On an individual level, lawyers and legal professionals are experiencing a mix of productivity challenges in a new and potentially permanently changed legal landscape. Martin Cogburn discusses the top productivity challenges individuals are facing, the tools they’re adopting, and their thoughts on the long term effects of COVID-19 on the legal industry.
Karina Bihar is student of Professor Dennis Kennedy at Michigan State College of Law. I am pleased to publish her timely and significant article. Bihar states: “…a higher number of mothers are entering the workforce than ever before…according the U.S. Department of Labor, 71.5% of mothers in the United States are working. However, there has been very little advancement made in society to help mothers maintain their working status. As a result, many mothers are forced into choosing lower paying jobs, part-time work, or leaving the workforce to care for young children, causing loss of earnings, gender pay gaps, and loss of valuable workers in the market.” Her struggles as an expectant mother in law school gave her greater awareness of the problems that career mothers need addressed and her article provides an actionable, innovative and well documented solution that merits the attention and tangible support of the legal education and professional communities.
After months of business closures, many states are beginning to slowly allow more essential businesses to open their doors. In most states, law firms will be among the first wave of businesses that are permitted to resume providing services to the public. This is a welcome development for lawyers, but one that comes hand in hand with uncertainty. After all, resuming business in the midst of a pandemic is uncharted territory, and opening your firm doesn’t mean you’ll be returning to business as usual. Attorney Nicole L. Black identifies the host of issues that must be considered when re-opening, not the least of which is to ensure that the health of both law firm employees and clients is protected.
Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Foreign Hackers Swipe Millions in Unemployment Benefits; An Apple whistleblower has publicly slammed the company, claiming it violated ‘fundamental rights’ after Siri recorded users’ intimate moments without consent; Google censored search results after bogus copyright claims; and COVID-19 data sharing with law enforcement sparks concern.