InsideLegal

LexThink.1 (Ignite Law 2012) Videos are Live

The ‘future of client service’ was the theme for the third annual LexThink.1 (formerly Ignite Law) ‘future of law practice’ event that we at InsideLegal produce each year with Ignite Law brainchild Matt Homann of LexThink. The event now serves as the opening act of the ABA TECHSHOW, taking place the night before the conference kicks off, and is hosted by the ABA Law Practice Management Section. Each year, we invite anyone in the industry to submit a speaking topic, we then compile the submissions and have the industry vote on what interests them the most, to ultimately determine the agenda. Once choosen, the speakers (we had 11 this year) are charged with preparing a 6 minute, rapid fire presentation on their specific topic. Once again this year, we had a sold out audience of 250 solos/small firm attorneys, legal technologits and legal influencers attend the two hour event.

You can view the intro video by Matt here and below are the links to the videos of this year's presentations. Enjoy!

Mark Britton - Back to the Future

Richard Granat - Legal Industry Startups: An Overview

Roe Frazer - Being a Web 2.0 Lawyer in the "Thank You Economy"

Will Hornsby - Ignite This! Five Ethics Rules That Should Be Incinerated

Ruth Carter - Flash Mob Law

Jason E. Dyer - Where Canasta and Counsel Collide

Eric Hunter - Moving Towards 100% Web

Jay Shepherd - One Word That Will Reinvent How You Serve Clients

Matt Spiegel - Don't Just Communicate ...

James F. Ring - Ending Cheap Talk in Legal Bargaining

Steve Best - Passion

Matt Homann - Client Service Design

 

LexThink.1 Photo Album

We posted our coverage of LexThink.1 yesterday, but below is our photo album from the event. Videos of all the LexThink.1 presentations will be released when they are through the editing process (2-3 weeks). In the meantime...

InsideLegal's LexThink.1 Album

 

ABA TECHSHOW: What You Need to Know

In less than a week, the industry will converge on Chicago to take part in both our Ignite event, now called LexThink.1, and the ABA TECHSHOW that will be underway at the Hilton on Michigan Avenue. This will be our 13th year attending TECHSHOW and it is by far one of our favorites, mostly due to the team of thought leaders that volunteer their time to make it happen each year. This year, the show is being led by Chair Reid Trautz, the director of the Practice & Professionalism Center for American Immigration Lawyers Association. To keep up with the event, follow us at @InsideLegal or #abatechshow.

Obviously two standouts of ABA TECHSHOW are the educational sessions and the Expo Hall. I can say that we've already received some releases on product launches and upgrades that will be worth hearing about. Stay tuned for more information. If you haven't already registered to attend ABA TECHSHOW, you can print this form to register onsite. In the meantime, here is a look at this year's festivities...

Ignite Law - now called LexThink.1

This will be the third year that we have produced, along with Matt Homann of LexThink, this unique event where industry thought leaders have 6 minutes and 20 slides to present on their topic submitted earlier this year. All speakers submitted a topic and we opened up for online voting from the industry to determine which presentations they wanted to hear. Thanks to our Platinum sponsor, Clio, the event is free to attend, but you must register here. As of now, we are sold out, but if you are interested in attending, register to get added to the waitlist as we are attempting to add seats now. You can review the agenda here.
The Skinny: Hilton Chicago, Continental Ballroom, Wednesday, March 28th, 7:30-10pm, Follow on Twitter - #IgniteLaw

ABA TECHSHOW/RocketLawyer Reception

Wednesday night festivities will begin with the ABA TECHSHOW/RocketLawyer reception directly before Ignite Law beginning at 6pm. In addition to some networking, RocketLawyer will be leading "an interactive event for entrepreneurial lawyers" as explained further on their Facebook page.
The Skinny: Hilton Chicago, Continental Ballroom, Wednesday, March 28th, 6-7:30pm 

ABA TECHSHOW App

Planning for ABA TECHSHOW can now be done entirely from your mobile device or tablet with the ABA TECHSHOW Conference App. It's available for download on an iPhone/iPad, Android or BlackBerry device, and allows you to carry all of ABA TECHSHOW conveniently. Full Conference attendees have been assigned unique codes to access a secure Attendee Schedule that enables you to bookmark sessions so you know where you want to be and when. During the session, view the Conference materials within the Conference App so you can follow along with the speakers as they share their knowledge of legal technology. Once you make your way into the EXPO Hall, use the complete listing of exhibitors to find your way around and decide who has the product/service your firm needs. 

