Mahoning County Clerk of Courts has a website: http://courts.mahoningcountyoh.gov
Source: E-mail from Marcus L. Hochstetler
Librarian
Mahoning Law Library Association
29 June 2005
David Swanner posts: "With the advent of USB flash drives and USB hard drives making backups as easy as drag and drop, that creates a security nightmare for lawyers and network administrators.
Picture this, a visiting attorney comes to your office for a deposition. He asks to use the phone and you put him in an office with a phone on the desk. While he’s in there, he can slip a keychain USB flash drive in the computer and downloads half your computer network in about 2 minutes. Unethical? Yes. Scary? Definitely. Easy to do? Absolutely.
Engadget has a story on this and shows how using an iPod or ‘Podslurping’ can be a security risk."
Source: South Carolina Trial Law Blog, 28 June 2005
Ron Friedmann posts: “What’s hot in knowledge management? Tania Daniels, an experienced KM professional and consultant with eSentio, and I collaborated to answer that question.
The occasion was a presentation we gave jointly at an eSentio’s annual CIO Roundtable Retreat yesterday.
Here are some of the highlights of our discussion:
· Is KM a separate initiative or just part of law practice? This raises questions about firm staffing/organization and information repositories. Our view is that the better answer is “part of law practice.”
· Can KM be “baked into the process” of practice or firm management? We concluded that the best opportunity is when opening a matter. If a firm does any change management related to KM, it should do a better job of characterizing new matters.
· What’s the best approach to expertise location? This is a fast-evolving area. It depends how you view expertise. There are several products that can help, but many firms are creating their own solutions. The focus on expertise reflects the realization that it’s often more valuable to talk to an expert than look at a document.
· What are the future trends? Our call: a focus on automated solutions with less reliance on lawyer or staff intervention; a resurgence in online collaboration, which will give rise to new KM opportunities; the possibility that e-discovery semantic analysis tools will be re-purposed for KM; marketing departments as important KM supporters; and finally, internal firm blogs or wikis.”
Source: Strategic Legal Technology, 29 June 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “Senators Leahy and Specter introduced comprehensive legislation to combat data theft. The Personal Data Privacy and Security Act would restrict "the sale or publication of Social Security numbers [and] would [prohibit businesses] from requiring SSNs except in a narrow set of circumstances such as obtaining credit reports and applying for a job or an apartment."
The article summarizes key provisions of the 91-page bill.
SEE, Personal Data Privacy and Security Act
Draft, undated"
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
30 June 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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In the news: “Recruiting top talent can be competitive even during the best of times -- but for law firms that find themselves defending their reputations after bad news hits, wooing sharp lawyers can be an onerous, yet crucial, task for their survival. Whether the damage comes from a firm's own wrongdoing, the loss of a major client or the departure of key players, once word gets out, the problems can compound themselves as other clients and partners start eyeing the exits. How have law firms handled these challenges?”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
30 June 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Gary Price posts: “BlinkxTV, the rapdily expanding database of multimedia content, has just added more material to their service. Beginning today, you can keyword search podcasts and video blogs and then listen or view the content online. In other words, every word spoken in a podcast or on a video blog is now searchable.”
Read full text
Source: SearchEngineWatch, 29 June 2005
Ahh, Leg Room
Bob Rankin reports: “A couple of Tourbus frequent flyers wrote to tell me about SeatGuru. This site won't make air travel faster or less expensive, but it just might make it a bit more comfortable. You'll find ratings of each individual seat on the planes of about 20 different airlines. If legroom, reclinability, noise, and laptop power ports are important factors for you, pay a visit to SeatGuru.
SeatGuru - http://www.seatguru.com"
Source: TOURBUS
Volume 10, Number 64
28 June 2005
Copyright 1995-2005, Rankin & Crispen - All rights reserved
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Evan Schaeffer posts: “You can find background about trial lawyer Geoffrey Fieger in my last post. Meanwhile, here's another tip Fieger gave at the presentation last weekend, this one about direct examination. According to Fieger, he's always careful not to overprepare his client for direct examination. Why? Because the moment that the jurors think your client's answers have been scripted, they'll tune the testimony out. Instead, the testimony should be spontaneous and authentic. Not only will the jurors pay more attention, but they'll be more likely to find your client credible. This spontaneity and authenticity can be achieved, according to Fieger, by keeping your client partially in the dark about what you're going to ask until you've actually ask it.
To me, this tip seems a little dangerous. Direct examination is known to be a particularly difficult area even for skilled trial lawyers, since they're not in control as they are when cross-examining. This control can be reestablished, in part, through preparation with the client.
If you're aiming for spontaneity, what I'd recommend is to spend time preparing at least the most important parts of direct, but keep from rehearsing questions in the order you'll ask them at trial. At trial, you can vary both the order of the questions and the questions themselves. Hopefully this will make the direct seem conversational without allowing your client to inadvertently volunteer something that will undermine the case."
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 29 June 2005
Ernie posts: "Lots of hot tips came from LegalTech, many of which were not new to me. Here are three that completely rock! Okay, the last one was not something I learned at LegalTech, but it's still cool, so check 'em all out.
1. Anagram - I knew about this program from my friend Buzz, whose company makes Activewords (more about that later). Anagram is free to try for 45 days and, believe me, after you try it you won't be able to live without it. It's $19.95 after that, and it's worth 5 times that amount easily. Here's what it does. You can highlight and copy the contact information at the bottom of someone's email to you (or from a webpage, or anywhere really) and have that information pop into Outlook's contact manager. It also works with Palm Desktop, but only on Windows (so no good news here for Mac users). If you don't have the Palm Desktop, remember it's a free download and if you put information in the Palm Desktop you should be able to export it quickly to other programs. If you care about managing contacts, or about marketing, then you need to use Anagram. Oh, and it works for adding appointments too. Look, stop reading this and just go download the free trial. Then, make a note to thank me later.
2. Accurint - is a fast, inexpensive way of locating people. It's not available to everyone, but most lawyers can qualify for an account if they have a legitimate business purpose. Accurint is run by Lexis/Nexis. I think the individual searches are less than $10/per search, which is very affordable if you are looking for an elusive witness, or potential defendant.
3. Activewords - I already knew about this, but maybe you don't. It's another efficiency tool that is free to try for 60 days, after which you will become addicted and gladly pay the $49.95 for the Plus version, which lets you use an Outlook plug-in (scroll down). It's hard to describe what Activewords does, but I tried when I first started blogging and that's still my best explanation. Here's the PC World article that talks about it.
Errata from LegalTech (not mine, some other guy's):
One well known presenter at LegalTech, for whom I have respect and therefore won't refer to by name, was talking about Wireless networking and about increasing security by 'MAC filtering.' He explained what a 'MAC address' was, saying that 'MAC' stood for 'machine readable code.' I wrote that down in my notes because I was sure it was wrong, and when I got home I checked to verify what MAC stands for.
I know at this point I'm talking to only two or three complete geeks, but MAC refers to media access control, not machine readable code. It's a little thing, but then if you are going to define a term for an audience you should at least get the definition right.
Source: Ernie the Attorney, 28 June 2005
From the West reference attorneys: "Now including the trial documents from 60 Bankruptcy courts! Link to Key Documents from More Courts Than Ever
With the addition of Bankruptcy Courts, the Pleadings & Motions databases on Westlaw give you online access to even more fact-rich trial pleadings and motions submitted for a particular case.
EASY TO FIND, EASY TO USE
While numbering in the hundreds of thousands, these key trial documents are easy to search, easy to find — and each links you to important related content.
Together, this Westlaw® content comprises another piece of the litigation puzzle — the facts of a case, as revealed in the key court documents.
LOADED WITH IMPORTANT LINKS
Because they're integrated on Westlaw, Pleadings & Motions link you to other relevant content, including cases, statutes, rules and KeyCite® references. Where available, the documents are integrated with opinions and dockets as well.
HOW CAN THIS INFORMATION HELP YOU?
