Dennis Kennedy

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August 31, 2005

Karen Kovacik's Metropolis Burning

Karen Kovacik is one of my most talented friends, a highly-respected poet and someone I'm always pestering to start a blog. She's spent a good deal of time in Warsaw, Poland in the last few years and I've always enjoyed her emails and letters from her stays in Poland.

Her newest book, Metropolis Burning, draws in part on her experiences in Poland and has garnered praise from a number of commentators. Anything Karen writes gets my highest recommendation, so I encourage you to read this book.

For those of you in Indianapolis, Karen is doing a reading on September 9.

{Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 06:49 PM | Comments (0)

Hurricane Help - Starting Points (or New Orleans Relief, part 2)

Glenn Reynolds has a great list of organizations you can donate to for assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

B.L. Ochman and Evan Schaeffer recommend the Red Cross as your best choice.

I have not yet seen or heard of systems being set up via Amazon or elsewhere as happened after the tsunami, but would be surprised if we do not see that.

Ernie the Attorney's most recent posts are highly recommended to give you a flavor of what is happening.

If you go to Technorati, you can set up a watchlist (with an RSS feed) to view reports from bloggers and other news updates in one place.

Denise Howell has also pointed to the National Geographic's list of relief organizations.

From the Slidell Hurricane Damage Blog is a reference to a special Craigslist site for New Orleans related to relief and other efforts. A bit more detail on the same topic can be found ont the Lifehacker blog.

There is also a Katrina Aftermath blog that will probably provide good information and resources. Note the recent post about how spammers hit the contact email shortly after the site launched.

Robert Scoble has another good collection of pointers to news and resources. Among them is PoynterOnline, which among other things, points to this useful Guidestar database.

If words don't convince, then John Robb has pointed to a collection of pictures that might.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Posted by dmk at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)

New Lawyer Marketing Web Resource Debuts

I wanted to make a quick note about the debut of a new legal marketing "portal" website from Thomson FindLaw called LawyerMarketing.com. Looks to be a solid start for a helpful resource on legal marketing information and resources. I also like their judgment in featuring an article that discusses the comments on blogging my colleagues at the Between Lawyers blog and I made on the role of blogging in legal marketing.

Check it out.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink!(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world.

Posted by dmk at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)

New Orleans Relief, part 1

I'm planning to collect and post a set of links about ways to help out with the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

For now, however, my biggest relief is that my friend and blogging colleague Ernie Svensen has gotten out New Orleans safely. The posts on his blog about his experience are both touching and compelling. The last email he sent to our private Between Lawyers email list when he first tried to evacuate was harrowing at the time and frightening accurate in the aftermath. I'm very happy that he's out of the city now.

Although lawyers don't often reveal personal feelings, I will admit that I worried greatly over the last few days about Ernie once I learned that he had not been able to evacuate before the storm hit.

It's difficult to comprehend what it means for a major US city to be out of business and all-but-vacant for what may be a period of months.

I will try to post links to relief and other efforts and point to ways people can help.

I was also asked to help publicize the following press release:

"THE ABA WILL HELP HURRICANE VICTIMS

WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 30, 2005 – As the eyes of the nation remain focused on the hurricane-ravaged southeastern United States, especially Mississippi and Louisiana, the American Bar Association stands ready to assist those injured by Hurricane Katrina.

ABA President Michael S. Greco has announced that he is enlisting the ABA Young Lawyers Division and lawyers from several ABA sections to assist hurricane victims in the coming days and weeks. The lawyers will assist with insurance claims, home repair contracts, wills and other documents, and related issues.

The ABA has provided pro bono assistance to storm victims since 1978, when the ABA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency agreed to utilize the ABA Young Lawyers Division in staffing a toll-free hotline open to disaster victims.

FEMA is now in the process of establishing a hotline staffed by ABA volunteer lawyers to assist victims in each affected state. A complete listing of the FEMA hotlines and other available legal resources will be posted on the ABA Web site, www.abanet.org, in the coming days."

While legal services are obviously not the first priority at the moment, there are many other things that lawyers and other readers of this blog may be able to do to help. I recommend staying tuned to Ernie's blog for his reports and insights into the situation.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskenney.com/blog/)]

Posted by dmk at 12:46 PM | Comments (1)

August 26, 2005

Doing My Part to Make the Blawgosphere a Bit More Wry

I returned from the recent ILTA conference and noticed today two blog posts I seem to have inspired.

First, Alex Lubarsky returned from a bit of a hiatus with a great post on electronic discovery issues on his Alextronic Discovery blog. The post mentions that I got to meet Alex at ILTA and notes a comment that I made that was part of the reason that Alex got back to posting on his blog. I appreciate that Alex noticed the wryness of my comment to him. Although I'm flattered, I'll take his kind words calling me a "blawger legend" with a shot of wry.

Second, no list of the very best legal bloggers is complete without the name of Evan Schaeffer on it. I'm honored to have played a small part in Evan's decision to take up blogging. Evan has a new post that he notes was inspired by me in which he wryly discusses at some length the use of the F-word in legal pleadings and his own personal history of using the word in his writing. I'll note, in my own wry way, that I'm flattered to be the inspiration for the post, I think.

All of which reminds me to mention the new "Thinking E-Discovery" column (first column here) that Evan, Tom Mighell (a true blawger legend whose blog just celebrated its third birthday) and I are writing on the DiscoveryResources.org site. By the way, I'll note in a wry way, the only use of an F-word you'll see in our column will be the word "forensics" or the word increasingly being uttered by lawyers who lose cases because they know nothing about about electronic discovery.

Hey, it's great to be back home after a long trip. I'll be writing about some of what I learned at ILTA in the near future.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's half-day electronic discovery seminar - "Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery." Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

Posted by dmk at 08:07 PM | Comments (0)

Podcasting : The Need to Read Digital Music and Other License Language Carefully

Cory Doctorow read the PodShow license for use of commercial music in podcasts and recovered enough from the shock to post about it. He illustrates why it's important to read the fine print. After all, you might want to simply to use the music, not limit what you can and cannot talk about.

