♬ See your heart will lead you where you want to be, but your head will lead you where you ought to be.
But which will lead you where you’re meant to be? ♬
Lyrics, music and recorded by K’LA.
2012 New Years
This is Part 2 in the 2012 Tips and Predictions series where I have asked my good friends and colleagues to contribute their best ideas for the New Year. Accordingly without further ado:
Dr. Frank Fowlie: “Future Shock” predictions:
- Consumers will no longer be forced to call their credit card company to deal with “unknown” charges. No more phone tress, no more wait times…You’ll be able to go to your bank’s credit card website and fill in a form online, the bank will handle it from there.
- When you buy something online and there’s something wrong with the purchase, you’ll be able to go to a single portal for goods sold in Canada, and start a redress process online, at your convenience. This is less Future Shock, as the European Union has already created a regulation which makes this possible across Europe. Like “chip” cards did in the past, the technology will migrate from Europe to Canada.
- Small Claims Courts in Canada will move towards Online Dispute Resolution to more effectively and efficiently manage the court processes. There will be a new wave of computer literate judges who hear and settle cases online.
- Courts of equity will look to technology to handle small value claims. Online Dispute Resolution will replace hearings in matters where the value is the same or lower than the Small Claims Court limit.
- Law firms will publish hourly rates on their websites to allow for consumer choices. Consumers will be able to search out legal services in the same way they look for other commodities online.
- Lawyers will begin to sell “Boutique services” allowing consumers to handle some part of their own legal matters. Some lawyers will develop practices which simply “guide” lay litigants, as opposed to forcing the lay litigant into court with representation.
- Legal Zoom, or some like entity, will set up shop in Canada. Legal services outsourcing becomes a market drive out of India and Ireland.
- The public can make complaints against lawyers using an online platform, perhaps to an independent body.
Dr. Frank Fowlie, www.internetombudsman.biz.
Judge Monty Ahalt ( Ret.): “Warp Speed”:
As the year closes out and some say the decade there is always a clamour for the folks to know what is in store for the next year. Some will look at last year and make resolutions. My Life now breaks down into three areas:
- Court centered ADR and case management as a recalled Circuit Court Judge now counting 30 years.
- A Mediator/Arbitrator now counting about 45 years – www.montyahalt.com.
- Founder and CEO of VirtualCourthouse.com – leading ODR provider – now counting 10 years – www.VirtualCourthouse.com
Each area has it’s unique challenges and will experience new horizons in 2012. While I do not pretend to be Carnac the Magnificent of Johnny Carson days there are some new happenings that seem to be clearly presenting themselves for the coming year. (more…)
♬ What’s happenin brothers and sisters?
Welcome to our time…♬
Lyrics, music and recorded by NAS.
Happy New Year 2012
Last year on Dec. 31, 2010 I posted a Top 10 Legal Tech Predictions for 2011. This year I asked my very good friends and colleagues to contribute their top Tips and Predictions for 2012 thinking that this would be a great way to get some perspective on the New Year. The response has been overwhelming! Accordingly, here is Part 1 of a three-part blog post containing their top advice and predictions for the coming year. But this isn’t the end – I will add in my own tips and predictions for 2012 at the end of Part 3 (can’t help but go out on a limb as well) and ask that you, good readers, add in your own tips and predictions by way of comments on the three blog posts.
Accordingly, here are Part 1 of the Tips and Predictions for 2012!
Karen MacKay: Change is Neigh…
There will be more change in Canadian law firms in 2012 than we have seen in the last 3 years. In Canada, we will see more mergers and spinoffs. Lots of change happened in the USA in 2011 that was forced on them by the economy. The difference between what happened in the USA and Canada will be: The change in Canada will be created by strategic decisions within firms seeking opportunities rather than the financial change that was forced on the American firms.
Karen MacKay MBA CHRP, Phoenix Legal Inc., direct 416.657.2997, mobile 416.904.4848, e-mail kmackay@phoenix-legal.com, www.phoenix-legal.com.
Mitch Kowalski: 2012 – A Turning Point for the Canadian Legal Profession?
