DennisKennedy.Blog

Facebook for Lawyers Webinar on May 17

2012-05-15T00:58:51Z

With the IPO of Facebook fast approaching, interest in Facebook is reaching a fever pitch. As a result, even lawyers are starting to take notice of Facebook and how they might use it personally and professionally.

I’ll be co-presenting with Allison Shields on a May 17 webinar on “Facebook for Lawyers” (a joint production of ALI-CLE and the ABA’s Law Practice Management Section) and there’s still time to register. Details here. This presentation will have a highly practical focus and we’ll concentrate on ways to help you actually use Facebook rather than the all-too-common approach of worrying about a parade of Facebook risks.

Allison has more details and some Facebook tips here. Allison and I just did a well-received presentation on this topic, with a great audience who asked a lot of questions. That audience was the first audience we’ve seen where every attendee had a Facebook account. We’ll incorporate what we learned about what issues are important to lawyers from those questions into this webinar presentation. If you are using Facebook, it only makes sense to learn how to use it well.

As the perceptive reader will guess, you can also expect to see a new book from Allison and me called “Facebook in One Hour for Lawyers” later this summer, possibly in early August. The May 17 webinar will give you a good preview of the book.

Hope to “see” you at the webinar.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The new book Allison Shields and I have written called “LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers” is now available. Also still available, The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Upcoming Facebook for Lawyers Presentation and Webinar

2012-05-02T00:53:39Z

As the number of Facebook users approaches the one billion mark, lawyers are starting to take interest in Facebook and how they might use it.

I’ll be co-presenting with Allison Shields at an upcoming presentation and a webinar on the “Facebook for Lawyers” topic.

First, this Friday, May 4, if you are in the San Francisco area or are attending the ABA Law Practice Management Section’s Spring Meeting in Napa, you can see our live presentation called, simply enough, “Facebook for Lawyers.” Details here.

Second, on May 17, Allison and I will be presenting an ALI-ABA webinar called, simply enough, “Facebook for Lawyers.” Details here.

As the perceptive reader will guess, you can also expect to see a new book from Allison and me called Facebook in One Hour for Lawyers later this summer. Both the May 4 presentation and the May 17 webinar can be expected to give you a preview of the book.

Hope to see you for one or both of these events.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Three Articles and a Book on LinkedIn

2012-04-29T13:57:54Z

As you might already know, Allison Shields and I have written a new book called “LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers,” published by the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Section.

We’re quite pleased with the initial reaction to the book (see comments here). Probably the most interesting response has been the inquiries from large law firms about bulk orders to bring their lawyers up to speed on LinkedIn. If you want more information on bulk orders, let Allison or me know and we can get you to the right person.

We’ve also had three articles on LinkedIn published in the last month. Again, each has gotten more interest than we expected.

1. The Chain: LinkedIn Is More than Social Media for Lawyers

This article was my monthly legal technology column for the ABA Journal in the April 2012 issue. It is a short entry-level article about LinkedIn, with three suggestions to quickly improve your experience with LinkedIn.

2. Ten Tips to Get the Most Out of LinkedIn

In this article for the ABA’s GPSolo eReport April newsletter, we cover ten of our favorite LinkedIn tips to help you increase the benefit you get from LinkedIn.

3. LinkedIn: How to grow, nurture your network and obtain results

In this interview for the YourABA newsletter, Allison and I discuss several aspects about how lawyers (and others inside and outside the legal professions) use LinkedIn, how than can improve their effectiveness with LinkedIn, and our LinkedIn book. It’s a very thorough interview, with lots of great, practical information.

If you like what you read int he articles, then, of course, I’d like to consider buying the book, either for yourself or your firm or organization. Remember that our LinkedIn book is part of the re-launch of the reasonably-priced “In One Hour” series of books from the ABA’s Law Practice Management Section.

Also, Allison and I have started a LinkedIn Group as a companion group for the book. It’s called “Social Networking for Lawyers.” Click on the link in the previous sentence or simply search for the name fo the Group when you log into LinkedIn. We welcome you to join the Group to discuss LinkedIn, the book and other issues, as well as to get a sense of how LinkedIn Groups work and might work for you.

Details on the book and how to purchase it may be found here.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The Debut of “LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers” Book

2012-04-29T13:31:46Z

As you might already know, Allison Shields and I have written a new book called “LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers,” published by the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Section.

For Allison and me, the target date for the “official” launch of the book has always been ABA TECHSHOW, and, more specifically, the Meet the Authors session for the book tomorrow (March 29) at 10:00 at TECHSHOW. Unfortunately, I’m not able to join Allison for that session (at least I have a medical excuse for that), but I know that she will do a ~~great~~ fantastic job in introducing the book and answering questions.

The book grew out of the very successful “LinkedIn for Lawyers” webinar Allison, Michelle Golden and I presented last summer. Allison and I took on the book project and some highly-ambitious deadlines to get the book ready for publication at TECHSHOW. It was a great writing collaboration and we already have another book project in the works. Here’s a hint about the topic of that book.

Our LinkedIn book is part of the re-launch of the reasonably-priced “In One Hour” series of books the LPM Section has done in the past. My friend and longtime collaborator Tom Mighell helped successfully re-launch this line with his highly-praised “iPad in One Hour for Lawyers” book. Tom’s excellent (I’ve already read it) new “iPad Apps in One Hour for Lawyers” and Ben Schorr’s Microsoft OneNote in One Hour for Lawyers” are new books in the series, with more in the pipeline.

Allison and I noticed that when we speak about social media and LinkedIn to lawyers, we consistently hear lawyers saying that while they’ve joined LinkedIn, they really don’t use it or even know how to use it. Interesting, many of them also say that one of their clients invited them to join LinkedIn and connect. That’s an interesting disconnect, when you think about it.

Our book tries to show lawyers how to get started with LinkedIn (the social media platform most commonly used by lawyers and certainly the social media platform lawyers find most comfortable), how to use it better, and, most important, how to integrate LinkedIn with your real world networking efforts in effective ways. The focus is on the practical, with lots of color screen shots, step-by-step instructions and our best practical tips on using LinkedIn.

The book is 128 pages long, divided into two main sections. The core of the book (which you should be able to read in about an hour) is a series of ten “Lessons” designed to walk you through opening an account, putting together an effective profile, adding connections, participating in LinkedIn and monitoring what’s happening in your network. We pack a lot of information into the lessons and have been told that even long-time LinkedIn users have learned some new things to implement right away. You can also think of the Lessons section as something to have at your side while you use LinkedIn. The second section is a group of essays on “Advanced Topics” – ethics, apps, advanced search, 60 tips, resources and more.

The early reaction to the book has been great, as you will see from the comments on the order page. My daughter, Grace, who helped with proofreading and editing, also thought the book would be very valuable to people who aren’t lawyers.

We’d be happy if you would take a look at the book and consider buying a copy. There are some discounts available for the book at TECHSHOW. If you are attending TECHSHOW, please stop by Allison’s Meet the Author session.

I know that there will also be an iBook version, but I don’t have the details on its availability at the moment.

If you haven’t started using LinkedIn or feel that you are using LinkedIn only to a fraction of its potential, this book might be just what you need.

Allison and I have started a LinkedIn Group as a companion group for the book. It’s called “Social Networking for Lawyers.” Simply search for the name fo the Group when you log into LinkedIn. We welcome you to join the Group to discuss LinkedIn, the book and other issues, as well as to get a sense of how LinkedIn Groups work and might work for you.

Details on the book and how to purchase it may be found here.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

A Non-Attendee’s Guide to “Attending” ABA TECHSHOW 2012

2012-03-28T01:04:37Z

As I’ve mentioned, my recent bout with a blood clot in my leg is preventing me from attending ABA TECHSHOW 2012, my favorite legal tech conference of the year, later this week. That made me think about ways to “attend” TECHSHOW without actually being there. In fact, Tom Mighell and I talked a bit about this idea in our latest podcast called “Turning TECHSHOW Topics into Technology Agenda.”

The great thing about blogs, social media and especially Twitter these days is that you really can keep up with what’s happening at conferences that interest you. TECHSHOW generates a lot of traffic along these lines, so it’s a great place to see how social media works in connection with a conference.

Blogs. There is a concept known as “live blogging” where bloggers take notes during sessions and post them on their blogs after each session they attend. Some bloggers do an excellent job of this, which I admire, because I simply can’t do this. Watch the blogs of your favorite legal tech bloggers to see what they post. I find that the best blog source for legal tech conferences is JoAnna Forshee’s daily summary posts at the InsideLegal blog. She has already posted “ABA TECHSHOW 2012: What You Need to Know.”

Twitter. TECHSHOW can really help you understand what Twitter is and how it might or might not be useful to you. If you haven’t used Twitter Search much yet, TECHSHOW is a great time to try it. You can search on “TECHSHOW” or the official “#abatechshow.” The latter is what is known as a hashtag. Anyone posting from TECHSHOW can include this hashtag in his or her tweet and everyone can easily find all TECHSHOW-related posts. You might see tweets summarizing key points from sessions and other info from the conference. At TECHSHOW, the volume of tweets can be high and repetitive, but you can get a good feel for what is happening at the conference and capture a fair amount of information content from the show. You can also follow the tweets of certain speakers or attendees. I always enjoy Gwynne Monahan’s high-volume tweets as @econwriter5 and Tom Mighell’s helpful tweets at @tommighell. You’ll be able to identify other quality tweeters to follow by monitoring the Twitter search results.

Other Social Media. Of course, what you will get depends on the connections you have in LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media platforms, but these platforms can also bring you information from the conference.

