Sui Generis-a New York Law Blog

Is cloud computing really less secure than the status quo?

2009-11-16T10:30:52-05:00

This week's Daily Record column is entitled "Is cloud computing really less secure than the status quo?"

A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

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Is cloud computing really less secure than the status quo?

Cloud computing, defined at Webopedia.com as the “sharing [of] computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications,” is a buzzword that has many lawyers up in arms.

For an even better description of cloud computing, watch this Common Craft video online at www.commoncraft.com/cloud-computing-video.

Examples of cloud computing used by many lawyers and their clients on a regular basis include Gmail and other Web-based e-mail services. Many platforms and services available to attorneys for use in their law practice that are cloud computing-based include practice management and document management software.

Cloud computing critics decry the trend of using cloud computing services in law practices. One of the main criticisms is that cloud computing may result in the loss or disclosure of confidential client data. Such concerns certainly are valid, and most certainly there are a number of issues that need to be addressed.

I would argue the security risks posed by cloud computing platforms are far less than the systems currently in place in most U.S. law offices. If the majority of law offices began using cloud computing services in their practice, client data would be far more secure than it is now.

Despite coverage in the mainstream media suggesting otherwise, the vast majority of lawyers are solo practitioners. According to a 2006 report issued by the New York State Commission to Examine Solo and Small Firm Practice, more than 83 percent of New York attorneys are solo practitioners; 14.7 percent work in offices of between two and nine attorneys, and only 1.8 percent of attorneys work in large firms with 10 or more attorneys (See www.nycourts.gov/ip/solosmallfirmpractice/index.shtml.)

In other words, nearly 95 percent of New York lawyers work in very small law offices. The vast majority of those small firms don’t have IT support on staff, and most lawyers in those firms don’t know the first thing about computers.

Undoubtedly those attorneys continue to use systems and software from the late 1990s —at least, that’s the case in many law offices I’ve visited. Their anti-virus software is antiquated and their practice management software, if they even have it, has never been updated because most attorneys are too busy practicing law to bother with that “computer stuff.” Many don’t understand the importance of updating software and the security issues created when security patches are not installed.

For the vast majority lawyers, as long as their computers are basically functional, it’s business as usual because, as we all know, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I would argue these law offices —like the vast majority throughout the country —are walking security hazards. Anyone with minimal computer skills and a passing interest in hacking into a law office’s computer system could do so in a heartbeat.

Cloud computing providers are newcomers to the legal software market. Their products aren’t perfect, but they are responding quickly to concerns raised regarding security and other issues. The cloud computing providers that offer software services host the software and data at extremely secure facilities with high levels of bank-grade encryption and update their programs automatically. The attorneys using the services no longer need to worry about these issues and are, in my opinion, in far better shape security-wise than they were before they began using cloud computing services.

Discounting the technologies by using scare tactics and rhetoric is short-sighted and harms the profession in the long run. Cloud computing technology providers are receptive to feedback and continuously adapt their products to meet critics’
legitimate concerns. While the technologies may not be perfect, they are improving rapidly and are a much better alternative to the current computing status quo at most law offices.

Does Cloud Computing Compromise Clients?

2009-11-09T11:49:55-05:00

This week's Daily Record column is entitled "Does cloud computing compromise clients?"

A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

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Does cloud computing compromise clients?

I predict that within about two to three years, lawyers in most jurisdictions will communicate and collaborate with clients using some type of an encrypted network.

A number of states, including Massachusetts and Nevada, already have passed laws or regulations requiring certain types of confidential data to be sent electronically only via encrypted communications. More laws of that nature most certainly will follow, both at the state and federal level.

In my opinion, such laws —most of which apply primarily to financial institutions —ultimately will incorporate some of the types of client information contained in attorney-client communications, in large part because of rising concerns due to recent large-scale data disclosures.

In fact, that type of data breach is one of the primary reservations expressed by lawyers when considering whether to implement cloud computing platforms in their law practice.

A recent federal court decision fanned the fire, causing many attorneys to decry the use of cloud computing and assert that doing so violated the very basic obligation to protect confidential client communications and data.

In a decision issued last week by the U.S. District Court for District of Oregon, in In re U.S., Nos. 08-9131-MC, 08-9147- MC, the government argued successfully that it need not notify the account holder regarding a warrant served on the ISP holder of the e-mail account. In reaching its decision, the court gave lip service to the concept that e-mails are entitled to Fourth Amendment protections, but then stated:

Much of the reluctance to apply traditional notions of third-party disclosure to the e-mail context seems to stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of the lack of privacy we all have in our e-mails. Some people seem to think that they are as private as letters, phone calls, or journal entries. The blunt fact is, they are not.

