InsideLegal

InnovAction Awards for Legal Innovation - Deadline for Entry June 1st

Reminder...The deadline for the InnovAction Awards is June 1st. 

The InnovAction Awards is a worldwide search for lawyers, law firms, and other deliverers of legal services who are currently engaged in some extraordinarily innovative efforts. The goal is to demonstrate to the legal community what can be created when passionate professionals, with big ideas and strong convictions, are determined to make a difference. Each year, the College of Law Practice Management (COLPM) presents the coveted InnovAction Awards to those unsung heroes and rising stars within the legal profession who dare to think differently and succeed by doing so.  The COLPM is an organization that was "founded to recognize distinguished law practice management professionals, to set standards of achievement for others in the profession, and to fund and assist projects that enhance the highest quality of law practice management."

Information on InnovAction Awards, Judging Criteria & Entry Guidelines

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Tune in to the Get A Life Conference Free Live Stream Wednesday & Thursday (May 27 & 28)!

As you might be aware, the Total Practice Management Association is hosting its inaugural Get a Life.™ Conference (follow #GAL09 on Twitter) Wednesday and Thursday of this week (May 27-28^th) in Chicago. True to its mission of educating legal professionals with practical, “how to” marketing, operations and practice management advice, the conference will be streamed live and free of charge during the two day event. Simply visit www.TotalPMA.org (and click on Watch the LIVE Conference Web Cast banner) beginning Wednesday, May 27^th at 8:30am CST to listen in live on any of the 19 sessions focused on helping attendees get more out of their law practice and life. The agenda highlights sessions from speakers such as practice development consultant Gerry Riskin; legal blogging expert Kevin O’Keefe; author of Law Business Revolution blog Alexis Martin Neely; law firm marketing expert Larry Bodine; and Rainmaker Institute CEO Stephen Fairley on the following topics:

·         Bulletproofing® Your Clients and Your Joy of Life (keynote)

·         Effective Blogging and Social Media

·         Building Your Personal & Client Business Development Plans

·         Billing 101: Fees, Finance & the Bottom Line

·         Insights on Outsourcing

·         Recruiting and Selecting Talented people

·         Create Your Own Strategic Plan

Get A Life Conference Agenda

Get A Life Speaker List

Building Law Firm Relationships

InsideLegal's own Jobst Elster is the author of one of Legal Management's (ALA's member magazine) May features entitled "Positive Partnerships: Cultivating Strong Business Relationships with Legal Vendors". The article discusses how law firm administrators can build value through their firms’ relationships with legal vendors.  Here is a preview and a link to the complete article ...

"With the economy reeling and law firms being squeezed from all sides, the reality of 'doing more with less' greatly depends on your ability to rely on vendor partners that will go the extra mile for you. The value gained from pursuing true partnerships with your legal product and service vendors can be tremendous and, more often than not, quite manageable to attain and cultivate. Relying on best practices from past partnerships is critical to success in this regard, as well as your willingness to tap into a rich pool of external resources, including members of the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA)...."

To view the rest of the article, Download ALA/InsideLegal Vendors Relationships Article.

ALA Conference & Expo: May 18-21 in New Orleans

Next week (May 18-21) is the Annual Association of Legal Administrators Conference & Expo in New Orleans.  The conference will have over 200 exhibitors and includes 100 educational sessions designed for law firm administrators.  The conference has some great educational tracks and exhibitors are allowed to attend all the sessions (space permitting) except for the idea exchanges.  This is a great way for vendors to get even more out of their exhibiting experience and allow for better networking with the attendees. 

On Tuesday, ALA is hosting a vendor eduation workshop entitled, "A Peek Behind the Curtain: Business Partner Survival Strategies".  The panel discussion will offer tips and suggestions to help business partners weather this difficult economic climate.

"Panelists will respond to issues raised by our Vendor Relations Committee and Vendor Advisory Panel members such as predicted changes in buying habits over the near term, ranking what influences decisions about vendor selection, ranking the more effective marketing materials and techniques, describing the legal landscape 18 to 24 months from now, and suggestions for better ways to gain access to large firm administrators.

Time has been allocated for the panelists to respond to questions from the business partners attending the session. There will also be time for the informal exchange of ideas, business relationship building, and a prize drawing following the presentation." 

The session will be Tuesday, May 19, 2:15–3:45 p.m. in NOMCC Rooms 283/284/285.

In addition to the general and vendor session, exhibitors are encourged to attend the social events including Welcome Reception Sunday and Finale Party Wednesday night.  The Finale Party will be held at Mardi Gras World, that houses the most awesome floats ever built, illuminated with tens of thousands of fiber optic lights, thousands of sensational sculptures, breathtaking giant figures, and an ALA Parade.  Tickets to these events are available onsite.

InsideLegal will be onsite and we look forward to seeing you there!

InnovAction Awards for Legal Innovation

The InnovAction Awards is a worldwide search for lawyers, law firms, and other deliverers of legal services who are currently engaged in some extraordinarily innovative efforts. The goal is to demonstrate to the legal community what can be created when passionate professionals, with big ideas and strong convictions, are determined to make a difference. Each year, the College of Law Practice Management (COLPM) presents the coveted InnovAction Awards to those unsung heroes and rising stars within the legal profession who dare to think differently and succeed by doing so.  The COLPM is an organization that was "founded to recognize distinguished law practice management professionals, to set standards of achievement for others in the profession, and to fund and assist projects that enhance the highest quality of law practice management."