Handouts. Tom also pointed out on the podcast that you can also purchase the TECHSHOW conference materials. TECHSHOW has always successfully encouraged speakers to submit quality handout materials.

Participation. Using social media, you can do more than just monitor the conference. You can actually participate in discussions on Twitter, comment on blog posts and the like. You can also invite people to connect on LinkedIn, friend people on Facebook and follow new people on Twitter.

Frankly, all of this is not really the same as being there, but it’s the next best thing and it’s getting better. I’m so disappointed I can’t in person, but I’m happy I have so many ways to be part of TECHSHOW virtually.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The new book Allison Shields and I have written called “LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers” is now available. Also, The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

An Attendee’s Guide to ABA TECHSHOW 2012

2012-03-28T00:49:28Z

ABA TECHSHOW runs from Thursday to Saturday this week. It’s my favorite legal technology conference, although I might be a bit biased because I was on the TECHSHOW Board for a few years.

Unfortunately, as some readers already know, I’m not going to be able to attend this year because I’m in the process of recovering from a blood clot in my leg. I’m feeling better, but not enough. That’s very disappointing to me because I was scheduled to speak at two sessions, the book Allison Shields and I wrote, LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers, will debut at TECHSHOW, and I’ll miss see all of my friends in the legal technology world.

As I thought about this development, I decided that I’d write a blog post that was a little bit about what I’d do if I were at TECHSHOW and a little bit about what I’d recommend others do while at TECHSHOW.

My first recommendation would be to read Peter Bregman’s great Harvard Business Review article about attending conferences called “How to Attend a Conference as Yourself.”

The secret to attending TECHSHOW is to realize that it’s a great gathering of lawyers who want to use technology in their practices. In many firms, these lawyers can’t find other lawyers with the same interests and passion about technology. At TECHSHOW, lawyers often say that they didn’t realize that there were so many lawyers like them.

The best thing you can do is to introduce yourself to and talk to others at TECHSHOW – attendees, speaker, vendors. Especially speakers. TECHSHOW speakers enjoy talking to attendees about technology. See the speaker ribbon on an ID badge as an inviting to say hello, not as a barrier.

Pre-conference.

There’s a smartphone app for TECHSHOW. Download and install it in preparation. I’d also go over the agenda and identify the sessions you want to attend. TECHSHOW has always focused on education. It’s a conference where it makes sense to attend as many educational sessions as you can. The speakers always have a practical focus. Arrive at TECHSHOW with your list of the sessions you want to attend. Also, it’s OK to slip out of a session if it’s not what you want and move over to another session. The sessions are close to each other in location.

Wednesday Afternoon.

If you arrive on Wednesday, get yourself registered and get your name badge right away on Wednesday afternoon. Wear the badge so others know that you are attending TECHSHOW and introduce yourself to other attendees.

Wednesday Evening.

I’d recommend trying to get into the LexThink .1 event. It’ll be a fast, thought-provoking and fun session of twelve 6-minute presentations. Matt Homann and JoAnna Forshee know how to put on a great show. And it’s free. Make it your mission to talk to as many new people as you can.

There’s also an opening reception. I wouldn’t miss it.

Then take advantage of any opportunity to hang out with other attendees after the event in the hotel. A key point: you can’t really network from your hotel room.

Thursday.

Especially if you are a first-time attendee, but everyone should see TECHSHOW chair Reid Trautz’s intro address first thing in the morning. Reid is a great speaker and he’ll help you map our the highlights of TECHSHOW.

Then, make it your goal to wear yourself out by attending as many sessions as you can, visiting the exhibit floor and meeting as many people as you can. People are very welcoming at TECHSHOW. Find an empty seat at a table at lunch and invite yourself.

Also, take advantage of the Conference Concierge booth, Adrian Linares’s great contribution to the TECHSHOW. The Conference Concierge booth sits at the entrance to TECHSHOW is staffed by speakers and TECHSHOW Board members with the goal of answering all your questions. From directions to sessions and restrooms to signing up for Taste of TECHSHOW dinners to answering tech questions, this booth is the place for information. You’ll often find the speakers you want to meet at the booth helping out. It’s a great place to talk to speakers you’d like to meet. I always found the booth so much fun that I worked it even at times I hadn’t volunteered for.

If you’ve done your pre-work, you will have identified the sessions you want to attend and vendors you want to visit. I’ll recommend especially the two sessions I’ll be missing in action as a speaker. First, Allison Shields at 10:30 in the Meet the Authors session for our new book, LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers. Allison is so knowledgeable on LinkedIn and she’s planning to answer questions about how lawyers can best use LinkedIn. Then, at 2:00, check out the session called Coffee Shop Office: The Ethics of Mobile Computing, where Sharon Nelson and Tom Mighell will be speaking on the vital topic of mobile security. I’ve seen the slides and the session should be excellent.

End up your first full day with the traditional opening reception.

Did I really say end your day? Not at all. One of the great thing at TECHSHOW is the Taste of TECHSHOW dinners. Arranged by topic, these dinners allow about ten people to sign up for dinners at nearby restaurants hosted by topic experts. Some are already sold out, so check out what’s available online. You can also sign up at the Conference Concierge desk. Here’s a little-known tip: there are usually some last-minute cancellations, so check at the Concierge booth to see if a spot will open up for you. Also, watch for places other attendees are hanging out in the hotel in the evening and join in.

Friday.

Get up early and dive right in. Repeat the overloaded schedule from Thursday (get your money’s worth). I’ll recommend what would have been my other session at 3:30 called Running Your Practice Entirely in the Cloud: From Start Up to a Large Virtual Firm, with Chad Burton and Catherine Sanders Reach. Again, I know what will be presented and it should be a great session.

Make sure you spend time on Friday visiting all the vendors whose products you want to learn more about.

End the day with the Beer and Bloggers event, another Taste of TECHSHOW dinner or have dinner with new friends you’ve met. My motto: If there’s an event on the schedule, try to attend it.

Extend your evening by finding where people are hanging out at the hotel. You can learn a lot in these evening conversations.

Saturday.

It’s the good kind of tired, believe me. The Saturday sessions are usually excellent. I especially recommend Jim Calloway’s plenary session on the future of law practice. TECHSHOW closes with the traditional 60 Sites in 60 Minutes session.

Follow-up.

Whether you use LinkedIn, email or phone, make sure you stay in contact with the new friends you made. Most importantly, if you are not already a member of the ABA’s Law Practice Management Section, give very serious thought to joining the Section.

As I like to say, technology is more about people than it is about technology. Nothing proves my point more than TECHSHOW. I’m so disappointed I won’t be able to attend, but I hope this guide helps you get the greatest benefit from your experience.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers

2012-03-16T03:22:28Z

The UPS man brought me a package yesterday that contained the book in the photo below.

LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers

So, I thought now would be a good time to pre-announce the impending release of the new book Allison Shields and I have written called “LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers,” which is now available for pre-order.

It’s part of the ABA Law Practice Management Section’s reasonably-priced “In One Hour” series of books on legal technology topics. While the title is self-explanatory, the goal of the book is to provide a quick and easy, but reasonably thorough, introduction and guide to LinkedIn, the premier social networking platform and the social networking tool most commonly used by lawyers.

Many, many lawyers have joined LinkedIn, but it’s rare for me to find a lawyer who tells me that he or she is using more than a tiny fraction of the potential of LinkedIn. This book is meant to help remedy that.

Allison, Michelle Golden and I presented a very popular webinar last year that led to the idea for this book. I’ve long been a fan of Allison’s writing – we have a similar style and a similar lawyer-focused approach. The writing collaboration was great, and we’re very pleased with the final product.

The book itself is short and to the point. It has lots of color screenshots and a simple, step by step approach to the essential components of LinkedIn – Profiles, Connections and Participation.

The main portion of the book consists of ten “lessons” that will get you up and running on LinkedIn. We finish the lessons section with three action steps anyone can take to improve their LinkedIn effectiveness.

We also have a set of advanced materials, covering topics like ethics, apps, advanced features, and more, plus a list of 60 of our best LinkedIn tips.

Our idea was to provide not just the basics, but point readers to more advanced uses, and share some of our ideas about how LinkedIn fits into the context of your real-world networking contexts.

I really like the way the book turned out and want to thank everyone involved in the project (including my daughter, Grace, who provided proofreading and editorial help).

I also wanted to share comments we received from two people I admire greatly, Bruce Marcus and Patrick McKenna.

“One of the byproducts of the new world of social media is the burst of new how-to books. Naturally, some are far better than others, and so we are blessed when a pair of superior and experienced practitioners like Dennis Kennedy and Allison Shields share their experience in using LinkedIn® in One Hour for Lawyers. Yes,after an hour with this clear and succinct book,you will indeed become highly proficient in the art of using LinkedIn® proficiently and profitably.”–Bruce W. Marcus, editor of “The Marcus Letter on Professional Services Marketing” and author of Professional Services Marketing 3.0.
“If you are interested in promoting your practice, finding clients, discussing important issues with like-minded colleagues, or getting answers to your important burning issues, than you definitely need to explore the social networking power of LinkedIn®. And it would be hard to imagine two better people than Dennis Kennedy and Allison Shields to make it unbelievably easy for even the most reluctant lawyer to get up-and-running as quickly as possible. What a great way to spend an hour–teach yourself how to ramp-up your networking activities with this highly practical guidebook. Even an old dog like me, who has had an active presence on LinkedIn® for more than a few years, has to admit that I learned a number of new things (advanced search techniques and company buzz) from reading this book.”–Patrick J. McKenna, bestselling author, law firm management consultant and host of “Law Firm Leaders,” the only LinkedIn® group exclusively for large law firm managing partners.