In comparison, however, see footnote 7 from the October Memorandum and Order issued by the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, inU.S. v. Cioffi:

One preliminary matter is not in question: The government does not dispute that Tannin has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of his personal e-mail account.” See U.S. v. Zavala, 541 F3d 562,577 (Fifth Circuit 2008) (‘[C]ell phones contain a wealth of private information, including emails, text messages, call histories, address books, and subscriber numbers. [The defendant] had a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding this information.’); U.S. v. Forrester, 512 F3d 500, 511 (Ninth Circuit 2008) (‘E-mail, like physical mail, has an outside address ‘visible’ to the third-party carriers that transmit it to its intended location, and also a package of content that the sender presumes will be read only by the intended recipient. The privacy interests in these two forms of communication are identical. The contents may deserve Fourth Amendment protection, but the address and size of the package do not.’).

Accordingly, despite the fact the dicta in the Oregon decision flies in the face of binding precedent, online commentators repeatedly raised concerns regarding the decision, asserting it was further evidence that the use of cloud computing in law practices is ill-advised.

I would assert to the contrary the Oregon dicta is further evidence that the incorporation of encrypted client communications in cloud computing may well be the primary factor that convinces attorneys to accept cloud computing services as a legitimate law practice management alternative to traditional software packages.

A number of well-established cloud computing providers already incorporate encrypted communications in their platforms. For example, VLOTech, Clio and NetDocuments allow for varying types of encrypted communication with clients. Another online legal platform, NKrypt, is devoted to providing a secure, encrypted e-mail network.

Cloud computing providers are adapting quickly to and responding to the concerns raised by lawyers. As a result, lawyers are becoming increasingly comfortable with the concept of cloud computing. In fact, according to the 2009 Am Law Tech Survey, 84 percent of responding law firms already use SaaS (Software as a Service), a form of cloud computing, in some capacity.

As cloud computing becomes more prevalent in the legal field, more lawyers will understand the importance of carefully negotiating their contracts with the services providers to ensure that, for example, they are notified if a warrant relating to their data is served.

Mark my words: Cloud computing is the wave of the future, and encrypted communication is one of the keys to putting attorney’s minds at ease regarding an emerging technology. Astute providers will incorporate encrypted communication into their platforms, and smart lawyers will learn about and use the emerging technology in their practice.

Tricks for efficient online interaction

2009-11-02T16:30:08-05:00

This week's Daily Record column is entitled "Tricks for efficient online interaction"

A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

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Tricks for efficient online interaction

Many lawyers understand the importance of networking, but let’s face it — running a law practice takes time and no one ever seems to have enough of it. In fact, the lack of time is one of the main reasons lawyers offer as an excuse to avoid online networking.

If you use the right timesaving tools, however, you will be able to streamline your online networking experience, so that the time you spend online will be more effective and efficient.

The first thing you need to do is use Firefox as your default Web browser. The tools you can add to the browser bar will make your life online much simpler.

My first add-on recommendation? Ditch Google Reader as the RSS feed reader and switch to Feedly (www.feedly.com). Feedly pulls the feeds you subscribe to using Google Reader and presents them to you in a far more user-friendly interface. Feeds appear in a magazine-like view that is much easier on the eyes and sorting through new items is simple and intuitive.

Feedly doesn’t stop there, however. It also allows blogs posts and articles appearing in your feed to be shared quickly and easily. Choose the appropriate button in the tool bar appearing at the top of each item in your feed and, with the click of a button, you can share content on Twitter or Facebook. Feedly automatically creates the body of the post and shortens the link for you. E-mail the content to a client or colleague to whom it might be of interest, add it to your delicious bookmarks or clip it to Evernote.

Feedly also has a new experiment called “Karma,” which allows tracking of the links you’ve shared on Twitter. You can see which links are most popular, how many times people have re-tweeted your links and how many times people clicked through to the content.

Finally, Feedly allows content to be shared quickly via e-mail or Twitter as pages are viewed on the Web via a mini-tool bar appearing at the very bottom left corner of each Web page.

Another favorite tool is Shareaholic (www.shareaholic.com),also a Firefox browser toolbar add-on. Like Feedly, Shareaholic automatically generates the body of each post and shortens links, allowing you to quickly share content on different Web platforms. One of the benefits of Shareaholic is the breadth of networking sites it supports, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Friendfeed, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Evernote, delicious, Diigo and Twine.

Should you decide to test the waters and begin interacting on Twitter, a number of platforms and tools are available to make your Twitter experience far more pleasant.

Three very popular desktop Twitter platforms are Tweetdeck(www.tweetdeck.com), Seesmic (www.seesmic.com) and Tweetie (www.ate bits.com/tweetie-mac). The platforms offer different features that simplify your Twitter user experience. Tweetree (www.tweet ree.com) and Tweetvisor (www.tweet visor.com) are two online Web interfaces that accomplish the same goal.

Another really useful Firefox add-on is Mr. Tweet (https://addons.mozilla.org/enUS/firefox/addon/12647), which once installed automatically provides useful information about your followers on Twitter, in turn allowing you to efficiently sort through and maintain your relationships there.

Microsoft Outlook users should be aware of Twinbox (www.techhit.com/TwInbox/twitter_plugin_outlook.html), an add-in that seamlessly integrates Twitter and Outlook, making it easy for you to manage a Twitter account directly from Outlook.

Twitter applications can be used on your smartphone to keep up with the conversation stream. Popular iPhone Twitter applications include Tweetie (www.tweetie.com), Tweetdeck (www.tweetdeck.com) and Twitterific (www.twitterific.com).

