practicehacker

Thought I’d share some choice video from TechShow 2009 featuring all 4 of the Best of Show winners that I wrote up in TechnoLawyer, plus interviews with some of my heroes such as Bob Ambrogi, Jay Funeberg, and Kevin O’Keefe, as well as sightings of legal blogging all-stars like Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighelle. I’m still excited.

See related videos here and find me on YouTube as practicehacker.

We're the ABA Damnit! We own you!

This was my 10th year at ABA Technology Show in Chicago. This year was particularly cool.  Here’s why:

Meeting The Heavies: To me, seeing people like Dennis Kennedy, Tom Mighelle, Bob Ambrogi, Jim Calloway, Kevin O’Keefe, Brett Burney, Andy Atkins, Jay Foonberg (!) and the rest of my pretend blog friends … I mean pretend LinkedIn friends … is like reconnecting with long lost relatives. Exciting and a little intimidating. But all of them were really great and down to earth. Except that Kennedy. Such a prima donna. I kid, I kid.

Meeting Canadians: Who can forget meeting the Great Librarian of Upper Canada! Beat that. Then there was Phil of the Future (my name for him), Steve Matthews (nice guy), Brett Burney (I think he’s Canadian), Dominic Jaar (vive la Quebec libre!), the boys from Clio (or as I called them, the Booth Babes), and a host of other talent from the Great White North. It was great to meet you all: now go back where the ice doesn’t melt until July.

Technology Becoming Accepted: This year for the first time in memory I noticed a preponderance of grey hairs and the careful gait of partners scoping out potential buys for their offices.  This was not the brash, flash-in-the-pan TechShow of the late-90′s in which the Internet was decried as a fad.

SaaS, Saas, and more Saas: Software as a service was all over the place, and by next year it will be pervasive. This year I was knocked out by the number and variety of kick-ass SaaS providers at the show including Clio, RocketMatter, and VLO Tech. Clio was my hands-down favorite for a number of reasons – I intend to use it in my own practice. Whatever your cup of tea, the idea of throwing away the IT department in favor of the Cloud is gaining traction fast.

Less is … Less: One lamentable fact about this  year’s show – there was less of it than I’ve seen in a long time. Another casualty of the economy I’d say, but we shouldn’t overlook the fact that many legal technology vendors have been slaves to profit instead of boosters for innovation and the slow economy is making it painfully apparent what a royal screw job they’ve been giving lawyers all these years. Many players couldn’t make it ? Good riddance to bad company.

Other than that however, it was a great experience as always and one that I heartily recommend to one and all. If you haven’t been to TechShow, go there. If you have, come back. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

For more coverage see my SmallLaw Column in TechnoLawyer.

Check out Twitter coverage of TechShow.

As always, I’d love your thoughts. E-mail me at mhedayat[at]mha-law.com or tweet me @practichacker.

ttyl

Excerpted from the March 1, 2009 piece What An Antitrust Case Against Google Might Look Like posted on TechCrunch by Eric Clemons, professor of Operations and Information Management at the Wharton School

The mainstream press, such as The New York Times, has noticed that even Google itself is starting to worry about the possibility that the Department of Justice may seek regulation, possibly even the break-up of Google. How can this be? How can a firm seen as a triumph of creative capitalism and a virtuous contributor to the economy (“Don’t be evil!”) possibly be suspected of anything? Is this regulatory oversight gone mad? Not exactly.

Below I summarize what I do know about Google’s behavior and what I believe the Department of Justice is likely to perceive and likely to need to demonstrate if it seeks to act against Google. In a later post I will expand, including what I believe but cannot yet demonstrate. It’s important to remember that I am not an attorney, just a computer science faculty member at a major business school, with some litigation experience, and that I have had no conversations with Google or with the Department of Justice about these issues, but I believe that what follows provides some insight into thinking at the Department of Justice. [read the rest of the post]

Coincidentally (or not) the same kind of story appears in the January 2009 issue of Wired Magazine [see The Plot to Kill Google].

As of June 2008 transcripts of court proceedings in the Northern District of Illinois will be available on the PACER system on the following schedule

IF 90-days or less has passed since the transcript was ordered

THEN only the party that ordered that transcript may view it

IF 90-days or more has passed since the transcript was ordered

THEN any PACER user may view the transcript

Attorneys bear the responsibility for identifying personal information that might need to be redacted from the transcript, and for providing the court reporter with notice of same. The court reporter is responsible to follow up on those instructions. The fee cap of $2.40 will not apply to transcripts viewed on the PACER system. For more information see Policy Regarding Availability of Court Proceedings or the Court’s website at www.ilnd.uscourts.gov

In Illinois, as well as a growing number of other states, you can no longer just leave used electronics on the curb or in a dumpster. The issue is liability for environmental contamination. Then there is data disposal, and as we all know by now computer hard drives must be permanently and intentionally relieved of their data lest it fall into the wrong hands – a malpractice nightmare.

In case you did not receive an email notice or just didn’t hear, November 15^th was America Recycles Day – a prime opportunity for individuals, firms, and businesses to go green and find out how to dispose of electronic equipment, computers, monitors, printers, routers, phones, PDA’s, etc. Of course the question of the hour is always ‘what is all this going to cost me/my firm/my client?’ As a matter of fact recycling unwanted electronics often costs nothing – on the contrary, it can yield a tax break or even some money in your pocket. 

Well this is your lucky day because the pm blog is bringing the action to you; send us a list of your configured units, printers, monitors, routers, etc. or call 630-388-7057 to find out more about how the pm blog can help you stop procrastinating and put your assets in motion.