The book is currently available for pre-order, with a 15% discount available.

As an aside, as the title indicates, the focus is on use of LinkedIn for lawyers and other legal professionals, but I don’t think you need to be a lawyer to get some benefits from this book.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Data Dieting

2012-03-01T02:37:07Z

My latest tech column for the ABA Journal is called “Data Diet: Feed Your Head with a Better Info Balance.”

This column grew out of some podcasts I listened to of interviews with Clay Johnson about his new book, The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption.

Some of Johnson’s main themes won’t be a big surprise to you – decreasing the quantity of information you consume – but he also makes some great points about improving the quality of your information intake as well. As I say, “We might want to reduce our intake, but we also want to improve the ‘nutrition’ of what we do consume.”

This ABA Journal column gives an overview of Johnson’s ideas and gives a few suggestions for improving your data diet.

We’ve recently gone to a lower word count on the column, so I don’t go into a lot of detail. (Lower word counts are a mixed blessing for me – a little easier to write, but not everything will fit.) My idea is give you you some good starting points and practical ideas.

I’m also hoping the comments section will let other people contribute their ideas. I see that the initial comments mention the idea of listening to podcasts at double speed, one of my favorite suggestions.

The money quote:

Social media analyst Clay Shirky has famously said we suffer from filter failure rather than information overload. Concentrating on improving your information diet might be the best move you can make this year.

Check out the article here.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Using LinkedIn App to Increase Your LinkedIn Account’s Value

2012-02-28T02:43:00Z

I’ve become a big fan of the (free) LinkedIn iPhone app.

So much so that I’ve co-written with Allison Shields an article about how using the LinkedIn app can enhance the value of the value of your LinkedIn account. The article is called, not surprisingly, “Using the Free LinkedIn App to Increase the Value of Your LinkedIn Account” and can be found in the recent issue of the ABA’s LawPractice.News.

In the article, we give you a quick tour of the features and benefits of the LinkedIn mobile app (available for iPhones and the other major smartphones).

The money quote:

We’ve found that once you start using the app, your visits to the LinkedIn Website will decrease, but your use of the LinkedIn platform and the value of news and information you gain from LinkedIn will increase dramatically.

That quote sums it up. The app has made a dramatic change in the way I use LinkedIn on a daily basis – a very positive change.

As some of you might have heard, Allison and I have written a book called “LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers” that is scheduled to appear at ABA TECHSHOW at the end of March. We cover the LinkedIn app and much more in the book. However, there’s no need to wait for the book’s release to download and install the LinkedIn app.

Highly recommended.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

By Request: Will You Be Speaking at ABA TECHSHOW This Year?

2012-02-22T04:23:11Z

Note: As part of my ninth blawgiversary celebration, I’m answering reader questions. You may submit your questions by leaving a comment to this post, sending me an email (denniskennedyblog @ gmail.com) or contacting me through my social media outlets.

First up:

Will you be speaking at ABA TECHSHOW this year? What will you be speaking on?

The ABA TECHSHOW has long been the legal technology conference I enjoy the most and the one I try to go to every year.

I’m please that I was invited to speak at TECHSHOW this year, and am greatly looking forward to doing so.

My speaking agenda:

Thursday, March 29, 2:00 PM – Coffee Shop Office: The Ethics of Mobile Computing (with Sharon Nelson)

Practicing anywhere at any time is no longer just a dream. From SmartPhones, laptops, and tablets, to the use of cloud-based tools; from Wi-Fi hot spots to remote access services, wireless technology is changing the paradigm of modern legal practice. But that new freedom requires heightened security practices to meet ethical standards. Our techno-ethics experts walk through best practices for taking your office on the road.

Friday, March 30, 3:30 PM – Running Your Practice Entirely in the Cloud: From Start Up to a Large Virtual Firm (with Chad Burton)

Setting up a viable cloud-based or virtual practice requires many careful steps — there are many ethics dangers along the way. Learn how to do just that with our speakers, as they show how every aspect of the law office can be put it in the cloud regardless of firm status, i.e. start up vs. existing practice, or firm size. See specific examples of how to share documents, client information and more – all in the cloud!”

And . . . although it’s not on the schedule on the TECHSHOW website, I understand that Allison Shields and I will be hosting a “Meet the Authors” session for our new book, LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers.

I’ve been working with my excellent co-speakers and believe we have great plans for these sessions – they should be jammed with lots of great practical information.

As usual, I’ll probably spend my spare time staffing the conference concierge desk and spending time visiting with as many people as I can. Be sure to come up and say hello if you attend TECHSHOW. Do I really have to say that if you are a regular reader of this blog, you should definitely attend TECHSHOW this year? TECHSHOW registration info is here. I noticed that the early registration discount window has been kept open for a few more days.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Celebrating DennisKennedy.Blog’s Ninth Blogiversary (2012 Blawgiversary)

2012-02-18T13:53:49Z

I launched DennisKennedy.Blog on February 15, 2003, as an early birthday present to myself. My birthday is February 17.

Among other things, my blogging style is noted for a tendency to over-anthropomorphize my blog. For example, this blog has its own Twitter account (@dkennedyblog). If truth be told, most longtime bloggers do consider their blogs as separate persons, but don’t like to admit that.

That said, this blog has a tendency to make a big deal about its birthday. My birthday usually gets way overshadowed by the blawgiversary activities of my blog. And I’m OK with that.

The annual tradition at this blog is to do a week-long blawgiversary extravaganza, including special announcements for blog readers (e.g., early bird discount for ABA TECHSHOW 2012 until February 19).

I’m taking a more low-key approach this year, even though there might be a surprise or two. However, I do like to shift the focus over to the readers. So, again this year, I’m continuing my annual tradition of offering to try to answer any reader questions I get over the next week and post as many answers as I can on the blog. (If you submit a question that you want a private answer to, please tell me when you submit the question.) Answering questions harkens back to the early days of this blog when I used to do “By Request” posts on a regular basis.

You may submit your questions by leaving a comment to this post, sending me an email (denniskennedyblog @ gmail.com – yes, my blog demanded that it have its own email address) or contacting me through my social media outlets.

I went back and looked at my post on February 15, 2003. It was:

And so it begins . . .
I realized the other day that I had first written about blogs well over a year ago. In fact, the rise of blogs was one of my 2002 predictions for legal technology in my annual legal tech predictions article.
As I was working on updating my web site (http://www.denniskennedy.com), I finally decided that I had to have my own blog.
Thanks to people like Jerry Lawson, Sabrina Pacifici, and the Support Forum at MovableType.org, it’s finally here.

Looking back, I’m more surprised by how long I took to start the blog than I am by how long it has lasted. When I started the blog, I remember my feeling that the whole blogging thing had already passed me by and I was way too late to the party. That’s funny now.

A big thank you to all my readers, fellow bloggers, and all who I have gotten to know as a result of this blogging experiment.

To new readers, my blog welcomes you, as do I.

Best wishes to all for another year,

Dennis

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Recent Episodes of The Kennedy-Mighell Report Podcast

2012-02-16T02:06:25Z

I wanted to post an update on recent episodes of the Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast on the Legal talk Network.

There have been some very good episodes lately, on some great topics, and I wanted to highlight them. It’s also a good time to remind you that you can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes and receive new episodes automatically.

You don’t have to be a lawyer to listen to these podcasts. Tom and I try to cover a lot of ground that is not specific to lawyers. Episode #73 is just one good example.

I also wanted to note that the show notes site for the podcast at TKMReport.com is back to life and will give you descriptions, resources mentioned in the episodes and more.

RECENT EPISODES (#69 – #75)

#75. Search Plus Your Legal World

Google’s new “Search Plus Your World” represents a new direction in Internet search where social elements become part of our search results. Bringing our social media world into search results indicates both the growing importance of social media and the need to find new ways to get relevant results. Can we make use of what our friends and connections find on the web to get us better search results? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell take a look at Search Plus Your World, whether bringing social into search might help us, and whether this approach might work for you. Podcast here

#74. Ultrabook Benefits for Attorneys

The big story at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show was “ultrabooks.” This new category of computer stole the thunder, at least for a few days, from tablet computers. Should lawyers be considering ultrabooks in 2012? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell take a look at the new world of ultrabooks, whether tablet computers like the iPad are taking over the computer market, and what it all means for traditional notebook computers and desktop PCs. Podcast here

#73. Making Collaboration Tools Work in 2012

People are collaborating more than ever before. There are more collaboration tools and technologies than ever before. Yet, the actual adoption of collaboration tools seems to lag behind the wish to use collaboration tools. In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the gap between tools and people in collaboration, the common challenges faced when implementing collaboration tools, especially ones used by lawyers, and their best recommendations for improving the adoption of collaboration tools and technologies in 2012. Podcast here

#72. Pardon the Legal Technology Interruption 2011

What kind of year was 2011 for legal tech? What were the big developments and trends that you need to know? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell pay tribute to ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” and adopt its format for a fast-paced and fun discussion of what transpired in legal technology in 2011. Podcast here

#71. Who Moved My Social Media Cheese?

