Author archives

Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and the Legal Technology Evangelist at MyCase, intuitive web-based law practice management software for the modern law firm. She is also the author of the ABA book Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors the ABA book Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York, a West-Thomson treatise. She is the founder of lawtechTalk.com and speaks regularly at conferences regarding the intersection of law and technology. She publishes four legal blogs and can be reached at [email protected].

Reopening Your Law Firm: Your Clients

Nicole L. Black has published a series of articles focused on helping your firm work remotely and effectively throughout the pandemic. As many firms throughout the country are planning and executing phased re-openings, Nicole identifies issues and actions to assess and implement to permit your firm to open its doors to clients safely, with their best interests in mind.

Subjects: Communications, Economy, Healthcare, KM, Legal Marketing, Legal Profession

Re-Opening Your Law Firm: There’s a Bar Association Guide for That!

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.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Health, Law Firm Marketing, Legal Marketing, Management, Meetings, Technology Trends, Telecommuting

Emergency SBA Relief Loans: Which Are Best For Your Law Firm?

Nicole L. Black addresses the issue of how and when solo and small law firms can take advantage of newly enacted relief loans. Black identifies how to choose to apply for Paycheck Protection Plan loans and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Emergency Advance that make the most sense for your law firm, and options that will help you make the right choices for the future of your business.

Subjects: Congress, Disaster Planning, Government Resources, Healthcare, KM, Law Firm Marketing, Legal Research, Legislative, Management

Securely Collaborate and Communicate Remotely: A How-To for Lawyers

Attorney and Legal Technology Evangelist Nicole L. Black delves into how collaborating effectively and confidentially has always been an important part of practicing law. The COIVD-19 pandemic has significantly increased the focus on identifying and implementing tools and techniques that enable secure communications and remote collaboration with team members and clients alike. Black recommends online portals as the perfect solution to this challenge.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Communications, KM, Law Firm Marketing, Law Firm Security, Legal Ethics, Legal Marketing, Legal Technology, Privacy, Technology Trends

Who Stole My Face? The Risks Of Law Enforcement Use Of Facial Recognition Software

Lawyer and Legal Technology Evangelist Nicole L. Black discusses the “reckless social experiment” that facial surveillance represents across all aspects of life in America. It is the norm on social media, in air travel, as a mechanism for state, local and federal governments to identify location and means of travel (car, train, bus), in banking and financial transactions (smile next time you use your ATM), and as a security feature to unlock your phone, to name but some of its applications. You cannot opt-out of the use of your data nor the multifaceted ways that it impacts your diminishing privacy and civil liberties.

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Congress, Cyberlaw, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media

The How and the Why of Law Blogs

Legal technology evangelist, author and blogger Nicole L. Black recommends that a legal blog is one of the best ways to create a memorable and search-engine-friendly online presence. Simply put, blogs are a great way for lawyers to showcase legal expertise while increasing their firms’ search engine optimization—all while helping them to stay on top of changes in their areas of practice by writing about them on their firm’s blog.

Subjects: Blogs, Communication Skills, KM, Legal Marketing, Legal Profession, Social Media, Technology Trends

New Survey on Technology Use by Law Firms: How Does Your Firm Compare?

Nicole L. Black recommends firm conduct a technology audit to review the need for software updates, to identify and replace outdated technology and applications, and to plan and implement migrating operations such as document management and time and billing systems to cloud computing.

Subjects: Digital Archives, Information Architecture, Information Management, Legal Technology, Technology Trends