Use Pleadings:
• To see how well-thought-out legal arguments are structured.
• As a starting point for framing your own documents.
• To evaluate strategies, find fact patterns.
• To find and link to the relevant statutes and rules — federal pleadings link you to the court docket as well.
• Examine documents filed by the opposing counsel in other cases.
Use Motions:
• To review how colleagues and opposing attorneys are writing their motions — and see how they were received by the judge.
• To quickly grasp the main issues in play at a trial.
• To see what structure and content the court requires for legal documents.
Trial Documents Are Easy to Retrieve
You can:
• Search by the party name, attorney, or judge.
• Search for key terms or concepts using the Terms and Connectors or Natural Language search method.
• Use KeyCite® to check cases or statutes for citing trial court filings To display a listed document, just click a link.
• In the PLEADINGS and MOTIONS databases, search templates help you retrieve the documents you need.
West Reference Attorneys
Thomson West
610 Opperman Drive
Eagan, MN 55123
(800) 733-2889
www.west.thomson.com
Source: TechnoLawyer’s TechnoRelease Tuesday
28 June 2005
Copyright © 1997-2005 PeerViews Inc. All rights reserved.
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In the news: “In a provocative address recently to some 200 undergraduate counselors from northeastern universities, the dean of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law warned of a "collision course with democratic order and social unity" as politically outspoken religious leaders wield increasing influence over the nation's public policy. Declaring that "faith challenges the underpinnings of legal education," David Rudenstine said that America's law schools have a social responsibility to foster reasoned debate.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
29 June 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Robert Ambrogi: “The article by Joe Hartley that I mentioned earlier today is now available online via TechnoLawyer . It is also now up at his site.
Source: Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites, 28 June 2005
Posted by Tom Mighell: “While I have been otherwise occupied, Yahoo! (and Google, for that matter) have been busy unveiling lots of new features, which I'll try to cover over the next couple days. First up is Yahoo! Subscription Search, which allows you to search access-restricted news and reference content. You can search among Consumer Reports, FT.com (last 60 days), Forrester Research, IEEE Publications, the New England Journal of Medicine, TheStreet.com, and the Wall Street Journal (last 30 days). Given Yahoo!'s invitation to other publishers to join the site, I'd say they expect this site to grow. Good stuff.”
Source: Inter Alia, 29 June 2005
Posted by Tom Mighell: “Last year I mentioned the GoogleGuide, a great resource for fans and users of Google. She's got a terrific page of Google Advanced Operators that provides just about all the shortcuts and syntax you'll need to use Google."
Source: Inter Alia, 27 June 2005
Patrick Lamb posts: “I’m not going to repeat all of the commentary about the “elevator speech” you need to have ready to give to anyone who asks what you do. We all have experienced the need to have the “speech” ready and many of us have one at the ready. But are we really ready?
I recently wrote out my “speech” and also looked at number of law firm web sites to see their “speech”. My conclusion is that we need to take pity on the people who actually have to listen to our speeches.
Let me offer some examples of what I might say and how a prospect might react. “I am a litigator.” Most people don’t really know what a litigator is or does. But clients know that “litigator” is a term that is so vanilla as to be meaningless. Of the millions who would describe themselves as a litigator, how am I different? Well, unlike many litigators, I actually try cases. So then I try to distinguish myself from the many litigators who never venture into court by saying “I am a trial lawyer.” Will my prospect think I am one of those people who contribute heavily to the Democratic party? Positing yourself as an adversary at worst or someone who can’t help at best is not a good way to go. I try qualifying my speech by saying “I’m a business trial lawyer.” Okay, so you work for businesses. But is trial skill the key attribute the prospect is looking for? Since 97% of all cases settle, it sounds as if I am really suggesting I only deal with 3% of the prospect's problems? I know I can contribute something of value on the other 97% though. I am an effective negotiator, a good legal strategist able to secure dismissals on motion, and so on. Plus, I know that clients don't always view trials with the same warmth I do. The business trial lawyer description doesn’t communicate the right message either.
What do others say? I saw a small firm’s web site (under 20 lawyers) describe their expertise as including Tax Law, International Trade and Transactions, Corporate Planning and Transactions , Intellectual Property (patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and licensing), Media and Communications Law, Litigation, Employment Law, Environmental Law, and Legislative Affairs. How can a firm with less than 20 lawyers have the depth of expertise needed to practice in all these areas? There are lawyers that do each of these things every day and are true specialists. Putting aside the veracity of the claims, will they sound true? Should I try a longer speech putting in a description of more things I can do, more types of lawsuits that I have handled? I have concluded that the risk of sounding like I am overselling is not worth it.
Another firm claims to be devoted to “working in their client interests.” Well, that hardly sounds like a distinguishing factor. Another claims to deliver value. I have to confess that I haven’t seen a firm admit that it fails to deliver value. I don’t mean to be trite, but the use of buzzwords doesn’t really make the “speech” effective. But the notion of somehow communicating a client service orientation does make sense. I just think it needs to be more subtle.
Back to my “litigator.” Litigation is, at its core, just a means of resolving a dispute. So what I really am is a “problem solver.” I'm effective at it, and I am efficient. I work at solving problems for businesses rather than for accused criminals, or people injured at work, for example. What other traits do I bring to the table as a problem solver? My best trait, in my judgment at least, is my creativity. So, “I creatively, effectively and efficiently solve problems for businesses.” But there’s more. We are pushing alternative fees so we can help in-house counsel with their budgets and avoid the headaches associated with the hourly rate. Now I’m trying this: “I creatively, effectively and efficiently solve problems for businesses in a way that cures headaches for in-house counsel.” And to tell them about my firm, I can add: “I work in a firm of like-skilled people.”
My speech seems to describe what I do generally enough and in a different enough way that a prospect hearing it might ask a follow up question, starting the dialogue I was hoping for. Am I being too generous when I listen to my own speech? Are my ears too dulled by listening to my own music? What do you think?
Even if you think I am full of [fill in the blank] about my own speech, hopefully this post may cause you to listen critically to your own.”
Source: In Search of Perfect Client Service, 26 June 2005
Evan Sschaeffer posts: “Last week, I attended the annual meeting of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys at the Lake of the Ozarks, where I heard a presentation by Geoffrey Fieger, the lawyer who defended Jack Kevorkian. According to his bio, Fieger has been involved in "many high profile trials including the defense of Dr. Kevorkian, the Jenny Jones trial, the defense of Nathanial Abraham and record awards in Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and Indiana."
Fieger's advice for trial lawyers? "If you want to be a successful trial lawyer," he said, "for God's sake, quit thinking like a lawyer." Take the time, in other words, to "get your brain back to where it was before they did whatever it was they did to it in law school." Otherwise, it will be impossible to communicate with jurors, who don't understand legal issues the way you think they do, but only hear what they want to hear, disregard the rest, and then make it all conform to their own internal sense of justice.
It's this "internal sense of justice" you must try to understand and speak to. Rather than merely mouthing legal terms, you must translate the legal issues into words that ordinary people can understand and feel. You should attempt to tell a story, not give a law lecture. Otherwise, there will be a fundamental disconnect between you and the jurors.
I'll provide some more of Fieger's tips later in the week. In the meantime, you can learn more about Fieger at his firm's website or (believe it or not) his fan page."