Many social media users have been surprised recently by changes to the design and user interface of the web pages and apps they have been accustomed to using with these services. These changes have been happening for quite a while, but this round of revision seems to have created a backlash from longtime users. Are these kinds of changes fair or foul? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss recent interface modifications by Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others, the response to these changes and the rollout of the changes, and the implications for users as rely more and more on cloud services. Podcast here

#70. 2012 Technology Gift Guide

‘Tis the season for gift-giving. And the season for technology gift lists. The latest technology is always a great present – especially for lawyers. In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell roll out their own technology gift guide for lawyers, give some of their favorite buying tips, and give you plenty of suggestions for your own wish list! Podcast here

#69. Will Video Kill the Lawyer Star?

Forty-eight hours of video is added to YouTube every minute. Second graders make professional-quality movies using inexpensive cameras and standard software. It’s no surprise that lawyers are tentatively beginning to think about using video in connection with their practices. In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the growing use of video by lawyers, survey the tools for creating and distributing videos, and share some observations and tips about lawyers jumping into the world of video. Podcast here

If you haven’t listened to the podcast before or haven’t listened for a while, give one or more of these a listen and then subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

Dealing With Disasters with Technology at Hand

2012-02-14T03:05:51Z

My latest tech column for the ABA Journal is called “Got Disaster? Your On-Hand Technology Can See You Through.”

This column grew out of a podcast Tom Mighell and I did called Technology in a Time of Emergency, which was, in a way, our response to the tenth anniversary of 9-11 and which also grew out of some long power outages I went through over the years and the history of how blogging and social media have played roles in major natural and other disasters. I recommend the podcast episode highly – it’s one of our favorites and it has a lot of useful information and insights.

This ABA Journal column is a short version of some of the ideas in the podcast, distilled down to a few main take-aways.

The money quote:

I don’t want to downplay the importance of data backup and disaster recovery. However, in a real disaster, our concerns are more personal, more visceral and more immediate than just our data.

The article focuses on four key areas – electricity conservation, SMS, smartphones and apps, and Twitter and social media – and gives a few ideas on ways they can help you when you face the unexpected. Although I hope you never have to use any of these ideas, it’s best to be prepared.

Check out the article here.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell.

52 Books in 52 Weeks – 2012

2012-01-30T03:43:31Z

For the last few years, I’ve enjoyed reading the posts of several bloggers who are trying to read 52 books in 52 weeks. I’ve also wanted to find a good way for me to keep track of the books I’ve read. And it gives me a good reading target to shoot for.

Last year, I read 57 books.

I’m doing the same thing in 2012. My approach is the same as last year – I’ll simply update this specific post from time to time throughout the year as I finish books. In addition, Tom Mighell has almost talked me into keeping the list in GoodReads as well.

I’ve enjoyed doing this challenge every year and hope you find the list useful. And I encourage you to take the challenge yourself.

As Bill Taylor says, “Are you learning as fast as the world is changing?” Challenging yourself to read 52 books is probably a good way to start to answer that question.

December

November

October

September

August

July

June

May

April

March

February

January

4. Duncan Crary and James Howard Kunstler, The KunstlerCast
3. Crazy River, Richard Grant
2. Shaq Uncut, Shaquille O’Neal
1. The Abyss, David Hagberg

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Now Available! The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell. Visit the companion website for the book at LawyersGuidetoCollaboration.com. Twitter: @collabtools

Setting Your Legal Tech Priorities for 2012: BYO Upgrades Exercise

2012-01-24T03:50:26Z

My latest tech column for the ABA Journal is called “BYO Upgrades: How to Set Your Priorities.”

My editor, Reg Davis, gets the credit for this topic. The premise was to imagine you have a good technology budget (we said $3,000) and assume that everything was possible in terms of technology and policy.

The idea is that this simple exercise would tell you a lot about what you want, what is important to you, and where your priorities are. Once you complete the exercise, you can do a little analysis. For example, if you wanted to spend $600 of your $3,000 on training, you might question the actual percentage of your tech budget you are spending on training.

I make some suggestions in the article, based on my perspective, but the key to this exercise is that you determine your own answers.

As I conclude, “Most of us will find a gap between what we are spending money on and what we think we want to spend on. Closing that gap is a great technology goal for 2012.”

I enjoyed writing this column and hope that you enjoy it and find it helpful. Check out the article here.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell. Visit the companion website for the book at LawyersGuidetoCollaboration.com. Twitter: @collabtools

Announcing the 2011 Blawggie Awards

2011-12-21T02:43:03Z

Welcome to the 2011 edition of Dennis Kennedy’s annual Best of Law-related Blogging Awards, affectionately known as the “Blawggies.”

The Blawggies, which honor the best law-related blogs as determined from my personal and highly-opinionated perspective, were first unleashed on an unsuspecting blogosphere in December 2004 and are an annual tradition here at DennisKennedy.Blog.

I’m very pleased that this eighth edition of the awards makes them the longest running annual awards list for law-related blogs selected by a lawyer named Dennis Kennedy living in St. Louis, Missouri – just a crazy idea that has turned into a bit of an institution in the world of law-related blogging.

I’ve included some explanatory and historical information about the Blawggies at the end of this post. As I’ve said before and explain in more detail at the end of this post, the Blawggies are not based on any popular votes, surveys or, God forbid, objective criteria. They are highly-opinionated choices made by me alone as I write this post.

Longtime readers will note that I’ve dropped a few categories from last year, in large part because of the continuing movement of bloggers away from blogging to social media and the impact that’s had on blawgs. And, in no small part, it’s because, as I describe below, because I base these awards on blawgs I actually read.

Executive Summary.

Spoiler Alert Many people do not like long blog posts such as this one. Even fewer like long introductions to long blog posts, or reading through commentary to learn the award winners. What follows is the executive summary list of winners. If you’d like to keep up the level of suspense, you’ll want to scroll quickly past the summary list. If all you really want to know is whether I mention you or your blawg, hit control-F and search for your name or your blawg’s name.

Here’s the list of the award winners. I will encourage you to read the whole post for details and the runner-up choices, and my thoughts about the blawgs.

2010 Blawggie Award Categories and Winners.

1. Best Overall Law-Related Blog – Adam Smith, Esq.
2. The “Marty Schwimmer” Best Practice-Specific Legal Blog – Ken Adams’s The Koncise Drafter
3. Best Law Practice Management Blog – Law21.ca
4. Best Legal Blog Category – Law Librarian Blogs
5. The “Kennedy-Mighell Report” Best Legal Podcast – The Unbillable Hour Podcast
6. The “Sherry Fowler” Best Writing on a Blawg Award – Tie, Tom Mighell and Allison Shields
7. Best Law Professor Blog – Tie: Paul Caron’s The TaxProf Blog and Jim Maul’s Mauled Again
8. The “DennisKennedy.Blog” Best Legal Technology Blog – Ron Friedmann’s Strategic Legal Technology

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I encourage you to keep reading this post to learn about the winning blogs (and why I felt that they were winners) and about the runners-up.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

THE 2011 BLAWGGIE AWARDS

1. Best Overall Law-Related Blog – Adam Smith, Esq.

Bruce MacEwen’s recent post pointing out that he didn’t consider Adam Smith, Esq. a “blawg,” rather an “online publication,” only cemented my decision to give Bruce (and his Adam Smith, Esq. partner, Janet Stanton) this award for 2011. While Adam Smith, Esq.’s coverage of the legal profession from an economic perspective has a depth most do not associate with blogs, I won’t debate the semantics of the term “blawg,” but I will say that I’m happy any day a post from Adam Smith, Esq. shows up in my Google Reader. I appreciate the detailed, boundary-pushing analysis of the economics of legal practice and other issues, and the sometimes surprising, but always thoughtful, insights. Always a rewarding read.

Runner-up – Jordan Furlong’s Law21.ca – Jordan Furlong covers law practice and the legal professions with insight, creativity and a willingness to challenge business-as-usual approaches. As I’ve said before, if you want to get the jump on what people will be talking about a year or two from now, you’ll want to read what Jordan is writing today.

2. The Marty Schwimmer Best Practice-Specific Blog – Ken Adams’s The Koncise Drafter

A repeat winner, legal drafting expert Ken Adams covers every aspect of improving contract drafting. If you ever find yourself in a debate over whether you need to say “indemnify AND hold harmless,” this blawg will be the resource you will want to know. A recent post delved into the use of “sole and absolute discretion.” His blog is the premier resource for transactional lawyers who draft and review contracts, and it would also be useful for litigators who need help in interpreting specific contract language. More importantly, Ken is leading the charge for clear and concise contract language.

[Note #1: This category is named for Marty Schwimmer, whose Trademark Blog, has long been my gold standard for what a practice-specific blog should be. Note #2: This category illustrates how my choices are based on blogs I actually read and my own subject matter areas, and should give you a reason to create your own awards to highlight the best blawgs in your practice areas.]

Runner-up – In House Blog – In House Blog is one of the rare group blogs that works for me. It’s a nice selection of posts of information of general interest to in house counsel, with enough helpful information to make it useful without feeling overwhelming.

3. Best Law Practice Management Blog – Jordan Furlong’s Law21.ca

I couldn’t bear the thought of giving Jordan two runner-up awards. Jordan makes you think. He questions standard law practice management approaches and challenges business as usual think. He also makes helpful recommendations. If you want to get a head-start on how law practices will be managed in the future, you’ll want to consider what Jordan is writing today.

Runner-up – Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Management Tips Blog – Jim Calloway has a voice that is perfectly tuned to solo and small firm lawyers. His common sense and practical tips and commentary also speak to a wider audience. I learn something from Jim’s posts on a regular basis. Jim is the Practice Management Advisor of the Oklahoma Bar, a popular author and speaker, and one of the most knowledgeable experts on law practice management you will ever find. Think of him as the genuinely helpful teacher you wish you could have had – now you can. I’m happy to call him a friend, too.