Arguably, the most popular BlackBerry applicationis Twitterberry (www.twitter berry.com). Other Black-Berry applications to consider are Twibble (www.twibble.com) and Tiny Tweeter (www.tinytweeter.com). If the Palm Pre is your smart phone of choice, Tweed (http://tweed.pivotallabs.com/) is a good Twitter application to consider.

Finally, Social Mention (www.socialmention.com) is a great, free resource that allows real-time searches of online social networking sites for mentions of you, your business, your competitors, key words relevant to an area of practice or other topics. Search results can be filtered to locate mentions from certain types of sites, such as Twitter, blogs, or video sites such as YouTube. Search results also provide interesting data about the results, including whether the sentiment expressed is positive or negative.

Online networking does not need to be an overwhelming experience. With the proper tools, online interactions can be made more efficient, and more streamlined than you ever dreamed possible. Put these tools to use and make online networking work for your law practice.

Real-time Web a Game Changer

2009-10-27T12:54:17-04:00

This week's Daily Record column is entitled "Real-time Web a Game Changer."

A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

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Real-time Web a Game Changer

You’ll have to forgive me for having online technologies, including social media, on my mind a lot lately.

I’ve been speaking about social media for lawyers quite a bit in recent months and am now enmeshed in the process of writing a book with Carolyn Elefant about social media for lawyers, which will be published by the American Bar Association.

As a result, I’ve spent a good deal of time mulling over how the rapidly changing world of online technology will affect the legal profession. The technologies are evolving at a rapid pace and changing the world around us on a global scale.

Rest assured, our profession is not immune to the paradigm shift. Social media, cloud computing, mobile computing, real-time Web and real-time search are some of the core areas predicted to be game changers over the coming year.

Lawyers cannot afford to ignore the trends and should, at the very least, make an effort to learn and understand the concepts.

Two major developments were announced last week that will make one of the predicted game changing trends —real-time Web and real-time search —a more viable reality. Twitter announced agreements with Bing (Microsoft’s search engine) and Google to allow both engines full access to its data, as produced in real time.

Microsoft also negotiated an agreement with Facebook that will allow Bing access to some of Facebook’s data.

Of course, some of you are probably wondering: What is the real-time Web, and why should I care? Good question.

In July, Wikipedia described the real-time Web as:

[T]he concept of searching for and finding information online as it is produced. Advancements in web search technology coupled with growing use of social media enable online activities to be queried as they occur. A traditional web search crawls and indexes web pages periodically, returning results based on relevance to the search query. The real time web delivers the most popular topics recently discussed or posted by users. The content is often “soft” in that it is based on the social web —people’s opinions, attitudes, thoughts and interests —as opposed to hard news or facts.

Now in its infancy, the real-time Web soon will be commonplace, and will allow instantaneous access to information on any topic or event, as soon as that information becomes available, and as the event is occurring.

At first glance, that may not seem to be an earth-shattering concept, but it is a paradigm shift worthy of note. Lawyers should sit up and take notice.

User-generated content, the fundamental building block of the “social Web,” now is more influential, and instantaneously is given more credence as a
result of appearing in search engine results as soon as it is created.

Criticisms of legal employers or law schools appearing on Twitter have become infinitely more powerful.

Small businesses, including law firms, that use Twitter or Facebook as part of their marketing efforts online can strategically tweak their marketing approach on those platforms to mirror trends and topics affecting their business, and thereby appear higher in search engine results.

Astute lawyers likewise will use real-time search to locate issues and trends that may affect their areas of practice, then tailor their marketing and litigation
efforts accordingly. Class action attorneys, for instance, can search for real-time complaints about a particular drug or product and predict when or where a class of injured people may exist long before their technologically deficient colleagues get wind of it.

Make no mistake about it —real-time search finally is here, and it’s going to alter the way that business is done. It’s a game changer, folks.

At the very least, learn about it and understand its ramifications. If you’re feeling especially daring, put it to work for your law practice. It can never hurt to stay ahead of the curve, especially when most of your competitors don’t even realize the curve exists.

Who are you, Nicole Black (aka @nikiblack), and what do you do?

2009-10-25T12:22:04-04:00

Some of you may wonder just that--who is Nicole Black? However, more likely than not, most of you probably don't care. I realize that--and answering that question really isn't my goal here, so please excuse what appears to be extreme navel gazing.

The primary purpose of this post is to clarify, for search engine purposes, who I am, what I do and why.

This is my strongest domain name in terms of SEO which is why I'm posting this here. I'll be linking to it on my other blogs and if you have a blog, I would be ever so grateful if you would link to it as well (even if it consists of just a single word in an unrelated post that links back to this post-I'm just hoping for inbound links).

That will help push this post up in search engine rankings so that when people search for my name or my Twitter ID this is where they'll end up and they'll be sure receive accurate, truthful information about me.

I am 39 years old, have been married for 11 years and have 2 children. I have lived in Rochester, NY for most of my adult life.

I graduated from Albany Law School in 1995 and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1996.

