Archive for the ‘crowdsourcing’Category

It’s About F$@!#ng Time

 

It’s about damned time! Gartner recently published this report to make the case that a number of “mega” factors are converging and will make it possible for ordinary people to have their own “cloud” of information in a few years. The factors include:

Consumerization – the simplification and streamlining of services that once took place on site at great cost via professionals and hardware.  The last decade has seen a radical shift away from resource-heavy enterprises towards more agile ones. Thanks to factors like those listed below, that trend will become a Tsunami:

  •  Older users of technology are savvier than ever, while younger ones are practically experts
  • A vastly different set of expectations is growing in both groups – turn on, tune in, do more
  • The internet and social media have empowered users to make fast, often instant, decisions
  • The rise of powerful, affordable, always-on mobile devices has increased the velocity of data
  • Due to the ubiquity of easy to understand technology, users are now the foremost innovators
  • Thanks to Moore’s Law and falling prices virtually all users have access to similar technology

Virtualization – IT departments in companies that still need Big Iron can now get more use out of fewer machines by using both actual and “virtual” machines – essentially programs running on the same server that act as if they represent a separate server. As a result, what used to demand 5 servers can now be accomplished by a single machine that vitualizes the other 4.

Appification – really, it’s a word: and it means that the way applications are designed, delivered, and consumed has a dramatic impact on all the size of the market, what users expect and will tolerate, what they will pay, and how much an innovation is worth (i.e. more, less, or the same as before).

The Self-Service Cloud – the “self-service cloud” is really just crowd-sourcing writ large (anybody remember crowd-sourcing, the darling of 2004? Anybody? It means that you can get as much or as little help as you need with your systems, on demand, and often for a lot less than in the past, no contract needed.

Mobility is King – You still can’t lawyer on a smart-phone no matter what TechnoLawyer or Law Technology News says. However, mobile devices combined with remote resources access through (you guessed it) the Cloud can fulfill most computing tasks, and promoters of this equation hope that the obvious tradeoffs will be outweighed by the convenience factor.

From this Wired Article about the ascendency of the “Personal Cloud”

21

03 2012


by practicehacker
posted in apps, Article, business, collaborative tools, community, cool stuff, crowdsourcing, current-events, definitions, disruptive technology, document exchange, e-discovery, e-filing, e-mail, Google, location-based, media, mobile, Mobile device, moblogging, technology, the business of law, tips, tools, unbundling, Wisdom of Crowds
No Comments

… And We’re Back

For those keeping track (but why would you?) I’ve been on hiatus lately.  And by lately I mean the past year.  I won’t bore you with the details. Of course I have been Twittering from @practicehacker (blogging lite, if you will). I plan to jump back into the deep end of the blogging pool. Watch this space for more details… seriously, watch this space. It’ll be worth it. Would I lie?

@Practicehacker

21

03 2012


by practicehacker
posted in ActionStep, Blogging, business, Career and Job, clio, community, competition, cool stuff, crowdsourcing, current-events, media, microblogging, review, rocketmatter, social networking, tags, technology, the business of law, tips, tools, twitter, work
No Comments

SellanApp … that gives me an idea!

Ever feel that if only you had the right tools, backing, money, time, background, education, encouragement and inspiration, you could build a killer app?

I used to think so; especially when I learned about efficient use of widely distributed human resources via frictionless online sharing (a/k/a crowd-sourcing). But like so much of new, new Internet, crowd-sourcing never actually took hold on the ground level where people like me dwell (that is, not in Palo Alto or San Jose). And it never, never penetrated entrenched industries such as law practice.

Then there’s SellanApp, a site that proposes to put the creation, financing, and distribution of mobile apps within the reach of non-techies like me.  Its wonderfully subversive. You might even call it a good way to hack the process of creating apps. And sure it probably won’t work, just as crowd-sourcing failed to catch fire 10 years ago. Then again, it just might.

SellAnApp from NewLogics on Vimeo.

03

01 2012


by practicehacker
posted in apps, beta, closed beta, collaborative tools, community, cool stuff, crowdsourcing, disruptive technology, free, Google Apps, hacking, knowledge management, law, law office, legal marketplace, mass customization, mobile, Mobile device, moblogging, money, outsourcing, Quick Review, software, startup, the business of law, tips, tools, Video, widget, Wisdom of Crowds
No Comments

Instant Law Clerk

Ilc_banner

This is the second really good practice hack that I’ve come across in a week, and it incorporates all the best things about the new, new Internet (Web 2.1?): crowdsourcing, naming your own price, friction-free transactions, and cheap labor.