4. Best Legal Blog Category – Law Librarian Blogs

I use this category to highlight the blogs written by law librarians, a category that I don’t think gets enough attention. These blogs are places to find great information, help for finding information, links to great resources and just plain interesting insights into topics like knowledge management and our changing world of information. If you want to try just one, Sabrina Pacifici’s BeSpacific Blog provides a steady stream of links to great US government information. The Law Librarian Blog is a great starting place and there’s a great list of law library blogs here.

Runner-up – Non-US Law-related Blogs – I also use this category to remind people that Blawgging is a global phenomenon. There are many great United Kingdom blawgs and, as longtime readers know, I’m a huge fan of Canadian bloggers. As I’ve said before, “If you only have US blogs on your reading list, you need to go global.” Diversity is a good thing. Why not start in Canada? The annual Clawbie awards will give you a starter list.

5. The Kennedy-Mighell Report Best Legal Podcast – Rodney Dowell’s Unbillable Hour Podcast

[Disclosure: Our podcast, The Kennedy-Mighell Report, is produced by the Legal Talk Network and I’m an unabashed fan of the production team at LTN. That has no impact on my choice, but you might wish to factor that into account and it gives me another chance to remind you that these awards are my personal, opinionated choices. I used to get some criticism for giving myself awards or naming awards after me on this list (in fact, I still do), but, as I've explained before, most of the reason for that stems from my longtime experience of seeing lists I made republished without attribution or linkbacks. Adding myself to the list is a way to make sure that someone finds his or her way back to my work if the list is "repurposed."]

There are many great legal podcasts and it’s difficult to choose just one, but I’ve chosen Rodney Dowell’s Unbillable Hour podcast this year. Rodney Dowell has interviewed a series of great guests in 2011 (including me talking about listening to podcasts). I really like his interviewing style and, even when I’m not sure I’m interested in the topics, his guests are excellent and Rodney brings out some great comments from them. His enthusiasm is very apparent.

Runner-up – The Legal Talk Network Family of Podcasts – I went with my heart and chose the whole family of blogs on the Legal Talk Network, the best one-stop shop for law-related podcasts. This family of podcasts includes the “granddaddy” of legal podcasts, Lawyer to Lawyer with Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams (congratulations on hitting Episode 300 this year!), and excellent podcasts from Rodney Dowell, Monica Bay, Sharon Nelson and John Simek, and others. With consistently great production values, top-notch hosts and great topics, LTN is the place to go for legal podcasts. This award is, in part, a small way to thank LuAnn Reeb, Kate Kenney and the whole LTN team for all the great work they do.

6. The Sherry Fowler Best Writing on a Blawg Award – Tie, Tom Mighell for Inter-Alia, TKMReport.com and iPad4Lawyers; Allison Shields for the LegalEase Blog –

I’m a big fan of the pure writing ability of some of the best blawggers. I named this award after the legal blogger who had the biggest influence on my blog writing, Sherry “Scheherezade” Fowler (who hasn’t been a lawyer blogger for many years). This is my favorite of the Blawggies, my most-opinionated award, and the one I historically get most criticized for. The bottom line: I like the writing I like.

This year, I decided to single out two of my writing collaborators. Tom Mighell revamped his main blog, revitalized our podcast show notes blog and started a new blog for his iPad in One Hour for Lawyers book. Tom has such a great, seemingly-effortless style that’s very hard to duplicate. For example, he writes a daily post describing his “Blawg of the Day.” It seems so simple, but it is so hard to write these little summaries and do them on a regular basis. Just try it.

Allison Shields is co-authoring a new book with me to be called “LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers,” that will be published in the spring. I’ve always enjoyed Allison’s practical approach and conversational style. I told Allison recently that I liked the way she could take a topic and make it accessible to a novice, yet, at the same time, provide something for advanced readers and give people a thing or two to think about, all in a concise package. It’s been a pleasure to write the book with Allison and I strongly recommend her blog and email newsletter to you.

7. Best Law Professor Blog – Tie: Paul Caron’s The TaxProf Blog and Jim Maul’s Mauled Again

The Blawggies have always had a spot for the best law professor blawg and now that I’m a contributing editor to the Legal Skills Prof Blog on the great Law Professor Blog Network, I feel I’m much closer to this category than ever before. In part, it’s my little effort to bridge the great divide between practicing lawyers and law professors.

I have repeat winners here. To me, the test of a great blog is how it keeps me returning to it time after time because of its great posts when it’s outside my subject matter. Jim and Paul both do a great both of covering the tax beat, with welcome excursions into legal education, the economic crisis and other areas. Both show how to write a blog with an academic focus and a a real world impact.

Runner-up – Eric Goldman’s Technology & Marketing Law Blog – Eric’s blawg covers my own area of work – information technology law and related and intellectual property law issues with gusto, style and excellent insights, all done in a way that keeps touch with the real world. Very helpful.

8. The DennisKennedy.Blog Best Legal Technology Blog – Ron Friedmann’s Strategic Legal Technology

As I mentioned, I used to give my own blog this award every year, in part because of the attribution issue I talk about in this post and in part because I thought some of my blogging friends got a laugh out of it. They did, but others didn’t, and, instead, I started the tradition of naming the award for my blog rather than having my blog win it. I still get some criticism for that, and my friends laugh even more at that.

When it comes to my own interests in legal technology, Ron Friedmann’s blog is my go-to blog. Ron and I have similar interests in and perspectives on legal technology and he’s great at posting about issues that intrigue me, like outsourcing, strategy and bigger issues. Although the solo and small firm market is not Ron’s target audience, his blog is a good place to get a sense of trends and big-picture issues.

Runner-up – Tie, Jeff Richardson’s iPhone J.D. and Vivian Manning’s Small City Law Firm Tech – I own an iPhone and an iPad. Jeff Richardson does a great job of covering the iOS waterfront from the perspective of the practicing lawyer. Jeff gives you developments, tips, news, apps recommendations and more. Vivian provides a great stream of article annotations, links, practical tips and observations on tech. I often find good information here.

9. Biggest Blawg Disappointment of the Year

I see this as my failing, not that of the blawgosphere. I simply do not have a winner of the best new blawg category. This probably reflects the great movement away from blogging to social media by distinct individual voices, as well as the continuing emphasis on niche, practice-oriented group blogs by law firms. If you aren’t in the audience for the topic area, you likely won’t follow the blog. I’m sad that I don’t have a winner, but invite you to mention your favorite blawg started in 2011 in the comments. And I’ll make a special effort to track down some new blawgs in 2012.

And there you have it – the 2011 Blawggie Awards.

I wish I could give awards to all the blawgs (and blogs) I like, but this post is already long enough (another Blawggie tradition). Once again, I encourage you to create your own awards (although I’d prefer that you not call them Blawggies – that makes me feel that you haven’t read my blog).

When it really comes down to it, the Blawggies are really my way of saying thank you to the blawgs I enjoy most. There are times when blogging can seem like a thankless pursuit, so remember that all bloggers welcome a thank you from readers from time to time.

Some Background on the Blawggies.

The Blawggies are not based on any popular votes, surveys or, God forbid, objective criteria. They are highly-opinionated choices made by me alone, based on my experience, expertise and likes and dislikes gained from nearly nine years of blogging and from reading blogs voraciously for a good number of years before that.

The reactions to the Blawggies have traditionally run the gamut from “who does this guy think he is?” to “if he’s so smart about blawgs, why didn’t he give my blawg an award?” to “who is Dennis Kennedy?”

Seriously, though, I’ve always wanted to do three things with the Blawggie awards:

1. To highlight the law-related blogs I read and like and to say thank you to those who write them.
2. To direct my readers to the law-related blogs I enjoy.
3. To prompt others to give their own awards so I can learn about other blogs I should be reading.

From the beginning, I expected that many bloggers would pick up on the idea and write their own awards posts. After all, there is no barrier to entry for posting your own awards. I thought that I could then get great recommendations for blogs to add to my reading list from other awards posts in much the same way you can get great recommendations for new music to listen to from the “best of the year” posts by music bloggers that appear at this time of year.

As I’ve said before, “When you realize that there is no reason that you can’t simply post your own awards, you move you from merely blogging to becoming a Blogger with a capital ‘B.’”

The best response to my list is to post your own list, although I do invite your comments and discussion about my list.

The Blawggie-winning Criteria.

I like blogs with (1) consistently useful content, (2) a generous and helpful approach, and (3) a combination of commitment, personality and talent, with an emphasis on good writing. In other words, I like blogs that compel me to read them on a regular basis.

The awards necessarily reflect my many biases and personal preferences, which are far too numerous to list here.

It’s very important to remember that the awards also reflect the blawgs I actually read. While I read a lot of law-related blogs, the number of blawgs I read continues to decrease and the number of non-law-related blogs I read increases. Also, the blawgs I do read are concentrated in my areas of interest and day-to-day focus.

I’m a transactional lawyer, who focuses on information technology law, legal technology and law practice management issues. For better or worse, I’m simply not familiar with most litigation-oriented, criminal defense, regulatory or other specialized blogs. You get the idea.

A Word about the Name “Blawggies.”

Among the historic documents of law-related blogging are a series of emails in which Denise Howell (@dhowell), blogging pioneer and coiner of the term “blawg,” and I had on the question whether “Blawggies” (as well as “blawgger” and “blawgging”) should be spelled with one or two “gs”. As a result, I’m pretty confident of the correct spelling, although I’m seeing more of the single “g” approach lately.