As Marty Schwimmer recently said, "Maximizing every short term advantage may not be the best long-term strategy."

For a great article on available resources on digital copyright and licensing issues, see Therese A. Clarke Arado's "Copyright and Licensing Digital Materials - A Resource Guide" on the always excellent LLRX.com site.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's eBooks - Preparing Your Law Firm for the Internet Era: 150 Steps Toward a 21st Century Practice of Law, Dennis Kennedy's Legal Technology Primer and Unlocking the Secrets of Legal Technology and Technology Law: Finding Your Way in the First Internet Era.

Posted by dmk at 07:47 PM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2005

Postcard from the ILTA Conference

Greetings from the ILTA legal technology conference in balmy Phoenix.

Wish you were here! Having a great time. Great people, great conference. Learning tons of stuff that will give me a stockpile of topics to write about in the near future.

More later.

Dennis

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's half-day electronic discovery seminar - "Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery." Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

Posted by dmk at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2005

RethinkIP: Stepping Up to Fill the Need for RSS Feeds

Here's a big development on the road to RSSifying the legal world. The guys at RethinkIP have stepped and filled a missing RSS void by making United States Patent and Trademark Office News and Notices available by RSS. Very cool!

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's eBooks - Preparing Your Law Firm for the Internet Era: 150 Steps Toward a 21st Century Practice of Law, Dennis Kennedy’s Legal Technology Primer and Unlocking the Secrets of Legal Technology and Technology Law: Finding Your Way in the First Internet Era.

Posted by dmk at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)

Replay of Blogging for Lawers Webcast Now Available

Tom Mighell, Raza Hasan and I recently presented a well-received seminar on blogging for lawyers for Thomson Findlaw. The replay of the webcast is now available for free at this link. If you've been looking for a good intro to blogging for lawyers or want to pick up some practical tips on blogging, viewing the replay will be time well spent.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.com (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2005

An RSS Sign or Omen? You Decide

I've spent a lot of time and energy over the last several years learning and thinking about the implications of RSS. I gave a presentation Friday on legal technology trends and predictions and heard myself saying that RSS is the most exciting technology development I've ever seen. I do believe that, especially in the context of the whole XML landscape.

With a lot of travel on my recent schedule, I've had some time to think about this and have been "rethinking" and "LexThinking" about some of the things I'm focusing on and how my energy and excitement level increases dramatically when the subject is RSS.

Last night, I got into Phoenix and found that my rental car had a license plate that looked something like this:

Note: Image created via http://www.acme.com/licensemaker/ (Thanks for Matt Buchanan for sending me the link for the license-making tool.)

I'm finding difficulty not reading this as some kind of sign that I need to act on.

To cap off that feeling, I've heard that the ReThinkIP blog will be the place to watch later today or tomorrow for a very interesting RSS-related announcement. More news on that as it develops.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink!(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world.

Posted by dmk at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2005

See you at ILTA?

Hey, I'm going to be spending a few days at the big ILTA legal technology conference next week (had a great time last year). I'd love to say hello and visit with any readers of my blog. We can also try to get the bloggers there together for a drink. Let me know or look for me there.

[Originally postedon DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Posted by dmk at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2005

The Big Firm to Solo Practice Route Becomes Less Attractive?

I read a fascinating article today (couldn't find an online version to link to) about a survey that asked lawyers in big law firms whether they would leave their firms to start a solo practice if they were guaranteed sufficient capital to do so.

93% of the respondents said "NO" they would not do so, even with the necessary capital in hand. This number represents a significant increase from the surveys of the last two years.

Given the general sense that generation X is more entrepreneurial than the baby boom generation and the number of big firm lawyers who've complained to me over the years that lack of capital to start their own practice was the only thing keeping them at a big firm, I find the results quite surprising. I'm curious to see what others think of these results, even accepting that they probably are not scientifically valid results.

For those 7% who might want to make the jump, let me note the new 4th edition of the ABA Law Practice Management Section's Flying Solo book has just been published and it is a treasure trove of information for any lawyer in or planning to start a solo practice. Bill Gibson did a masterful job of editing the new edition. I was a co-editor of the Technology section and wrote three chapters. Check it out.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink!(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world.

Posted by dmk at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2005

From Vulnerability Announcement to Exploit in the Wild in Less than A Week - Living in the Modern World

Yikes! Lest you forget that keeping Windows constantly updated is a basic requirement of computer security, here's a story from PC Magazine that illustrates the point that you shouldn't dawdle in applying updates. From the PC Magazine Security Watch email newsletter:

"It didn't take long. Less than a week after Microsoft revealed a serious vulnerability in the Plug and Play service, worms were out on the Internet exploiting it. See how to identify the worms in this week's Top Threat section."

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's eBooks - Preparing Your Law Firm for the Internet Era: 150 Steps Toward a 21st Century Practice of Law, Dennis Kennedy’s Legal Technology Primer and Unlocking the Secrets of Legal Technology and Technology Law: Finding Your Way in the First Internet Era.

Posted by dmk at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2005

Intel's New Info Tool on Mobile Computing for Lawyers

I really believe that way too few lawyers take advantage of the benefits of wireless Internet access with a notebook computer or Tablet PC. This combination makes so much sense for lawyers at a zillion different levels. It pains me when I hear about firms that are seriously talking about taking notebook computers away from lawyers and giving them only desktop computers and BlackBerries.

This only makes sense to me if you want to drive your most tech-savvy lawyers out of your firm in a short time. That may well be the plan, for all I know.

A while back, some of my friends in Intel's Centrino group asked me about an idea to create an informational website or tool that would help explain to lawyers the tangible benefits of mobile computing. Obviously, the site would focus on the Centrino technology.

[By way of disclosure, longtime readers of this blog know that I have made two videos with and for Intel's Centrino group about the ways lawyers can use mobile computing to improve their work and their lives and I have received the use of two Centrino computers in return. So, factor that in when considering my comments, but I've been making the same points on mobile computing for many years.]

