Shelby Bice, Author at JusticeHub Innovation Lab

Tech experts landing lucrative jobs at law firms

October 7, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Legal News, Tech

Even though there aren’t many jobs available for tech experts in the law profession, those that have experience in litigation support or e-discovery can expect to be able to obtain higher salaries than they have in the past, simply because there aren’t that many professionals out there that fit the criteria. It’s a simply case of supply and demand—with a limited supply of these tech professionals, they’re able to demand more money. For example, Robert Half predicts that litigation support/e-discovery directors can expect an approximately 6% increase on average in their salary, bringing the average range between $101,000 and $130,050. Tech professionals working in major markets such as New York can expect much more, though, with an average salary of $230,000 or more. Chief information officers can also expect to see an increase in their earnings, and their salaries can fall into the range of $300,000 to $500,000 at top law firms. As the global practice leader in law firm management at Major, Lindsey & Africa, Amanda K. Brady, explains, “It can be lucrative …. but there’s just not a lot of these jobs.”

As tech-related fields continue to grow, though, tech professionals can expect to see more opportunities for working in law. For example, multidisciplinary teams containing professionals knowledgeable about networks and information security are predicted to become more common for firms who have practice groups centering on cybersecurity or privacy. Additionally, many firms are expected to create practice groups for these kind of tech concerns if they have not already. With this much growth in the future, tech experts can look forward to salaries continuing to rise. According to Brady, “There’s only an upward projectory here. The demand will only continue.”

Though the prospect of a better salary may attract many tech professionals to law, they should keep in mind that the workplace culture found at a law firm can be very different from what they are used to. It isn’t entrepreneurial, like the environment found at a startup. Additionally, tech professionals, especially chief information officers, are often paid very well because technology can present a huge risk to the firm. If the tech systems are not kept up to par by the chief information officer and other tech employees, the firm’s reputation can suffer. Those looking to work in a law firm should keep the above in mind, but in addition to a higher salary, tech professional may also look forward to being involved in many different parts of the firms and handling many responsibilities.

Article via Legaltech News, September 25, 2015

Photo: Cash Money (part two) via Jeremy Yerse [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Legaltech startups booming in Silicon Valley

October 6, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Tech for Lawyers

Legaltech startups are doing very well for themselves—even the famous Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator is starting to invest in legaltech companies. These startups can range from making legal services more accessible, as is the case with Willing and Separate.us, to making lawyers’ lives a little bit easier, like Lawgeex, Kira Systems, and UpCounsel. Several of these startups are even going as far as trying to revolutionize their areas of expertise. Willing, for example, not only allows users to create a free will in as little as five minutes but also helps them plan funeral and other services. By drawing users in with a free legal service, Willing is then able to connect them to vendors and other paid services within the death care industry. Separate.us, on the other hand, aims to make divorces easier by simplifying a usually messy process.

Legaltech isn’t just geared towards consumers, though. Lawgeex can be helpful for both lawyers and clients alike. It digitally analyzes documents and compares them to precedents within their database, something lawyers are used to having to do manually. While Lawgeex is described as easy and efficient to use, clients may still have to turn to lawyers for help with understanding the documents themselves. Additionally, Kira Systems offers multiple products including a Due Diligence Engine which can review documents, locate certain provisions, and fill out diligence charts, saving lawyers’ time and clients’ money. UpCounsel goes beyond both Lawgeex and Kira Systems in trying to alter the entire law firm model, even securing $10M from Menlo Ventures in an effort to prove its model is suited for law firms of the future. It’s possible that legaltech startups like these will soon be changing the law profession for the better.

Article via Above the Law, September 29, 2015

Photo: Reflections of the setting sun via Alvin Law [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Law firm uses security certification to attract clients

October 5, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Security

The international firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon has started using their new security certification to woo potential clients. The security certification, ISO 27001, took two years and multiple consultants and analysts to obtain, but Shook’s CIO, John Anderson, thinks the work was worth it. He started the process toward obtaining the certification based on the opinions of Shook’s information governance committee because they wished to have “a methodology and a framework that ensures [they’re] using best practices for information security” and “third-party verification that proved [their] commitment to information security to external parties”, according to Anderson. Now, the hard work is paying off. Anderson states that the certification is a “differentiator” and a “competitive advantage” for the firm.

In a recent poll of 1, 322 CEOS, 61% of them listed cyberattacks as a key concern. With the average data breach costing approximately $3.8 million dollars, it’s no wonder that organizations are asking firms about how they implement cybersecurity. Some, according to John Murphy, Shook’s chair, even specifically ask if the law firm has the ISO 27001 certification. Their clients’ questions are unsurprising, considering that the firm handles highly confidential and regulated information on a regular basis, sometimes for organizations within the pharmaceutical industry.

Just having the ISO 27001 security certification isn’t necessarily enough, though. An analyst at Constellation research, Steve Wilson, explains that the certification is simply a “management process standard–it doesn’t tell you what to do exactly in security; it tells you how to go about managing the security function.” Shook’s executives point out, though, that the certification does require the firm to routinely evaluate and update their security standards, and if nothing else demonstrates their commitment to keeping their clients’ data secure. The firm, in addition to the spending required to obtain the certification, also has funds dedicated towards the other aspects of their security strategy. “We wanted to make sure we had the processes in place so [clients] had confidence that we were doing the best we could,” Murphy explains.