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 27 June 2005
New on LLRX.com from Sabrina Pacifici:
Review of Annotated Refugee Convention: Fifty Years of North American Jurisprudence, by Elisa Mason
Using EISIL to Research Private International Law, by Louise Tsang
Revolutionizing Client Relations with CaseMap's New ReportBooks, by Dennis Kennedy
Garbage In, Garbage Out: Working Around Document Profiling to Improve Work Product Retrieval Efforts, by Angie Turner and Peter Ozolin
Update to Legal Protection of Cultural Property: A Selective Resource Guide, by Louise Tsang
Update to Researching Australian Law, by Nicholas Pengelley
The Government Domain: GPO Access and THOMAS for Legislative Research, by Peggy Garvin
After Hours - June Swoons: New Organic Lines; The Secret Life of ... Betty Crocker?; Cake Mix Goes Gourmet, by Kathy Biehl
Burney's Gadgets for Legal Pros: Take your Life with you on a Palm PDA, by Brett Burney
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
27 June 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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David Swanner posts: “While we lawyers have been slow to adopt smart boards, smart boards have been replacing chalk boards in the classroom:
Wired News reports on the rapid growth of interactive, computer-driven whiteboards in classrooms…smart boards are being used in more than 150,000 classrooms in the U.S, with even more being put to use in 75 other countries. The boards let teachers and students share assignments, surf the web and even edit video using their fingers as pens. And, by all indications, the market for the devices is booming, with more than a dozen manufacturers in the field, although one company, Smart Technologies, has a 60-percent market share.
It looks like we need to start catching up to the schools. I’ve had been using a projector and multi-media for 5 years, but don’t have a smart board yet. It looks like that just jumped up my tech priority. “
Source: South Carolina Trial Law Blog, 27 June 2005
In the news: “Campaign spending for state Supreme Court races soared in 2004, with $24.4 million -- more than double the then-record of $10.6 million set in 2000 -- put into television ads, according to an analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Justice at Stake Campaign. "State courts have become an epic battleground, and the contestants are multimillion-dollar special interests," said the group's executive director. A major factor in the accelerated spending: the fight over tort reform.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
28 June 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Danny Sullivan posts: “Google has released a new version of Google Personalized Search, this time in a format intended to constantly monitor what people select from search results and shape future queries based on their choices.
The new service is linked to the My Search History feature that Google unveiled last April (see our Google My Search History Personalizes the Web for more on the feature). Google Personalized Search uses My Search History data to refine your results based on your searching habits.”
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Source: Search Engine Watch, 28 June 2005
Sabrina posts: "The cover story of the July 4, 2005 issue of Newsweek is on ID theft. Following are links to several articles from the issue, as well as a link to a relevant article from the New York Times Sunday Week in Review:
· Grand Theft Identity - Be careful, we've been told, or you may become a fraud victim. But now it seems that corporations are failing to protect our secrets. How bad is the problem, and how can we fix it?
· Staying On Guard
· Profiles: Victims and Protectors
· Identity Crisis
· Worry. But Don't Stress Out."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
27 June 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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From Gary Price: “A new database, Open CRS, from the Center for Democracy & Technology has just launched. Open CRS aggregates material from several well-known open-access CRS repositories. Cool! More about Open CRS in this article.”
Source: The ResourceShelf, 27 June 2005
Posted by Cindy Chick: “I've been a fan of RoboForm for some time now. It saves my many passwords, and retrieves them when needed. What I didn't realize is that it also helps protect against phishing and pharming, according to Bob Williamson in a letter to PC Magazine published in the June 7th issue. (I'd like to give you a link to the original letter, but I can't find it, or much of anything else, on the PC Magazine site. Why, or why, do the technology publications have such bad search engines. Sorry, I digress.)
According to Williamson, RoboForm will not offer to enter the saved name and password for a site if the underlying URL does not match with the one it has stored. So if you link through from a fake URL in an email, Roboform "would simply not fill in the fake form."
Pharming, a technique which redirects traffic from a legitimate web site to a fake one, can also be stymied by Roboform as "the falsified Web site would have to have the exact underlying URL/code for RoboForm to function."
There's no guarantee of safety, of course, if you choose to enter the user name and password yourself.
That settles it. If I can't get to it via RoboForm, I just don't even want to go there!”
Source: LawLibTech, 25 June 2005
Ernie posts: “I'm back from the LegalTech conference in Los Angeles where I met some great people and learned a lot about technology, mostly stuff geared for lawyers and legal professionals. I plan to post my impressions over the next few days, but here are some preliminary thoughts.
Conferences like these are attended by tech-savvy people, and not all of them lawyers. A lot of attendees were from the tech departments of mid-sized to large-sized law firms. It's too bad that more lawyers don't attend conferences like this one: there were several great programs that required no special tech-awareness. In fact, the session about 'Coping with E-Mail Overload' was one of the most useful programs I've seen recently. Obviously, you don't have to be a techie to understand that E-Mail is something that needs to be carefully managed.
But as I said, there were a lot of tech-savvy people at the conference. So I spent a lot of time listening to their observations and I came away feeling like there were some recurrent themes:
1. E-Discovery is hot, hot, hot.
2. Training is desperately needed and almost completely overlooked.
3. Email is out of control.
4. Fast searching is the Next Big Thing.”
[Read the entire blog entry – it is worth your time!]
Source: Ernie the Attorney, 27 June 2005
From Littler Mendelson: “The advent of the "paperless society" has been a boon for fastidious record keepers and the lazy alike. With storage capacity expanding to unfathomable dimensions and storage costs per bit of data approaching zero, the incentive to discard, at least at first blush, has been virtually eliminated. However, another trend, the rapid increase in the number of lawsuits, as well as the ever-present risk of government enforcement actions, provide ample justification for doing more than retaining indefinitely an undifferentiated mass of electronic documents.”
Read the article
Source: TOOLS OF THE TRADE
A FindLaw Monthly Law And Technology Resource
June 2005
Copyright © 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved
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Joy London posts: “Peter J. Ozolin, former Chief Knowledge & Technology Officer at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, has joined the management team at Practice Technologies, Inc.
As Vice President of Enterprise Solutions, Ozolin will concentrate on the firm's RealPractice system, a law firm work product retrieval tool.
In Garbage In, Garbage Out: Working Around Document Profiling to Improve Work Product Retrieval Efforts, Ozolin and co-author, Angie Turner, Director of Knowledge Management at Polsinelli Shalton Welte Suelthaus, discuss the RealPractice solution in action.
Joshua Fireman and Ron Friedmann previously commented on RealPractice and other legal KM tools.”
Source: Excited Utterances, 27 June 2005
Jim blogs: “Check out the just-published June issue of GPSolo Technology & Practice Guide. It's all about the Internet, from security to web marketing to the uses and abuses of e-mail. The issue is in your mailbox if you are an ABA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section member or there's an online version if you are not. GPSSF Section chair Lee S. Kolczun notes in this month's chair's column titled "The Internet Has Changed All of Us" that there was quite a debate a decade ago over whether the magazine's content should be published online or reserved for members only. I'm a section member, but the free online content certainly benefits many others, particularly new lawyers.”
Source: Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog, 25 June 2005
Ron Friedmann posts: “I have previously suggested (here) that general counsels could analyze the blogosphere as an early warning system for potential legal issues. Blogs as radar is now happening in consumer markets.
Last Thursday, the Wall Street Journal, in Marketers Scan Blogs for Brand Insights (free WSJ content), that a “growing number of marketers are using new technology to analyze blogs and other “consumer-generated media” … to hear what is being said online about new products… Purveyors of the new methodology and their clients say blog-watching can be cheaper, faster and less biased than such staples of consumer research as focus groups and surveys.”
For companies interested in preventive law, trying blog analysis seems worth investigating. Many companies already pay outside services to scan the Web for use of their trademarks. This goes a step further to analyze potential trends or mentions that could affect the company’s overall legal health.”
Source: Strategic Legal Technology, 25 June 2005
Tom reports: “Technorati has long been an authority on what's happening in the blog world, but its interface has not always been friendly to those not familiar with blogs or finding information on them. But check out the new Technorati Beta site, which is now much easier to navigate and understand all of the great resources available here. Give it a test drive.”
http://beta.technorati.com/
Source: Internet Legal Research Weekly by Tom Mighell
Volume 6, Issue 20
26 June 2005
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Evan Schaeffer posts: “From the Ten Minute Mentor site, offered for free from the Texas Bar CLE and the Texas Young Lawyers Association: "Irving Younger's Ten Commandments of Cross-Examination," by Robert Witte.