When I ran for Bencher in Ontario earlier this year (and was utterly thrashed at the polls!) I did so because I believed that the next ten years are critical to the future of the legal profession. Six months later, my view has not changed.
All over Canada, the legal profession faces challenges it has never faced in the past – and the challenges will only become more numerous. Richard Susskind was right on point when he wrote, “Law does not exist to provide a livelihood for lawyers any more than illness exists to provide a livelihood for doctors. Successful legal business may be a by-product of law . . . but it is not the purpose.”
As lawyers we must constantly earn our right to retain a monopoly over the practice of law. It should never be assumed that we will always have the exclusive right to give legal advice, prepare legal documents, close transactions or even appear in court. One just has to look to the U.K.’s Legal Services Act which is dramatically transforming that jurisdiction’s legal profession. Or, take a look to Australia with Slater & Gordon being the only publically-traded law firm in the world – a firm that was once based on a strong litigation practice but is now aggressively moving into commercial practice areas.
Canada cannot remain an island of lawyer-exclusivity for long – particularly if the legal profession shows itself to be incapable of coming up with creative and efficient ways to make legal services better, faster and cheaper. The commercial pressures of the global economy are too great to ignore and lawyers who stick their heads in the sand will become the dodo birds of the 21st century.
I hope that 2012 will be a watershed year in which meaningful change will finally commence to surface throughout Canada’s legal profession. The following are eight predictions of what can (and should) occur over the next 12 months. (more…)
♫ You have stolen
You have stolen
You have stolen my heart…♫
Lyrics and music by: Chris Carrabba, recorded by: Dashboard Confessional.
There are many news stories about identities and personal information being compromised on the web, but in many cases there are not many ways to verify if your online identity has been breached. For example a friend of mine had several charges appear monthly on her iTunes account that were not hers – it seemed that someone has compromised the account and was charging small amounts every month…small enough that most times, it wouldn’t be noticed…
Fortunately there is Pwned List (pwnedlist.com), a free way to check if your user name or email address matches one that is on Pwned’s list of compromised accounts.
What is the story behind Pwned?
The site started out as small research project with a rather simple premise. To discover how many compromised accounts can be harvested programatically in just a couple of hours. Well, needless to say, the results were astonishing. In just under 2 hours we had close to 30,000 accounts, complete with logins and passwords. The truly scary part, however, was the quality of data we were able to collect in such a short amount of time. The accounts we were able to retrieve consisted of email services, social media sites, merchants and even financial institutions. It was clear that something had to be done. (more…)
♬ Ain’t no pill for this pain
So please, please come to my rescue baby
Make it right away…♬
Lyrics and Music by: Diane Warren, recorded by Uncle Kracker.
If you are like me, you are facing the prospect of aging parents…or in my case, an aging parent (my dad having passed on 5 years ago). If you happen to live in a different geographical area from your parent, you are facing the additional prospect of trying to help them from a distance with the various challenges that life throws their way. When it comes to helping them with their technology, the distance aspect can become a real barrier…trying to talk them through “click on this” and “do you see that..” while on a telephone call with them seated in front of their computer trying to solve the latest crises gives you a whole new respect for anyone who works in IT support.
How can you solve this problem? For me, LogMeIn has come to the rescue (https://secure.logmein.com/).
This application allows me to log into my mom’s computer from thousands of miles away – and see her desktop. I can install software, update the applications, create bookmarks, run utilities – do virtually anything from a distance that I could do sitting down in front of the computer.
Of course, lawyers and others have been using LogMeIn or GoToMyPC for years to connect to their office computer remotely in order to work from the road. This is the same idea but with a twist – since I am logging into someone else’s computer.
In terms of security – you have to log into the LogMeIn site first. Once connected to LogMeIn, you connect to the remote computer and then log into that computer using a user name and password. Double security.
You are looking at the desktop of the remote computer…you can move the mouse, click on applications etc.
One proviso – the remote computer has to be on and connected to the Internet to work. If you require a reboot of the remote computer (to install or update software, for example) then it is useful to have your parent at home to ensure that the computer restores its internet connection so you can log back in again and check if the updates etc. installed properly.