I interned in the Monroe County Public Defender's Office appeals bureau from 1995-1996. During that time, I accomplished one of the most significant wins of my legal career: I was successful in overturning a murder conviction in the matter of People v. Sierra, 231 A.D.2d 907, 647 N.Y.S.2d 891 (4th Dep't 1996).

Shortly after I argued that appeal, I was hired as an Assistant Public Defender and worked there for nearly 4 years, handling over 3000 criminal cases during that time frame. I conducted countless hearings and trials, including a number of jury trials.

In 1999 I left the Public Defender's Office and was hired as an associate at Trevett, Cristo, Salzer & Andolina. I continued to handle criminal defense matters. I handled assigned counsel matters, my own retained criminal defense matters and worked with some of the partners at the firm--widely held to be some of the best criminal defense attorneys in town--on their cases. I also handled all types of civil litigation matters, ranging from personal injury litigation (plaintiff and defense), commercial litigation and built up my own employment discrimination book of practice.

In 2002 my first child was born. Later that year, I was told that I was on partnership track and would likely make partner the following year. My internal reaction to the knowledge--dread--caused me to take a deep look inward. I realized that I wasn't happy. I knew that I wasn't where I wanted to be in life and if I stayed on that track, I'd most likely be stuck for good.

I loved the firm and the people in it. That's not what was making me unhappy. I wasn't sure what was, but I knew that I felt like a part of me was dying--and I needed a change.

So, I took a self imposed hiatus from the law in 2003 and had my second child. I returned to the law in 2005, opening up shop as a contract attorney and started my first blog--this blog.

From there, things fell into place for me. As I blogged, business found me. Lawyers hired me to do work for them, and at the same time, writing and speaking opportunities were offered to me.

I began to write a weekly column for the Daily Record and was offered the opportunity to co-author the West Thomson treatise Criminal Law in New York.

And, in early 2007, Ed Fiandach approached me to do work for his office, a well-recognized DWI defense firm. After I'd handled a few projects for him, he asked if I would consider becoming of counsel with the firm and handle appeals (including appellate arguments) and memos to the court for their office.

I happily agreed, with the understanding that I could continue my writing and blogging. I wanted to be able to continue to express myself without reservation.

Ed agreed and also advised me that if I ever wanted to make court appearances, including hearings and trials, that option was available to me as well. I declined, since I knew that if I did so, I would lose the flexibility for which I had worked so hard.

I continue to handle projects for the firm. The demand for my assistance with projects varies to this day, depending on any number of factors: the economy, demand within the office, the number of appeals filed by the DA's office, and my own schedule. Just last month I declined a few projects due to a number of writing deadlines that I was facing.

While criminal defense has always been one of my primary passions, I've found another since re-entering the legal field in 2005: a fascination with the intersection of law and technology.

I regularly write, blog and speak about this topic. Earlier this year, I founded lawtechTalk, which is the vehicle through which I seek to empower and encourage lawyers to accept change and technological advancement by bringing them the most up-to-date information through personal consultations, speaking engagements, and online presentations.

I continue to speak regularly about the intersection of law and technology and am in the process of writing a book about social media for lawyers, which I am fortunate to be co-authoring with Carolyn Elefant.

I find the balance between my various endeavors to be perfect. I no longer experience a sense of dread when I think about where my professional career is leading me. I feel passion every day for the issues that occupy my thoughts as a result of my chosen career path.

As I re-read the previous paragraph, I realize just how lucky I am. Each day is an adventure--and one that I welcome. You can't get much better than that now, can you?

Law Schools Failing Their Clientele

2009-10-20T12:55:18-04:00

This week's Daily Record column is entitled "Law schools failing their clientele."

A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

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Law schools failing their clientele

Law schools need an attitude adjustment. Their current educational platform is a near total failure and provides graduates with little, if any, practical knowledge.

The current system teaches students how to “think like lawyers,” but essentially ignores the obligation to teach them how to actually practice law. It is rooted in an archaic mindset that looks backward rather than forward.

Most law schools’ curricula tend to ignore the realities of the business world and discourage students from using emerging technologies. Surprisingly, the incorporation and acceptance of emerging technologies, including social media, actually is discouraged in many cases.

As law schools rest on their laurels, relying on antiquated teaching techniques that do little to prepare students for the realities of law practice, the profession as a
whole suffers.

In recent months, I’ve had many discussions with law students and recent graduates about this issue.

Inevitably, whenever I speak with recent law school graduates they express a nearly universal feeling of being completely unprepared to practice law.

Many express consternation with their plight. Even attorneys who have been practicing law for a number of years as associates feel unprepared to venture out on their own.

One associate in a firm who has been practicing law for more than two years, had aspirations to start his own criminal defense practice, but indicated he felt he lacked the experience to do so.

His reluctance and anxiety are particularly disturbing given that,according to a recent study, nearly 80 percent of lawyers either are solos or practice in small firms. Most law schools ignore that reality and prepare students for the miniscule possibility they will spend their careers toiling away in Big Law.

As a result, future lawyers and practicing lawyers are virtually unanimous in their criticism of the current curricula and the teaching methods used.

