Law Technology Today

In February of this year, yet another state issued an opinion on the cloud: New Hampshire.  With Ethics Committee Advisory Opinion #2012-13/4, New Hampshire joined a number of other states in finding nothing inherently wrong with cloud computing.  Their opinion did, however, stress the necessity of lawyers taking steps to comply with the rules of professional conduct [...]

As we wrote earlier this year, metadata — the hidden information in electronic files — is a significant concern for lawyers.  Metadata can contain important and revealing information ranging from the document’s origins to detailed records of changes and comments left during the document’s creation.  If proper care isn’t taken, a lawyer can easily reveal confidential [...]

Solo and small sized law firms must take a strategic approach to ensure they buy the right technology for their practice. When compared to larger law firms, solo and small firms have limited time and resources, so it’s crucial they find the sweet spot when selecting essential hardware and software. In the upcoming CLE program [...]

Cloud computing isn’t a new concept.  The technology, which moves software and data off of your computer and into third-party data centers, has broken through to the mainstream.  Major companies like Apple and Microsoft have launched cloud services; commercials and ads for new cloud products abound; and investment firms are pouring money into a wide [...]

When does your social networking qualify as attorney advertising? That’s the question the State Bar of California’s Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct addresses in Draft Formal Opinion Interim No. 10-0001. The opinion centers around a hypothetical attorney who uses a social media site (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) and connects to a mixture of personal [...]

Technology evolves rapidly, and unfortunately security threats evolve right along with it.  To keep your firm’s technology–and your clients’ data–safe, it’s important to keep your software up-to-date and to stay informed about the latest security threats. Thankfully, staying ahead of the security curve doesn’t require a computer science degree.  It can be as simple as [...]

We were actually surprised to hear this question when we lectured last week at the Indiana Bar’s Solo and Small Firm Conference. It’s not surprising that large firms feel the need to archive postings, but it was striking that a solo attorney should feel the need. Not only did a member of the audience bring [...]

By now, most lawyers have at least a passing familiarity with the term “metadata,” which refers to the hidden layer of information embedded in most electronic documents.  Metadata is often described as “data about data” because it largely consists of information regarding a document’s origins, including who created it, when it was last opened, and [...]

Moving your practice into “the cloud,” whether that involves a single application or all of your firm’s data, is not for everybody. But if you’re one of the many practitioners who have decided that there’s a compelling business case for employing cloud computing, it’s important that you do the appropriate research—and ask the relevant questions—to [...]