Article: CIO, August 28, 2015

Photo: Security via Robert Wallace [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Apple remedies cyber breach in app store

September 30, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Cybercrime

In the past, only five malware-infected applications have made it into the Apple App Store. That number has grown, though, as 25 apps have been identified and pulled from the App Store for containing malware. This cyber breach is due to a program called XcodeGhost, an imitation of the program Xcode, which is the platform develops utilize to make programs for iOS and Mac. While the official Xcode program takes about half an hour to download in the United States, the time is almost triple for developers in China. Most decide to download the program from local servers, which allowed the counterfeit XcodeGhost to be substituted for the real Xcode program and downloaded in in its place. Thankfully, apps developed using this malware have not been observed to steal any sensitive information from users that have downloaded them. Still, though the apps appear to be harmless, the attack on the App Store is notable according to Palo Alto Network’s Director of Threat Intelligence, Ryan Olsen. The firm was the first to report the existence of the malware-tainted apps, and Olsen states that the cyber breach reveals that the Apple App Store isn’t impenetrable.

To prevent another cyber breach, Apple will provide a way for Chinese developers to download an official copy of Xcode domestically, and Apple is “working with the developers to make sure they’re using the proper version of Xcode to rebuild their apps” according to an Apple spokesperson.

Article via CNET, September 22, 2015

Photo: Apps via Pixel Fantasy [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Creative tech improves accessibility to court services

September 29, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Court, Human Rights, Tech

For parts of northwest Mohave County, Arizona, accessibility to court services used to be a problem. Surrounded by the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, and the Virgin River Gorge, the closest court building is more than an hour away. This presents a problem for many of the locals. Mohave County has a high poverty rate and many low- and fixed-income residents, many of which have difficulty obtaining transportation. Thankfully, the IT staff of the Mohave County Superior Court under the direction of the court technology systems manager, Kyle Rimel, have been able to find a unique solution. By setting up the North Country Kiosk at a much closer DMV location, residents of Mohave County can now use video chat to obtain multiple court services. The presiding judge of the Mohave County Superior court, Charles W. Gurtler, says that, “The kiosk has been an absolute godsend as far as those people are concerned.” Among its features are the ability to access any courtroom in the county, pay fines, acquire forms, and even make filings or court appearances.

This isn’t the only way that Rimel and his staff are using technology to increase accessibility. Courthouse posters now include scannable bar codes so visitors can learn about jury and divorce information or receive directions. Additionally, an Internet chat line that provides access to court employees has been implemented, and the IT staff has outfitted nineteen courtrooms with audio-video equipment, allowing for different ways of presenting cases. Even though the Mohave Superior Court was woefully under-utilizing technology when Rimel first started working in 2003, he states that now, “our goal is to be one of the most technologically advanced courts in Arizona.”

For others looking to use technology to expand their court’s services, Rimel advises finding sponsors and realizing that courts may have to approach IT solutions differently than other entities. But the results are worth it: Gurtler has high praise for Rimel, calling him the “rock star of the IT world.”

Article via ABA Journal, September 16, 2015

Photo: Student pair video chatting with an ELL via Penn State [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Competent lawyers must be knowledgeable about technology

September 28, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Tech for Lawyers

More and more evidence is being brought to light that competent lawyers need to be able to understand technology to truly be considered competent. Take Model Rule 1.1 as set forth by the ABA, for example. Even though states are not required to include Model Rules in their regulations for lawyers, 49 states have adopted Model Rule 1.1, which states that lawyers must be able to provide competent knowledge to their clients. To be able to provide competent knowledge, the lawyers themselves must fully understand the advice they are imparting. Comment 8, an addition to Model Rule 1.1, addresses the fact that lawyers need to continually educate themselves on the technology relevant to their practice if they are to be considered competent enough to advise on it. While not every state has adopted Comment 8, it is being slowly incorporated by a list of states, a list which will likely grow in the future.

Outside of Comment 8, lawyers are starting to have to deal with issues such as cloud computing and metadata, which often require not only tech advice from experts but also knowledge about ethics regulations. Sometimes permission from regulators must be obtained in order to ask experts. To avoid potential problems, lawyers should look into the opinions on the ethics surrounding each type of technology that have been expressed by their state, which can be found on the ABA’s website. Outside the realm of ethics, many states have expressed opinions on what technological knowledge should be required for lawyers. In 2014, for example, the California Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct stated in their Formal Opinion 2015 that although issues like e-discovery are new, the idea of competency is not, and competent lawyers need to be knowledgeable since “in today’s technological world, every case has the potential to involve e-discovery.”

The world is evolving, and law is starting to catch up as formal regulations are set around technological knowledge. To truly stay competent, lawyers need to be familiar with using technology and stay up to date on the latest news surrounding technology with which their clients may be involved.

Article via The Lawyerist, September 10, 2015

Photo: iPublishing, iReading, iEnjoying via Charis Tsevis [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]