Welcome Reception in Exhibit Hall

Another event back by popular demand is the Welcome Reception being held in the Expo Hall. Join your colleagues and friends to discuss the programming from day one of ABA TECHSHOW during the Welcome Reception on Thursday. Experience exceptional cuisine and tasty beverages at the Hilton Chicago and maybe you'll make a few new friends while you're there.
The Skinny: Hilton Chicago, Southeast Hall, Thursday, March 29th, 5:30-7pm 

5th Annual Beer for Bloggers

For the fifth year, the ABA Journal and Kevin O'Keefe with LexBlog are hosting their Beer (and wine) for Bloggers event this Friday evening. Everyone is invited, blogger or not, lawyer or not, attending TECHSHOW or not. It’s been a great event for those in the legal profession and those serving the profession to get together.
The Skinny: Hilton Chicago Lakeside Green Lounge in lobby, Friday, March 30th, 5:30-7pm 

Taste of ABA TECHSHOW Dinners

Don't miss out on these dinners. It's a great way to either meet with a group of pople to discuss a certain technology or meet a specific group of people. Here's how it works... Pick a technology; pick a Chicago restaurant; or pick a host. No matter what you pick, the choice is yours with the Taste of ABA TECHSHOW. Registrants have the opportunity to participate in this Dutch-treat event where we make dinner reservations throughout the city of Chicago and each dinner is based on a technology topic with a host in the field. Most of the Dinners are sold out, but there still are a couple open. 
The Skinny: Thursday and Friday night, Review & register here  

Ben Stein Keynote

It will be hard to top their keynote of last year - Harvard's Larry Lessig, but Ben Stein definitely one not to miss! Ben's career accomplishments include working at the Federal Trade Commission, lawyer and speech writer for Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, columnist for The Wall Street Journal, and now, ABA TECHSHOW Keynote Speaker. 
The Skinny: Friday, 12:45-1:45pm 

LexThink .1 Final Agenda Announced -- Steven J. Best Added to Speak

Here we are, one week pre-LexThink.1 and the excitement and anticipation continues to build. As of yesterday, we are sold out. We will be able to add some seats, so you can still sign up for tickets, and reserve your space on the waitlist. The agenda/speaking roster is listed below and we are very pleased to welcome Steven J. Best, a new addition, and final speaker on board.

Steve, the managing partner of Affinity Consulting Group's Atlanta office, was in 13th place with votes on our talk submission list, will replace Niki Black. This week, Niki joined MyCase, and therefore had to withdraw her speaking slot since our event rules limit one speaker per company (MyCase CEO Matt Spiegel is already speaking).

With an educational background in law, accounting and economics, Steve, an attorney turned technologist, consults with law firms throughout the United States on law office software as well as sophisticated practice management issues. At LexThink .1, he will be speaking about passion and how it can help firms of all sizes and complexities better sever clients. Here is his full talk submission:

"PASSION: Identifying and then nourishing your passion will make you a more content person, drive confidence and help you serve your clients better. Find your passions and then encourage others around you to follow theirs.  Passion also leads to innovation which is the cornerstone of technology.  Technology, in turn, when properly implemented and when enthusiastically embraced will help free your schedule to give you time to follow your passion."

Along with Steve, we are excited to welcome the other 10 speakers who have been working hard on their final presentations. For more details on the final event agenda including the schedule with speakers and and topics, click here. 

LexThink.1 Agenda & Speakers

• Mark Britton:  Back to the Future
• Richard Granat  Legal Industry Startups: An Overview
• Roe Frazer:  Being a Web 2.0 Lawyer in the “Thank You Economy”
• Will Hornsby:  Ignite This! Five Ethics Rules That Should Be Incinerated
• Ruth Carter:  Flash Mob Law
• Jason E. Dyer:  Where Canasta and Counsel Collide
• Eric Hunter:  Moving Towards 100% Web
• Jay Shepherd:  One Word That Will Reinvent How You Serve Clients
• Matt Spiegel:  Don’t Just Communicate …
• James F. Ring:  Ending Cheap Talk in Legal Bargaining
• Steve Best:  Passion

What percentage of revenue do legal vendors spend on marketing? 2012 InsideLegal Vendor Marketing Survey Now Open

What percent of total revenue do legal vendors spend on marketing? What about your competitors? How does your budget compare?

