Category «Legal Profession»

The expanding role of technology in the law firm business model

The premise of this article by COO and legal technologist Kenneth Jones is that individual capabilities and excellence (either legal or technical) standing alone are not enough to ensure long-term, sustainable success. No superstar technologist or lawyer is equipped to do it all, as there are too many specialties and functional roles which need to be filled. Rather, a better approach is to construct team-based, cross-functional units that offer greater operational efficiency while building in layers of redundancy that reduce the potential for surprises, errors, or disruption. This comprehensive and actionable guide validates deploying the cross-functional team approach across the enterprise.

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Subjects: Information Management, KM, Leadership, Legal Profession, Legal Technology, Management, Team Building

10 fatal traps that explain why law firm strategic plans are DOA

Patrick J. McKenna is an internationally recognized author, lecturer, strategist and seasoned advisor to the leaders of premier law firms. McKenna’s deep dive into law firm strategic planning delivers a detailed guide on the major errors to circumvent to establish a winning competitive position going forward.

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Subjects: Communication Skills, Economy, Information Architecture, Information Management, KM, Law Firm Marketing, Leadership, Legal Profession, Management

Elon Musk’s ‘hardcore’ management style: a case study in what not to do

Professor Libby Sander explains why as a case study in how to implement organisational change, Elon Musk’s actions at Twitter will go down as the gold standard in what not to do. Among other things, the evidence shows successful organisational change requires: a clear, compelling vision that is communicated effectively; employee participation; and fairness in the way change is implemented. Trust in leaders is also crucial. Change management never quite goes to plan. It’s hard to figure out whether Musk even has a plan at all.

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Subjects: Communication Skills, Employment Law, Ethics, KM, Labor Law, Leadership, Management, Social Media, Technology Trends, Telecommuting

Pitching the Difficult Case: Working With Prosecutors

Jerry Lawson provides ideas and examples showing how investigators can successfully pitch difficult cases—ones that look unattractive on the surface. Lawson approaches the topic from his perspective as a former federal prosecutor and counsel to federal criminal investigators, but most of the ideas apply just as well to state and local law enforcement agencies.

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Subjects: Criminal Law, Legal Profession, Legal Research

The highest performing teams have rules

Patrick J. McKenna is a highly respected lecturer, strategist and advisor to law firms. McKenna’s experience has taught him that the best performing teams have discovered to operate effectively they need to formalize what they should specifically be able to expect of each other as members. He calls these expectations the group’s ‘Rules of Engagement’, and in this article he articulates that to be effective, these rules of engagement must be clear, consistent, agreed to and followed. A challenging endeavor in any workplace, but critical to high performing and innovative law firms.

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Subjects: Communications, Leadership, Legal Profession, Management

Confidence in the Supreme Court is declining – but there is no easy way to oversee justices and their politics

Recent evidence showing that Virginia Thomas, wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sent at least 29 text messages to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urging him to help overturn the 2020 election has reignited a long-simmering debate about judicial ethics and the nation’s highest court. Professor Eve Ringsmuth writes, “As a Supreme Court scholar, I think it is important to recognize that there is no formal code of conduct guiding the work of the Supreme Court, which contributes to a lack of clarity regarding the ethical boundaries for justices.”

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Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Ethics, Leadership, Legal Research, United States Law

Your Resume: Portrait or Passport Photo? Career Development for Lawyers—And Other Ambitious People

Jerry Lawson discusses how a good resume is more like a stylish portrait photo. A top portrait photographer uses lenses, lighting, composition, props and other tools to bring out the subject’s best features in an original way. Your resume should do no less for your professional qualifications. This actionable guide clearly identifies the elements and components that comprise an outstanding resume for attorneys and other legal professionals.

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Subjects: Communication Skills, Competitive Intelligence, Job Hunting, KM, Legal Profession, Search Engines, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 18, 2022

Privacy and cybersecurity 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 online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Your connected car could be putting your privacy at risk; Deepfakes on Trial: a Call to Expand the Trial Judge’s Gatekeeping Role to Protect Legal Proceedings from Technological Fakery; Genetic paparazzi are right around the corner, and courts aren’t ready to confront the legal quagmire of DNA theft; and Why You Should Delete (All) Your Tweets.

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Subjects: Courts & Technology, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Ethics, Healthcare, KM, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media, Technology Trends

Genetic paparazzi are right around the corner, and courts aren’t ready to confront the legal quagmire of DNA theft

Liza Vertinsky and Yaniv Heled are law professors who study how emerging technologies like genetic sequencing are regulated. They believe that growing public interest in genetics has increased the likelihood that genetic paparazzi with DNA collection kits may soon become as ubiquitous as ones with cameras. While courts have for the most part managed to evade dealing with the complexities of surreptitious DNA collection and testing of public figures, they won’t be able to avoid dealing with it for much longer. And when they do, they are going to run squarely into the limitations of existing legal frameworks when it comes to genetics.

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Subjects: Courts & Technology, Criminal Law, Discovery, Ethics, Legal Research, Privacy

13 Ways Overturning Roe v. Wade Affects You (even if you think it doesn’t)

Kathy Biehl is a lawyer licensed in two states, as well as a prolific multidisciplinary author and writer. Roe v. Wade has been settled law during her entire career. In this article Biehl succinctly and expertly identifies how the upcoming Supreme Court decision in Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a draft of which was “leaked” on May 2, 2022, will impact many facets of our society as well as our democracy.

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Subjects: Congress, Constitutional Law, Ethics, Health, Human Rights, Legal Profession, Legal Research, Privacy
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