It's an audio-video web presentation that's simple to watch on your computer. First, Witte talks about whether you should cross-examine at all, then he examines each of Irving's ten rules.
Although cross-examination certainly doesn't begin and end with Irving's ten commandments, they're rules that every trial lawyer should know. If you want a written list, you can find it here (pdf).”
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, June 22, 2005
Bruce MacEwen posts: “My college friend Malcolm Ryder has been working in quasi-stealth mode for awhile now on a blog at the intersection of business strategy, IT consulting, and design, called Archestra, for the "architecture of enterprise strategy."
Just recently he's put up a few provocative posts on one of my favorite topics, Knowledge Management, and readers who share my interest in KM should take a look. [Aside: What's so fascinating about KM? To me, the appeal is that it is (a) so hard to get right (b) because it is at the intersection of technology and a firm's culture (c) but for a large and sophisticated law firm it needs to be a "core competence." KM is, in a nutshell, an indispensable Everest to climb.]
Malcolm has put his thoughts together on:
· "Managing the Productivity of Knowledge Work"
· "Harvesting Tacit Knowledge"
· "The Architecture of KM" and
· "What is 'What You Know' Worth?"
I'm highly confident Malcolm would welcome any thoughts you might have on his reflections.”
Source: Adam Smith Esq., 23 June 2005
From the blog: “June is typically the time standing committees of the federal Judicial Conference consider rule amendments that have already been submitted for public comment. Rule amendments to be considered by the standing committees can be viewed at: U.S. Courts Webpage: Pending Rules Amendments Awaiting Final Action. The same link will display rules up for Congressional consideration, the last step in the rulemaking process.
Public comments are being taken on rule amendments that arose as a result of the "Style Project". These amendments are divided into "style" and "style-substance" changes. Comments can be made upon these rules until December 15, 2005. See U.S. Courts Webpage: Proposed Rules Amendments Published for Comment. For an explanation of the process for amending federal court and evidence rules, see The Rulemaking Process by Leonidas Ralph Mecham, also on the U.S. Courts website.”
Source: Cleveland Law Library Weblog, June 22, 2005
Sabrina posts: "David Pogue provides details on how a pricey, private and very fast WiFi access option is now available to business travelers who need to work wherever they may be...on the road, or at the beach, or in the airport."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
22 June 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Grokker - A Graphical Search Engine
Bonnie Shucha posts: “If you've never tried a graphical search engine, give Grokker a try. It's a very different search experience.
Rather than the usual textual listing, search results are displayed in a map containing nested circles and squares. Circles represent categories into which results are grouped. Categories may contain many levels of subcategories. Larger circles contain more subcategories and links than smaller ones. Click on a circle to zoom in on a subcategory.
Squares are web links that result from your query. For a summary of the contents of a link, hover over that square. The link itself appears on the right, along with a thumbnail image of the page.
Very neat, especially for visual learners. But I wish that they'd lighten up the page a little. The black background makes it hard to see.
Thanks to my UW-Madison Libraries colleague, John Wanserski, for the tip.”
Source:Wisblawg, 23 June 2005
More on Grokker's Visual Search Results
Posted by Chris Sherman: “When Grokker released its free online I Grok search tool last month, Gary blogged a brief post about it. Essentially, I Grok clusters Yahoo search results into categories, and represents these visually on a page.
That's cool, but I Grok actually does a lot more than that, and I've found the service to be useful in a number of different ways. Want to know more? Click on to read today's SearchDay article, Visualizing Yahoo Search Results."
Source: SearchEngineWatch, 23 June 2005
After making your travel plans with the help of Travelocity and/or About.com:Travel here a pair of sites to help you cope!
From Bob Rankin: “If you make it through the checkpoint without setting off any lights or buzzers, you can proceed to the gate, and wait. The Federal Aviation Administration has a website that offers data on arrival and departure delays at most major airports. A graphical display shows green, yellow, orange and red dots to indicate how long you may have to wait in the airport, or on the plane for take-off and landing. http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp
Dude, Where's My Plane?
Are you meeting a friend at the airport? Track a flight, with this graphical real-time monitor that shows the flight path on a map, along with the aircraft's altitude, speed and estimated arrival time.
http://www.rlmsoftware.com"
Source: Source: TOURBUS
Volume 10, Number 63
23 June 2005
Copyright 1995-2005, Rankin & Crispen - All rights reserved
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ANIMAL BITES AND THE LAW
From the e-newsletter: “Every year, thousands of Americans are bitten by animals -- most often dogs. In many cases, a person bitten by an animal may have a legal right to recover damages from the animal's owner or another responsible party. FindLaw's Accident & Injury Center has helpful information and resources on animal bites and the law. Learn more:
Dog/Animal Bites Overview
Proving Owner Knowledge of a Dog's Viciousness
Animal Bites and the Law FAQ"
DUI / DWI CENTER
From the e-newsletter: “What does it mean to be "driving under the influence" (DUI) or "driving while intoxicated" (DWI)? What happens if you're pulled over on suspicion of DUI/DWI, and refuse to take a field sobriety test? What driver's license penalties can you face if you are arrested for DUI/DWI in your state? Get answers to these questions and much more in FindLaw for the Public's DUI/DWI Center, including state-specific information and resources. Learn more”
Source: FindLaw's PUBLIC ADVISOR
A Weekly FindLaw Newsletter Providing News and Resources for the Public
23 June 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Bonnie Shucha posts: “In Munster v. Groce, the Indiana Court of Appeals recently upheld a ruling that the plaintiff had not exercised due diligence in locating the missing defendant. The court noted that a simple Google search might have helped locate him.
We do note that there is no evidence in this case of a public records or internet search for Groce or the use of a skip-trace service to find him. In fact, we discovered, upon entering "Joe Groce Indiana" into the Google™ search engine, an address for Groce that differed from either address used in this case, as well as an apparent obituary for Groce's mother that listed numerous surviving relatives who might have known his whereabouts.
Munster v. Groce, --- N.E.2d ----, 2005 WL 1364662, at n. 3 (Ind.App., June 8, 2005).
Her source: Search Engine Watch Blog
My source: WisBlawg, 22 June 2005
Gary Price posts: “[From] an article by Paula Hane: "Since its acquisition a year ago by infoUSA, business information provider OneSource (http://www.onesource.com) has directed an all-out effort to implement new technology and take advantage of the resources of its new parent. Now remade to be lean, streamlined, and nimble, OneSource has just announced a major upgrade to its flagship business information product, Business Browser. It has also introduced two new add-on modules. The new version of US Business Browser adds in-depth profiles on more than 160,000 private companies and expands core coverage from 300,000 to 600,000 U.S. and Canadian companies. The new add-on modules are Small Company Spectrum, which provides basic information on more than 13 million additional small companies, and a Credit Insights module that provides risk assessment indicators for all 13 million companies."
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Source: The ReferenceShelf, 21 June 2005
Fred Langa writes: "At a quick glance, ")qWw@o$d" looks like a pretty good password, but it's actually not. It's just the word "password" with the keys shifted up one row and to the left as it's typed; and alternating between Caps On and Caps Off for the characters. A computer can crack that password almost instantly, and yet many people use that simple trick (or others just as easy to defeat) in the false belief that they're safe.
A less obvious word might look harder--- for example, "%9&dYw%9H3" is simply the word "touchstone" disguised the same way. But again, a computer will rip through that password in an eye blink.
And even if your passwords once were safe, they may not be today: Passwords that were fine even just a few years ago may now be vulnerable to attack because of huge advances in hardware and software. For example, the password "ChEcK12" meets many of the criteria for safe passwords that were recommended only 2-3 years ago, and yet in one recent demonstration, a lowly 500MHz P3 PC running a widely-available cracking tool was able to guess that password in only 26 seconds; and today's top-of-the-line PCs could perform the same crack almost instantly.
But it's not hard to create and use passwords that really *are* strong and hard to crack, and yet also are easy to use and remember. I've pulled together a collection of FREE and low-cost tools and tips over at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=164303537.