When I asked my followers on Twitter for their opinions on theissue, most said they believe law schools simply are failing to prepare students for the realities of law practice.

RWSJR: “Most of the people I know who went to law school in the early ‘90s no longer, or have never, practiced law. Expectations not managed.” —Ralph Smithers Jr., insurance professional and husband of a criminal defense attorney

SMungmung: “The Socratic system is not effective; shift of teaching strategies = right direction but still remains theoretical. Need more clinics!” —New York attorney

Jenslegalpad: “More practical classes. ... Sure we’re all smart enough to figure it out on our own, but after $90K in tuition, should we have to?” —Jennifer H. Bernstrein, New York

Shawnjroberts: “Law schools need to have required internships like med schools, to guarantee practical experience.” —Shawn J. Roberts, Oklahoma attorney

BabFab: “Project Management! Running a big litigation is all about PM. Law schools need to teach these skills.” —New York

DisabilityGuy: “I was told by new law students that using computers to take notes was strongly discouraged during orientation.” (Widener Law School) —Stephen Butler, Delaware attorney

“The job search process…is focused on the top 5 percent of the class. Few schools do a good job of catering to the rest of the class. … [T]here are almost zero resources in the schools to help [students who want to start their own practices].” — Bobbi-Sue Doyle-Hazard, Massachusetts attorney

Overall, the consensus is that the current system is broken. Until law schools drastically revise current curricula and their attitude toward change, the legal profession will suffer. Law schools need to radically alter the current philosophy in order to serve the needs of their clientele —the future leaders of our profession.

The failure to do so will be felt for years to come.

Still more social media for lawyers: Participate!

2009-10-06T09:47:21-04:00

This week's Daily Record column is entitled "Still more social media for lawyers: Participate!"

A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

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Still more social media for lawyers: Participate!

My thoughts continue to be focused on social media because of two upcoming speaking engagements on lawyers and social media.

The first is sponsored by Gotham Media Ventures, to be held Thursday in New York City. I’ll also be speaking Oct. 16 in Los Angeles at the American Bar Association’s Solo and Small Firm conference.

One important concept I intend to stress to attendees at both conferences is that engaging in focused online participation and interaction is the best way to amplify
and reap the benefits from an online presence.

It’s not difficult to do, as long as you’ve followed the advice from my two previous columns in this series:

Establish a basic online presence and identify the online platforms with which you are most comfortable participating. The final step is to dive in and interact.

Learn and interact, exchange information and network and share your content, including blog posts, recent achievements and media mentions.

Of course, an individual’s level of participation and interaction vary from one platform to next The key to effective participation is to be genuine, transparent, and to provide useful, relevant information no matter what the context.

Interact and converse, rather than merely broadcast and boast. Don’t be afraid to share personal interests occasionally alongside professional ones. Doing so humanizes you and makes you appear more approachable to potential clients and other attorneys.

Attorneys with a law blog should respond to people who comment on posts. Post comments to other law blogs, leave links to your blog when inputting your name and contact information.

Link to other law bloggers’ posts, discuss the points raised and offer your take on the issue.

Engage in a conversation with other bloggers. You’ll make new connections, increase the number of incoming links to your blog —important for search engine optimization —and, perhaps, you might even learn something new.

If online forums are your platform of choice —groups on Facebook, LinkedIn, or online legal communities Lawlink (lawlink.com), Martindale-Hubbell’s “Connected” (martindale.com/connected) and the ABA’s legal network, “Legally Minded” (legallyminded.com) —be sure to check in a few times each week

When visiting a forum, reply to posts from other attorneys if you’re able to offer useful commentary or information. Start new discussions relating to your areas of practice by asking for input regarding a change in the law, soliciting advice as to the procedures in a particular court or jurisdiction or asking participants for opinions on how to handle a particularly thorny procedural
issue.

By participating in online legal forums, you’ll gain useful information, increase your reach online and network with new colleagues.

Users also can engage in conversations with colleagues using the status update feature on Facebook and LinkedIn. Post your firm’s most recent blog posts to your accounts on those sites, post occasional updates about your professional activities and accomplishments, link to interesting news stories relevant to your areas of practice and comment on your colleagues’ recent activities. By doing so, you’ll provide colleagues and friends with useful and relevant information, engage with them, maintain professional and personal relationships and promote your practice and accomplishments.

Finally, if Twitter is your online platform of choice, follow my 50-30-10-10 rule. 50 percent of “tweets” should provide followers with links to articles, blog posts and other online content you think might be of interest; the percentage includes “re-tweets,” or re-posts of tweets from other users, of relevant content; 30 percent should be replies to other users’ tweets —in other words, engage in conversations with others 20 percent of the time; 10 percent of tweets should consist of self-promotion, including your firm’s blog posts and information about professional
activities and accomplishments;

Tweet about your personal interests and hobbies about 10 percent of the time. Doing so, again, will do much to humanize you, make you more interesting to your followers and allow you to connect with non-legal users who share similar interests.

That segment of your audience should not be ignored —they are your potential clients or referrers, with whom we all know it’s always a good idea to connect.