You can read the results to that question from our 2008 legal vendor survey here, but better yet, you can complete the 2012 InsideLegal Vendor Marketing Survey (takes approx. 10 minutes) to find out how your marketing budget compares to other vendors, what your competitors spend on marketing, where they advertise, what market research they value, etc. In exchange for participating, you'll be the first to receive the full results report upon survey completion (for free) and we'll also immediately email you the complete 2008 survey report with data from 97 legal vendors to review in the meantime. Here are the details...

Since joining legal in 1999, we had searched for industry marketing and spending benchmarks that are commonplace in other industries that don't exist within the legal community. Knowing what your peers are spending on marketing and getting a better feel for what marketing strategies work and why is essential. For that reason, in 2008 InsideLegal conducted its inaugural Legal Vendor Marketing Survey that covered marketing budgets, the marketing mix, public relations, market research and the relevance of specific legal technology events and it yielded 97 unbiased and independent responses. We now feel the vendor community is ready for a follow-up survey - especially considering the major economic downturn we experienced. We encourage all vendors interested in getting better data surrounding their marketing and PR efforts to complete the survey and get engaged in the ensuing conversation. 

With that said, we are currently inviting legal technology vendors (CEOs, VPs, directors, marketers, managers and anyone with keen insight and understanding of their corporate marketing strategy and plan) to complete our 2012 InsideLegal Vendor Marketing Survey. We received 97 responses to our 2008 survey and we'd love to exceed that. The 42 questions will take participants 10-13 minutes to complete and all respondents (with completed surveys) will receive the final results. All results are kept completely confidential. In addition, upon completion of the survey, we will immediately send you the results report from the 2008 InsideLegal Vendor Marketing Survey. Take the time and complete the survey now and you'll have that information before LegalTech New York next week. The 2008 survey included the following, and much more, from a wide mix of legal vendor respondents:

• % of revenue spent on marketing
• what publications they advertised in
• reviews on the top legal conferences
• top categories of marketing spend
• market research recommendations

Here is a glance at the 2012 InsideLegal Vendor Marketing Survey questions:

• Marketing Budgets: How much are you spending on marketing efforts and how does this compare to other vendors?
• Marketing strategy: Who do you market to? What are your key marketing objectives?  What aspects of your marketing program have you outsourced?
• Marketing Events: How do you rank/rate the big legal events such as LegalTech and ILTA? Does your company host a User Conference? 
• Advertising: Where do you advertise? What is the mix of print vs. online?
• Public Relations: What is your media relations approach?  What is included in your (and your competitor's) PR plan? 
• Market Research: Who uses research to support marketing and sales efforts? What type of research proves most effective? What industry surveys do you and your competitors follow?

 

Ignite Law 2012 Announced!

For the past two years, we at InsideLegal have partnered with Matt Homann of LexThink to produce Ignite Law, an interactive and thought-provoking mind-sharing event focused on the future of law practice and technology. We are back for 2012, but with a new name "LexThink .1 Law" -  a name which reflects not only the way lawyers bill (in 1/10 hour increments), but also the six minutes each presenter is given to speak - and a new focus - "serving the client better" in the twenty first century. The event will be held on March 28th, the eve of the ABA TECHSHOW, in the Hilton Chicago. The ABA Law Practice Management section will return as a marquee sponsor.

As always, anyone interested in speaking at LexThink .1 can submit their ideas and topics for consideration. Speaking proposals must be submitted via the LexThink .1 Law site between January 30 and February 10 and voting on the topics by the legal community takes place February 13-24. Anyone interested in submissions, voting or other details regarding the 2012 event, should visit PointOneLaw.com or follow the associated twitter handle and hashtags ….@Point1Law #Point1Law #IgniteLaw.

We look forward to your submissions and to seeing you in Chicago!

Read the complete press release here.

Calling All Legal IT Leaders ... Ways to Maximize Your Media Exposure

Recently, InsideLegals' Jobst Elster had an article published in ILTA's Peer to Peer publication on the topic of "New Ways to Maxminize Your Media Exposure." We originally moderated a related session at ILTA 2011 and joined by accomplished co-panelists Randi Mayes, ILTA's Executive Director; and Ayelette Robinson, Director of Knowledge Technology at Littler. It was a well rounded conversation that spoke to making the decision on whether or not you'd want to (or need to) make the investment to begin writing for legal IT and general IT publications. With that said, Ayelette in particular, spent quite a bit of that time articulating the benefits of being published based on her personal success as a legal IT author and presenter. Reasons to start writing included elevating your name and reputation; positioning and representing your firm as forward thinkers, and giving your clients to engage and educate themselves vis a vis your subject matter expertise and thought leadership.  