Click on over, and make sure *your* passwords are up to snuff!"
Source: The LangaList Standard Edition
23 June 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 Fred Langa / Langa Consulting LLC. All worldwide rights reserved.
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Jim posts: “You probably have saved many links in your Favorites in Internet Explorer. Here's a way to get to those sites you use most a little faster. Save a Web site as a Favorite in the root Favorites directory and give it a one- or two-letter name. Then you can type those letters into the browser address bar and hit Enter to go to the site.
For example, many Oklahoma lawyers use OSCN.net for legal research. Go to the site and add it to your Favorites (again) but this time just use O as the name. The next time you need to go there, just type O in the address bar and hit Enter. Using this will just save you a few seconds; but it will likely save you a few seconds every day.
Thanks to Dallas attorney Bob Kraft for reminding me of this one.”
Source: Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog, 23 June 2005
By Philip L. Gordon and Jeffrey F. Davis: “In early 2005, Michigan became the first state in the nation to enact legislation requiring that every employer maintain a policy for safeguarding employee social security numbers.”
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Source: FindLaw's MODERN PRACTICE
A Monthly Publication On Law Practice & Technology
1 June 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Robert Ambrogi: “As sure as thesis breeds antithesis, blogging's popularity within the legal profession is drawing some to question its value, mostly with regard to marketing.
Last week, Dale Tincher, president of the Web development company Consultwebs, published a thoughtful piece, Law Firm Blogs - Hip or Hype?, in which he said that the majority of law firm blogs are "a significant waste of time, money and credibility." Kevin O'Keefe followed with a point-by-point response to Tincher's article. Then today, TechnoLawyer circulated an article by Santa Monica, Calif., lawyer Joe Hartley titled, "A Contrarian View of Legal Blogs." (Unfortunately, I do not see Hartley's article available anywhere online.) Hartley's article makes several interesting points, leading to the conclusion: "A well-written piece in your firm's library of available articles, composed without the pressure of immediate deadlines, will serve your firm far better than following the blogging crowd and joining the cacophony of loud voices and empty content."
The synthesis, I believe, lies in neither overstating nor understating blogging's value. In fairness to Tincher, it is not accurate to call him a contrarian. His message is more cautionary, urging law firms to plan before jumping on the blogging bandwagon. "I believe that law firm blogs can be very effective if developed as part of a cohesive overall marketing campaign," he writes. Earlier, he says, "If your vision is to develop a blog and quickly attract a significant number of cases, you will be disappointed." Tincher urges that, for marketing, "a blog should be coordinated with a Website, articles written for periodicals and other proactive promotional approaches in order to succeed." O'Keefe responds that blogs are Web sites -- that most Internet users can't tell the difference between a well-designed blog and a Web site -- and that blogs do bring in new business and revenue, even without other marketing.
Both Tincher and O'Keefe make many valid and important points. I don't mean to trivialize either article by overgeneralizing their conclusions, but I strongly agree with what I take to be Tincher's basic point: Blogging is not for everyone and you need to assess whether it is right for you before you leap into it. Even if it is right for you, do not exaggerate what blogging can accomplish as a marketing tool. Sure, O'Keefe is correct that some lawyers report getting business from blogging, but far more will tell you otherwise.
To my mind, what you can realistically expect from blogging as a marketing tool is:
· You will achieve higher search-engine rankings. This is important. Firms pay good money to search-optimization consultants looking for precisely this outcome. A consumer who searches for a trademark lawyer on Google will find Marty Schwimmer right there at the top of the rankings. Marty didn't pay anyone to optimize his site to get that result.
· You may achieve broader name recognition. Certainly, you will become better known among bloggers and legal gearheads. But while bloggers many become better known among a certain national and even international community, they may remain virtually anonymous among the local community in which they practice. Blogging is more effective for certain types of practices than for others.
· You may be able to enhance your standing as an authority in your field. This may lead to other opportunities to publish or speak.
I hope TechnoLawyer will point out to me if Hartley's article is available on the Web somewhere. He makes some points worthy of debate. However, his ultimate conclusion -- that a library of articles on a law firm's Web site will serve your firm far better than a blog -- is simply wrong. A library of articles has value for showing your firm's capabilities, but a library will not draw visitors to your site with anywhere near as much certainty or power as a blog. To the extent that marketing on the Internet is about attracting visitors, a blog will dramatically outperform just about any other method there is.
Blogging is not the be-all or end-all of legal marketing. It is, however, highly effective for raising one's visibility and stature on the Internet. That heightened visibility often leads to ancillary benefits with marketing value of their own. The greater your visibility, the more likely you'll be found. The greater your stature, the more likely those who find you will retain you. In the end, that's all there is to marketing.”
Source: Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites, 22 June 2005
From Greg Krehel: “We at CaseSoft have teamed up with the legal industry specialists at Adobe Systems to present a joint Webinar that reviews both the many new features in Acrobat 7 and the tight linking between our CaseMap case analysis tool and Acrobat.
This hour-long session runs next Tuesday, June 28 at 10:00 AM PT, 11:00 AM MT, 12:00 AM CT, 1:00 PM ET.
Participation is limited to the first 200 registrants, so please sign up at Adobe's Web site today.
In this Webinar you'll ...
• Learn how to use Acrobat 7.0's new Organizer feature as a "PDF Dashboard."
• Find out the best way to search across volumes of PDFs to find the document you need.
• See how to use Acrobat and CaseMap together to extract facts from PDFs and manage them in CaseMap.
• Discover tips and techniques for converting paper documents or TIFF to PDF.
Again, please register today! And be sure to check out brand new TimeMap 4. Download it here.
Thanks for reading. Have a super week.”
Greg Krehel
CaseSoft Division of DecisionQuest
5000 Sawgrass Village Circle
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082
(904) 273-5000 x233
(904) 273-5001
faxgkrehel@casesoft.comwww.casesoft.com
Source: TechnoRelease Tuesday
21 June 2005
Copyright © 1997-2005 PeerViews Inc.
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Patrick Lamb posts: “Anne Gallagher of Extreme Marketing comments that one of her favorite authors on professional services (probably herself or her equally insightful partner, Merry Neitlich) “says that when marketing is done right, ‘sales’ becomes superfluous. Think this means that relationship selling is about developing and deepening relationships rather than using traditional ‘closing’ techniques to get commitment.” Agree or disagree?
On a very general level, its hard to disagree with the comment. Many inside counsel say that they hire “the lawyer,” not her law firm. Those that do hire the lawyer tend to hire someone they know and like. Like any other relationship, the deeper and stronger it is, the more likely it is to be productive. I wholeheartedly support the idea of building relationships, so much so that I suggested (and my partners agreed) that a portion of our compensation be based on relationship building efforts (rather than actual clients delivered to the firm). I so firmly believe that building relationships will pay off, I am prepared to tie compensation to the effort not the result.
Having said that, I also take the view that “sales” is nothing more than helping people meet a need or solve a problem. No matter what you think, sales in professional services will never be like a used car salesman’s approach or the cold call from a large investment house. If your goal is to help someone meet a need, you necessarily have to know what needs they have do some thinking about what solutions may work. But I am not prepared to trust marketing to cause the client or prospect to make the right decision. You do not live or work in a vacuum. Others are trying to build the same relationships you are, and some might be further along in the process. To the extent that “sales” includes “asking for the business” and utilizing some techniques to ensure that the call come to you instead of a competitor, I’m all for sales.
Here’s an example. I grew up in an environment where associates heard from day 1 that if you don’t ask for business, you won’t get it, and that lesson has stuck with me. Years ago, I was marketing a client—paying a visit to the office to visit with my contacts. Just that day, a class action complaint had come in. It was a big piece of work. I remembered my lesson and asked for the case, and used some very basic “closing” techniques and left that day with the case in my briefcase.
So my real response to Anne’s comment is that I don’t think marketing really displaces sales. In professional services I think good marketing and good sales really are the same thing with slightly different points of emphasis.”