In summary, an effective online presence revolves around visibility, relevancy, personality and engagement. Find the forums with which you are most comfortable and put these principles to work. You’ll find it well worth your time and effort.

Creating an effective online presence for lawyers, Part 2

2009-09-29T09:27:17-04:00

This week's Daily Record column is entitled "Creating an effective online presence for lawyers, Part 2."

A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

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Creating an effective online presence for lawyers, Part 2

Last week I spoke at an Incisive Media conference in New York City, “Social Media Risks and Rewards.”

It was an extremely interesting conference, attended primarily by general counsel of large corporations. The topics discussed varied, but focused on the use of social media to promote brand names and products, and the legal issues encountered when doing so.

As I listened to the speakers discuss large-scale social media campaigns, it occurred to me that using social media to promote a law practice is fundamentally different from promoting goods, online products or Web sites.

Lawyers seek to promote their professional services and increase the strength of their online presence whereas the underlying goal for most product promotions is to gain a large scale following of evangelists who will spread the word organically about your product. Lawyers, accordingly, need to approach social media with specific goals in mind.

The first step to creating an effective presence online is to set up profiles at online directories and social media platforms, as I explained in last week’s column.

The next step is to determine your goals, so that you may participate in social media in a targeted, efficient manner.

Blogs are one of the best ways to target your efforts, as long as you enjoy the process of writing. Blogs can showcase an attorney’s expertise and increase his or her rankings in search engine results.

Search engines seek out and rank higher Web pages that provide relevant content and are linked frequently to by other Web sites, and updated regularly. Blogs satisfy all of those requirements.

Naturally the writer would use relevant key words when focusing on subjects relevant to his or her areas of practice, recent events, news items and posts from other blogs or cases. When the blog is linked to other bloggers’ content, those bloggers likely will return the favor.

A blog can be set up rather easily through the use of services such as Typepad.com or Wordpress.com, but assistance from a company that sets up and designs legal blogs, such as G2webmedia.com or Lexblog.com, also can be sought. Blog posts
can be publicized on the attorney’s other social media platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Those who aren’t comfortable with the idea of blogging can still participate in social media by using online legal forums to expand a professional network and/or obtain information relevant to specific areas of practice. A large variety of practice area groups are active on both Facebook and LinkedIn.

Another option is to join online networking sites devoted to the legal field, such as Lawlink (lawlink.com), Martindale-Hubbell’s “Connected”(martindale.com/connected) and the American Bar Association’s legal network, “Legally Minded” (legallyminded.com).

An online presence can be expanded by distributing content and showcasing work product by uploading documents to JDSupra.com. Filings, decisions, articles, newsletters, blog entries, presentations and media coverage all can be uploaded.

After that, JDSupra makes it easy to distribute the content to any profiles you’ve already set up on LinkedIn, Facebook and, if applicable, Twitter.

Twitter can be a useful social media platform for some attorneys, depending on their goals. For those with a national client base, Twitter is ideal. If your potential client base is local and you live in a large metropolitan area, Twitter also may work for you.

Twitter is a great place to increase a professional network and obtain cutting-edge information relevant to a law practice or other areas of interest. Attorneys on Twitter can interact with other attorneys worldwide, CEOs of major companies, innovators and thought leaders in all professions, as well as editors and journalists for major publications.

The key to Twitter success —or success with any other social media platform —is to set aside a small block of time each day to participate. When you do interact, be genuine, honest, kind and generous. Don’t be afraid to share your personal interests, such as sports, food and wine or any other hobbies. Doing so makes you more personable and approachable.

It’s not difficult to create an effective online presence for a law practice. Although an attorney’s strategies may differ from those used to promote national brands or products, targeted social media interaction can be a very effective way to network and promote a practice.

I'll be in New York City on 10/8

2009-09-28T22:57:27-04:00

On Thursday, October 8th, 2009 I'm going to be speaking at the "Social Media for Lawyers I" conference which is being held at New York Law School from 8-11 a.m. I'm also arranging a meetup that evening at 7--see below for details.

This conference offers a unique and highly targeted look at social media. A panel of legal experts who have become leaders in the social media arena will offer hands on sessions as well as leading sessions on the inherent risks, limitations and potential vulnerabilities and liabilities of these social media tools.

I'll be speaking on this panel with Lisa Solomon: "6 Things Lawyers Need to Know About Social Media.

As a speaker, I've been authorized to offer my readers a 25% discount using this code: 20OAGEIA .

You can register for the conference here. Remember to use the discount code!

I'm also organizing a NYC legal professionals meetup on Oct 8, 2009, location to be determined by a native New Yorker, but it will be somewhere near the law school.

If you're on Twitter, you can RSVP for the meetup here or simply leave me a note in the comments and I'll be sure to keep you in the loop.

Creating an Effective Online Presence for Lawyers, Part 1

2009-09-23T09:57:13-04:00

This week's Daily Record column is entitled "Creating an effective online presence for lawyers, Part 1."

A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

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I’m going to be speaking about lawyers and social media at a number of conferences over the next few months in Rochester, New York City and Los Angeles.