We had a couple of good discussions and they went off to their creative people.

I heard today that the Wireless Advantages for the Legal Profession tool is now available. It's pretty cool and very well done. It gives you a good education about the key tangible benefits lawyers can gain from mobile wireless computing, including better client service. Let me repeat that - better client service.

It may be just the tool you need to convince your firm to allow you to get a new notebook computer or Tablet PC or to permit you to hang on to the one you have. I'm also surprised by the number of lawyers (OK, even one of them would have surprised me) whose firms will not let them get a notebook with a wireless card or Centrino. Hey, wake up - every kid in high school has wireless computing these days.

But, you don't need me to tell you about it. You want to look at the cool tool Intel has created.

Here's what you do. Go to http://www.intel.com/business/smallbusiness/wireless/benefits.htm. In the right column, under step 2, you will see a section on "Law." Now click on the link that says "Explore the legal demo" and voila, you are there. Do some exploring and then some thinking before you make your next computer decision or have your next computer decision made for you. You'll find a lot of good ideas there.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's half-day electronic discovery seminar - "Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery." Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm, corporate legal department or other organization.

Posted by dmk at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

UsingTablet PC for Productive Purposes

Marc Orchant points to a great article from Michael Linenberger called "4 Tips for Improving Tasks at Work" that shows you ways you can use a Tablet PC to be more productive in your work. In a case of a picture being worth a thousand words, you'll see from the illustrations what you really can do with a Tablet PC.

I get a lot of genuine interest in my Tablet PC from lawyers when I show them my HP Tablet PC. However, the lawyers seem universally to say that they won't be able to get their firms to buy them a Tablet PC. I've always wondered if, pathetic as it may seem, a lawyer could set up an arrangement with his or her firm to provide 10 - 15 extra billable hours in exchange for being able to get the technology that best helped them get the job done.

For more of my views on the Tablet PC, see my TechnoLawyer article called "A Field Report on the Tablet PC" and listen to my comments about Tablet PCs for lawyers in Randy Holloway's Unfiltered Podcast #2.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.blog)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers. Contact Dennis today about your needs.

Posted by dmk at 08:21 AM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2005

Preparing for Unconferences: An Open Space Technology Primer

Before the first public LexThink conference, I wrote an introduction to "Open Space Technology" (sometimes referred to simply as "Open Space"), which is the methodology and approach developed by Owen Harrison we use in LexThink conferences. This post is an update of that introduction and provides some good starter resources about Open Space Technology.

When I talk to people about LexThink, I notice that they are a little wary of the Open Space approach and don't quite see why I am so enthused about it. In part, that's because the approach seems so different than what we are all used to at conferences. It all but flips the tradition conference approach on its head. However, it also evokes memories of nearly every great learning session you've ever had - from sitting on the floor on a dorm hallway to a late night conversation in a hotel lobby at a conference.

I'm also intrigued by the way Open Space has found its way into the blog world. There's been a lot of discussion of conferences and the need for new kinds of conferences. In fact, I see the term "unconference" on a regular basis and it's gratifying to see how well LexThink fits into that discussion. For some examples of the "unconference" discussion, see Dave Winer, Johnny Moore, Doc Searls, Mary Hodder, Stowe Boyd, Steve Rubel, to name a few. There's a Technorati tag for unconference. Someone has parked the domain name for two years - without using it.

There's even been some discussion about having a "conference" about unconferences. I've started referring to that as "The Unconference Unconference."

You can't get more than a few sentences into a discussion of unconferences, alternatives to conferences or brainstorming without the topic of Open Space being raised. Having at least a working knowledge of Open Space seems to be a wise thing these days.

Think about this: The best "learning" you have at any conference takes place outside the sessions, in the conversations you have with others over a beer or sitting in a hotel lobby.

The radical concept of Open Space (and LexThink and some of the other "unconference" approaches) is that we eliminate the notion of lectures, speakers and topics set in concrete and, instead, replace them with flexibility, interaction, conversation and small communities of interest.

I was initially both fascinated and repelled by the idea of Open Space Technology. It was hard for me, both personally and as a creator of LexThink, to give up the control of the conference that Open Space Technology demands. No set agenda? What does that mean? Will people simply do what they want? What will that mean?

However, I was reading James Surowiecki's The Wisdom of Crowds at the same time we were thinking about using Open Space for LexThink. I decided not only as a general matter was the "crowd" going to be wiser about what topics mattered and what the conversation and conference agenda would be, but that I was nuts if I thought that I could come up with better ideas and a better agenda that this group of attendees could.

I also became very interested in the notion of "trust" in comparison to "control." I like the experiment of using Open Space. What happens if I, we, trust the attendees and resist the urge to control the event? In the case of LexThink 1.0, we had a great group with whom to try this experiment in both innovation and "trust."

While we were first thinking about using Open Space for LexThink, Matt and I went to BlogWalk 6 in Chicago, organized in large part by LexThink attendee and KM guru, Jack Vinson, we walked right in to a session that was using Open Space. Was it a sign? I took it that way.

We saw how Open Space worked that day and it felt just right for LexThink. However, many people have the same reservations and questions about this approach that I had.

Coleridge talked about the "willing suspension of disbelief." While I recommend a little of that when thinking about (or participating in) an Open Space event such as a LexThink conference, I highly recommend that you take a little time to read up on Open Space Technology (see the resources below) to get a better feel for the goals, the actual process and procedures (to the extent those terms make sense), and the few key "rules."

What I think you will want to consider are the ideas that (1) you need to make sure that you know what subjects you are most interested in and how it is your responsibility to make sure that they get addressed, (2) despite what you thought was most important when you started the day, you will be faced with an ongoing set of choices of which discussions are most important to you, and (3) there really is a notion of voting with your feet - you can and should leave a discussion if it no longer interests you or you notice a more interesting discussion going on elsewhere. Both you and the group as a whole will set the directions the day will take, even though we'll exercise some gentle guidance and set some flexible limits.

