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I had an interesting discussion recently with Peter Baumann. Peter is the CEO and founder of data privacy and governance software provider ActiveNav. According to its website, ActiveNav, founded in 2008, helps “privacy and compliance teams quickly identify, inventory and map sensitive data.”

Peter’s present goal is to develop solutions that address what he calls the “elephant in the room .”That is businesses having and maintaining too much unstructured that they really shouldn’t.Continue Reading Law Firms and Unstructured Data: A Disaster Waiting to Happen?

Several articles have recently discussed the claim by a Google computer scientist that a Google AI system was a sentient being. The scientist, Blake Lemoine, used his interview with the AI program to support his claim that the program appears to have consciousness. If you go by some of the interview responses, I got to wonder whether a lot of lawyers can be considered sentient.

For those who don’t know, sentient refers to the ability to perceive or feel things. The general thinking is that only humans are sentient and in the club. Animals (Dogs? Cats?) are not. Certainly, computers are not.Continue Reading Are Lawyers Sentient?

At the risk of stating what perhaps should be obvious, lawyers valued for their abilities and insight are generally happier. They are certainly happier than those valued almost entirely on their production (i.e., billable hours). The latter group is by and large less healthy than the former. And in the long run, the happier lawyers are more–not less– productive than their unhappy, stressed out brethren.

Makes sense, right? Then why do so many law firms evaluate and compensate lawyers–especially associates–based on the billable hour yardstick? Maybe it’s because of a lack of empirical data demonstrating the advantages of the long-term view. If so (and as set out below, I am not convinced that that is the case), at least now there is data that confirms the obvious. Happier lawyers are more likely to be more productive over the long haul.Continue Reading Lawyers Valued For Insight and Ability Are Happier. And More Productive

Data doesn’t lie. But sometimes, you have to ask it better questions to get anywhere meaningful.
 
 
In making criminal justice decisions, courts and prosecutors have tried to use data and algorithms to determine things like the risks to society a particular accused may pose. The concept is simple: look at the data and determine who is likely to commit another crime or flee before disposition. From this analysis, the theory goes, you can then determine if a particular accused is similar to the individuals the data says are likely to pose those risks.
 

Continue Reading Data Analytics: It’s All About The Question You Ask

Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced via Twitter that Tesla “is building a hardcore litigation department where we directly initiate & execute lawsuits.” The lawyers will report directly to him. Said Musk, “Looking for hardcore streetfighters, not white-shoe lawyers like Perkins or Cooley who thrive on corruption.”
 
Musk is soliciting responses from lawyers. Those interested should send him 3 to 5 bullet points about how they qualify presumably as streetfighters.  Musk’s finally shot: “We will never seek victory in a just cause against us, even if we will probably win. We will never surrender/settle an unjust case against us, even if we will probably lose.”
Some of the best trial lawyers I know are in small to mid-size firms
 

Continue Reading Do Streetfighters Make Better Lawyers?

Early on in the ABA’s most recent annual diversity Survey Report, the authors quote the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr: “The more things change, the more they stay the same”. The bottom line from this year’s Survey is summed up in one sentence from the Report:  “White attorneys, male attorneys, non-LGBTQ+ attorneys, and attorneys without disabilities dominate in representation within law firms and therefore in hires, promotions, leadership, and compensation”.
The Survey confirms pretty much what all the other similar Surveys from the ABA and elsewhere show year after year. Let’s face it: by and large, the legal profession is one of the last bastions of old white male domination. From equity partnership to compensation to associate hiring, being a white male entitles you to the keys to the legal kingdom. I have written about this here and here and here and here and here. You have to wonder what needs to happen for there to be any significant change.

Continue Reading When Will We Ever Learn: The Sad State of Diversity in Our Legal Profession 

Early this week, Richard Tromans at Artificial Lawyer reported on a Survey done by the ContractWorks group of Onit. Onit is an enterprise workflow solutions provider. Onit acquired ContractWorks earlier this year.

ContractWorks surveyed some 350 general counsel, in-house lawyers, and other legal department members in the United States and the United Kingdom. The purpose of the Survey was to determine their satisfaction (or lack thereof) with tech implementation within their departments.Continue Reading Legal Tech: a 77% Failure Rate?

A couple of commentators noted the announcement by AmLaw 100 firm Hogans Lovells last week that making partner requires “being all in .” According to Hogans Lovell, being all in typically means 2400 hours per year. (Hogans Lovell says it recognizes this “goal” could be achieved by billable hours and “further contributions .” But Hogans is clear that a “significant portion” of these hours will be client chargeable work).

As Hannah Walker noted in her excellent article, an associate would have to work on average 10 hours per day to achieve this goal. In her follow-up article, she correctly points out that it’s not so much that Hogans has a target (many firms have unspoken similar billable hour targets). What’s really noteworthy is that Hogans has publicly thrown down a hours gauntlet to its associates.Continue Reading Want To Make Partner? Bill 10 Hours a Day. Every Day

Law firms and legal departments need a legal operations platforms that allow adaptability and individuality within an overall system and parameters. And firm management needs the ability to assess what’s being done, and its profitability, and compare the business lines of a firm and legal department. Litify believes the future is cloud based platforms that provide this kind of adaptability and flexibility. 
 
Litify, an end-to-end legal ops platform for law firms and legal departments, recently announced a partnership with The Noble Law. The Noble Law is a women-owned plaintiffs’ employment law firm. It was founded on principles of diversity, empathy, equity, integrity, inclusion, and innovation. Litify will provide the firm with a view of their clients, cases, and staff at all levels.
 
According to Laura Noble, founder and managing partner of The Noble Law, “Having data at our fingertips allows us to move quickly and thoroughly respond to our client’s needs and help them navigate what is typically a very stressful process,… Litify’s cloud-based technology will empower our staff to collaborate with clients more efficiently while enabling data-driven decisions to support successful outcomes.” The firm plans to use the Litify platform to centralize workflows and case information.

Continue Reading Litify Sees Adaptablity and Flexibility As The Future of Legal Ops Platforms

I just returned from helping teach a 2 ½ day intensive training workshop for trial lawyers. The workshop focuses on how to better use technology in the courtroom and to persuade generally. The workshop and program, called FedTechU, is put on by the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (better known as the FDCC and of which I am a proud member). It is held annually; of course, this is the first workshop in a couple of years due to Covid.Continue Reading Three Lessons In Persuasive Trial Technology