As described in the Peer to Peer article, there are numerous obvious and less obvious ways to maximize the exposure you have worked so hard to create.

Here are 4 easy (obvious) tips for maximizing your media expsosure:

• Bolster Your Web Presence: Post your freshly published content within your firm’s or department’s “news” section and add it to your online profile. If you don’t have a profile with vitals including a biography, articles written, presentations given and areas of expertise, create one and keep it current.
• Share with Clients, Prospects, Partners and Colleagues: Seek reprint permission for your content, so you can share articles at will with those who want to know (colleagues, firm management, clients, friends and partners) and those who ought to know (prospects, investors and other legal influencers).
• Embrace Social Media: Post new content on your Facebook page; pick some relevant LinkedIn groups and add your topic as a new discussion thread; extract interesting facts and tweet about them with a link to the original article; and send your content to bloggers you know, admire or would like to know for comment and feedback.
• Enhance Firm Presentations: Based on relevancy, make sure your articles and subject-matter expertise make their way into new business presentations and prospect pitches. Work with your marketing folks to figure out the right mix of self-promotion and thought leadership.

And 7 more that are perhaps a bit less obvious but equally 'do able':

• Turn the Article into a Webinar or Podcast: Inexpensive technology tools now enable us to quite easily extend a static article into a multimedia bundle of content. Your article on a cloud-based DMS can be transformed into a 45-minute podcast on the same topic with the inclusion of experts that can share more information than the original article.
• Contact the Editor or Publisher About Contributing on a Regular Basis: If you enjoyed writing your article and like what you see on the exposure and feedback front, it might behoove you to seek a permanent contributor role with the publication. Many legal publishers are understaffed and low on resources, and often times they are happy to add a regular columnist to help fill their pages.
• Offer Your Services to Others: Look for other media outlets (magazines, blogs, websites, e-zines and newsletters) that might be interested in what you have to say. Send them the article as an “FYI” and offer yourself up as a subject-matter expert. They’ll know who to call the next time they need an expert who deals with, for example, cloud-based security risks.
• Encourage Feedback by Rewarding It: Editors love to know what their readers think about certain articles and topics, but usually only those with complaints take the time to voice their opinions. Turn this paradigm on its head, and foster collaboration among your readers by rewarding them for being vocal. When promoting your content via social media tools, incent your community to comment on your blog post by offering up affordable freebies such as gift cards, t-shirts or other promotional items.
• Manage Your Online Identity: As you begin to amass content and increase your online exposure, take sometime to manage your online presence. Companies such as Vizibility, for example, will help individuals or companies organize and share their online identities, including personalized Google search results and handpicked professional profiles. This provides a “one-stop, one search”look at all your content and contributions.
• Leverage QR Codes: A Quick Response (QR) code typically points to an online resource, such as an individual’s profile or related articles, quickly accessed via smartphones and mobile devices. A recent Vizibility survey, “Infographic: QR Code Usage in Legal Marketing,” found that 86 percent of law firms plan to use QR codes to market their individual attorneys, with more than half pointing individual QR codes to biographical information and contact details. Why not use QR codes for your articles as well?
• Integrate It All: While achieving an integrated marketing approach to everything you publish will most likely require some heavy lifting from your marketing group, the value of having everything you say and do in one place, with the same message, accessible to a diverse target audience is incredible. Case in point: Fulbright & Jaworski recently published its latest “Litigation Trends Survey Report” and made it accessible via a dedicated Web page with options to attend a results-focused webinar, join a LinkedIn and Facebook discussion or follow key stats via their Twitter feed. The website also included links to official press announcements, as well as articles and blog posts dedicated to the topic.

You can read the remainder of Jobst's article and the full December 2011 issue of ILTA's Peer to Peer publication here.

Also, you can view the original "Generating Media Exposure for IT Leadership" presentation from the original ILTA11 webinar here.

Feel free to contact Jobst if you would like to discuss this topic and how you can make a bigger splash with your writing and speaking efforts.