At the end of the day, the process is designed to pull together and make available to everyone all of what happened during the day. Both the process and, more importantly, our variations on it will also drive us toward reaching practical action steps and try to answer the "so what now" questions that are present by the end of any good conference.

I've probably reached what Kathy Sierra of the Creating Passionate Users blog calls the Koolaid Point on Open Space Technology. I see the benefits of using this approach everywhere I look these days. For example, I'd like to get some of my favorite bloggers and a few others together for a couple of days of Open Space time and see what incredible things would emerge out of those sessions.

I hope this introduction has piqued your interest in Open Space Technology. If it has, the following reading list will get you started. This is something I enjoy discussing, so I'm always pleased to hear about the experiences people have had with Open Space and ideas and questions they might have.

So, here's a starter set of resources on Open Source Technology -if you have time to read only one thing, I suggest Lisa Heft's article listed at the end of these resources.

Open Space World - http://www.openspaceworld.org/wiki/wiki/wiki.cgi? (especially the intro at http://www.openspaceworld.org/wiki/wiki/wiki.cgi?AboutOpenSpace)

GlobalChicago: OpenSpaceTech - http://www.globalchicago.net/wiki/wiki.cgi?OpenSpaceTech

Harrison Owen's Brief Introduction or User Guide - http://www.openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm

If you become really serious (and I warn you that you might well do so), you might track down Harrison Owen's books on Open Space, the easiest to find of which will probably be Expanding Our Now: The Story of Open Space Technology, which was a follow-up work after the classic text, Open Space Technology: A User's Guide.

The Change Management Toolbox: Open Space - http://www.change-management-toolbook.com/tools/OpenSpace.html

Cornerstone Consulting's Resources on Open Space - http://www.ourfuture.com/osover.htm

Chris Corrigan on Open Space - http://www.chriscorrigan.com/openspace/

Wikipedia on Open Space Technology - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Space_Technology

Lisa Heft's article on OpeningSpace.net - http://www.openingspace.net/papers_facilitation_OSCollaborationCommunication.shtml (If you read just one thing, I'd recommend that it be this article.)

I'll probably be writing more on this topic, as well as about innovation in general, on the LexThink Blog.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink!(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world.

Posted by dmk at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)

Metallica Redux

There certainly seems to be no middle ground on my now infamous Metallica post. Some consider it one of their favorites of all my blog posts, while others treat it as the poster child for what not to post on a "professional" blawg because it, horrors, dares to bring in the "personal" element into a "professional" blog. Ironically for the latter group, my post, in part, is about the differences between speaking in an authentic voice and using a calculated and managed voice.

I noted this morning that VH1 tonight is replaying Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. Here's your chance to re-read my post and see the movie that inspired it. Or you can stick to reading only those oh so professional, mono-topically focused blogs. You know what I'd do.

[Originally published on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink!(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world.

Posted by dmk at 08:01 AM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2005

Sarbanes Oxley Compliance Revisited

While Sarbanes Oxley (or SarbOx or SOX, depending on your preference) can seem, well, so 2004, an article in CIO Insight called "SarbOx Complications Overwhelm Preparations" does a great job of illustrating how the devil is in the details. This article gives a verry practical look at the real world consequences of SarbOx compliance. Interestingly, I didn't see anything in there about lawyers helping out in the process.

The money quote:

Compounding the catch-up costs is the fact that the Securities and Exchange Commission has provided little leadership over exactly what the scope of SOX should be, and as a result, "the audit firms have jumped in and decided what they want," says Tillman of ARMA. "The CEO doesn't want to go to jail, so he says, 'Pay the auditor.' It's a recipe for disaster." Because internal and external audit teams have different definitions of compliance—and methodologies for achieving it—a costly and time-consuming tug-of-war ensues. "Auditor A does it one way, auditor B does it another, and they will never admit the other is right, because then the billable hours go down," says Blue Rhino's Travatello.

I guarantee that this article will give you a lot to think about, as SarbOx consequences often do.

[Originaily published on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2005

PLI All-Star Briefing - A Consistently Excellent Free Resource

I received in my email inbox today the latest issue of the PLI All-Star Briefing, which has become one of my favorite legal email newsletters and legal resources. And it now has an RSS feed (note: includes other PLI newsletters as well - This, in my opinion is a must-subscribe RSS feed for business lawyers).

Today's issue, not yet available on the web, covers the topic of Circular 230, which has implications for lawyers giving any kind of tax-related advice. The newsletter contained an excellent overview from well-known estate tax guru Jonathan Blattmachr that provided exactly the kind of overview of this topic that I have been wanting to see. It also provided a short excerpt from his PLI seminar on the topic. Best of all, as it does each week, the newsletter had a URL to downloab an excellent article on the topic, in this case and article by Blattmachr and others called "Overviw of Circular 230 for Tax Practitioners."

While the newsletter doesn't cover topics of interest to me every week, it does so on a consistent basis and each issue has free downloads of a handout, article or forms.

Obviously, the newsletter is designed to market PLI's excellent seminars, but, as I told John Mastandrea of PLI earlier this year, it's done a great job of turning me into a fan of PLI and increasing the likelihood that I would attend or recommend that someone else would attend a PLI event.

For organizations struggling with the proper balance between giving away content and "gating" information so only members or subscribers can see it, the PLI model is an excellent one to follow.

How about a money quote from today's newsletter:

"Taken literally, the changes are extremely broad, inhibiting the free flow of information about Federal tax matters from lawyers and accountants to their clients—and will increase the cost of delivering written work product to clients. The Circular 230 amendments represent one of the most significant developments in practice in recent years."

Two action steps for you:

1. Take a run through the archives to see why I am so enthusiastic about this resource.

2. Subscribe to the newsletter (info here) or to the RSS feed. You can thank me later. A tip of the hat to John Mastandrea and the crew at PLI for providing this resource.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's half-day electronic discovery seminar - "Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery." Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

Posted by dmk at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)

A Free One CD Windows XP Boot Disk and Repair and Recovery Tool

I haven't posted many tech tips lately, but I have a great one today. Here's something that looks pretty cool that I learned from Fred Langa's column and newsletter.

