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

MONDAY APRIL 30TH

Electronic Discovery:
Important changes to the law, practical suggestions
for complying, and issues for the profession

Presented by:

ISBA Committee on Legal Technology

ISBA Chicago Regional Office

To add some simplified reasoning to your reading, like we all don’t need that, we’ve taken the liberty to review the current blog roll an highlighted some posts:

Directory of Podcast/Audio cast
Blawgs.fm – Justia

Empirical Legal Studies – Does “CSI Effect” Exist
Could use commentary from Steven R. Merican, Trialology LLC
(Evaluating Juror Opinions)

Illinois Appellatel Lawyer blog
Oral Arguments On The Decline, Except In The Second District Illinois Appellate Court

Illinois Trial Practice Weblog
Deposition Tips at Del.icio.us & Fastcase online provider of legal research ISBA members get free access.

The Invent Blog – What’s with Legalforce – ebay of patents?
[Monday's Washington Post - The Patent and Trademark Office is starting a pilot project that will not only post patent applications on the Web and invite comments but also use a community rating system designed to push the most respected comments to the top of the file, for serious consideration by the agency's examiners.]

Ladies – Legal Business Development
Legal Sales and Service Organization (LSSO) – survey of women rainmakers.

The Connected Lawyer
You Send It: Sending Large files by Email

Don’t forget this Sunday we switch ahead to DST

Just a note to our readers. On Friday night I saw a number of luminaries from the DCBA and 18th Judicial Circuit, including Judges John Demling and Pat Leston, as well as our host for the evening, Attorney James Reichardt.

Despite polar conditions and a mass of blowing snow that made me swear I was on the set of Nanook of the North, the gathering at the Arrowhead Golf Course was a swell time all around with great food, open bar, and all the professional courtesy you could eat.

Thanks to our friends at the Illinois Bar Foundation for a great evening and a great deal of good will. And I hope anyone who didn’t get a chance to come out last Friday can still find time, resources, or both to contribute. And don’t worry, the Foundation has a number of other great social events coming up, including a formal gala. We’ll tell you about all those when the time comes too.

ED. NOTE: I hope to post pictures here that were taken Friday night, or get them to you via the Flickr feed at the bottom left of this page. Stay tuned.

I am honored to invite the readers of this Blog to the DuPage County Fellows Reception being hosted by the Illinois Bar Foundation on Friday March 2 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Arrowhead Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois. The Bar Foundation does so much and helps so many that it’s hard to list all of its activities in one place. And what fun would that be anyway? Instead come on down and meet me and other Fellows of the IBF as you mingle with a dynamite list of invited guests, drop-ins, and pop-ins (you never know who will show up!).

Here’s the invitation and response card for you to download, fill out, and send in (RSVP’s preferred by February 26).

Seriously, this will be a great event for a worthy cause, helping your profession and your community while having a blast. What else could you ask for?

And find out more about Arrowhead Golf Club here.