Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind.

Robert Kennedy

The ILTA Conference I am attending this week is great for seeing where the legal tech industry is going. This is true especially for Big Law and large corporations. One trend is clear: we are witnessing the second wave of Gen AI in this legal market segment. In a word: its consolidation.

Continue Reading Gen AI’s Second Wave: The Rise of Consolidation in Legal Tech

The gargantuan ILTA (International Legal Technology Association) Conference kicked off today at Nashville’s sprawling Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center. (Well, sort of in Nashville. The Gaylord is in the Nashville suburbs, not downtown Nashville). Over 4000 registrants from 32 counties. Over 200 exhibitors many of whom hawking their AI and Gen AI wares. Almost 350 speakers (as in most shows these days, many of which are talking about Gen AI).

Indeed, one of the Ediscovery vendors wondered out loud to me whether there were still any Ediscovery issues left. All the conversations are dominated by Gen AI. The answer, of course, is that there are plenty of ongoing ediscovery problems. It’s just that, these days, it’s all Gen Ai, all the time.

You have to be careful with data and algorithms when making decisions

Continue Reading Beyond the Hype: Opening ILTA Keynote  Reminds Lawyers and Legal Professionals of Limits and Risks of Data Analytics and Gen AI

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Mark Twain 

I was told one time that there are firms that want to innovate, and there are firms that want to say they innovate. Meaning, of course, that some firms just want to get on the bandwagon and appear to follow trends for appearance’s sake. These firms either don’t know how to innovate or have no interest to begin with.

I thought about this idea when I was recently presenting with Dr. Maura Grossman. Dr. Grossman is a professor of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo in Canada, a consultant, and a lawyer. She has been a court-appointed special master on eDiscovery matters. She has represented Fortune 100 companies and financial institutions in dozens of civil actions. She invented one of the most widely used protocols for technology-assisted review. Oh, and in her spare time, she is an affiliate faculty member at the Vector Institute of Artificial Intelligence in Ontario, Canada.

Anecdotal Evidence Suggests Limited Use of Gen AI

Continue Reading Mind the Gap: the Disconnect Between Surveys and Anecdotal Evidence On Gen AI Use By Lawyers

I was recently at a conference of elite trial lawyers where I presented with Dr. Maura Grossman and was on a panel session where we demonstrated how Generative AI could be practically used. But perhaps the most enlightening time was spent outside of the conference in networking conversations which is, of course, typical.

One of those times was when I had a chance to chat with John Trimble. I have known John for several years. He is not only an outstanding lawyer and frequent consultant to small and mid-size law firms but also a thought leader in law practice management.

Standing in the Food Line

Continue Reading Law Firm Management: It’s Not All (Or Only) About Tech

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange

David Bowie

I recently read Jordan Furlong’s excellent piece entitled Forget Everything You Think You Know About Law Firms. Jordan, one of the most insightful thinkers in the legal space, believes that law firm leaders need to better understand and react to changes, changes that are already altering the legal landscape. The challenge leaders face, says Furlong, is recognizing and accepting these changes. Says Furlong, “The future has arrived without you noticing.”

Continue Reading What If? Forget Everything You Think You Know About Litigation

Yesterday (July 21), Thomson Reuters announced that it added another generative AI  tool to Westlaw Precision with CoCounsel. The new tool, called Claims Explorer, will enable legal professionals to enter the facts of their case into the platform. Claims Explorer will then identify potential applicable claims or counterclaims. 

From experience, making sure you have know of and plead all applicable claims takes time and carries the risk of missing failing to plead good claims. While failing to plead one or more claims will not be fatal early in the lawsuit, it can lead to embarrassing requests to amend. These requests don’t make the lawyer look good to their client or even their adversary. Later in the litigation, it can be fatal if the claims become time-barred or leave to amend is denied. So this tool if it does what Thomson Reuters says, it can be quite valuable.

Finding claims with traditional research methods can be difficult and time-consuming

Continue Reading Streamlining Claims Analysis: Thomson Reuters Introduces AI Based Claims Explorer

The annual AALL (Association of Law Librarians) Conference kicked off today in Chicago. I’m a regular attendee since I find the attendees knowledgeable and savvy about tech products. Similar to the ABA TechShow whose attendees are mainly lawyers that use the products, AALL attracts law librarians who are also actual users. Users generally have a much lower tolerance for bullshit. Vendors tell me that the attendees at the AALL conference frequently ask some of the toughest questions.

Continue Reading AALL 2024 Conference Day One: 117 Years of Law Librarian Evolution and A Warning for the Future of Legal Tech

Earlier this week, the well-known commentator Seth Godin observed,  

“One of the valid complaints about some AI systems is that they make stuff up, with confidence, and without sourcing, and then argue when challenged.

Unsurprisingly, this sounds a lot like people.”

In evaluating whether lawyers should use Gen AI tools, lawyers (and legal commentators, for that matter), often forget that humans (lawyers) make mistakes. They make shit up. As one of my former partners once observed, “So and so may be wrong, but he is never unsure.” And even when wrong, boy, can lawyers argue they are nevertheless right.

Continue Reading Gen AI and Law: Perfection Is Not the Point

Bad news travels at the speed of light; good news travels like molasses. Tracy Morgan

As I have discussed before, Law360 often releases Surveys that focus on the legal profession. Law360 is pretty reliable because of the number of subscribers and customers to which it has access and the methodology it typically uses.

A recent one, entitled the Law360 Pulse Lawyer Satisfaction Survey, was eye-catching. The Survey was interesting mainly because it suggests that, despite all the negative talk about lawyers’ dissatisfaction with the profession, the opposite may be true. It’s sort of like good news: you don’t hear much about it. Indeed, the Survey got little press, as best I can tell.

Continue Reading In Defense of Law: The Surprising Career Satisfaction Rates Among Lawyers

Dan Roe of law.com recently reported on a study by Edge International on the problem of underperforming partners. I have written on this issue before.

Identifying and defining underperforming and underproductive partners will prove more and more challenging given the changing dynamics in the profession. Those firms that evaluate partners’ performance and productivity only on current financial metrics may face problems in the future.

The Survey

According to the Survey, more than half of the responding firms believe underproductive partners hurt firm profitability. And two-thirds say they intend to act on the problem within the next two years.

Continue Reading Beyond the Billable Hour: Rethinking Partner Evaluation to Enhance Long-Term Financial Health