Fred enthuses about BartPE, a free (as Fred mentions many times in his column) pre-installed environment that gives you what he calls a "zero-footprint installation of XP." He notes that Bart Lagerweij, the author, describes it as "a complete Win32 environment with network support, a graphical user interface (800x600), and FAT/NTFS/CDFS file system support. Very handy for burn-in testing systems with no operating system, rescuing files to a network share, virus scan, and so on. This will replace any DOS bootdisk in no time!"

Here's the money quote:

"This means that if your PC won't boot from its hard drive for some reason, you can use a BartPE CD to start the system, grab files off the hard drive (even if the drive is formatted in NTFS), ship the files to another PC on the network for safekeeping, and then use the tools either on the CD or on the hard drive to effect recovery or repair of the damaged system."

And it's free.

Very interesting, no? Check out Fred's column for all the details and links.

{originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's eBooks - Preparing Your Law Firm for the Internet Era: 150 Steps Toward a 21st Century Practice of Law, Dennis Kennedy’s Legal Technology Primer and Unlocking the Secrets of Legal Technology and Technology Law: Finding Your Way in the First Internet Era.

Posted by dmk at 08:36 AM | Comments (0)

August 10, 2005

August Issue of Law Practice Today is Out

I'm probably a little biased because I'm an editor, but the new issue of the ABA's Law Practice Today webzine is now available. There are lots of good articles and I recommend that you check it out. Note that the webzine has an RSS feed and that you can also subscribe to a monthly email alert that will let you know when a new issue appears.

I especially recommend the Powerful Pointers for Presenters article that Tom Mighell and I wrote which gives a ton of excellent resources to help you with PowerPoint presentations. But that's just the tip of the iceberg - there are many good articles in this issue.

Just a quick note: We're always on the lookout for good articles for Law Practice Today. It's a great and growing audience and we get your articles published quickly. Take a look at the contributor page for details on how you can submit your article.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's half-day electronic discovery seminar - "Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery." Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

Posted by dmk at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)

Webcast on Lawyer Blogging - Redux

Like my co-presenter, Tom Mighell, I greatly enjoyed our Bloggin for Lawyers webcast for FindLaw yesterday and can't express my feelings any better than Tom did here. We had more than 200 attendees and it was fun and educational. Tom and I have agreed to try to answer the questions that we couldn't get to during the alloted time.

I want to thank everyone who attended the webcast. It is my understanding that the audio of the two webcasts will be made available at some time in the future.

Tom and I were discussing how much we enjoy presenting this topic (and RSS feeds, too, as we did at ABA TECHSHOW 2005), although we wish that we could do so in a half-day session or perhaps even in a workshop format. In a 45 - 60 minute session (if you count the Q & A session), we can't cover everything we'd like to cover or go into much depth.

So, as Tom says, if you'd like to have Tom and me present on blogging or RSS feeds for your group, please get in touch with us. We'd really like to have the opportunity to do those kinds of presentations. Email me at denniskennedyblog @ gmail.com or get in touch using the contact info on my website.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's eBooks - Preparing Your Law Firm for the Internet Era: 150 Steps Toward a 21st Century Practice of Law, Dennis Kennedy’s Legal Technology Primer and Unlocking the Secrets of Legal Technology and Technology Law: Finding Your Way in the First Internet Era.

Posted by dmk at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 09, 2005

Changing Daylight Savings Time Laws May Inadvertently Trigger the Next Y2K Problem?

I grew up in Indiana where, until a recent bout of legislative insanity, there was no need to change the clocks twice a year.

Ironically, to me, that has led to many people saying to me, with a straight face and in all seriousness, "Indiana is so weird - they don't move their clocks." As if the idea of moving the hours in the day while trying to remember "spring forward, fall back" was something other than weird.

Well, in the latest illustration of the law of unintended consequences, there is a growing concern that new legislation changing the dates of daylight savings time may cause all kinds of technological problems that are reminiscent of the famous Y2K problem.

FindLaw published an AP story today called "Longer daylight saving could trigger tech trouble," which sketches out the potential problems and leads me to suspect that the costs of dealing with these nagging little problems will probably cost us more than the intended energy cost savings of making the change.

Pull those Y2K strategic plans off the shelf, dust them off and prepare for a new tech distraction, courtesy of our well-meaning, but sometimes impetuous, legislators.

The money quote from the article, you ask? Here it is:

"Missiles won't be launching but it's still going to cause a lot of hassle," he said.

And a bonus money quote:

"It is unfortunately going to add a little bit of complexity to consumers," said Reid Sullivan, vice president of the entertainment group at Panasonic Consumer Electronics Co. "In some cases, depending on the product, they may have to manually increase or decrease the time."

Yes, he did say manually.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy’s consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers. Coming soon: Daylight savings changeover consulting.

Posted by dmk at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)

Reminder about Today's Blogging for Lawyers Webcasts

I wanted to remind all of my readers (and all of their friends) to join Tom Mighell, Raza Hasan (FindLaw's Manager of Product Development) and me today for a free one-hour webinar called "Blogs for Lawyers: Building an Audience to Build Your Practice," brought to you by the good people at Thomson FindLaw.

We'll cover the world of lawyer blogs in general and talk about how lawyers are using blogs and where legal blogs are headed.

The webinar is designed to be at the introductory level, but even long-time bloggers will benefit from the material covered in the webinar.

The Webinar will be produced live twice on today, August 9 and here are the links:

August 9, 11:00 AM CDT

August 9, 3:00 PM CDT

Hope to see you there. Please pass the word along to anyone you think might be interested in this webinar.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 10:02 AM | Comments (1)

August 08, 2005

Racing in the Street (A First Draft)

Regular readers of DennisKennedy.Blog will be familiar with the recent story line in which my friend Jeff and I decided that we had to try to get tickets to see Bruce Springsteen in both St. Louis and Milwaukee and then successfully got great tickets in both cities. Our plan, which we accomplished, was to take our wives to the St. Louis show (for which we had 4 tickets) and then go to the Milwaukee show (where we had two tickets) as a boys' night out. It was a complicated strategy, requiring coordination of trips to and from St. Louis, Milwaukee and Rockford, Illinois.

