legal tech/innovation

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Like many of you, I watched and listened to the Keynote that kicked off Apple’s World Wide Development Conference on June 5.

Frankly, I was blown away by the introduction of the Apple Vision Pro device. It undoubtedly has some great attributes as a consumer product (gaming, photos, movies, and sports viewing). But in the long run, it also has the potential power to disrupt the business and legal community in perhaps profound ways.

I know; I have heard all the naysayers. People won’t want it. It’s too immersive; it won’t work. It’s just an expensive gadget to supplement what other Apple products— like desktop computers, laptops, and iPads—already to some extent do. And the price ($3599) is just too damn high for a toy to watch movies on.Continue Reading Vision Pro May Change The Way We Work. Lawyers Too

Why are lawyers incompetent when it comes to e-Discovery: Hubris. Time. Perceived easier options.

markus-spiske-iar-afB0QQw-unsplash

Stephanie Wilkins recently wrote an excellent article entitled, “Is Attorney E-Discovery Incompetence the Elephant in the Room?” In it, Wilkins notes a recent Report from eDiscovery Today, a website paper from EDRM, commentary by several exerts, and several recent examples that all evidence the glaring ignorance of so many lawyers about e-discovery issues:Continue Reading Why Are Lawyers So Darned Incompetent With E-Discovery? Three Reasons

I recently published a post that discussed client pressures on law firms to take public stands on social issues. These issues are often controversial and can be tricky for law firms.

In the process of conceptualizing the post, ChatGBT hit the news. I decided to use it least to get started. The results were interesting and showed both the power and limitations of the tool. I ended up with two posts. The post you are reading shows how I used—and didn’t use—ChatGPT. The other was the actual substantive post on the relevent issues.

Continue Reading I Asked ChatGPT to Help Write a Post on Law Firms: Here Is How It Turned Out

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been

Wayne Gretzky

Last week, I was back at the sprawling CES (formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. I go every year, although I missed the last two years due to the pandemic. 

CES has always been gracious enough to extend a media pass to me, even though I write more about legal tech than consumer tech. CES goes out of its way to accommodate the media. Nice media rooms close to most of the sessions and exhibit halls. Lunch every day. Lots of background material to make our jobs easier, not harder. It’s nice to feel welcomed for a change.Continue Reading CES 2023: 10 Tech Trends That Will Impact Legal

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)…
Ch-ch-changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time

Changes by David Bowie

I recently ran across an article in Macworld by Dan Moren. The article is entitled Apple Is Quietly Preparing for a Future Without the iPhone-Or Another Big Thing.

In the article, Moren talks about how several well-known tech companies have pivoted even when they seemingly were on the top of their game. By pivoting sooner rather than later, these companies set themselves up for survival. And even greater success in a changing world. Says Moren, “Where once they might have ruled the world by producing the thing that everybody needed to have—whether it was a hardware product or a crucial piece of software—they seem to eventually evolve into a new form, one where they’re focused less on delivering a key product and more on what service they provide.”Continue Reading Does Your Law Firm Need To Think About a Pivot?

Lexion, an AI-powered contract management system geared to in-house lawyers and legal professionals, recently announced the results of a survey of some 450 in-house legal professionals. The Survey sought information on the state of legal technology, the potential economic slowdown, and the potential impact of any slowdown on their work. The results were published in The State of Legal Technology: Improving Efficiency with Existing Staff and New Technology as Hiring Slows. Respondents include in-house counsel, legal operations professionals, and contract managers across various industries.

Much of what the Survey found was not surprising. Close to 90% of the respondents are worried about the economy. Most of the respondents (almost 70%) believe their companies will likely soon slow down or freeze hiring. Most think they will also need to reduce outside counsel spend and even conduct layoffs.Continue Reading Legal Tech: It’s Not Just for Lawyers Anymore

I recent returned from the annual Clio conference, at which it released its 2022 Legal Trends Study. This Survey of Clio lawyer  customers and others comes out every year.

In addition, Aba Practice Forward Group also recently realized its own Survey of some 2000 members.

The two Surveys are interesting both because they offer a look at the post-pandemic (we hope) world and because the findings are in many ways similar. Since the studies presumably were not of all the same people, the similarities give a lot of credibility to both results.Continue Reading CLIO and ABA Recent Surveys: A Tale of Two Studies

“By the way, you know, when, when you’re telling these little stories, here’s a good idea. Have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener!”

Neal Page (played by Steve Martin) in the 1987 movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Clio’s Legal Trends Report came out this week at Clio’s annual conference. One of the key findings is that lawyers and legal professionals don’t want to return to the office like they used to. I know. It’s those lazy younger workers who want to drink coffee and sit around in their pajamas at home and not work. I mean, who wouldn’t want to commute an hour each way to get to an office to do the same thing  they do at home. And be berated by a senior partner for being so uncommitted.Continue Reading How to Build Culture, Train Associates and Make People Happy in a Remote World

Several weeks ago, after ILTACon, I wrote a piece questioning what the maturing of the legal tech market could mean. I specifically wondered what the influx of venture capital and the acquisition mania whereby the big get bigger might mean long term. I also questioned the long-term impact if those without legal experience and understanding become more dominant in the field. Or as larger legal tech players focus more on integration than products themselves. Or those businesses traditionally not in the legal space try to adapt their products to legal.

This week I had a chance to catch up with Joey Seeber, Level Legal CEO, about this very issue and his concerns. Level Legal provides global legal related managed services to law firms, in-house legal departments, and government agencies. It specializes in privacy, compliance, regulatory, antitrust, and eDiscovery issues. Level Legal recently announced a jaw dropping 191% increase in year-over-year revenues through the first half of 2022. It also announced several impressive additions to its leadership team.Continue Reading The Maturing of LegalTech: Ominous Clouds for Customers?

The more I am around legal product and service providers, the more I think many of them have a lot to learn about lawyers and marketing. Too much jargon, too much BS, and too little understanding of what drives lawyers. I’m not a vendor, but I did practice law for a long time and have seen lots of pitches. So at the risk of perhaps stating the obvious (which some vendors still seem to need to hear), here are my top 10 tips for legaltech vendors:
Continue Reading Ten Marketing Tips for LegalTech Vendors