U.S. banks may still face legal claims after settlement
While the agreement among 49 states and the nation’s five largest mortgage lenders settles a number of civil violations, it doesn’t prevent state and federal authorities from filing criminal actions.

Ex-Cravath associate gets 3-year suspension
The First Department said Michael Zulandt engaged in a “calculated pattern of cruelty” and found he violated state attorney-ethics rules in connection with the assault of his girlfriend.

Senate panel approves bill to televise high court
Justices have long opposed TV cameras in their courtroom, saying they would be disruptive. But backers say such coverage would help provide public scrutiny.

Lehman sues Citigroup to recoup $2.5 bln transfers
The bank says Citi wrongfully kept money given in a “swap agreement” just before Lehman’s historic 2008 collapse.

Judge faults N.Y. lawmakers, adopts new primary calendar
U.S. judge Gary Sharpe criticized the state for disenfranchising overseas military voters and blaming what could be a hectic election year on the state’s political inertia.

U.S. banks agree to $25 bln mortgage settlement
The deal seals more than a year of negotiations after evidence emerged that banks robosigned thousands of foreclosure documents without properly reviewing paperwork.

For more legal news, check out Thomson Reuters News & Insight.

We’ve got a very dynamic episode for you this month, one of the highlights being an interview with Tim Gorry, a partner at Eisner Kahan & Gorry, about entertainment litigation in 2011 and what’s coming in 2012.

Our “In the News” segment features a story from Thomson Reuters News & Insight about the recent Italian cruise ship disaster, and why victims are having trouble filing lawsuits.

We also have our “On the Blawgs” segment, with a particularly informative piece from the 3 Geeks and a Law Blog about LinkedIn and how best to use it to market yourself.

In our “Chaos in the Courts” segment, we feature a strange story about one teacher who went a little too far to get some paid time off work.

You can listen to the episode now by clicking the Play button on the built-in player below, or listen later.

We’re also on iTunes (just enter “Legal Current” in the search box).

If you have a suggestion for a future interview or episode theme, just leave a comment on this blog post or send an email to contact@legalcurrent.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at @legalcurrent.

Show notes for February 2012:

0:00-0:55 Open
1:00-2:25 “Chaos in the Courts”
2:30-4:00 “On the Blawgs”
4:00-15:10 Interview/Tim Gorry
15:15-16:25 “In the News” with Thomson Reuters News & Insight
16:30-16:55 Closing comments

Dinyar Mehta, director, WestlawNext iPad® and mobile development, shared the top five trends he heard throughout the conference.

1. To be (or not to be) at Total Parity: Customers shared how they would like a significant measure of parity with desktop functionality, but want to leverage the power and native functionality of the iPad. They understand that pursuing a strategy of desktop replication exclusively on mobile devices is not a good move for them. Users want a smart and strategic desktop replication that functions properly on their mobile device. This, by the way, is a cornerstone for the WestlawNext iPad app product development team.

2. Collaboration and Workflow: Availing themselves of greater collaboration and workflow capability from the legal research apps people use was a major point of discussion. I was happy to show some of the new features of the WestlawNext app which now empowers customers to not only view folders shared with them, but by facilitating full folder sharing within and outside their organizations directly from the WestlawNext iPad app.

3. Access to Lawyer Created Content: A significant topic of discussion was being able to securely access their own documents with regard to matter numbers within their legal research apps. Thomson Reuters answer to this is West km. Lawyers, particularly at large law firms, would like to be able to access their own documents on their servers through apps like the WestlawNext iPad app. The WestlawNext iPad team is attuned to this and developing accordingly.

4. Offline Access: Lawyers are increasingly traveling, whether it is a commute to work or a flight to fight a case in another jurisdiction. Lawyers want to be able to research and annotate on planes, trains and automobiles. We’ve also seen this in our research and developed offline capabilities that allow users to store documents found on WestlawNext in an offline folder. This allows them to research and annotate even without an Internet connection and as soon as they come back online, they have the confidence to know that all of their offline content and annotations synchronize and are up to date, including information in folders that may be shared with colleagues inside or outside the organization.

5. Search: One of the highest expectations of customers is the need to have a very high quality search engine that gets them more inclusive, better ranked results allowing them to be more productive and efficient. WestSearch is the leading search engine in world and it powers search on the WestlawNext iPad app. The algorithm that powers WestSearch leverages the finest and exclusive intellectual property assets available: West Key Number System®, KeyCite® citation networks and more.

These were the key discussion topics, amongst many, that were discussed throughout the conference in our booth. We would like to thank everyone for visiting with us at LegalTech New York and encourage you to share your thoughts and ideas about WestlawNext and the WestlawNext iPad app.

Republicans, attorney general fight over gun sting
Eric Holder faced angry questions over “Fast and Furious”, an operation aimed at tracking smuggled weapons that backfired and led to the death of a Border Patrol officer in 2010.

Roommate site does not violate housing laws
An appeals court ruled that federal laws prohibiting discrimination were intended for landlords and do not apply to relationships inside the home.

2nd Circuit sanctions lawyers who claimed Bush officials caused 9/11
The court upheld an earlier ruling that called the lawsuit against Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld frivolous and a product of “cynical delusion.”

JPMorgan slashes $710 million Lehman bankruptcy claim
The deal frees up more money to be distributed to Lehman’s creditors once it emerges from Chapter 11.

Gay marriage trial videos should stay under wraps, says appeals court
The 9th Circuit ruled that the emotionally charged recordings should not be disclosed because the trial judge had said they would remain private.

N.Y. bar considers allowing non-lawyers to invest in law firms
The association’s president, Vincent Doyle, made the announcement at an ABA conference, which is itself weighing whether to support nonlawyer ownership under certain circumstances.

Schwab to reimburse clients arbitration fees
The move comes one day after FINRA accused the brokerage of requiring customers to waive their rights to pursue class actions cases, a violation of industry rules.

For more legal news, check out Thomson Reuters News & Insight.

On Day Three of LegalTech, I discussed the show’s themes with a long-standing client. She mentioned some of the latest tools, but came back to the basics of project management. I said, aha! The process side is winning out. Nope, the client said, that’s too easy. And she was right. The tools, even the latest triangle graphs, attempt to present themselves as a tool to facilitate process. I need to chew on this one a bit further, but here’s my initial take on this epiphany.
So what are the “right” types of tools that appeared to resonate this year? Maybe we’re talking about the ones that most efficiently bridge the data/process gap. A discovery platform that provides as much value with small data sets as large. Research tools that more accurately find the most relevant cases. Ecosystems of tools that individually solve specific problems and together track data/documents through a process. The ability to eliminate rummaging through piles of books, contracts and/or transcripts to insert the right quote with accurate citations. Each solves a practical process problem, but has better reach into the data.

It’s like the old adage: if your tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Don’t get me wrong. I still carry my bias, but maybe I’ll put down the hammer and pick up a wrench every now and again.