As someone once said, mission accomplished.

To our credit, both Jeff and I will admit that there is a certain amount of youthful impulsiveness to our plan and we recognize that some people have quite puzzled looks when they heard what we planned to do. In fact, Jeff's kids asked their mom if their dad had turned into some kind of groupie. On the other hand, it's always good for your children and your friends to understand that there are some things that you are really passionate about. Hey, we've been going to Springsteen concerts for more than 25 years.

As I was driving back from Rockford today, I had the chance to think about the two concerts and my reactions to them.

First, I had to note that, somewhat ironically, our boys' night out concert in Milwaukee ended up with both of us wishing we would have have two extra tickets for our wives. When we left the Bradley Center, one of the first things Jeff said was "Dawn would have really liked this show." In my case, Springsteen played one of his true rarities, "All That Heaven Will Allow," which is the first song Colleen and I danced to at our wedding reception. Heck, I would have liked to have my wife, my daughter and all of my friends with whom I've ever seen a show in the past or would want to in the future be there.

You might want to look at the set list for St. Louis and Milwaukee, or even the newspaper reviews for the St. Louis show.

The long-time fan will realize immediately that the set lists are nothing short of astonishing, with several rarities and a number of tour debuts.

Seeing two shows in two nights also helped me understand the bigger picture and the thematic structure to these shows. More on that later.

If I would have only seen the St. Louis show, I would have simply said that it was one of the best of all the shows I've seen. We had the best seats I've ever had for a Springsteen show and the show had nothing but highlights. My intuition that "Backstreets" would make an appearance proved to be right on target and it was a show-stopper. We also got some of my favorites like "Two Hearts" and "Lucky Town" and thorough treatment of the songs from Devils and Dust. Springsteen's virtuosity as a musician and performer was on display all night and you couldn't help but marvel at his approach to making a one-person show consistently visually, sonically and esthetically compelling. I learn to so much and am inspired at so many levels when seeing one of his shows.

So, move ahead a day and Jeff and I are driving to Milwaukee. My thought was that the St. Louis show was about as good as it gets. I hoped the Millwaukee show would be as good, but thought mainly about how it might be different. What I didn't expect, and honestly could not comprehend because I honestly did not see room for much improvement, was that the Milwaukee show would not only be different but also markedly better, taking things to a whole nother level, as they say.

Anyway, Jeff and I are talking about the prospects for the show. Our mutual feeling is that we are along for the ride and that whatever he does will be great. I venture the prediction that we might get a "Racing in the Streets." Jeff, although he thinks it will be unlikely, repeats his wish that he would get to see a version of "Point Blank." We run through a couple of other possibilities, but mainly we are just two happy guys who are getting to see a second show. We also figure that the "Backstreets" and "Two Hearts" we got the previous night probably at least make us even with our friend Jim who got to see a version of "The Promise" in Cincinnati.

Now let me describe what happened:

1. Shut Out The Light - Here's a song no one could have predicted as an opener. A rare song that I've always really liked. Played on the pump organ to set up bookends with the closing song.

2. Reason To Believe - This other-worldly version of this song amazes me in both its concept and its power. In the album version, this dark song talking about people finding a reason to believe seemed only to offer a sense of hope in the music itself, not the lyrics. In the live version, Bruce deconstructs the song - to the extent you might have found something uplifting in the music, that has been replaced by a blues; the lyrics are sung through a voice synthesizer, giving them a sense of even greater alienation; and the lighting and the performance itself is other-worldly. I find this version incredibly powerful (and, interesting, it also serves the purpose of making the audience more receptive and quieter during what is to come). Jeff had seen this version a few months and go and had talked about its meaning. His idea, which I like a lot, is that by breaking away the pieces of the song which on the album could be interpreted to show why you might have a reason to believe and lighting the stage in red, Springsteen was emphasizing the negative elements - that there is an evil in the world and that your reason to believe or faith must come out of your dealing with the evil in the world. I'm intrigued by that interpretation, but it struck me too that this version of the song forces you to address the question of what gives you a reason to believe in a world where the traditional moorings you have relied on are broken, distorted and all but unrecognizable. It's the question, or the questioning, that's important. That sets up the two songs that close the show.

3. Devils & Dust - This is a great song. What if we are facing just devils and dust, even if God is on our side? I like the way this song works with Jeff's interpretation of RTB.

4. My Father's House - A rare gem. A treat to get to hear this one. Jeff has elbowed me and said, wow, two out of the first four are new ones for the tour.

5. Long Time Comin' - This song has grown on me greatly in two nights. Springsteen talks about his own children and the lyrics here have quite a wallop for any parent. In the course of two nights, Bruce has done an interesting thing: although the song is clearly done in a character's voice, Bruce talks about how he might be too cocky in his payoff line: "I ain't gonna fuck it up this time" and, after talking about changing the line in St. Louis, sings the line as "I hope I ain't gonna fuck it up this time." By the way, you do get some adult language in this show.

6. Frankie - Oh my God! Frankie is probably my favorite of all of the obscure non-album songs. It's rarely been play at any time. I might have even mention it to Jeff as something that it wasn't even worth thinking about because the odds of it being played were to great. The show has just entered the realm of magic and I'm starting to wonder if it really is possible that the second show could be better than the first.

7. Back In Your Arms - A reprise of the opener from St. Louis. I'm really liking this song. I'm starting to wish Colleen had come with me.

8. Ain't Got You - I had been thinking about "She's the One" all day. Ain't Got You is in the "She's the One" family. Played on the coolest white guitar.

9. State Trooper - Can't imagine a better version.

10. Nebraska - Four out of the first ten songs from Nebraska! Another rare treat. I really had no idea what could follow the crescendo that had been created.

