Year: 2015

New report shows that many top law firms are blogging

August 27, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Legal News, News

While writing has always been part of the practice of law, many top firms have gone above and beyond by becoming more accesible to the public through blogs. More than 80% of BigLaw, or firms included in Am Law 200, are blogging, and approximately 962 individual blogs are being run by those firms and their attorneys.  Of the 962 blogs, 916 are “firm-branded”, with the firm claiming ownership of the blog and its content, but the rest are operated by individual lawyers. The latter is decreasing, though, as more firms take note of how blogs can be used to generate interest and eventually clients for the firm. With this in mind, the average firm runs six blogs, with each catering to different areas and topics. The most popular topics for blog posts range from employment and labor all the way to healthcare. Also, as law is changing and welcoming the new questions that technology brings, some more recent blogs focus on intellectual property, insurance, and international law. Even though blog topics are addressing relevant concerns, most law firms are not utilizing newer resources such as responsive design, which makes blogs more accessible to readers using mobile devices.

Though law firms can certainly use blogs as part of their marketing, many firms opt out of making them a part of their site, instead only including a link to the firm’s website on the blog. This opens up many more options for the blog, including possible inclusion in articles by Google News or the ability to have a profound effect on opinions in a certain area. Developing this influence in a particular niche is something the most visited blogs do well, along with posting frequently and being well-maintained. By only focusing on a specific area, certain blogs are quickly becoming a main source of news for topics such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or pharmaceutical patents and intellectual property. Blogging about specific but relevant topics in an easy-to-read manner keeps readers returning to read more.

Article via Above the Law, July 8, 2015

Photo: Untitled via SuzieWong [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Many law firms are still relying on paper records instead of digitization

August 26, 2015 Christy Leos Leave a comment Legal News, Tech for Lawyers

While technology has been raising new questions and even causing problems for some lawyers, it can be helpful in making the practice of law more efficient. Unfortunately, many law firms are not taking advantage of some of the improvements technology can offer.

DocSolid, which provides law firms with the ability to digitize their files, found that of the approximately 200 law firms that were present at their roadshows across the United States and Canada, 84 percent were dependent on paper filing. Relying only on paper filing can be costly and unproductive for modern law firms, and those that are skeptical do not need to completely do away with paper filing. DocSolid states that some firms with digital systems for managing documents also have paper filing systems to organize their physical files, which does away with some of the risk. For example, the firm Lindquist & Vennum’s records are fully digital, but employees who enjoy using paper files still have the ability to do so. While digital files are contrary to tradition, DocSolid suggests that firms should make it a priority to look into digitization.

Article via Legaltech News, August 24, 2015

Photo: Filing via ExeterAnna [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Artificial intelligence raises new legal and civil rights questions

August 25, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Ethics, Human Rights, Justice, News

Artificial intelligence features heavily in science fiction, from 2001: A Space Odyssey to Star Wars, but AI systems may soon become commonplace in day to day activities. Ten years from now, one third of standard jobs are expected to be completed by robots. While this may raise many concerns, perhaps the most unexpected issue lies with which legal and civil rights will be granted to artificially intelligent beings.

Recently, an artificially intelligent system in Switzerland that was programmed to shop online purchased several illegal items and was subsequently arrested. However, neither the system nor its creators were prosecuted. Cases like this question who should be held accountable for crimes committed by AI systems. Can artificially intelligent beings be held responsible for their actions? If the system is acting independently and is charged with a crime similar to how a human being would be charged, should the AI system be considered to have its own individual identity? And if AI systems have their own identities, should they also be granted the same rights as a human being? After all, a robot was created that could pass a test signifying that that it is self aware, a test that before only humans could pass.

While science fiction appears to have spent years preparing the world for the introduction of artificial intelligence into every day activities, the ethical and legal problems concerning the new technology are still surprising law enforcers and creators alike.

Article via TechCrunch, August 22, 2015

Photo: Electric Neuron via Ronny R [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

New legal research center at Michigan State seeks to create T-shaped lawyers

August 25, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Education, Legal News, News

According to Daniel Linna Jr, the director of the new Center for Legal Services and Innovation, or LegalRnD, T-shaped lawyers will be leading the law profession in the near future. T-shaped lawyers are trained specifically to deal with modern issues by becoming knowledgeable in other areas such as business, coding, and management. By helping lawyers become more efficient in their business practices, it is the hope of the Michigan State Law Department that the new legal research center will help make lawyers more accessible to the three quarters of individuals and businesses who receive a moderate income but cannot always afford the expense.

Linna explains that the research and classes being conducted in LegalRnD will help lawyers connect to more modern problems, and the center will accomplish that goal by focusing on interdisciplinary classes and innovation. Introducing lawyers to technology, especially through hackathons such as LexHacks in Chicago, is part of Linna’s plan to lead the legal world towards finding new creative solutions to 21st century problems.

Article via MSU Today, July 20, 2015

Photo: Michigan State University via Jimmy Everson, DVM [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs] 

Survey shows that legal and IT will collaborate more in the future

August 24, 2015 Christy Leos Leave a comment Legal News, News

The results of a survey by the firm Robert Half indicate that legal and information technology departments are working together more closely than ever. The findings, published under the name “Future Law Office 2020”, report that eighty percent of the 350 lawyers questioned indicated that their collaboration with the IT department had increased in the past two years. Additionally, both new technology and cybersecurity were two of the three problems that the pollers expected to have the most influence on practicing law in the future. As new projects focusing on securing data, complying and abiding by privacy laws, and e-discovery are brought to lawyers, they can expect to develop a much closer relationship with the IT department. Companies used to the divide between the legal and technical teams will be hindered and fall behind organizations that encourage and foster the collaboration.

Article via Legaltech News, August 10, 2015

Photo: Night Work via Thomas Heylen [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Firms should be looking for lawyers with cyber security knowledge

August 24, 2015 Christy Leos Leave a comment Tech for Lawyers

New stories of businesses being hacked are constantly being brought to light, and many need guidance from their legal teams on the measures and steps necessary after such an incident occurs. Cyberintrusion isn’t only confined to big businesses, though. Even the U.S. government and healthcare providers are also experiencing hacking. With this in mind, the Department of Justice has provided instructions for cybervictims through the Cybersecurity Unit called Best Practices for Victim Response and Reporting of Cyber Incidents. According to the Department of Justice, it is important for businesses and organizations to have a legal team familiar with cyberintrusion because it poses different concerns than a physical intrusion. For example, business need to know which measures they can or cannot take in order to try to remedy the situation. A wrong move could result in legal action against the company, which is the last thing one wants to deal with after being hacked. Additionally, businesses can better protect themselves against hacking if their lawyers know which cyber security practices are legal and effective to use.

The lack of uniformity surrounding how companies must react to cyberintrusion also requires lawyers to be extremely knowledgeable about the laws effecting their location. Though the U.S. government may soon implement a law that requires the same response for every company no matter its location, currently there are policies specific to each of the 47 states that have requirements concerning investigation into hacking. Additionally, companies that process credit cards should be familiar with the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. With so many regulations and procedures that may change in the future as policies are taken into consideration by state and national governments, it is more important than ever for lawyers to be tech and cyber-savvy.

Article via E-Commerce Times, July 20, 2015

Photo Code view via Jeffrey Zeldman  [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]