Legal Industry News, Legal Technology News

Legal Technology News 

 Legal News (General)

• Free Tools to Encrypt Your Sensitive Data

  As a mobile lawyer, how do you protect confidential data on your laptop or thumb drive if it's lost or stolen? Encryption is the answer, according to Internet librarian Dan Giancaterino, and quite a few free encryption tools can make encrypting sensitive information practically painless.

• Harvard Law Faculty Articles to Be Free Online

  Harvard Law School's faculty unanimously voted to make all faculty member-authored scholarly articles available on the Internet free of charge. The articles will be available in an online repository, which could also be accessed by outside services like Google Scholar.

• Want a Taser in Your Briefcase?

  Electronic control devices are commercially available in many states and the technology is regularly marketed to ordinary consumers for self-defense. Bingham McCutchen partner Peter C. Neger explores product liability issues arising in Tasers, an ECD "that can fit in a pocket or purse."

• Go Deep for E-Discovery Solutions

  Failures to preserve and produce electronically stored information often occur when error-prone, manual e-discovery processes are used. A deeper understanding of how to evaluate EDD technology is needed to keep costs down, reduce risk and adhere to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

• Justify Your iPod to Your Law Firm

  Lawyers sporting iPods aren't always wired to their favorite songs: Apple's iTunes store is also a treasure trove for downloading lectures and the latest legal podcasts. Consultant Donna Payne provides valuable lessons learned to keep your iPod street legal, up and running.

• China Sites Shine New Light on the Web

  Chinese Internet companies are emerging from assembly-plant anonymity to fashion their own distinct identities. Though there are still plenty of impediments that inhibit e-commerce in China, Internet companies are poised for better days ahead as they demonstrate real staying power.

• Wikis Put Lawyers on a Collaborative Path

  A wiki allows direct collaborative editing of content and structure. It provides a source for new research and collaborative document editing focused on content rather than conversation. Peter Buck, managing director of Baker Robbins, puts wiki collaboration in the law firm context

• Criminals Come Forward to Protect Their Malware

  Even criminal hackers are vying to protect their intellectual property. Virus writers are selling a suite of software on the Web with a licensing agreement that promises penalties for redistributing the malicious code without permission -- with an appropriate dash of thuggery.

• Big-Firm Lawyers Partner to Open Women-Owned Boutique

  A new women-owned firm in Dallas, Spencer Crain Cubbage Healy & McNamara, formed by five veteran lawyers, opened its doors May 1. The five lawyers -- all were previously partners in big firms in Dallas -- do litigation, labor and employment law, business immigration work and dispute resolution. Founding partner Jennifer Jackson Spencer says the time is right to launch a majority-women-owned firm in Dallas: "It just seems like a lot of the companies ... had committed to diversifying their legal firms."

• How Not to Change a Potential Lateral Hire Into the One That Got Away

  Few law firms work as hard to develop a system for recruiting lateral talent as they do for recruiting at the law student level. In contrast to the recruiting of inexperienced law students, firms competing for lateral talent face a more educated, and often more skeptical, audience, which makes it even more critical that the process work smoothly and cohesively. Legal recruiter Stacy Humphries has compiled anecdotes drawn from actual incidents as a 10-step how-not-to guide on lateral recruiting.

• Appellate Boutique Opens Dallas Office With Two New Partners

  With the May 1 opening of a new office in Dallas, the founding partners of Alexander Dubose Jones & Townsend have realized a dream they had in 2003 when they formed the appellate boutique. "The plan has always been to have a Dallas office," says Roger Townsend, a partner in Houston who says the idea in starting Alexander Dubose was to "be a multioffice boutique." Charles Frazier Jr., a shareholder in Cowles & Thompson, and LaDawn Conway, a shareholder in Munsch Hardt, have joined the new Dallas office.

• Contract Attorney Company Opens Boston Office

  Contract attorney company Counsel on Call opened a Boston office with former Brown Rudnick partner Nancy Reiner as executive director. Counsel on Call attorneys handle cases and other matters on an assignment basis, either at the client's site or remotely. The company touts its business model as offering work-life balance to its lawyers. "This is a perfect opportunity, working with a great company and being in a position to help my fellow attorneys discover a new way to practice law," Reiner says.

• The Power of Storytelling in Your Legal Practice

  When giving speeches and business presentations, how can attorneys connect with their audience without losing themselves in legal-speak? Facts and data have an important role to play, but storytelling is considerably more effective, says consultant Paramjit Mahli. She points out how attorneys can learn to connect with their audience on a more human level through telling a compelling story. She also helps attorneys figure out which stories to tell in presentations and how.

• Raid on Polygamist Sect Brings an Army of Attorneys

  Following the raid last month of a Texas ranch that is home to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, about 350 lawyers were appointed to represent more than 400 children who lived at the ranch. They've spent long evenings and weekends studying Texas' legal protections for children and researching the tenets of the FLDS faith. And attorney Mark Ticer says most lawyers are spending considerable time assuring parents of the whereabouts of their children.