11. Reno - Now I see that this song is one of the structural points of the show. It's not that it is a logical follow-up to Nebraska, but it's a return to the show's structure - a touch-point. I'm somewhat uncomfortable with this song, more so because it is a story-song than because of its sexual explicitness, which is also somewhat discomforting. I've made some peace with the song, though, because I like it's use of a film-noir style of flashback and visual imagery (hotel blonds, e.g.)

12. All That Heaven Will Allow - Bruce notes that the show has gotten a little dark and he needs to prove that he is a guy who writes happy songs. As I mentioned, performances of this song are extremely rare and it was the song we chose for our wedding. I would be the guy with tears running down his face. Very emotional moment.

13. Point Blank - I think I heard Jeff gasp. All of the comments I've read about the show point to this song as a highlight. We saw one of the earliest performance of this song at a concert in 1978 and the song is powerful just in itself and for the memories it evokes. I'm thrilled that Jeff's wish came true.

14. Racing In The Street - Several people designated me to participate in that music survey thingy that a bunch of bloggers did. To be honest, I couldn't have even limited myself to a top 5 Springsteen songs, let alone a top 5 of all songs, so I've never done the survey. If you forced me to pick one Springsteen song as my favorite, this song would be one of the finalists and might be the winner. It touches the great mystery in a subtle and endlessly fascinating way, ultimately proving more interesting to me because of its indirectness than the more direct "Something in the Night," another song that I really like.

15. The Rising - My opinion of this song keeps going up. I like the whole The Rising album (and would love to have heard the acoustic blues version of "Counting on a Miracle"), but if we only get one, this is a great one to get. And, hearing "Nothing Man" the night before was another rare treat.

16. Darkness On The Edge Of Town - Yet another version of this song. This one, back on guitar, may be the best of all.

17. Jesus Was An Only Son - Part lecture, part song, derived from the version he did on VH1 Storytellers, this is nothing but great.

18. Leah - A beautiful, beautiful song. If I could learn only one song to play well on guitar, I'd be more than happy for it to be this one.

19. The Hitter - Not my favorite on the new album and another story song, I've grown to appreciate it more. Interestingly, it has some of the out-of-body imagery that you find in Reno. That continuing sense of other-worldliness, of being separated from what is stable, trusted and what you are accustomed to.

20. Matamoras Banks - Another story song, which keeps me a bit detached (by this, I mean that I basically learn the story - it has a beginning and end - and that it becomes to easy to focus on and grow tired of the narrative over time). Here Springsteen makes a political comment about the need for a humane immigration policy that is more strongly made by the song. After the build to this point, the last two songs don't seem to have the energy to cap off the show, but the version of Matamoras Banks is a beautiful one and definitely appreciated by the audience. Today, I began to think about the theme of connection that runs through this show and understood how MB really works well as a thematic capper. The sense of alienation set out by "Reason to Believe" reaches a nadir of sorts in a song about someone who dies in the effort to cross over into a new kind of connection.

(encore)

21. Open All Night - Amazingly, the fifth song from Nebraska. A rocking, cool version that's a great encore stopper.

22. Growin' Up - You've gotta be kidding me. Another special and rare treat.

23. Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street? - The show now seems almost historic with a second song from the first album. Fascinating line: "What's the dope? The dope is there's still hope."

24. The Promised Land - The first three songs are encore songs. Now, we turn to the two-song set conclusion. Here I think the thematic circle gets closed. In this version, this well-loved classic gets slowed-down and each line of the lyrics emphasized. The guitar is turned into a percussion instrument. The performance is both virtuoso and shocking innovative. I'm not sure what else it is like. So, here we have arrived at deconstructed "Promised Land." What does "promised land" mean in today's world? Reason to believe? Promised land? What have we gotten ourselves into? What do we teach and pass on to our children in a world that has stopped making sense to us? Where have we come to?

25. Dream Baby Dream - The resolution, perhaps. In recent tours, Bruce has closed with one of my favorite songs - Land of Hope and Dreams. That song now seems incongruous for where we may now find ourselves. Reluctantly, it has to go. What replaces it is an astonishing parallel "Reason to Believe," in its own way as other-worldly and strange (it's not the closer anyone could expect - I'm not sure how many people would have the vision to conceive, image and produce this performance and then have the courage to actually do it). A simple description will not do it justice. It is repetitive, like an incantation, almost shamanistic. You will not see anything like this at any other concert you will be going to this year. The phrase "dream baby dream" and similar phrases are repeated over and over in a swirling fashion, layered over a earth-shaking swirling pump organ soundtrack. It builds and builds until Bruce walks off the stage and the unattended organ finsihes the song. Then the lights come up and the show is over. It is disconcerting as hell, but it does present an answer to reason to believe. The answer is in the questioning, the mystery, the courage to face it and give voice to efforts, to search, to test, to put out in front of the world what you have, at least so far. Ultimately, it's about using your voice, your creativity and your art to deal with any increasingly alien world of terror, fear despair and a sense of brokenness and to create a new world through communication and new connections.

Summer is here and the time is right
To go blogging in the street.

Jeff: Thanks for talking me into going to these concerts.

Note: This is a first draft that was posted without editing and probably will be revised, cleaned up or otherwise changed in the future. Typos, alas, probably made it through to the published post.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Posted by dmk at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)

August 05, 2005

Blogs for Lawyers Webinar on August 9

I invite all of my readers (and all of their friends) to join Tom Mighell, Raza Hasan (FindLaw's Manager of Product Development) and me for a free one-hour webinar called "Blogs for Lawyers: Building an Audience to Build Your Practice," brought to you by the good people at Thomson FindLaw.

We'll cover the world of lawyer blogs in general and talk about how lawyers are using blogs and where legal blogs are headed. I have the advantage of already having heard the first rehearsal and can tell you that you will learn a lot of great practical information that I haven't seen or heard elsewhere.

The webinar is designed to be at the introductory level, but even long-time bloggers will benefit from the material covered in the webinar (heck, I learn all kinds of great new things about blogging whenever I talk with Tom).