 

 

Inaugural InsideLegal Thought Leaders Digest Spotlights College of Law Practice Management

As those familiar with InsideLegal know, we have always had a 'soft spot' for thought leadership ... Especially within the last three years, we have stepped up efforts to advocate and promote legal thought leadership with programs such as Ignite Law, the “In Their Own Words” law firm leaders series, and the introduction of thought leadership-themed panel discussions as part of ILTA's vendor education program at the annual conference and the ABA TECHSHOW. InsideLegal’s Thought Leaders Digest is the latest effort. The Digest is a digital publication consisting of concise articles, essays, ‘ask the experts’ Q&As and commentary addressing law practice-specific and legal profession spanning topics and themes. 

The inaugural Digest is focused on organization we have the upmost respect for but have always felt does not get the recognition and awareness it deserves - The College of Law Practice Management. Specifically, the COLPM issue spotlights members’ (COLPM Fellows) legal expertise and knowledge of the profession while introducing COLPM to a wider, international legal audience. The COLPM Fellows are the ‘who’s who’ of law practice management and as an organization recognize innovation and ingenuity via the InnovAction award and foster collaboration and education through its annual Futures Conference.

It’s time to “share the wealth” so to speak and the COLPM-themed InsideLegal Thought Leaders Digest does just that with a series of thoughtful essays and ‘ask the Fellows’ questions addressing law practice futures; legal education; workplace diversity; KM; alternative business structures; legal technology; marketing; and pricing. The Digest includes critical essays by Jordan Furlong, Marc Lauritsen, Ron Staudt, Ron Friedmann, Kendal Tyre, Tony Williams, Ed Poll, Ida Abbott, Marcia Wasserman, Burkey Belser, and Caren Ulrich Stacy. An ‘Ask the Fellows’ series includes questions by Richard Susskind, Matt Homann, Toby Brown, Jobst Elster and JoAnna Forshee with corresponding answers by dozens of COLPM Fellows.

The 24-page InsideLegal Thought Leaders Digest, COLPM issue, can be dowloaded at http://bit.ly/ILDigest1 and will be distributed at the COLPM annual Futures Conference, October 28-29, Chicago-Kent School of Law in Chicago.

COLPM Futures Conference Heading to Chicago

The College of Law Practice Management (COLPM) is hosting their annual Futures Conference next week (October 28-29) at the Chicago-Kent College of Law in Chicago. The Futures Conference includes an interactive program featuring thought-provoking leaders who present on or facilitate discussions on the future of the legal profession and the resulting challenges to law firm leadership and management. The 2011 Futures Conference is co-chaired by COLPM Fellows Ron Staudt and David Hambourger and themed "Challenging the Law Practice Management Model". The conference is specifically designed to offer ideas that are meaningful to firms of all sizes, across all legal disciplines - "best practices in law firm management can be both universal and scalable."

Although InsideLegal has been a sponsor of the COLPM's InnovAction Awards for a few years now, we first attended the Futures Conference last year (an incredible event). We were the most impressed with the attendee list consisting of the 'who's who' of legal exchanging ideas about the future of the business of law globally. This conference is for law firm leaders, managing partners, executive directors, chief marketing officers, directors of professional development and law school deans and is open to non-COLPM members to attend. [I believe they still have a couple of spots left if you are interested in attending you can register here with InsideLegal rate of $395.]

The 2011 Futures Conference sessions include:

What is the Future of Price: Defining Value in Value Billing: The future demands that law firms and their clients put a value on the services lawyers provide. The great recession and its law profession aftermath are driving more and more clients to demand fixed fee arrangements to ensure certainty and reduce legal costs. Law firms and their clients struggle to find solid principles that define that value. Hear how clients define value when hiring a law firm and how firms define value. Help identify universal concepts that can measure value across boundaries. Help invent the language of value for law practice. Expect an interesting, lively and spirited exchange. Moderator: Ronald Staudt, Chicago-Kent College of Law; Toby Brown, Vinson & Elkins; Paul Lippe, Legal OnRamp, and Ellen Rosenthal, Pfizer

Law Factories vs. “Bet the Farm” Firms: Will law firms of the future need to segment clients in new ways? Might some firms focus on “industrialized” practices: hyper-efficient work using automation and low cost resources? Might others focus on “bet the farm” cases using mainly top legal talent? If the market does segment, will it do so by practice, by firm, by matter type or along some other dimension? Many factors could either drive or support this. Join us as we explore alternative business structures in the UK and beyond. Moderator: Ron Friedmann, Integreon and Toby Brown, Vinson & Elkins

