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    Archive for June, 2011
    The Pacific Legal Technology Conference..Survey
    Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

    ♬ 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

    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…

    Posted in Adding Value, Business Development, Change Management, Firm Governance, Issues facing Law Firms, Law Firm Strategy, Leadership and Strategic Planning, Make it Work!, Technology, Tips, Trends | Permalink | 1 Comment »
    What’s HOT and What’s Not In The Legal Profession
    Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

    ♬ Magical beams ignite your dreams
    See another world than the one you know
    The lightening bug glow..♬

    Lyrics and music by Cowboy Swami Shaman

    Fireflies

    Fireflies

     

    This is the latest in the “What’s Hot and What’s Not” posts by Bob Denney of Robert Denney Associates, Inc. for June, 2011. As usual, Bob’s analysis of what is happening in the legal profession is not only interesting, it provides great insight into the currents that are underlying the practice of law at this time.

    One of the summer diversions for kids in certain parts of the United States is trying to capture lightening bugs in a bottle. Compiling this Update has been a lot like that – trying to capture in a few pages everything that’s going on in the legal profession right now. We don’t claim to have succeeded. But here are what we consider the most significant – or interesting – developments.

    PRACTICE AREAS

    Red Hot

     Health Care. Includes many areas and all type of providers.

     Energy. In addition to oil and gas, there are increasing issues in nuclear and now coal.

     Financial Services. Institutions are trying to understand the scope of Dodd Frank in many areas including consumer protection. Some firms have formed multidisciplinary teams to guide clients in dealing with the new regulations, some of which are not yet defined.

    Hot

     Regulatory. Both federal and state, especially in health care, energy, financial services and possibly environmental.

     White Collar Crime. And getting hotter.

     Labor & Employment. There are continued reports that wage-and-hour laws have been widely violated.

     Intellectual Property. Congress may pass patent reform legislation any day now. As one CMO said, “This should create an interesting world for a while.” (more…)

    Posted in Business Development, Issues facing Law Firms, Law Firm Strategy, Leadership and Strategic Planning, Trends | Permalink | 5 Comments »
    Blue Skies Ahead for Apple’s iCloud
    Thursday, June 16th, 2011

    ♬ 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

    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…)

    Posted in Issues facing Law Firms, Make it Work!, Technology, Trends | Permalink | No Comments »
    The Emperor’s New Clothes
    Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

    ♬ Isn’t it a bit surprising
    How one’s fortunes ebb and flow
    And only to the enterprising
    Does the magic fortune cookie go
    Believe me
    It’s the time of your life so live it well..♬

    Lyrics, music and recorded by Randy Neuman:

    Emperor's New Clothes

    I remember growing up there would be ‘fads’ (probably still are, albeit I have long since aged out of those teenage angst years). I recall wanting to be part of the ‘cool kids’ and wished to jump on some of those fads and try to seem ‘cool’ (I have long since realized that ‘cool’ is an evasive and momentary target and one best left to others to chase. I never was and will never be ‘cool’ – just ask my daughter. But I digress..)

    Well, I recall trying to convince my mom to let me try or buy or do something that would lead to being considered ‘cool’. The answer, invariably, was: “Well if everyone was going to be a lemming and jump off a cliff, would you do it too?” While at the time I thought she was simply being a maddingly frustrating parent, in her way she was testing me to exercise my own judgment and consider longer-term goals and whether this latest fad met my goals or someone else’s.

    Right now, Social Media seems to be one of these ‘fads’. That isn’t to say that it should be ignored. Exactly the opposite. Like any new tool, it needs to be considered in terms of your existing business goals, strategy and marketing plan. In other words, all of us have to consider how not to be a ‘legal lemming’ and just follow the crowd in jumping off the cliff. Drago Adam (drago@adamadgroup.com) of the Adam Marketing Group of Vancouver, in one of his recent “Monday Morning Motivator” email newsletters put it well and as such, I have quoted his article here (with his permission): (more…)

    Posted in Business Development, Issues facing Law Firms, Leadership and Strategic Planning, Technology, Trends | Permalink | No Comments »