Tag: Tech

Technology to help refugees

November 22, 2015 Abby Shulman Leave a comment Human Rights, Tech

Many of the 770,000 refugees who have migrated to Europe since January are from middle-class backgrounds, and are therefore educated and tech-savvy. As a result, most use smartphones for GPS navigation and communicate with family through Facebook, Viber, WhatsApp, and Line apps.

With the understanding that smartphones are invaluable tools to refugees, tech companies and aid groups have directed their efforts to creating tech-focused ways to help refugees communicate and travel safely. For example, Google, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Mercy Corps collectively launched refugeeinfo.eu last month. The website explains the registration process, locations to eat and sleep, medical help, and traveling to Athens for those who land on the beaches of Greece.

Rey Rodrigues, IRC’s technology coordinator, describes the intentions of refugeeinfo.eu: “We wanted to create a roadmap. You see a lot of refugees walking with their smartphones and power cords and extra batteries. This lets them be self-sufficient.”

It is not uncommon for a refugee to walk up to 10 hours to register with Greek authorities at the southern part of the island, when buses are available for free. The roadmap’s goal is to provide valuable information like this to refugees, especially when translators are not available to convey the information.

Refugeeinfo.eu is one of many tech resources available to refugees. Disaster Tech Lab recently supplied Wi-Fi access to two refugee camps in Lesbos. InfoAid, an android app built by a Hungarian couple, helps refugees access train tickets, medical care and water. First-contact.org provides contact to local NGOs and offers specific information on how to survive on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Samos.

Article via Mashable, November 8, 2015

Photo: Liqaa with her daughter Limar born on August 3, 2013 via Oxfam International [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Entrepreneur explains lawyer’s skepticism, need for legaltech

October 20, 2015 Shelby Bice Leave a comment Tech, Tech for Lawyers

“There are incredible entrepreneurs building useful new legal technology products, but adoption is often slow and painful”, explains Jules Miller, the entrepreneur behind Hire an Esquire. Lawyers are, on the whole, very skeptical. While this may be beneficial for their clients, it also means that lawyers are slow to accept change or utilize new technology. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of society isn’t changing. With the rise of Uber and the “on-demand economy”, the legal profession’s staffing firm model is somewhat out of date. Miller describes that she and her friend Julia Shapiro, a former attorney, “realized that the on-demand economy already existed in the legal industry,” and created Hire an Esquire as a result. This legal staffing platform uses technology to help modernize and streamline the process of connecting attorneys to clients. With the rise of legaltech like Hire an Esquire, the legal industry can become more efficient and more fulfilling for everyone involved. But with lawyers being slow on the uptake, legaltech is not progressing very quickly.

In response, Miller has recently launched Evolve Law, “to accelerate the adoption of new ideas and technologies in the legal industry”. After all, most legaltech is still being developed and tested, but to create effective products, companies need data and feedback from users. This means that lawyers will have to let go of some of their natural skepticism and embrace new technology. However, many lawyers are simply not being informed about the legaltech available to them. Miller cites that she often meets attorneys who have never heard of Hire an Esquire, even though it has been operating for four years. Evolve Law plans to change that by providing a platform to inform lawyers about new innovations in legaltech.

Article via Above the Law, October 19, 2015

Photo: limited time only by Ben Kilgust [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

Lawyers should wipe smartphones after use

October 9, 2015 Astrid Countee Leave a comment Business, Ethics, Privacy, Security

Lawyers, like everyone else, have been quick to adapt to use of smartphones for business use. Having a little computer in your  pocket that is attached to the internet makes it easy for lawyers to reach and respond to clients and keep up with industry news. Law firms have become dependent on this technology and as a result smartphones have become a ubiquitous device. Since the time of the reign of blackberry, lawyers have been handed smartphones for company use on a regular basis.

But what is happening to these phones once the firms are done with them? More specifically, what is happening to all the client data that is collected on these phones while they were in use? Large firms usually have an enterprise solution for handling old smartphones. But it is less likely that the same is the case with smaller firms.

A recent study by the Blanco Technology Group revealed that data is sometimes left behind on second hand devices. They found that one-third of discarded smartphones had residual data left on them. Of the mobile devices with residual data, over half was left there after an attempted deletion. This means that even for those who were trying to protect their data by deleting it, they were unsuccessful and did not realize it.

For lawyers, this type of liability can make the stakes much higher. Possibly leaving confidential client information on a device can be extremely detrimental. This means that law firms, large and small, will need to take extra steps to make sure that their mobile devices are wiped clean. This includes not just smartphones, but also tablets and hard drives as well.

Lawyers will need to upgrade their tech savvy to make sure that their data and their clients stay safe.

Article via Above The Law, 8 October 2015

Photo: The iphone 4 via Jorge Quinteros [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

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]

 

Microsoft sued for gender discrimination

September 17, 2015 Abby Shulman Leave a comment Business, Human Rights, Justice, Social Media, Tech

Former technician Katherine Moussouris sued Microsoft this Wednesday for gender discrimination. She alleges that Microsoft paid and promoted female employees less than male coworkers, and that women in the company were also ranked consistently below men. Moussouri proposed the class action lawsuit after working at Microsoft between 2007 and 2014.

The lawsuit states that the tech company’s practices and policies “systematically violate female technical employees’ rights and result in unchecked gender bias that pervades its corporate culture.”

This suit occurs as other tech giants, recently Twitter and Facebook, also battle gender discrimination lawsuits. Public interest in women’s role in the workplace has increased since Ellen Pao filed a high-profile lawsuit against the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers for unequal treatment on the basis of gender.

Microsoft released a statement in response to Moussouri’s allegations: “We’re committed to a diverse workforce, and to a workplace where all employees have the chance to succeed.”

 

Article via CNET, 16 September 2015

Photo: Microsoft via Thomas Hawk [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]