I use the word “blawg” in the sense of “law-related blogs.” I find “lawyer blogs” or “legal blogs” to be limiting and inaccurate for what I want to cover.

All best wishes for 2012.

Dennis

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

My Infatuation with Solid State Drives

2011-12-20T03:45:53Z

My latest tech column for the ABA Journal is called “Solid State Drives Can Bring Magic to Your Computer.”

This column grew out of two things: how much I love the solid state drive in my MacBook Air (as you’ll be able to sense from the article) and a fascinating podcast with Scott Moulton on Solid State Drive Forensics. Solid state drives (SSDs) bring great benefits, but they are also at the frontier of computer forensics.

The article is meant to give an introductions and overview of SSDs and get people thinking about the role SSDs will be playing in our computing experience.

There’s some good discussion in the comments about a number of the issues SSDs raise, even though the remarkably crabby “Jojo the Magic Monkey” seems to think the article is “garbage.” That’s disappointing, of course, because I’m generally more successful with the magic monkey audience.

You’ll also see in the comments and if you do some price checking, that the article was written before flooding in Malaysia helped push the prices significantly higher than at the time I wrote the article. That’s a danger of writing on print publication schedules.

That said, I don’t think I’d buy a computer without an SSD again even at today’s higher costs – it’s made that much of a difference.

Check out the article here.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Update on 52 Books in 52 Weeks 2011

2011-12-07T04:06:13Z

For the last few years, I’ve tried to do a 52 books in 52 weeks reading program and have encouraged others to do the same.

This year, I hadn’t done a good job of updating my list and had the feeling I wasn’t going to make the target this year without a big push at the end of the year. Fortunately, between reading on my Kindle and my new trick of taking a picture of hard copy books with my iPhone, I was able to get the list up-to-date.

To my pleasant surprise, I had already reached 52 and beyond.

Here’s the updated list. Good reading to you. And a big thank you to the Webster Groves Public Library for being such a great source of books to read.

December

56. Rip Tide, Stella Rimington

November

55. Bottled Lightning: Superbatteries, Electric Cars and the New Lithium Economy, Seth Fletcher
54. Robert Ludlum’s The Ares Decision, Kyle Mills
53. The Devil’s Light, James North Patterson
52. The Big Roads, Earl Smith
51. A Letter to Mary, Laurie R. King
50. A Monstrous Regiment of Women, Laurie R. King

October

49. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, Laurie R. King
48. The Mirage Man: Bruce Ivins, the Anthrax Attacks and America’s Rush to War, David Willman
47. Pleasure Thresholds, Patricia Tallman
46. The Way Some People Die, Ross MacDonald
45. Red Alert, Peter Bryant
44. Pitch Anything, Oren Klaff

September

43. Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead, Neil Strauss
42. The Profession, Steven Pressfield
41. 59 Seconds, Richard Wiseman
40. Stories My Father Told Me, Jeffrey Lyons

August

39. Do the Work, Steven Pressfield
38. Read This Before Our Next Meeting, Al Pittampalli
37. Dethroning the King, Julie Macintosh
36. How to Live: A Life of Montaigne
35. Blood Trust, Eric Van Lustbader
34. Zombie, Spaceship, Wasteland, Patton Oswalt

July

33. Portrait of a Spy, Dan Silva
32. Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Dominion, Eric Van Lustbader
31. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell
30. Flash Foresight, Daniel Burrus

June

29. Marshall McLuhan: You Know Nothing of My Work, Douglas Coupland
28. When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead, Jerry Weintraub
27. As of This Writing, Clive James
26. Hitch 22, Christopher Hitchens
25. In the Line of Fire, Jerry Weissman
24. A World I Never Made, James Lepore

May

23. Getting More, Stuart Diamond
22. The City in Mind, James Howard Kunstler
21. The Next Decade, George Friedman
20. The Unknown Soldier, Gerald Seymour
19. The Leavenworth Case, Anna Katherine Green
18. iPad in One Hour for Lawyers, Tom Mighell

April

17. In Office Hours, Lucy Kellaway
16. Practically Radical, William Taylor
15. Gunn’s Golden Rules, Tim Gunn

March

14. Free, Chris Anderson
13. Our Kind of Traitor, John le Carre
12. Geronimo, Geronimo’s Story of His Life
11. The Secret Soldier, Alex Berensen
10. If the Dead Rise Not, Philip Kerr

February

9. Finders Keepers, Craig Childs
8. Choke, Sian Beilock
7. Monsoon, Robert Kaplan

January

6. Agents of Treachery, Otto Penzler
5. The Big Bang, Mickey Spillane
4. Interstate 69: The Unfinished History of the Last Great American Highway, Matt Dellinger
3. Zoo City, Lauren Beukes
2. Moxyland, Lauren Beukes
1. The Missing Manual: Mac OS X Snow Leopard, David Pogue

I’ve enjoyed doing this challenge every year and hope you find the list useful. And I encourage you to take the challenge yourself.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Recent Kennedy-Mighell Report Podcasts and Upcoming Audience Questions Episode

2012-02-16T01:56:47Z

It’s time for an update on recent episodes of the Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast. We’ve really liked some of the last episodes and I want to recommend them to you. We enjoy making the podcasts, working with our great producers at Legal Talk Network, seeing our monthly downloads number continue to increase, and growing our sponsor list (now up to four).

We’re trying to put together an all audience question show for one of our upcoming episodes. If you’d like to ask us a question that we might try to answer on the show, you can email us at tkmreport@gmail.com, email either Tom or me, or reach us in one of the many other ways we can be reached. Or simply leave a comment to this post with your question. Because it’s a podcast, sending us an audio with you asking your question would be great.

Also, we’re happy to report that the show notes page is back. The show notes site will give you links to the podcasts, contents of each show, and links to sites and resources mentioned on each episode.

#68. Can Software Replace Lawyers?

From IBM’s Watson to Apple’s new Siri to the growth of predictive coding in e-discovery, it’s been a heck of a year for computers catching up to humans. Lately, there’s been a lot of discussion about the question, “Can software take the place of lawyers?” Can it, or will it? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the latest software advances and the likely impact on lawyers, how lawyers might benefit from these advances, and how worried lawyers should be about competition from machines.

#67. iPads for Lawyers

iPads are making serious inroads into the work environment, even for lawyers. What role might the iPad play in the daily lives of busy legal professionals? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell are joined by special guest David Sparks, author of the new book, iPad at Work, to discuss the potential benefits of using an iPad in legal work, practical iPad tips, and how the iPad and iPad apps are changing the way lawyers use technology.

#66. Kindle en Fuego: Next Generation Tablets

Amazon has just announced a new generation of Kindle devices, including a touch version and the Kindle Fire, a low-cost tablet device. The new Kindles start at $79. Are these iPad competitors, a new category of devices or another harbinger of the Post-PC era? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss how the new Kindles might help lawyers, whether the platform is now the message, and where the tablet category might go after the death of Steve Jobs.

#65. Easy Productivity Improvements

Why are more lawyers than ever using two (or more) monitors at their desks? Others use surprisingly simple tricks to make their days more productive and their lives a little easier. Once you’ve learned some of these techniques, you often think that they are “obvious” and something you should have implemented a long time ago. In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss a few simple productivity techniques like using multiple monitors that have made a big difference for them, how those tips might benefit you, and steps you can take to make yourself much more productive than you were before you listened to this podcast.

Let me especially recommend the episode on iPads with David Sparks to anyone who owns or plans to buy an iPad. If you haven’t listened to the podcast before or haven’t listened for a while, give one or more of these a listen.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

ABA Law Firm Marketing Strategies Conference 2011

2011-11-01T02:35:22Z

Here’s a great conference for anyone interested in marketing a law firm or a law practice. The ABA Law Firm Marketing Strategies Conference 2011 will take place on November 8 & 9 in Philadelphia.

The Conference is called titled “Reputation, Referrals, Rankings,” and has a great agenda of timely topics, including:

Tuesday, November 8

Keynote #1: Lie to Me! “Emotion Management” of Your Marketing Will Invite Trust, Not Contempt
ROI: Examining the Return on Investment for Business Development Spending
The Business of You – Surviving and Thriving in Big Law
Luncheon: Effects of Rankings & Ratings on the Legal Profession
An Ethics Guide to Lawyer Marketing
The Power of Video in Lawyer Marketing
Golden Gavel Awards Ceremony and Reception

Wednesday, November 9

Keynote #2: “In Search of…Lawyers” How the Internet Has Changed Everything
Social Media: Does Your Firm Marketing Plan Need A Face Lift? (I’ll be Joining Tom Mighell and Tim Stanley on this panel)
Associate Business Development Training
Luncheon: 10×10 – 10 Topics, 10 Presenters, 10 Minutes Each. (It’s like speed dating, but better)

The best news is that there is still time to register and some seats still available. It’d be great to see you there.

For more information, see the conference website here (conference brochure).

Also, there’s also still time to register for the replay on November 3 of the very popular LinkeIn for Lawyers webinar Allison Shields, Michelle Golden and I presented in August. Details are available on the ALI-ABA website.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Replay of LinkedIn for Lawyers Webinar – November 3

2011-10-27T03:29:51Z

Allison Shields, Michelle Golden and I presented a webinar on LinkedIn for Lawyers in August. That webinar was so well-attended that on November 3 there will be a replay. The details are available on the ALI-ABA website.