Cheap labor, you say? You bet. Instant Law Clerk uses the cheapest, most plentiful resource in the world – law students – to deliver research to practicing attorneys faster than they can do it themselves, and at a fraction of the cost. The idea is so simple, it’s a wonder law schools haven’t monopolized the market themselves. The recipe is compelling: take one practitioner short on time and resources but in need of research to make it to trial or to meet a briefing schedule; add a law student in need of cash and real-world experience; and you’ve got a match made in Internet heaven.

So now the only question you need to answer is: Are you still doing your own research? Why? When you can simply enter a question to be answered and name your price at www.instantlawclerk.com? Their team of 2nd and 3rd year students from around the country is ready to do the research so you can analyze, review, and ultimately use the results in your pleadings, letters, and memoranda.

Leaving you with more time to play golf … er … prepare for trial.

Posted via email from practice (redux)

12

09 2011


by practicehacker
posted in business, collaborative tools, community, crowdsourcing, current-events, disruptive technology, hacking, law, law office, legal marketplace, legal research, outsourcing, practice, practice management, startup, technology, the business of law, tips, tools, web 2.0, websites, work
No Comments

Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.

 Legal Rebels 2011

As Kevin Spacey noted, speaking as Kaiser Soze in The Usual Suspects, “the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” Couldn’t agree more. 2 years ago the ABA Journal rolled out its Legal Rebels Project in an effort to convince lawyers that the American Bar Association was more than an aging, superfluous institution or a lapdog to the AmLaw 100. The first Legal Rebels chosen in 2009 included

In fairness, that initial list of 50 honorees also included people who really had contributed to the national dialogue about the profession by blogging, starting an innovative company, or finding a better way to do things. But they were too few and far between to give the project credibility in my eyes. As far as I could see, the ABA was still trying to curry favor with BigLaw partners and associates by featuring bite-sized, cutesy profiles of lawyers doing their own breezy thing. Wee!

So how has the project fared in 2011? Let’s just say that the Journal has returned to what it does best – sucking up to BigLaw – by focusing on the unsung heroes trying to change the system from within: BigLaw rebels. Which makes total sense, because real change only comes from people who bill 3000 hours a year and are driven by an insatiable urge to make partner. Way to go ABA Journal. It takes guts to swallow what BigLaw is dishing out, then ask for seconds… but you pulled it off.

Look, just watch the Staff of the ABA Journal descirbe the Legal Rebels Project in their own words and feel the rebellion welling up in your throat.  I certainly did.

Tags: ,

10

09 2011


by practicehacker
posted in ABA, ABA Jounral, Article, Avvo, Blogging, careers, comments, committee, community, crowdsourcing, current-events, FindLaw, law, law office, legal marketplace, lists, media, news, practice, practice management, review, the business of law, tips, Video
No Comments

Google Spreadsheets as your CRM System

Bankruptcy_case_management_hac

While I’ve tried to make Practicehacker the #1 place to find tools, tips, techniques, and technology for small firms and solo’s, how often do I feature a true practice hack? A better, smarter, faster, or cheaper way of getting things done? Not often enough. But this is the real deal. A genuine hack born out of the need to track contacts (i.e. CRM) using a free tool that doesn’t even seem suited for the task. Software Advice provides the full hack here.

Actually, I’ve used a hack like this one for years, but not in the CRM context. Instead I’ve used it to track the progress of cases and keep my staff informed by having the spreadsheet send automatic updates each time something changes. Simple, free, awesome. Now that’s practice hacking!

Ed. Note: If you have hacks of your own or know anyone that does, please encourage them to contact me at mhedayat@mha-law.com or just add their comment to this post. I’d love to be able to feature one of these hacks every week (or more often if I can). You’ll get full credit of course, and you’ll be helping your fellow lawyers and legal professionals to do things that much better. :)

Posted via email from practice (redux)

09

09 2011


by practicehacker
posted in Article, Blogging, business, collaborative tools, community, cool stuff, crowdsourcing, current-events, disruptive technology, document automation, free, Google, Google Apps, google docs, GTD, hacking, knowledge management, law, law office, manager, practice, Push Notification, remote, review, Spreadsheets, technology, the business of law, tips, tools, work
No Comments

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »