Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Patrick DiDomenico, the Chief Knowledge Officer at Ogletree Deakins and the author of Knowledge Management for Lawyers, published by the American Bar Association and available on Amazon.com. We discussed the knowledge management challenges that lawyers face today, how law firms can benefit from stronger knowledge management, the increasing prominence of the subject, a few best practices, and what readers of Knowledge Management for Lawyers can expect, among other topics.

I spoke with Doug Ellenoff, a founding partner of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole, a 70-lawyer corporate and securities firm in Manhattan, and the chairman of iDisclose, an online automated securities disclosure application. We discussed the genesis of iDisclose, the key challenge that iDisclose helps its users overcome, how it works, and how it is disrupting the practice of law in this area, among other topics.

I spoke with J.K. Leonard, a partner with Naman Howell Smith & Lee in San Antonio, Texas and the chairman of ALFA International, a law firm network with over 10,000 attorneys in 49 states and 70 countries worldwide. We discussed ALFA International’s mission, how it differs from other law firm networks, its evolution and selection criteria, and the benefits of joining a law firm network, among other topics.

I spoke with Kathy DiLorenzo, the director of U.S. court reporting for Planet Depos, an international court reporting firm, which recently launched a new professional development initiative for students called Planet Institute. We discussed the genesis of Planet Institute, the trends influencing its creation, the application process, the goals, and where the court reporting industry is headed, among other topics.

I spoke with Rob Ameerun, a legal technology consultant for law firms in the Netherlands, who is also the owner of LegalITProfessionals.com and the publisher of LegalIT Today magazine. He is producing an innovation-focused event for the legal community in the Netherlands and Continental Europe called Lexpo, which takes place on April 20th and 21st in Amsterdam. We discussed the genesis of Lexpo, the issues that the Dutch legal technology community finds most critical, the importance of innovation to the legal community in the Netherlands, and what prospective Lexpo attendees can expect.

I spoke with Harry Singh, the founder of Lawcus, a visual legal practice management software platform. We discussed the genesis of Lawcus, how it differs from other practice management solutions on the market, the key problem that Lawcus solves, and how users can take advantage of the company’s beta, among other topics.

I spoke with Michael Ramich, a partner at Frontier Capital, a venture capital firm that focuses on high growth software and services companies, including document and e-mail management cloud-provider, NetDocuments. We discussed the key factors driving investment interest in legal technology, the best time to invest in a law-related company, the challenges of doing so, and where one can find the most opportunity in the current market, among other topics.

I spoke with Bonnie Beuth and Douglas Capozzalo, the board chairman and board secretary, respectively for LTC4, a non-profit consortium of law firms, corporate legal departments, law schools, and vendors from around the world that have established industry standard core competencies for legal technology. We discussed the genesis of the Legal Technology Core Competency Certification Coalition, what makes the LTC4 core competencies unique in the marketplace, what distinguishes LTC4 from other entities offering certifications on legal technology proficiency, and the value certification offers an individual attorney in the current market, among other topics.

I spoke with Josh Harder, a Senior Associate at Bessemer Venture Partners, a venture capital firm, which has been a prominent investor in legal technology companies like Clio, Anaqua, and Disco. Given that Bessemer Venture Partners has been an investor in LinkedIn, Yelp, and Pinterest, we discussed why the legal industry has recently grown more attractive, how the legal software market is evolving, what venture capitalists look for in a legal tech investment, how legal tech start-ups should select a venture capital partner, the most difficult part of evaluating an investment in legal tech, and the next hot category, among other topics.

I spoke with Patrick Paul, a partner with Snell & Wilmer, and the chairman of the board for State Law Resources, Inc., an international law firm network that focuses on referrals associated with state capital representation, government relations practices, and lobbying. We discussed the mission of State Law Resources, how it differs from other law firm networks, its selection criteria, the location of its members, reasons that a firm should join a network, and what the increasing influence of law firm networks reflects about the changing nature of legal practice.

I spoke with Peter Zver, President of Tikit North America, a global software and IT services company and the creator of Carpe Diem, a popular timekeeping solution in the legal market, and Justin Hectus, Director of Information, at Keesal, Young & Logan, a full service business law firm with five offices around the Pacific Rim. We discussed their participation in the 12th Annual Law Firm Chief Information & Technology Officers Forum being held February 3rd and 4th, the renewed interest in law firm metrics and how firms are applying them, and key best practices for measuring relevant information, while delivering it to the appropriate audience, among other topics.

I spoke with Monica Enand, the CEO of Zapproved, a legal technology company that helps corporate counsel with the discovery process. It is the maker of Legal Hold Pro, among other tools for collection, processing, and review. We discussed the mission of Zapproved, its plans for Legaltech 2016, including the introduction of Digital Discovery Pro, the trends that are driving the development of innovative e-discovery tools, and the future of this sector, among other topics.

I spoke with Matt Duncan, CEO, and Alvin Tedjamulia, CTO, respectively, of NetDocuments, a native cloud-based document and email management service for law firms and corporate legal departments. We discussed the company’s mission, the key drivers that have been prompting firms to adopt cloud-based document and e-mail management, how the security and compliance landscape has changed the legal market, and Microsoft’s strategic partnership with NetDocuments, among other topics.

I spoke with Josh Becker, the CEO of Lex Machina, a provider of legal analytics to law firms and corporate legal departments for their business development and trial success. We discussed the mission of Lex Machina, the impact of the company’s acquisition by LexisNexis, the impact of analytics on legal practitioners, and where this area is headed, among other topics.

I spoke with Brian Kenneally, the Operations Director with Ireland-based Legal IT, the maker of Bundledocs, a software tool for combining multiple types of documents into a single fully-indexed, paginated, and bookmarked PDF. We discussed the genesis of Bundledocs, the challenges it helps individuals overcome, how professionals use it, and where the market for tools of this type is headed, among other topics.

I spoke with Peter Altieri, a partner with Epstein Becker & Green, in the Litigation and Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practices. He is the Managing Shareholder of the firm’s New York office and serves as chairman of the International Lawyers Network. We discussed the mission of the International Lawyers Network, how it selects member firms for inclusion, the benefits of associating with such an organization, and the factors law firm leaders should consider when evaluating a prospective network, among other topics.

I spoke with Robert Swan and Brad Burgess, the Vice President of Legal Technology and Vice President of Marketing, respectively, for IST Management Services, the maker of DocStor Legal, a cloud-based document management system for law firms and corporate legal departments. We discussed how DocStor differs from other legal industry document management systems, its integration with Microsoft Office and mobility features, and the need for security in managing documents, among other topics.

I spoke with Sandy Serkes, the co-founder, president, and CEO of Valora Technologies, a provider of document, data, and content analytics solutions for corporate, legal, and government clients worldwide, who received honorable mention at the Information Governance Initiative’s inaugural conference for the organization’s Information Governance Evangelist of the Year award. We discussed the definition of information governance, how it differs from e-discovery, the distinctions between the two types of matters, how to determine whether an outcome is successful, and how to choose an information governance solution, among other topics.

I spoke with Eric Mandel, the founder and managing member of Indicium Law, a boutique firm focused on navigating clients through the legal, technology, and process issues related to eDiscovery, cyber risk, data privacy and protection, and information governance. Eric serves on the Steering Committee for The Sedona Conference, Working Group 1, and the Board of Directors of the Legal Technology Professionals Institute. e discussed the genesis of Indicium and the community it serves, the connection between cyber risk and information governance, where U.S. privacy regulations are headed, and the impact of the Internet of Things on the legal community in 2016.

I spoke with Sue Pasfield, the Founding Director, and Janis Richman, the Director of Consulting, respectively, for Capensys, a full-service international technology training company focused on the legal industry. They are also founders of the Legal Technology Core Competencies Certification Coalition (LTC4), a non-profit group that has created industry-standard legal technology core competencies. e discussed the advantages of a goal-based approach, the key trends in training, and how the movement toward certification and audits is impacting the market, among other topics.