Disruptive Technologies/Innovative Thinking: Theorists like Clayton Christensen and Richard Susskind remind us that technologies themselves are rarely disruptive; it’s the business innovations they enable. Yet it’s clear that aspects of today’s transformations in the legal services delivery system are being driven by the dramatic economies of advanced new technologies. What’s going on? What should we expect? Moderator: Marc Lauritsen, Capstone Practice Systems; Richard S. Granat, SmartLegalForms, Inc., and DirectLaw, Inc.; Maura R. Grossman, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and Kingsley Martin, KIIAC LLC

Law Practice Without Borders: The American legal market is by far the largest in the world, about $260 billion annually. But the future legal marketplace will be truly multinational, following the lead of an increasingly globalized economy. Already, the most innovative and dynamic developments in the legal sphere are taking place outside U.S. borders. This session explores the latest trends in key legal markets worldwide, including the UK, India and China. Moderator: Jordan Furlong, Edge International; Simon Chester, Heenan Blaikie, LLP; BieBie Que, Leximetrics, LLC; and Pamela Woldow, Edge International

Future View: Do You See What I See?: Where should we focus our attention? What have we already missed? How can we best prepare for “what’s next?” This panel will offer provocative prognostications on the law practice management landscape from a number of perspectives and market segments. Moderator: Sally Fiona King, SNR Denton; Ross Fishman, Ross Fishman Marketing; Dave Hambourger, Seyfarth Shaw LLP; Chris Murray, Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc. and Chris Petrini-Poli, HBR Consulting

Innovation, With Velocity: The pace of change in the legal marketplace during the last several years has been unprecedented. This session explores what innovation is and is not. What are the barriers to innovation in law firms and how can we overcome them? Learn how your firm can install a sustainable, systemic innovation initiative. Session leaders: Tom Clay, Altman Weil, Inc. and Raymond Bayley, Novus Law

Serving the Profession Today and Tomorrow: The College has an action agenda to “…make a difference, and use the talent, skill and experience of the Fellows to improve the profession.” Since 2009, the College has partnered with the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to participate in regular program performance visits designed to observe and improve the operations of legal aid organizations it funds. Over lunch Fellows who have volunteered their consulting expertise to this effort will describe their experiences. LSC executives will map out the state of the need and identify opportunities for College efforts to meet some of the need. All Fellows are encouraged to offer opinions and ideas on how the College could improve the future of the delivery of justice. 

As the Legal Tech World Turns...

One of my favorite things about the legal tech community is the people, and in particular, the consultants. This is a little different than what we usually cover, but recently a few long-time industry leaders have had some exciting news so we thought we'd pass it on...

Andy Adkins 

When I first started in the industry in 1999, one of the first consultants I heard about was Andy Adkins. After more than two decades as a dedicated legal technology consultant, Andy “retired” in June 2010 as the President of the Legal Technology Institute at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Andy was going to continue to do a little consulting, but try not to stay too busy. We should have known that wouldn't last! A couple of weeks ago, Andy became the new CIO of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, a firm with about 210 attorneys and 600+ users. On top of that, he and his wife Becky have bought a new house and moved from Gainesville, FL to Bridgeport, WV - as he says moving from two seasons in Florida (green and brown) to four seasons. 

Matt Homann

Matt Homann is a legal innovation consultant, the Founder of LexThink, my co-producer on the Ignite Law events, the award winning blogger of the [non]billable hour, and the most talented, creative meeting facilitator I know or have worked with. Within the last two weeks, he's also added Husband to that list and married Jessica Prince (now Homann). For the last week, they have been making their way around Alaska, Vancouver and Seattle on their honeymoon and now are heading back to St. Louis to move into a new home. I originally met Jessica when she accompanied Matt on a trip to meet with us in Atlanta when Matt and I were first planning Ignite Law 2010. After an hour, we could tell she was perfect for Matt. Congratulations to you both!

 

Ross Kodner

As I mentioned above, Andy was one of two consultants I first heard about and met when I started in legal in 1999 - the other was Ross Kodner. Ross is the President of MicroLaw, a legal technology consultancy, which is celebrating it's 26th anniversary this year, and presents on legal technology at conferences all over the world. In 2003, I began co-producing the Annual Consultants and Technologists Dinner with Ross. We produced the event, which became known as "The Dinner", each year in Chicago bringing together a group of legal industry leaders for networking and industry awards. Well, now Ross has announced another event - his engagement to his high school sweetheart, Lisa. Next they will be setting the date - congratulations!