Although the November session will be an audio replay of the August session, we’ll be answering questions from attendees by email after the replay. That will give attendees a great chance to get their LinkedIn questions answered, to the extent that they aren’t answered in the webinar.

I had the benefit of hearing this webinar already and can tell you that the webinar is loaded with great information and practical tips, whether you are a LinkedIn beginner or an experienced user. I learned a lot from Allison and Michelle during the webinar. I also contribute some of my insights and tips from my many years of being on LinkedIn.

Here are the details on the webinar.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Tie Down That Public Wifi

2011-10-20T02:56:25Z

My latest tech column for the ABA Journal is called “Tie Down That Wi-Fi: Security in Public Requires Vigilance.”

It’s meant to be a simple primer to improve your level of security when using a public wifi hotspot, with the emphasis on free and simple techniques. It’s not so much that people are careless with the use of public wifi, especially on Windows computers, but that they haven’t been taught the basic precautions.

This article focuses on the basic precautions – assess vulnerabilities (tools like Shields Up, apply basic protections (firewalls and malware protection), limit potential for damage (turn off file-sharing), and treat security as an evolving process (practice safety, monitor developments and try to keep improving).

In one sense, like the old “I don’t have to be faster than the bear chasing us, just faster than you” joke, you want to make yourself a less inviting target than the other people using the wifi hotspot.

If no one taught you the basics of wifi security, this article will be a helpful start. It’s probably a good refresher for many of you.

I’ve gotten some good feedback on this article from people who’ve found it helpful.

The money quote:

A few simple steps can help you be safer, but the key is to remember that good security is an ongoing process and commitment.

Check out the article here.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Congratulations to 2011 International Master Gardener Search for Excellence Award Winners

2011-10-19T03:21:42Z

When we were back in Indiana a few months ago visiting my parents, my brother, Bruce, told me about a cool project he had been working on with a group of his Master Gardener friends. He also said that the project had won a state award and might get a national award.

It turns out, the project actually won an international award – first place in the Special Needs Audience category of the 2011 International Search for Excellence Award, sponsored by The National Gardening Association and Extension Master Gardener.

The details can be found in the article, Noble County project wins Excellence award, which includes a picture of the representatives of the group that won the award, including my brother.

The project involved teaching gardening skills to minimum security prisoners. Among other things, some of the vegetables (quite a lot) were donated to a local food pantry. Bruce told me that, as a result, a number of the participants were hoping to get into gardening, landscaping or food-related careers.

As I said, it was a cool project.

Today, Bruce sent me the speech he made when accepting the award at The International Master Gardener Conference in Charleston, West Virginia last week on behalf of the Noble County Master Gardeners. He said that there were about 1,000 people in the room. He said he was nervous, but thought a great project deserved a good speech. Apparently, many people thought it was a great speech.

I did too.

Maybe you will too. Here it is:

This project was a joint effort between Chain O’ Lakes Correctional Facility superintendant Michael Cunegin, Noble County Extension Agent Hanson Young, and the Noble County Purdue Master Gardeners. We gave the inmates a 80 hour intensive training program based on our Master Gardener training with a emphasis on landscape design and installation and greenhouse production to make the guys more employable when they get out.
The guys couldn’t understand why we would take time to come in there and teach them. They would ask us every night and our answers weren’t good enough. Seems nobody had ever taken time to do something like that for these guys. Finally I told them the AA saying that says if it weren’t for the grace of God that would be me in there and if it was, I hoped somebody would do it for me. They understood that.
A ways into the classes a well-liked secretary at the facility was killed in a car wreck on the way to work one snowy morning. The guys asked us to design them a memorial garden they could plant for her. We told them they had the training now, they should do it themselves. We got them the plants that spring and they planted it.
This gave us the idea to put in a vegetable garden so they could get some hands-on training. The produce was going to supplement their meals. We had a landscaping project at the courthouse in town and were using the guys for labor. One day they helped was the day the local food pantry was open. The guys asked what were all the people standing in that line for? When they learned it was needy people waiting for food, they were seriously moved. They went to Mr. Cunegin and told him they wanted to donate their produce to the food bank if that was possible. They ended up giving over 1100 pounds of fresh produce to the food bank that summer.
I went out there two or three times a week to check on the garden and one day I asked them, why do you do this? You could be sitting under that shade tree smoking cigarettes with them other guys, making fun of you sweating in the sun and working so hard. They told me it was weird, but it makes you feel good. They had never experienced that feel good thing before. So the best thing to come out of this project was to introduce these guys to that feel good thing. Now I know how to explain why I am a Master Gardener. That feel good thing. Thank You for this award.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Speaking at St. Louis U Law School on Saturday

2011-09-30T01:44:12Z

The American Bar Association’s Law Student Division is holding what looks to be a great conference this Saturday at the St. Louis University School of Law. I got the chance to volunteer to speak – and I couldn’t resist. In these difficult economic times, I feel it’s important to do what I can to help law students. People helped me while I was in law school, and it’s always been important for me to do what I can.

Details on the event are here. It looks like registration is closed, but I’d guess they might be able to find a place for for you if ask.

The sessions look really good and address important issues for law students.

I’ll be part of a panel on practical networking in the afternoon. I see this as a Q & A session. I want to cover both social networking and regular networking. I’ll also be part of a lunch session called “Lunch with Experience” where I’ll share my observations about legal careers and answer questions.

It sounds like fun for me and I expect to learn a lot in addition to sharing some of what I know and have observed over my legal career. If you read this blog and are there, introduce yourself and say hello.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Return of Kennedy-Mighell Report Show Notes Page; New Podcasts

2011-09-27T02:05:24Z

Tom Mighell has brought the show notes page for The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast back to life at http://www.tkmreport.com. The wiki-based site we had was savaged by spammers and we decided to pull the plug on the site.

The show note site will give you links to the podcasts, contents of each show, and links to sites and resources mentioned on each episode.

I ‘ve posted from time to time about past podcast episodes too and those posts can be found in the “Podcasts” archive of this blog.

I’m a little behind on that project, so let me catch up by listing our most recent podcast episodes.

#64. Technology in a Time of Emergency

From 9/11 anniversaries to hurricanes to earthquakes to power outages and much more, recent events are causing us to consider how our new technologies impact our behavior in emergency situations. Technology, especially mobile technology like smart phones, has obvious benefits in emergencies and disasters, but our reliance on technology has raised a whole new set of issues. In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss how new technology is changing our behavior and expectations in emergencies, what lessons we have learned, practical tips people have shared, and preparation and planning lawyers and the legal profession should consider.

#63. The 2011 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey Says . . .

Solid, actionable data on what law firms are actually doing with technology can be surprisingly hard to find. In the medium and large firm space, the annual ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey provides detailed and comprehensive data about what law firms have been implementing and planning. The good news is that the 2011 Survey has just been released. In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell dig into this year’s Survey, identify some key trends and developments, and suggest what this data might mean for law firms for the next year.

#62. Presentation Tips When Time is Short

If you speak on a regular basis, you’ve undoubtedly found yourself in a situation where you have less time left than material to present. If you’ve ever been in audience where the speaker is running short on time, you’ve probably suffered as the speaker has tried to cope with (or even ignore) the problem. In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell draw from their own speaking experiences to share some of their favorite practical tips for presenting when time is running out, getting your message across without short-changing your audience, and keeping your audience, co-panelists and program organizers happy with your clock management.

#61. Blogging at the Crossroads

With social media tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+ capturing the lion’s share of attention and discussion, what is the role of blogs for the legal profession in 2011 and beyond? Does it still make sense to start up a new blog or continue an existing blog? Has blogging reached a crossroads? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell draw from their many years of blogging to talk about where blogs fit into todays’ social media world for lawyers, where blogs might be going, and whether blogs should remain as part of your web presence and communications portfolio.

#60. The Pluses and Minuses of Google+

Google’s new social networking tool, Google Plus has burst onto the tech scene like a supernova. Are you already on it and thinking about abandoning Facebook, Twitter and all previous social networking tools? Is there still time to take a deep breath and a measured response? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell talk about Google Plus – both the tool and the phenomenon, its potential impact on social networking, and whether you need to be setting up Circles and moving to Google Plus.

#59. Using Social Media for Non-Marketing

There are times when it feels like everyone is saying that all lawyers must use social media for marketing. And there are times when it seems like marketing must be the only possible use for social media. Is that really true? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell talk about what else social media can do for lawyers, and whether it’s time to open up the ways lawyers think about using social media.

There are a few of my favorite episodes in this batch. If you haven’t listened to the podcast before or haven’t listened for a while, give one or more of these a listen.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Non-Marketing Uses of Social Media for Lawyers

2011-09-21T02:29:55Z

Since Tom Mighell and I haven’t gotten much chance over the last year or so to write together, we jumped at the chance to write an article on “non-marketing” uses of social media for lawyers for the ABA’s Law Practice Today webzine. Then we realized that volunteering to write an article is far easier than finding the time to actually write it.

The result, however, is an article we really liked and one we’ve gotten some great feedback on. It’s called “Not Your Marketer’s Social Media: Ten Ways Lawyers Can Benefit from Non-Marketing Uses of Social Media.

The article grew out of our podcast called “Using Social Media for Non-Marketing” and expands on some of the ideas in the podcast and adds a few new things. The main idea is that lawyers can benefit from social media in many different ways and that the over-attention on using social media for marketing to potential clients has a limiting effect on ways that lawyers think they might use social media. The article is an attempt to “think different” about social media – in practical ways that match your own personality and approach – and to go back to the basics on social media. Then, see what evolves from uses that best fit your own approach and comfort.

