Law Technology Today From the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
Our Panelists
Greg Siskind (GS), Dennis Kennedy (DK), Steve Embry (SE) and Aaron Street (AS).
What legal tech blogs are first up in your reading list?
GS: I read Attorney at Work most days. It’s well-curated and I appreciate the daily notification email previewing the day’s feature blog post.
DK: I know that I’ll sound like a homer, but Law Technology Today is definitely #1. That’s a tricky question because so many of the original legal tech bloggers have turned to Twitter and other social media tools rather than writing for their blogs. I tend to get more of tech blogs like The How-To Geek and Ask Dave Taylor than specialized legal tech blogs, at least on a daily basis. John Simek’s Your IT Consultant is a solid read and I’m always interested in whatever Ron Friedmann posts to Strategic Legal Technology.
SE: There’s three I check pretty religiously. The first is Bob Ambrogi’s LawSites. Always timely and interesting. A second is Kevin O’Keefe’s Real Lawyers Have Blogs. A third is iphone JD just because I’m an Apple junkie. Above the Law and Lawyerist are also at the top of my list.
AS: My three can’t miss legal industry blogs are: MyShingle, LawSites, and (shameless plug) Lawyerist. Outside of law, my go-to tech blogs are Stratechery and Futurism.
What legal tech or law practice management related book are you going to read?
GS: I’m reading a few law practice related books right now. Heidi Alexander’s “Evernote” as a Law Practice Tool and Arthur Greene’s “Succession Planning for Law Firms”. I’m also reading “Blockchain for Dummies” because I’m still trying to wrap my hand around this complex subject.
DK: I definitely have Heidi Alexander’s “Evernote” as a Law Practice Tool book in my queue. Tom Mighell and I are finishing up the second edition of our collaboration tools book this summer, so I’m definitely reading that. Maybe that doesn’t count.
SE: I just finished reading Benjamin Barton’s book “Glass Half Full: The Decline and Rebirth of the Legal Profession”. Excellent read although I’m not sure I come to as rosy a conclusion as he does. Dan Linna has recommended “The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gawande. It’s not a legal book per se but has some useful management ideas. So I’m starting it now.
AS: Jordan Furlong’s “Law is a Buyer’s Market”.
Who are your “can’t miss” Twitter feeds for legal tech?
GS: @kevinokeefe @ronfriedmann @bschorr @denniskennedy @ejwalters @samglover
DK: I have some people I’ve followed for a zillion years: @tommighell, @kevinokeefe, @jimcalloway, @allisonshields, @danpinnnington, @adrianal, @ernieattorney. They are all friends and, by definition, have great feeds. I took a quick look at who I’m following and wanted to highlight: @thenakedlawyer, @andrewarruda, @legalhackers, @wlhender, @ltrc, @monicagoyal, @computational, @legalrnd, @marclauritsen, @ronfriedmann, @tkmreport, @catherinereach. I know I’m leaving good ones out, but I always encourage people to go out and explore to find feeds that speak to you and your interests.
SE: It was the Wall Street Journal feed although I am not sure if that’s going to continue to be useful. I follow Law Technology Today as well as the blogs mentioned above.
AS: I assume it’s dangerous for me to admit that I don’t spend time on Twitter. Sorry everyone….
What “read it later” app, technology or system do you use to stack up all the articles and blog posts you want to read so you can get to all the great content you squirreled away?
GS: Evernote web clipper
DK: It’s pretty simple. Evernote and “Read Later” in Feedly. Occasionally, I’ll save a longer article as into iBooks.
SE: In one word: Pocket. I use it every day and really like it. Now if I just had time to read all the articles I have stacked up in it…
AS: I send things to Pocket to read later. If I then want to bookmark it for future reference, I send it to Evernote.
Do you read paper books or e-books? Why?
GS: I read both. It depends on the setting. I like the convenience of being able to read anywhere on my phone or iPad. But at home I still like a paper book. And listen to audio books as well. I’m actually a very slow reader so the audio books (listen for about an hour a day on my bike commute) is one of my most important ways to keep up.
DK: 2017 has been a big conversion year for me from paper books to e-books. I’m been trying to downsize and have been getting rid of paper books. And, to be blunt, the eyes are what they once were and paper books can be difficult to read, especially those with small fonts and cheap paper stock. There, I said it. That said, I actually do like e-books a lot, especially with the library service OverDrive, which lets me borrow e-books from my local library.
SE: E-books almost always. I travel a lot and it’s a lot easier to take books with me wherever I go with e books.
AS: 80% paper books. 10% Kindle. 10% Audible.com. I keep trying to convert from paper books to Kindle, but so far I just can’t make it happen. My Audible account is exclusively for listening to massive biographies in my car. Right now I’m part-way through the Robert Caro LBJ series.