Source: In Search of Perfect Client Service, 21 June 2005
Posted by Diane Murley: “Whenever we talk about blogs in Advanced Electronic Legal Research class, some bright student asks about the legal issues of lawyers blogging. Because blogs are a relatively new medium, the law is still developing, and it seems that the legal issues of lawyer blogging change every semester.
Blogs as lawyer advertising, subject to regulation by a state bar association, is the current hot legal topic for lawyer bloggers. The Kentucky Attorneys' Advertising Commission is considering whether lawyer blogs are advertising. Like many questions about law, it appears that the answer will be "It depends." See "Is a Lawyer's Blog an Ad?" from the ABA Journal's eReport of June 17, 2005. Thanks to the professor who forwarded this article to me.
Of course there are many other legal issues that apply to bloggers in general. Copyright, defamation, and First Amendment issues are just some of the issues that bloggers should keep in mind. But how can you possibly stay on top of all these issues if the law is always changing? One place to start is the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Legal Guide for Bloggers. It may not answer all your questions, but it will at least help you figure out what your questions should be.”
Source: Law Dawg Blawg, 21 June 2005
In the news: “Most hotels offer in-room high-speed Internet access through a wire -- effectively chaining you to the desk and turning the bed and balcony into forbidden temptations. That's why portable wireless routers can come in handy. Small, inexpensive and simple to use, they can really improve your travel experience. Our correspondent reviews the top products.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
22 June 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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EvanSchaeffer posts: “Bill Gates said that it's the mobile phone, not Apple's iPod, that will eventually become the consumer's choice for listening to music. A biased point of view? You bet. But available later this year, a number of phones specifically designed to play music will be coming out, including Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman Phone, show below. [See source link below for pic]
The W800i has 34MB of memory, expandable with a memory stick to 1GB. Other features are a 2 megapixel digital camera (it's on the back side) and FM radio. Learn more here and here.”
Source: Evan Schaeffer's Legal Underground, 22 June 2005
Posted by Danny Sullivan: “Google CEO Eric Schmidt has confirmed that Google is working on an online payment system but cross-his-heart swears it won't be one that competes with eBay. Well, at least it won't be "a person-to-person, stored-value payments system," he told the Associated Press, in a story spotted via InsideGoogle.”
Read more
Source: SearchEngineWatch, 22 June 2005
Sabrina posts: “From CNN Money, ID data breaches: as rampant as it seems documents the circumstances of the most recently reported incident of hacking, called skimming, that involved the illegal acquisition and storage of credit card data, the exact impact of which still has been not fully disclosed apparently due to the ongoing investigation.
Related references:
Personal data breaches in 2005
Black Market in Stolen Credit Card Data Thrives on Internet
Preventing Identity Theft for Dummies”
Internet, Privacy
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
21 June 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Bonnie Shucha posts: “Today's Wisconsin State Journal has an interesting article about 'The CSI Effect' on Real Juries.
... Among some prospective jurors, the popularity of TV shows that make heroes out of forensic scientists has produced a spinoff of its own: Authorities have dubbed it "the CSI effect."
The script for this phenomenon, written by prosecutors across the country and repeated by news media in recent months, is simple and compelling: Having watched hour after hour of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and other legal dramas, jurors nationwide are demanding forensic evidence and acquitting defendants when prosecutors don't deliver.
The article also includes comments about TV has influenced Dane County juries.
Source: WisBlawg, 20 June 2005
In the news: “To many in Connecticut's matrimonial bar, what was surprising about last week's shooting of a woman and her lawyer was that similar tragedies don't happen more often. With his divorce and child custody case dragging into a second year, former state trooper Michael Bochicchio Jr. killed his wife and injured her attorney, Julie M. Porzio, before turning the gun on himself. Porzio's family law colleagues say the incident is an extreme example of the threats and attacks that they fear or experience routinely.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
21 June 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Evan Schaeffer posts: “Requests for admissions should be accompanied by a separate interrogatory that says something like this:
"To the extent that any of your responses to any of Defendant's requests for admissions is other than an unqualified admission, list all facts on which you based any part of your response that is not an unqualified admission, identify all documents memorializing each such fact, and identify all persons with knowledge of each such fact."
To my mind, it's this interrogatory that's one of the most useful parts of the request-for-admissions procedure. By changing the interrogatory slightly, you can also use it to discover documents and deponents concerning admissions."
Source: The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog, 20 June 2005
Posted by Carolyn Elefant: “So, you've heard about this blog thing but you're still too overwhelmed by what it might take to reap the benefits. After all, how can you possibly run a practice and read 700 blogs a day or set up a blog and commit to three daily posts? Well, guess what - you don't have to. This month's issue of GP Solo contains my article, Get Your Blog Rolling where I offer a bunch of ideas on effortless shortcuts to benefit from blogs, either as a user or reader. For example, as I point out, you don't necessarily need to start your own blog to generate Internet exposure - why not guest post at a blog or make a couple of comments. Just those small measures will help enhance your search engine rankings.
As for following blogs, you can track them with an aggregator or alternatively, search technorati every so often to see if a topic of interest is being discussed. And you can also take advantage of bloggers' knowlege and generosity by participating in some of the "all request days" that they offer.
I realize that many serious bloggers advise that a blog can't succeed without multiple, regular postings or that you can't optimize the benefits of a blog without reading feed from dozens. I disagree. Whether it's blogging or exercise or saving money any other new habit one wants to acquire, I don't think you always need to go all out to realize the benefits. Doing what you can is certainly better than doing nothing at all.
Source: MyShingle, 18 June 2005
Ron Friedmann posts: “I have predicted that law departments will eventually control extranets to avoid dealing with multiple outside counsel systems. In the mean time, however, many law departments are not ready to do so and many law firms continue to find value in providing clients with customized extranets. Bill Gratsch, web technologies manager at Dykema Gossett, writes a good article about the evolution and evaluation of Extranets at his firm.
In Law Firm Extranets (originally published in a January 2005 ILTA white paper, The World of Intranet, Extranet and Portal Technologies (PDF) and now reproduced at eTECHNews), Gratsch explains his firm’s evolution in the development and presentation of Extranets to both internal and external users. The key lesson learned is to keep initial roll outs simple: “we now deploy initial extranet sites with a focus on the key features that the attorneys wish to use right away, such as a document repository, contact lists and site calendars. Other, less immediately critical features are left hidden in the wings, ready to be added only as necessary.” The firm adds functionality over time as the legal team needs it. Though the firm starts simple and with some common features, “no two sites are exactly alike.”
A combination of simplicity to start with the ability to add features as required is a good formula for introducing many new technologies in large law firms.
Source: Strategic Legal Technology, 19 June 2005
Posed by Sabrina: “Press release today: "Mamma.com Inc....today announced the beta release of its innovative Health Search... [the] technology does more than aggregate results from various content providers [WebMD, MedLine Plus, HealthAtoZ, MayClinic.com, MedicineNet.com, NHSDirect Online] for medical information; we crawl deep into the websites of certain handpicked, trusted, medical websites to extract and format results in a easy to understand, and comprehensive manner."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
20 June 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Sarah Pike writes: “Since the Mozilla Organization aimed its powerful weapon, the Firefox Web browser, at Microsoft, it has been gaining an ever-growing stake in the online market. Firefox's biggest gun is its customizability. Whether you are switching over for the first time, or are a seasoned user, here are some tips to enhance your browsing experience.”
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Source: The ResourceShelf, 20 June 2005
Sabrina posts: "An e-mail exchange has been passed on to thousands across the UK after a sticky incident at a law firm."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
17 June 2005
Copyright ©2002-2005 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Jim posts: “At the Maryland State Bar, Pat Yevics has been dispensing law office management guidance and assistance for quite some time. She serves as Director of Law Office Management Assistance for the MSBA. The department now has a blog named Law Office Management Assistance from the MSBA. There's no doubt there will always be something of value posted here.”