How much does all this cost, you say? In the case of LogMeIn – I am using the free version. So far it is able to do anything that I need of it to keep my mom’s computer (a Mac Mini) working just fine by using my MacBook.
Since there isn’t any pill for the pain of an incomprehensible computer, LogMeIn allows me to come to the rescue – right away!
♬ …I care for you… I’m there
… I’m there for you…I care… ♬
Lyrics, music and recorded by Wolfsheim.
Jay Fleischman in a blog post entitled: “Is the Virtual Law Firm Model Coming up Short?” opines that lawyers practising in a virtual practice are ‘missing an ingredient’. Mr. Fleischman continues:
Those who offer the virtual law firm are selling something most people don’t want. People want to be able to make a personal connection with other people, to build trust in a lawyer’s expertise. They don’t want to be met with a password-encrypted firewall and triple-redundant backup systems.
Mr. Fleischman and I agree on at least one point thou: it isn’t about the technology. Most certainly!
But with respect, we differ on where to take it from there. In Mr. Fleischman’s view:
You need to figure out how to connect with people who are not necessarily in front of you. In fact, you’ve got to determine when being face-to-face is best for the client.
Yes, but … that is only part of the picture. In my view, Mr. Fleischman fails to take his argument to its logical conclusion. Why would face-to-face be best for (some) clients? Not because “people want to make a personal connection” (per Mr. Fleischman) but because they have to know – trust – feel – that you care. (more…)
♬ Love Is In The Air
Love is in the air everywhere I look around
Love is in the air every sight and every sound …♬
Music and Lyrics by Harry Vanda, George Young , recorded by Tom Jones.
MacBook Air 2011
This is a guest post by my friend Sherry Katz, a recovering lawyer and now computer forensics consultant. I loved reading Sherry’s articles on technology when she was a lawyer/technologist and now I love her articles as a forensics consultant. Her advice on the new MacBook Air is posted here with her consent:
I have use of several laptops as I use them in my work (forensic analysis, ediscovery). Among them are an 11″ Macbook Air, a 13″ Macbook Air, and a 17″ Macbook Pro. I also regularly use a couple of Dell laptops and a few HP laptops.
The current generation of the Macbook Air is amazing. I work with technology every day, and the new Macbook Air is the best and most fun to use laptop I’ve ever had experience with. The lack of a network adapter is not a problem. I got a device for $15 that adds a network port and three USB ports through the USB. The use of screen real estate is ingenious, and the 11″ is as efficient and viewable as a 13″ PC.
Performance is stunning. Even with the i5 processer and only 4 MB of RAM, boot time is less than 10 seconds, and everything happens instantly. Programs open in a snap. The touchpad is great; the only usable touchpad I’ve found. (more…)
♬ My outlook on life is positive! ♬
Lyrics and Music by: Ray Cappo and John Porcelly, recorded by Youth of Today.
Outlook on the Mac
“I believe that Outlook for the Mac may be the most important app that Microsoft has ever created for the Mac environment.” – Gerry Purdy, MobileTrax
This is a guest post written by Gerry Purdy, PHD. I have been following Gerry’s posts on the state of wireless for some time now and always find them to be interesting and insightful. This particular post is published here with his permission.
“Over the past six months, Microsoft has (rather quietly) finally introduced their very popular Outlook email management system on the Mac platform. It allows Mac users to enjoy the same benefits as Windows users. However, there are a number of things that are important to enterprise IT, Apple and users beyond the obvious financial benefits to Microsoft.
If you owned a Windows PC and wanted to migrate to a Mac, the process could be very difficult or, if you were using Outlook, impossible. The reason has to do with Outlook’s internal file structure which uses ‘OST’ and ‘PST’ files.
Before Outlook became available on the Mac, there was no way to copy the files over to the Mac and use them with either Mac email or Entourage. Now, with the implementation of Outlook on the Mac, anyone can copy their Outlook email files from their Windows PC over to the Mac, load Office 2011 for the Mac and open the Outlook files on the Mac. I have tried it, and it worked flawlessly the first time. (more…)
♬ Who would have guessed
That it’s as simple as it seems…♬
Lyrics and Music by: Katy Perry, Glen Ballard, and Arnold Matthiew, recorded by Katy Perry and Glen Ballard.
