legal practice? Within a few years, you may be routinely doing just that. Corporations like Cisco Systems and Google's Motorola Mobility have embraced gamification, and analysts say the trend is gaining steam. Now, software vendors, law firms, and general counsel are starting to experiment to see just how gamification might play...
January 6, 2014
OK—fess up. How many of you play Angry Birds on your iPhone? What if you could play a game that improves the productivity, collaboration, compliance, or expertise of your legal practice? Within a few years, you may be routinely doing just that. Corporations like Cisco Systems and Google's Motorola Mobility have embraced gamification, and analysts say the trend is gaining steam. Now, software vendors, law firms, and general counsel are starting to experiment to see just how gamification might play...
Using Data of Reader Behavior To Publish Better Books
January 5, 2014
As an author, I would love to know how people read my book. Which parts do they like? Which parts do they skim over? Which parts are rough to understand? Which parts are so good they linger over them, and maybe reread it. Which parts do they find so engaging they will tell their friend about it. If only there was some way to capture this date. What am I talking about? Of course this data can be captured. Because data! The Times has a report on how several companies are offering readers access...
January 5, 2014
As an author, I would love to know how people read my book. Which parts do they like? Which parts do they skim over? Which parts are rough to understand? Which parts are so good they linger over them, and maybe reread it. Which parts do they find so engaging they will tell their friend about it. If only there was some way to capture this date. What am I talking about? Of course this data can be captured. Because data! The Times has a report on how several companies are offering readers access...
LegalTech App for Google Glass
January 5, 2014
Thomas Bruce of Cornell LII fame is working on what I think is the first LegalTech App for Google Glass. In short, it allows you to look at a law posted on a sign, and the app will find the legal citation, and pull up the text of the statute. That’s pretty cool. Here is how Tom describes it: We have a tool called Citationer that extracts citations from documents, and it has a Tesseract-based OCR component that we use with image-based PDFs. Turns out that it’ll work with any image format,...
January 5, 2014
Thomas Bruce of Cornell LII fame is working on what I think is the first LegalTech App for Google Glass. In short, it allows you to look at a law posted on a sign, and the app will find the legal citation, and pull up the text of the statute. That’s pretty cool. Here is how Tom describes it: We have a tool called Citationer that extracts citations from documents, and it has a Tesseract-based OCR component that we use with image-based PDFs. Turns out that it’ll work with any image format,...