The webinar will be produced live twice on Tuesday, August 9 and here are the links:

August 9, 11:00 AM CDT

August 9, 3:00 PM CDT

Hope to see you there. Please pass the word along to anyone you think might be interested in this webinar.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 09:19 AM | Comments (0)

August 04, 2005

My Recommended One-volume Resource on Electronic Discovery

Here's one quick thing I have for you about electronic discovery this week.

My friend Michael Arkfeld recently sent me a copy of his book Electronic Discovery and Evidence. I ended up reading it from cover to cover - a rare experience for me with legal tratises.

Here's my conclusion after finishing the book: If you are in any way involved in electronic discovery, just go ahead and get a copy for e-discovery bookshelf. Even better, don't keep it on the shelf. Read the book.

If you you take the time to read this book, you'll jump to the head of the class among lawyers (and non-lawyers) living in the electronic discovery world. It's practical, it's easy to understand and it's reasonably compendious.

Don't think that you can sit down and read that many pages in ine setting - that's what the chapters and subchapters are for. Make a plan and work your way through this book. That will give you the foundation to make e-discovery a lot more interesting for you.

I always learn a lot from Michael. This book is no exception for me, but it is also an exceptional resource. Put it on your summer reading list. If you are a client, you might buy a copy for your favorite litigator - it might help you sleep a little better at night (especially if you have one of those lawyers who still doesn't use email).

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's half-day electronic discovery seminar - "Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery." Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

Posted by dmk at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)

August 03, 2005

Anticipating a Springsteen Show

One of the cool things about the Internet is being able to track the Bruce Springsteen tour as it tracks toward my town thanks to the great Backstreets website (how about an RSS feed, though?). The last few shows have been jaw-droppers for long-time fans and I can't wait until I hear from my friend Jim about the Cincinnati show. I assume that he will be speechless for a few more days after seeing a performance of "The Promise."

The money quote from that one, by the way, is:

"When the promise is broken you go on living
But it steals something from down in your soul
Like when the truth is spoken and it don't make no difference
Something in your heart goes cold"

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy’s eBooks - Preparing Your Law Firm for the Internet Era: 150 Steps Toward a 21st Century Practice of Law, Dennis Kennedy’s Legal Technology Primer and Unlocking the Secrets of Legal Technology and Technology Law: Finding Your Way in the First Internet Era.

Posted by dmk at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2005

Conference Idea Management at Lexthink

Matt Homann announced today one of the things that we'll be doing at LexThink - conference idea management. Take a look - you'll find it quite intriguing.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink!(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world.

Posted by dmk at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)

The New Thinking E-Discovery Column Debuts

I'm pleased to announce the debut of a new electronic discovery column on DiscoveryResources.org website. The column is called "Thinking E-Discovery" and it will be a monthly column written by Tom Mighell, Evan Schaeffer and me. Our debut column is called "Disconnect and Discontent - The Electronic Discovery Landscape in Summer 2005."

We invite you to check out our new monthly column and to visit the excellent resources at DiscoveryResources.org.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy's half-day electronic discovery seminar - "Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery." Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

Posted by dmk at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)

August 01, 2005

CIO Survey Indicates Highest Increase in IT Spending Since 2001

I like to check CIO's magazine's monthly poll of CIOs to monitor trends in IT spending and other areas. In the July results, the CIOs predict an average increase in IT spending of 10.1%, the biggest increase since 2001. Areas of most expected increases include storage and security, but there are predicted increases across the board.

Useful information to know if your firm is looking to cut the IT budget again this year.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy’s consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Posted by dmk at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

Taking a Fresh Look at the AmLaw Second One Hundred

While you can quibble with some of the factors used in the AmLaw Top 100 and 200 rankings, some of the emphasis placed on the analysis and some of the conclusions that people draw about the rankings, the rankings and related statistical information are a great place to start to take a close look at the big firm end of the legal profession.

Vivia Chen's article, "Am Law 200: Success on a Smaller Scale," does a nice job of setting out this year's results.

In more ways than one, here's the money quote:

"Despite that cheery news, the reality is that the Second Hundred is still the poor cousin of The Am Law 100 -- firms 1 through 100 in our ranking -- and getting poorer by comparison."

I'm interested in the nuances revealed in the article. Although there are some allusions to innovation, there's not a lot of innovation discussed in the article. There is so much more innovation happening at smaller firms. In the Second 100, you see success through leverage (interestingly, in the example, the successful leverage comes through a heavy use of paralegals) and flat-fees (although, curiously, one firm representative backs away from crediting flat fees for improvements in profit).

The quote I found most intriguing in the article comes from Hughes Hubbard managing partner Candace Beinecke, who says, "I don't know what it means to be full-service anymore." The so-called "medium-sized" firms have been struggling with that notion for many years. The first step is admitting that the idea of being "full-service" may be the source of the biggest problems in a medium-sized firm. As a side note, in some states, advertising rules may prevent you from referring to your firm as a "full-service" firm.

How about a second money quote?

"There's a perception that commodity work is bad, but it's just structured differently," says Lisa Smith, a Washington, D.C.-based consultant with Hildebrandt International. "You don't need to do it in New York City with Harvard Law graduates."

There is little doubt that the 101 to 200 firms are in the toughest and most volatile part of the legal market. Lots of challenges,, but significant opportunities. These firms, their strategies and the changes and trends in this category are always worth studying. Not all of these firms will be around in one, two or five years from now, but watching to see what strategies the survivors choose to use will teach both smaller and some of the larger firms paths to consider and to avoid.

By the way, notice how little emphasis is placed on the use of technology in this article. There is a growing disconnect between the technologies clients want their firms to use and the willingness of law firms to invest in these technologies. My bet is still that the clients, in a few years, will start to win these battles on a regular basis.

For some of my most recent thinking about the use of technology in the practice of law and future trends, listen to the podcast I recently recorded with Microsoft's Randy Holloway.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

This post brought to you by LexThink!(TM) - The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! - Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world.

Posted by dmk at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)