For that reason, this topic has been on my mind recently. From past speaking engagements, I’ve learned lawyers are becoming increasingly curious about social media, but know very little about it. Most law firms understand the importance of having an online presence, but are wary of “social networking” and, as a result, have only a static Web page for their law firm.

I want to share how a firm can expand its online presence by using free Web directories and networking sites. Next week I plan to tackle how to determine whether it makes sense for a firm’s attorneys to participate in social and professional networking sites and forums, and which ones will help to achieve specific goals.

Lawyers with a static Web site as their online presence are missing out. In just a few hours they could easily increase their reach online by taking advantage of many effective and free online resources, directories and social and professional networks.

The first step is to create profiles for every lawyer in the firm at a number of leading, free online lawyer directories.

The profiles simply are online resumes. By creating online profiles, a firm can piggyback on the larger Web site’s SEO (search engine optimization), and thereby appear higher in search engine results, all at no cost to the firm.

The three most prominent directories are Avvo (http://www.avvo.com), the Justia and Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School legal directory (https://lawyers.justia.com/signup and Findlaw’s attorney directory (http://flcas.find law.com/rpu).

I regularly receive client inquiries as a result of having an attorney profile on those Web sites. It’s free to create a profile and only takes a few minutes to do so. Every lawyer at the firm should be listed at those sites.

Firms also should encourage every lawyer to create and maintain profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn. Facebook is a global social networking site that allows anyone to join. Individual lawyers can connect with people they know, including those with whom they have lost contact. In other words, after creating a simple profile in a matter of minutes, a lawyer can connect with everyone from his or her past, including former classmates, long lost relatives —you name it. The platform also is quite good at locating people whom you might know based on the people with whom you already have a connection.

Why is that a good thing for lawyers? Because they have a long lost network that spans the globe! People who know you but have lost track of you over time now will
know you’re an attorney. You will receive messages from old friends and from relatives seeking legal counsel — either for themselves or on behalf of a friend in your town.

Breathing life into those lost connections is priceless, and Facebook is a unique platform that makes it possible. Do not pass up the opportunity.

All lawyers in the firm also should have a LinkedIn profile, simply an online resume that takes only a few minutes to create. The platform then assists in locating professional contacts

Even if nothing else is done with this platform, a LinkedIn profile is a worthwhile addition to a firm’s online presence. Each attorney’s profile appears near the top of search engine results because of LinkedIn’s excellent SEO.

There are several networking aspects to Facebook, LinkedIn and other online platforms, if that is deemed a worthwhile use of time.

Next week I’ll share how to determine just what types of online participation will be most beneficial to achieving goals set for you and your law firm.

Live and Let Live.

2009-09-15T08:15:41-04:00

This week's Daily Record column is entitled "Live and let live."

A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

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Live and let live

“You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!”

–FROM HOTEL CALIFORNIA BY THE EAGLES

For the most part, lawyers are not a happy bunch.

Our profession’s depression rates are amongst the highest, as are our rates of drug and alcohol abuse.

The practice of law can be a thankless job, the hours are long, and attorneys are subject to arbitrary, unpredictable court schedules and judge’s whims.

Clients, the very heart of our business and without whom we would have no income, can make our job all the more frustrating. In many cases, however, the high frustration levels are not the fault of our clients, rather they arise out of the circumstances that lead those clients to retain us in the first place.

One of my favorite lawyer jokes highlights the phenomenon:

George and Harry set out in a hot air balloon, soon realizing they were lost.

“We had better lose some altitude Harry so we can see exactly where we are.”

Harry lets some hot air out of the balloon, and it begins to slowly descend below the cloud cover.

He yells down to a stranger on the ground, “Hey, Mister can you tell us where we are?”

“You’re in a balloon about 100 feet up in the air,” came the reply.

“You must be a lawyer,” replied George. “The advice you just gave us is 100 percent accurate and totally useless!”

“You must be a client,” the man on the ground yelled back, “You don’t know where you are, you got into your predicament through a lack of planning, which could have been avoided by asking for help before you acted and you expect me to provide an instant remedy. You’re in the exact same position you were in before we met, but somehow it’s now my fault.”

The moral of the story? It’s not easy being a lawyer.

For that reason, a number of lawyers, when learning of my intent to attend law school after college, advised me not to do it, citing many of the reasons I discussed above.

Interestingly, many of those very same lawyers were quite vocal in their condemnation of my decision to take a hiatus from the legal field after having my first child.

At the time, I was disillusioned with my career choice, overwhelmed with work/life balance issues and ready for a change. A brief hiatus seemed like the perfect opportunity to clear my head and find a new career path.

I was surprised at the vehement disagreement other attorneys expressed regarding my decision. It was as though my personal decision was an act of betrayal. I chose to be inducted into this suicide-pact and leaving it was not an acceptable choice.

My subsequent return to the practice of law on a less-than-full-time basis, and my decision to write and consult about legal technology issues, also met with derision, albeit this time from lawyers online whom I’ve not yet had the pleasure to meet in person.