We’ll also be talking about some of these ideas as part of a panel with Tim Stanley of Justia called “Social Media: Does Your Firm Marketing Plan Need A Face Lift” at the ABA Law Firm Marketing Strategies Conference 2011 on November 9 in Philadelphia. The Conference should be great and I encourage you attend (registration info here – early bird discount and chance to win iPad 2 until October 3). Please say hello if you attend our session.

Check out the new article and let us know what you think about it.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

Podcasts as Learning Tools

2011-08-30T02:00:20Z

Rodney Dowell invited me to be a guest on his Unbillable Hour podcast and the result is the new episode called “Listening to Learn – Legal Podcasts as Educational Tools.”

I always enjoy Rodney’s podcast (here’s a great sample episode with Dr. David Nowell on time management) and I enjoy talking with him (we spoke together about Open Source software for law firms at ABA TECHSHOW 2011). I think you’ll be able to tell how much Rodney and I were enjoying the conversation during this podcast.

Here’s the episode description:

Podcasts have become increasingly available and cover topics of all flavors. On The Un-Billable Hour, host Attorney Rodney Dowell, Director of the Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program and interim executive director at Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, welcomes St. Louis based legal technology writer and information technology lawyer and co-host of the Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy, to talk about how attorneys can benefit from listening to podcasts, how to find the best podcast that suits you and how attorneys can improve their podcast listening experience. And don’t forget, you can listen to many Legal Talk Network podcasts here and get CLE credit!

The past year or so has been somewhat of the year of the podcast for me. And I don’t mean just the Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast.

I mean podcast listening. I’m a big fan of podcasts. There’s a treasure trove of great podcasts out there today, available for free.

First, I talked Tom Mighell into covering the topic of podcast listening for one of our own podcasts, overcoming his initial objection that the topic was too “meta.” That podcast was called, simply enough, “A Podcast Listener’s Guide.” I elaborated a bit more on the topic here.

Second, I convinced my editor at the ABA Journal to let me write a column about the benefits of podcast listening and some of my listening tips, including my favorite tip of listening at double speed. The result called “Ear! Ear! Podcast Gains Are in the Listening, Not Creating.” I give a little more background on that column here.

This Unbillable Hour podcast with Rodney gave me another chance to share my thoughts on this topic. I invite you to check out the podcast and then to explore wide world of podcasts, both legal and nonlegal, and the way podcasts can inform and entertain. Thanks, Rodney, for giving me the chance to talk about podcasts.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

How Technology Has Changed Communication and Collaboration With Clients

2011-07-28T03:20:13Z

I’m excited to be a panelist at a CLE session the Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems of the American Bar Association will sponsor the following CLE at the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto, on August 5, 2011.

The session is titled “eAttorney, MiAttorney: How Technology Has Changed Communication and Collaboration With Clients.” It will happen on Friday, August 5 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, Room 716B, 700 Level, South Building,

Here’s the description of the session:

Whether by iPad, Facebook or JDSupra, advancing technology is rapidly affecting the attorney/client relationship. What will the future hold? Come hear perspectives from corporate counsel, a legal futurist, and an ethics expert as they discuss key trends in the new ways lawyers communicate and collaborate with clients – and each other. The panel will focus in particular on emerging ethical requirements, and provide practical suggestions for strategies to meet the challenge and promise of evolving communication media.

Here’s the panel:

Moderator: Daniel Schwartz, Hartford, Connecticut 
Panelists: Michael Downey, St. Louis, Missouri, Jordan Furlong, Ottawa, Canada , Dennis Kennedy, St. Louis, Missouri

We’ve put together a great format for the session, you should get some great information, insights and ideas from this group. I’m really looking forward to this one. I hope you get the chance to attend this one.

Learn more about the ABA Annual Meeting, including registration information and the complete program book here. �

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

The Value of Podcast Listening

2011-07-01T03:00:34Z

The ABA Journal has published my latest monthly legal technology column in its July 2011 issue. The column is titled “Ear! Ear! Podcast Gains Are in the Listening, Not Creating.” The column focuses on the benefits of listening to podcasts and how to listen to podcasts better and more effectively than you might be doing now.

I am a huge fan of the podcasting medium and I listen to a lot of podcasts. I’m always looking for ways to find great podcasts and to manage them in good ways so that I always have great podcasts to listen to all queued up on my iPod. Unfortunately, most of the articles and materials you can find about podcasts, especially for lawyers, seem to be focused on creating podcasts rather than on simply listening to them.

I decided to fill this seeming void with a practical article sharing some of my favorite podcast listening tips and making my case that podcasts can be a fantastic resource for lawyers. Read the article and see how well I did.

I talk about the different ways you can obtain and listen to podcasts and how, despite the name, an iPod is not a necessary part of the experience.

I sketch out the basic approach of using the iTunes store to find individual episodes and, more important, to subscribe to podcasts to automatically receive new episodes. I also mention the great Huffduffer website as a way to locate well-regarded podcast episodes. And I reveal my latest trick of finding podcasts or audios from seminar presentations as a way to quickly get an overview of and up to speed on a new topic.

I also advocate turning your car into a commuting education center by running podcasts through your car stereo. Best of all, I talk about the radically, yet incredibly effective, approach of listening to podcasts at double speed.

As I say in the conclusion of the column:

Podcasts are a wonderful learning medium for lawyers. The richness and value of the free content will surprise you. It’s an easy and useful way to keep up with developments in your field and topics of interest, and to make better use of your commute and other listening times.

Check out the article here. And, of course, you might just want to start out your investigation of podcast listening with the Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter ñ @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy

iCloud and Legal Technologists: New Kennedy-Mighell Report Podcasts

2011-06-30T03:02:50Z

Tom Mighell and I have recorded two more episodes of The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast since I’ve last posted about podcasts on this blog. They are now available on the Legal Talk Network and on iTunes, with an RSS feed here. Let me remind you that if you subscribe in iTunes, each new podcast episode will automatically appear in iTunes for you for easy transfer to your iPod, iPhone or iPad.

Our last two episodes:

Lawyers in the iCloud (#58)

The episode description:

We used to focus on new Windows announcements and the software we installed on our PCs. Times have changed. The recent Apple announcements about iOS 5, Lion and most important, iCloud, have captured most of the headlines. The action is increasingly happening outside Windows and outside PCs. In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell talk about the recent Apple iCloud announcement, the possible implications of iCloud, and where iCloud suggests legal technology is going.

Tom likes to do topical news stories from time to time and recent announcements from Apple about the new Mac OS called Lion, iOS 5 and the iCloud certainly seemed newsworthy. We decided to focus on iCloud for this episode, even though I have a suspicion that iOS 5 might one day be seen as the biggest story.

Although admittedly, the fact that iCloud won’t debut until this fall made our assessments a little icloudy, we jumped right in and talked about the introduction of Apple’s big cloud computing offering. We start out with the basics and took off running with our observations about the implications of iCloud and how it might point to a post-PC world. We speculate on why Apple’s approach is different from that of Google and others (think apps vs. browser and invisible vs. visible).

We also touch on some of our favorite themes – mobile platform, anytime-anywhere computing, and, most important, how personal or home technology is forcing changes in technology and technology expectations at work. It’s a fascinating conversation and one that we had no idea when we started about where it would end.

In the second segment, we take on a question Paul Kedrosky raised in his blog post titled “What wow moments have you had in technology lately?” I’m not sure our answers will be a huge surprise, but it made us (and hopefully you) reflect on technology that really did change the way we thought.

In tour Parting Shots, Tom likes Seth Godin’s Email Checklist and I recommend the collection of speaker slides from ABA TECHSHOW 2011, during which Tom gives a realtime demo of how big a help the URL-shortening service Bitly can be.

So You Want to Be a Legal Technologist (#57)

The episode summary:

Over the last few years, legal technology has become a field, even a career for some. You will often hear the term ìlegal technologistî used to describe those in this field. How does someone get started in legal technology and what does it take to be considered a legal technologist? In this episode, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the history of legal technologists, how to get started in the field, and what they wish they would have known when they started out.

Yes, the title is an illusion to a Byrds song later covered by Patti Smith.

In this episode, we discuss the idea of and the work of “legal technologists.”

People occasionally refer to Tom and I as legal technologists. We wanted to talk about what that means and the ways someone can become a legal technologist.

We start with a bit of history, invoking names like Bob Ambrogi, Ross Kodner and others. We make some distinctions between legal technologists and legal tech consultants for purposes of illustrating our points. We chart out our own paths to becoming known as legal technologists and then we offer a few thoughts about how people wanting to become a legal technologist might actually do that. We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of being known as a legal technologist.

In the second segment, we answer an audience question about Google’s new “+1″ feature. After the my disappointment with Google’s Wave and Buzz, I found myself more skeptical than Tom is about this new feature and its potential impact on search results.

We end with our Parting Shots. Tom likes social email – Rapportive, Xobni and Gmail’s new social add-on. I recommend a post on the How-to Geek blog called “7 Search Tips You Probably Don’t Know About.”

I invite you to listen to the episodes that interest you. As I said earlier, I also recommend that you subscribe to the podcast through iTunes to get new episodes as they are released (and eliminate the need to wait to find out about new podcasts until I post about recent episodes on this blog).

Let us know what you think about episodes. And try some of the other back episodes as well. Although we’re working on some technical issues (please be patient), the show notes for the podcast can be found at www.tkmreport.com.

We always welcome your questions and will try to answer them on episodes.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Follow my microblog on Twitter – @dkennedyblog. Follow me – @denniskennedy