Source: Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog, 20 June 2005
From the e-newsletter: "With his colleague Rebecca Wisch, Professor David Favre at the Michigan State University College of Law has created this very helpful online resource designed to give the public and the legal community access to comprehensive explanations on the issues surrounding animal law and associated topics. From the homepage, visitors can peruse new material (such as an overview of French animal law), or move to the left-hand side of the homepage to select information about animal law in different states or by topic. One of the other recently added features is the full text of dog laws for all 50 states, along with a basic overview of state dog leash laws. Overall, the site is well-designed and will be of interest to those with a specific interest in this very broad topic. [KMG]"
Visit the site
Source: The Scout Report, Volume 11, Number 24
17 June 2005
Copyright © 2005 Internet Scout Project.
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From the e-newsletter: "Rutgers law professor Sherry Colb cites evidence of an estimated 103,000 American deaths per year from hospital-induced infections to argue that such deaths should be prosecuted by state and local district attorneys as cases of criminally negligent homicide. Colb focuses on New York's statute to show that criminally negligent homicide statutes' requirements can be fulfilled in many cases of hospital-induced infections -- especially in the surprisingly common instances in which basic procedures such as changing clothes, cleaning washrooms, or washing hands, have simply been ignored."
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/colb/20050615.html
Source: FindLaw's WRIT Legal Commentary
17 June 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved
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From the e-newsletter: "Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman discusses an interesting and significant recent Wisconsin family law ruling -- one that, in effect, allowed a divorced doctor to continue to be an at-home mom by increasing the child support her ex-spouse (also a doctor) had to pay. Grossman examines the basis for the decision, considers other states' approaches, and discusses the thorny questions that arise when a divorced parent decides to stay home with the kids, or to take a low-paying or part-time job in lieu of a lucrative full-time job."
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/grossman/20050614.html
Source: FindLaw's WRIT Legal Commentary
17 June 2005
Copyright (c) 2005 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved
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Joy London posts: “In the Adam Smith, Esq. First Savvy Blawgers' Panel Query, I referenced a prediction about the future of law firm management from the business side. The prediction was the engagement of independent knowledge managers for short or long term contract jobs.
The problem is that, all too often, law firms recruit in haste and repent at leisure. They are arguably not as careful as they should be in their recruitment of senior managers, which means that these relationships often don't work. This is one of the reasons why major law firms are now thinking that there are times when they need to bring somebody in on an interim basis while they take the time to find the right permanent director of, say, finance, HR or business development. We are seeing these kinds of gaps occurring in law firms with ever greater frequency and this is where a safe pair of hands can prove very useful. Interim managers are immediately effective and can add a lot of value over a short period. It also makes good sense from the point of view of business continuity and risk management.
You say, "no way, that will never happen at my law firm." Think again.
In the 2004 KM Review article, KM in Times of Recession, Ellen Mensink of Squarewise, explains how an interim knowledge manager at a Dutch law firm was hired to tackle key issues and accelerate the KM process in order to achieve quick results.
Further evidence that permanent in-house legal KM jobs may be phased out is this recent job posting:
Interim Head of Know-How Systems
Do you have a proven track record in Knowledge Management systems coupled with the ability to operate at a senior level? Exciting three months interim role available at a leading (London) law firm to provide a strategic review of their Know-How system and advise on leading edge knowledge management technology. Experience of working in a commercial environment desirable.
Good thing, or bad thing? What do you think?”
Source: Excited Utterances, 16 June 2005
Paul Caron blogs: "The folks at Intuit have created a tax wiki here:
TaxAlmanac is a free online community and tax research resource for tax professionals and academia brought to you by Intuit. All of the professional commentary is written collaboratively by members of the community, and anyone can log in to add or edit articles. We currently have 7954 pages of articles & references.
I am skeptical about whether tax lends itself to the wiki format (as are Joe Kristan and Stuart Levine), but it will be interesting to see how this develops. (See the original wiki here.)"
Source: TaxProf Blog, 16 June 2005
Posted by Diane Pfadenhauer: “When internal management learns of alleged employee misconduct, they respond with an internal investigation. However, the process of learning the facts, drawing conclusions and doling out discipline are really three distinct areas which must be thought of separately. For example, when someone is accused of discrimination or harassment in the workplace by a fellow employee, it is often the human resources professional who conducts the investigation. That same professional then draws conclusions, and handles discipline. The problem with this approach is that one individual may play the role of fact finder, judge, and jury.
The purpose of the investigation is to find the facts: what happened, the details, who did and said what, how, why, etc., etc. When facing an investigation in your organization, my suggestion is to think of these separately. If you go into an investigation thinking about how you're going to discipline the accused if found to have violated your policy, you've got it all wrong. You job is to gather the facts objectively and as fairly as possible. Someone else should be the judge and the jury. By allowing yourself to play all three roles, you risk losing objectivity.”
See Tips #1 and #2 - Scribes, note takers and transcripts in an investigation then watch the blog for more!
Source: Strategic HR Lawyer, 16 June 2005
Jim posts: "As hard as we try, we will still all make mistakes. Losing your keys is one thing, but a mistake that impacts a client matter will keep you awake at night. How do you deal with such an error? Well, the first and hardest step is to immediately contact the client and let them know. Far better for them to hear it from you than elsewhere. Patrick Lamb offers some thoughtful advice about the steps to take in his After the Mistake post on his In Search of Perfect Client Service."
Source: Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog, 17 June 2005
In the news: “William H. Rehnquist was tapped to be chief justice 19 years ago today, and while conventional wisdom says his combination of age and cancer won't let him stay around for a 20th, some court watchers are not so sure. Noting that he looks better nowadays, has resumed working full time at the Court and is even making social engagements, they say that all adds up to a slim chance that he'll confound everyone and stay put. Says one Court historian: "I don't think we're going to have an announcement this term."
Read the article
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
17 June 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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In the news: “The public's image of the Supreme Court is eroding, with just over half of those in a new poll having a favorable view. "The Court is taking criticism from both sides of the political spectrum," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. Democrats grew more critical of the Court in the wake of its ruling on the 2000 presidential election -- and conservative Republicans have also become more negative, perhaps due to social issues, the poll found.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
16 June 2005
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Edison Ellenberger posts: “The May/June 2005 issue of Westlaw Edge contains some tips to features on - you guessed it - Westlaw. Some of them are on the alphabetical statutes index, KeyCite citing references, and recent bankruptcy legislation resources:
+"Don't overlook the index"
+"Citing references to the rescue"
+"Bankruptcy law overhauled. Now what?"
Source: The E-LawLibrary Weblog, 16 June 2005
“....an e-mail addict. That's what this article says, anyway -- a survey claims that the average user checks his/her inbox 5 times per day -- and I'm way above that, unfortunately. One of the suggestions given for cutting back on e-mail is to "go without e-mail one day per week." I can already feel the shakes coming on... “
Source: Inter Alia, 16 June 2005
From the e-newsletter: “If you hate to remember all the passwords for the various resources you use — and you don't want to post them for all to see on your monitor — you should look into the APC Biometric Mouse ($50). You place your fingertip on the mouse sensor, and its password-manager software logs you in. PC Magazine calls it "secure and easy-to-use." More info: APC Biometric Mouse”
Source: Windows Secrets Newsletter Issue #55
Brian Livingston - Editor
16 June 2005
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Sabrina posts: "Yahoo! Search Subscriptions beta is a new way to search the subscription content that's important to you. By partnering with publishers, Yahoo! is providing the convenience of a single place to access and find all relevant content, whether it's generally available web content or content from your personal subscriptions."
[FAQ]
"You can search subscription content from a range of publications, including Consumer Reports, Forrester Research, FT.com, IEEE, the New England Journal of Medicine, TheStreet.com and the Wall Street Journal. Yahoo! intends to continually increase the selection of searchable subscription content sources. The program will also include ACM, Factiva and Lexis-Nexis in the near future. The complete list of available sources can be found on the Subscriptions Preferences page."