Email is the bane of most lawyers and law offices. It has become a real problem handling the volume of incoming emails. Fortunately there are three tools that can help tame the email beast provided that you are using Microsoft Outlook as your email client. These are “SimplyFile”, “EZDetach” and “Adobe Acrobat Standard” or “Adobe Acrobat Professional”
“SimplyFile” and “EZDetach”
SimplyFile
SimplyFile is undoubtedly the best tool I have found for helping with email. It is an Intelligent Filing Assistant for Microsoft Outlook. Once you install the plug-in for Outlook, SimplyFile “guesses” the folder that an email should go. One click later – and it is filed. It does the same for outgoing emails too – which ensures that all your emails – both incoming and outgoing – are in the correct client folder in Outlook. No more searching in “Sent” to try to find an email that you did on a client file.
This filing ability vastly speeds up handling the email avalanche! (more…)
♬ Tell me what you want and i’ll give you what you need… ♬
Lyrics and Music by Patrick Simmons, recorded by The Doobie Brothers.
PLTC 2011 Logo
The 2011 Pacific Legal Technology Conference will be held Friday October 7, 2011 at the new West wing of the Vancouver Trade and Convention Center.
The Pacific Legal Technology Conference is a bit different from other legal technology conferences due to the fact that attendees can take the conference survey and tell us which courses, issues and topics they would like to see in the program. The survey contains the ‘short list’ of topics that the Advisory Board pulled together in their preparations and deliberations.
So: Welcome to the 2011 Pacific Legal Technology Conference Survey – where you can design the conference that you wish to see! I invite you to have a hand in designing this year’s Conference by indicating to us which proposed sessions are of most interest to you.
This survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete and we ask that you complete the survey on or before JUNE 30, 2011.
Here is a link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NN3PKZF
Furthermore, at the end of the survey you will receive a web address entitling you to a special survey respondent admission rate for this year’s conference. This special rate of $325+ HST CDN ($325 USD) (or $225+HST CDN for law students/staff ($225 USD)) is our way of saying ‘Thanks’ and represents a $50 savings off of our Early Bird Rate!
This special survey rate is only good until July 31, 2011 – you have to complete the survey by June 30, 2011 and send in the registration by July 31, 2011 to be eligible for this offer.
Furthermore, by completing the survey you are eligible for a draw for one of two free admissions to the Conference.
Thanks for your participation!
Tell me what you want and as Chair of the Conference, I will endeavor to give you what you need…
♬ Blue skies
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see…♬
Lyrics and Music by Irving Berlin.
This is a great guest post by Gerry Purdy PHD, the Principal Analyst, Mobile & Wireless services for MobileTrax LLC. I have been reading Gerry’s “Inside Mobile” newsletters for some time now, but this latest one on Apple’s iCloud was a really good analysis of what Apple aims to do with the cloud and – in consequence – how this changes the way we all look at the cloud . So with Gerry’s permission secured, here is his post entitled: Blue Skies Ahead for Apple’s iCloud:
iCloud
“MobileMe wasn’t our finest hour … we have completely rewritten and integrated it into iCloud.” – Steve Jobs
I had one of those ah ha moments as I watched the replay of Steve Jobs delivering part of the keynote address at last week’s Apple WWDC (World Wide Developer’s Conference) at which he announced that they are opening iCloud to developers by providing a family of application programming interfaces (APIs) that will help developers build cloud-based services. This is basically the same thing that Apple did when it announced the App Store and provided developers with a host of APIs that enabled them to build apps, which have grown to over 425,000.
Did Apple need to also announce an iCloud Store? Not really, because the store front is already there. Developers can now build apps for iOS that reside in the cloud and connect to them via the Internet, typically, over a wireless link such as Wi-Fi or 3G/4G. Watch for an entirely new kind of cloud-based service environment that works in concert with local iOS apps that enable a hybrid between local apps and cloud apps. (more…)