For some strange reason I cannot quite comprehend, my personal and career choices somehow have disrupted the force and resulted in unrelenting scrutiny.

I knowingly turned my back on the unhappy fraternity we call the legal profession and defied the norm by returning to the legal field in a non-traditional manner.

Now, I realize other attorneys’ criticism of my choices is inevitable.

I reluctantly accept the phenomenon. It’s the unfortunate price I must pay for forging my own path to happiness.

lawtechTalk Episode #5-Cloud Computing and Your Law Practice

2009-09-11T13:46:43-04:00

The fifth episode of lawtechTalk is now available.

This presentation will focus on three different types of online legal technologies. In it I'll discuss the concept of "cloud computing" and explore the main features of each to help you figure out which will best meet your law firm's needs.

This episode is a little over one hour long and is sponsored by the three companies featured in the screencast: VLOTech (a virtual law office platform), NKrypt (offers a secure, encrypted email network), and NetDocuments (online document management) and for a limited time, is available at no cost.

As a reader of my blog, you can simply click here to access this episode, instead of contacting me for information regarding how to access it.

Brief hiatus

2009-09-07T22:37:38-04:00

I'll be taking a hiatus for the next week while I catch up now that the kids are heading back to school. See you next week!

Promote Legal Conferences With Social Media

2009-09-01T10:52:48-04:00

This week's Daily Record column is entitled "Promote Legal Conferences With Social Media."

A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

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Promote Legal Conferences With Social Media

Attendance has been down this year for many legal conferences, in large part due to budget cuts at law firms due to the economic recession.

Legal conference planners need not despair: Individual lawyers can be convinced to cough up their own money to attend upcoming conferences. That can be accomplished by thinking outside of the box, and delivering highly-targeted, effective promotions directly to lawyers through non-traditional media.

Specifically, conference organizers must utilize social media to reach lawyers. Many have started to do so by using their organization’s social media presence.

The strategy is not particularly effective, however, since attorneys who are following an organization likely are already planning to attend the conference. You are preaching to the choir when you disseminate information about the conference to those attorneys.

A more forward-thinking approach that will pay off in the long-run —both for this year’s conference and for future years’ events —is to set aside a small portion of your advertising budget to engage the promotional services of a handful of legal professionals with a strong online presence and following.

Just offering such an influential group a free pass to the conference isn’t enough to convince them to attend.

A few legal organizations have taken that approach over the last year, and met with minimal success.

The vast majority of legal influencers online already have free access to many conferences, either because they’re speaking or are eligible for press passes as a result of their online, and offline, reporting. To ensure this group’s attendance at, and promotion of, your conference, you need to offer to pay for, at the very least, their transportation and hotel expenses.

In return, you can expect them to promote the conference in the weeks preceding it, cover the conference via their blogs and Twitter, and publish articles and blog posts about the conference after it ends.

The benefit of engaging the promotional services of this group of online leaders is priceless: They already have large followings in the legal community because people find them to be interesting and thought-provoking. Many are influencers in the legal
field and people read their tweets, blogs, articles and books for the latest, cutting edge assessment of legal issues and trends.

Their followers listen to them, respect them, like them and, most importantly, are receptive to them.

When lawyers with a strong online presence promote and attend a conference, their followers are more likely to attend the same conference and also will help to spread the word about the conference. You should request that the handful of lawyers you’ve retained for this purpose promote the conference in tandem, months ahead of the conference, thereby reaching an even larger audience of potential attendees.

The online buzz that can be created by online legal influencers is unparalleled, especially if you ensure that a few of the people whom you retain have a strong Twitter following in the legal community. (A list of can be found at http://legalbirds.justia.com/birds/all/all/cc/list).

Their tweets about the conference will be re-tweeted multiple times, increasing the likelihood that the conference hashtag will become a trending topic on Twitter.

As any good conference organizer also knows, legal conferences are about more than just learning. Attendees also expect to network with their peers, and have fun.

Lawyers with strong online followings facilitate the social aspect of conferences in ways never possible before social media became popular.

They can create buzz by organizing after-hours events via social media. Such gatherings allow people who have followed the online influencers the opportunity to get to know them better, and to interact with other attendees with similar interests. Such events tend to have large turnouts and continue on well into the evening. Social barriers are overcome quickly due to people’s familiarity with one another through social media, and a good time, always, is had by all.

The bottom line? If you’re able to secure the attendance of a handful of online legal influencers at your conference, you will reap the benefits many times over.

Make your conference the place to be. Be creative, mix things up a little and use social media to your advantage. If you do it correctly, your conference will be the one no one will want to miss.

The New York Legal News Round Up

2009-08-26T21:47:22-04:00

It's time for the round up of New York law-related news headlines:

End eminent domain abuse: N.Y.'s highest court should rule against Bruce Ratner (NY Daily News)

The model, the blogger and the Web giant (The Globe and Mail)

The "Analyzer" pleads guilty in New York (The Jerusalem Post)

One Tree Hill Actor Pleaded Guilty in federal court (WECT)

Refusing to Grant Standing, Judge Rebuffs Challenge to Overseas Wiretapping Law (Law.com)