Expanding Your Web Searches to Include Deep Web Subscription Content”
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
16 June 2005
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From the e-newsletter: “If you have been involved in an accident or suffered an injury for which someone else may be at fault, you may want to consider meeting with an attorney to discuss your situation and protect your legal rights. FindLaw for the Public's Accident & Injury Center offers helpful information on meeting with and hiring an attorney after an accident or injury. Click on the links below to get started.”
Your First Meeting with an Attorney
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Source: FindLaw's PUBLIC ADVISOR
A Weekly FindLaw Newsletter Providing News and Resources for the Public
16 June 2005
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Dennis posts: “Virginia Grant at Altman Weil has written an article called "For Law Departments: Five Strategies to Help Your Outside Firms Increase Diversity (PDF file)" that will reward you greatly for the time you spend reading and thinking about it, and then acting upon its recommendations.
Diversity, like technology, is an area where clients definitely will begin to drive the actions of law firms, with increasingly less patience. Are you going to keep talking about these issues or are you going to do something about it?
The money quote:
"Law firms tend to give the same reason for why their diversity demographics are not at the level they would like: not enough qualified candidates, or an inability to attract minority candidates.
Corporate law departments should not continue to accept such excuses. Law departments must remind law firms that they are in the business of providing solutions and resolving difficult situations." (emphasis added)
Highly recommended, as is a subscription to Altman Weil's email newsletter called Altman Weil Direct."
Source: DennisKennedy.com, 15 June 2005
Ron Friedmann posts: “The e-discovery explosion creates a risk that firms will lose sight of the larger litigation support picture. There may not be a single right way to “do lit supp” but firms should analyze their processes and strive to develop consistent guidelines.
The table here presents a framework for thinking about litigation support. Columns represent phases of a case and rows represent player roles, software involved, and issues to consider. (Apologies, but putting the table in the blog does not work for tech reasons.)
The text in each cell is merely suggestive. Each firm, indeed each case, may have different answers. Even the rows and columns can differ. The point though is twofold:
1. Make explicit and informed litigation support decisions.
2. Analyze processes at both a micro and macro level and strive to develop a consistent approach based on adherence to a set of guidelines that covers typical scenarios.”
Source: Strategic Legal Technology, 14 June 2005
Posted by Chuck Kallendorf: “An article in the June 6, 2005 National Law Journal (subscription) reports the State of Montana’s having established “the first statewide indigent defense system that meets national standards for delivering high-quality representation.”
The act, spurred in part, at least, by a 2002 class-action lawsuit that had alleged defendants were not being provided public defender services in a fair & consistent manner,” remedied those accusations. ACLU senior staff attorney Vincent Warren said in that organization’s press release that, “A national movement is underway to protect the legal rights of poor people, and Montana is leading the way.”
“The Montana law,” that press release continued, “is the first in the nation crafted with the intent of addressing the ‘Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System,’ adopted by the American Bar Association in 2002.”
Ohio’s public defender statutes are contained in ORC § 120.01 et seq.
Kentucky’s are at KRS §31.010 et.seq., and Indiana’s are at IC §33-40-1 et.seq.
Source: Cincinnati Law Library Blog, 16 June 2005
Evan Schaeffer posts: “Today at Law.com, there's an article about litigation over Viagra's reported propensity to cause blindness: "Attorneys Soft of Viagra Suits," by Justin Scheck.
Leaving aside the awful headline, the article is interesting for the cast of mass-tort lawyers and consultants who Scheck lined up for quotes. We can assume he has them all on speed-dial: Mary Alexander, Ramon Lopez, Danny Becnel Jr., Bill Audet, and Jennifer Stanich-Banmiller of Wingtip Communications. Of these, only Becnel seemed excited about Viagra litigation.
Reading between the lines of the article, it's evident what plaintiffs' mass-tort lawyers look for in deciding what sorts of cases to work on. Here are some of the defining characteristics of a good case:
· A serious and "signature" injury;
· Science linking the injury to the particular drug;
· A viable defendant;
· Evidence that the defendant knew of the risk of injury but failed to disclose it.
Case-selection has been critically important to lawyers who have made decisions over the past ten years litigation involving diet drugs, Baycol, Rezulin, Serzone, Propulsid, ephedra, PPA, Oxycontin, Prempro, and other pharmaceuticals. A popular business model has been to test the mass-tort waters by assigning a chunk of money--$200,000, say--to advertise for a particular mass tort. Often, the advertising lawyer plans to build up a group of cases then refer them to another mass-tort lawyer. The trouble is, a group of cases alone does not guarantee any return for the clients or the lawyer: the lawyer has to advertise for the right case and establish his selection criteria well enough that he isn't rejecting good cases or failing to reject bad ones.
To see the way these ideas can be applied to the real-life Vioxx litigation, see the post I did in October, 2004, predicting the "cast of characters" I thought would quickly grow up around the Vioxx case. So far, I'd say my predictions were pretty good!"
Source: The Illinois trial Practice Weblog, 15 June 2005
Genie Tyburski posts: “Presented with Gary Price at the June 2005 SLA conference, Web Tools 2005 presents software utilities and Web-based resources useful in conducting or managing research.”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
16 June 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Genie Tyburski posts: “Search company Verity announced that it will extend the free trial period for it enterprise software, Verity Ultraseek, from 30 days to one year. "Users of the Ultraseek enterprise search software during the free trial will be limited to searching 25,000 documents. According to a company spokesperson, an average paid license for Ultraseek is about $20,000. The software runs on Solaris, Linux, and Windows."
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
16 June 2005
Copyright: 1999 - 2005 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Steven Schirripa: “Since millions of people across the globe already use mobile phones like there's no tomorrow, we're launching Mobile Web Search in many languages. Try it the next time you visit Google on your mobile phone - you'll see a new option to search the Mobile Web. How different is it than standard web search? There are sites out there that have already been designed for your mobile phone, which makes them more navigable on the small screen. So we've created an index specifically for these sites. And so your phone can now be that much more useful.”
Source: Google Blog, 16 June 2005
Posted by Danny Sullivan: “11 Ways to Improve Landing Pages at Digital Web looks at simple things to consider to ensure that when people land at your web site, they don't take off immediately for somewhere else.”
Source: Search Engine Watch, 15 June 2005
Reid Trautz posts: “Sometimes winning $16.8 million for your clients is not enough. It's how you win it that matters. That's the lesson from this story in the Buffalo News about a family's displeasure with their lawyers, despite the firm obtaining a $16.8 million personal injury verdict on their behalf.
Disbursement issues, the right-to-control-settlement, and dissatisfaction on other matters caused the father to file a disciplinary complaint against the attorneys, and he is threatening to file a malpractice claim.
The complaint played a part in the recent decision by the New York Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court to discipline the lawyers.
The case highlights the importance of superior client service even in the face of exceptional legal service. Today's clients want to be involved in the resolution of their legal matters. Most are unfamiliar with legal matters, but do understand client service. Clients who feel left out of the process or pushed beyond their comfort zone will lose faith and trust in their legal advocates. A lawyer's foremost asset is intellectual objectivity, but it must be balanced against the client's expectations. If these are out of sync, client dissatisfaction follows. It is important for lawyers and firms to continually gauge client satisfaction throughout and after the legal representation to make sure attorney and client expectations are being met, or problems will result.
No matter how good the results in court, the final verdict is really in the hands of the client. Firms that make client service their highest priority will reap the benefits and avoid the pitfalls, even when the legal results are measured in millions of dollars.”
Source: Reid My Blog, 13 June 2005
In the news: “Divorce is never easy. But more and more couples are choosing a quicker, quieter way of splitting. Family lawyers, especially those with rich clients, are increasingly opting for a private judge -- at a rate of $300 to $800 an hour -- rather than wait for a turn in clogged divorce courts. With judges sometimes able to resolve a case in a few days, many couples find it's money well spent. And there's an added value. Says attorney Donelle Morgan, "The thing about people with wealth is they like privacy."
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire
15 June 2005
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