Entry Information
Applications for the 2009 InnovAction Awards are now available.  All entries must be received by June 1, 2009 accompanied by a $325 US entry fee. Unless you are submitting electronically, please submit six copies of your entry. Submissions can be made by hard copy, video, CD or on a thumb drive. Electronic submissions must be sent in a PDF format to colpm@comcast.net.

Judging Criteria
Entries will be reviewed and selections made by the Award Selection Committee. The InnovAction Award entries will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Absence of precedent (never been done, or done quite this way before)
• Evidence of action (the innovation idea was transformed into action and not merely reflective of best intentions)
• Effectiveness of innovation (there is some measurable outcome that indicates that the innovation is accomplishing what it was intended to do)
• Action must have taken place within no more than three years prior to this entry

Winners will be notified on or about July 15, 2009 – and the winners’ names will also be posted on the InnovAction Awards web site.

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ABA Technology Survey - Two Volumes Released

The first two volumes of the 2009 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report, Technology Basics (Vol. 1) and Law Office Technology (Vol. 2), are now available for purchase.  Each survey volume is priced at $350.00 for non-members / $300.00 for ABA Members.  Survey Highlights:

• Metadata removal software is available at nearly half of respondents’ firms (46%). Large firm respondents report the highest availability (86%), with solo respondents (27%) and respondents from firms of 2-9 attorneys (31%) reporting the least availability. The brands most commonly listed were Adobe Acrobat (46%), Workshare Protect (18%), and Payne’s Metadata Assistant (14%).
• The percentage of solo respondents reporting that laptops are their primary computers decreased to 26% this year from 38% in the 2008 survey, returning to the percentage in 2007 (26%).
• Seventy-seven percent of respondents report the availability of Smartphones/BlackBerrys at their firms. Of respondents that provided brand names, the BlackBerry/RIM (64%) was cited most often followed by the iPhone at 14% then the Palm Treo (13% in 2009, down from 21% in 2008). Despite increased iPhone interest, only four percent report Mac OS as the operating system on their primary computer, roughly equivalent with 3% in the 2008.
• Windows XP is still the most frequently reported operating system for respondents’ primary computers, with nearly three-fourths of respondents (74%) indicating its use. This slight decrease reflects a similar increase in reports of Vista as the operating system on respondents’ primary computers, up to 9% from 4% in 2008).
• Overall, forty-seven percent of respondents report that online storage is available at their firms, equal to 47% in the 2008 survey but for solo respondents online storage availability increased to 48% from 34% in the 2008 survey.
• Sixteen percent of respondents report having used a web-based software or service solution/Software as a Service (SaaS), compared with 13% who reported using an online service provider in the 2008 survey. The largest increase was seen amongst solos with twenty-two percent of solo respondents (up from 14% in the 2008 survey) reporting its use.

The findings of the six volume ABA Legal Technology Survey Report will be published serially; Technology Basics (formerly Baseline and Budgets) (May), Law Office Technology (May), Litigation and Courtroom Technology (June), Web and Communication Technology (June), Online Research (July) and Mobile Lawyers (July).

Pamela Towan-deForce Joins The Davidson Group

Pamela Towan-deForce has joined The Davidson Group as Senior Director of Legal Services.  The Davidson Group is a "full service executive recruiting firm established in 2003 to assist the legal and information communities with their staffing needs".  Pamela has almost 20 years in the legal industry including over 6 years with CT Summation.

LawTech Jobs Launched

Whether you are one of the few companies that have open positions now or are one of the many people looking for a job, LawTech Jobs is a great tool.  The site lists current available positions divided by the follow categories - Law Firm Help Desk; Law Firm Network Specialist; Law Firm Systems Analyst; Legal Software Specialist; Legal Technology Sales; Litigation Support; Paralegal  Secretary; and Legal Assistant.  It is free for job seekers and very affordable for firms/vendors wanting to add listings for their positions.  According to Adriana Linares, President of LawTech Jobs, "We created LawTech Jobs as a service for our clients, colleagues and partners who are either looking for a new position or have one to fill.  We wanted to create a place which focused specifically on legal technology support or sales and law practice management jobs."

If you have a position that you would like to list on the site, the normal rate is $49 per 30 days.  LawTech Jobs has created a discount code for InsideLegal members providing $10 off the regular rate for unlimited listings through July 31, 2009.  The InsideLegal offer code is “InsideJobs” and reduces he listing rate to $39 for 30 days.

LawTech Jobs is a service from LawTech Partners, a technology training and consulting firm that specializes in "assessing and implementing technology based solutions that are suited to your practice specific challenges."  Both LawTech Jobs and LawTech Partners are run by Adriana Linares, a frequent speaker at national technology conferences; a regular contributor to nationally distributed legal and business magazines, newsletters, and web publications; a member of the Planning Board for ABA TECHSHOW for two years; and the chair of the Technology Core Group of the Law Practice Management Section of the ABA.

"Green Your Career" Legal Industry Breakfast Event in LA

Law Technology News and lawjobs are hosting a "Green Your Career" networking breakfast, from 7:45--8:45 a.m. on June 25th at the Los Angeles Convention Center.  The event is to support the many people that have lost their jobs in the legal industry and/or having a hard time finding a job.  If your organization is lucky enough to have positions open, please join them to get a look at some candidates.  If you are currently a job seeker, take advantage of this free opportunity to meet with firms/companies.  The beginning of the event will be a networking breakfast and then there will be roundtable discussions with industry thought leaders.

Vendors - If you have a position open, or would just like to support Law Technology News and lawjobs by sending/providing gifts cards for the attendees at the event, please contact Law Technology News at lawtech@incisivemedia.com.  Thanks to Monica Bay, Editor-in-Chief of Law Technology News for spearheading this event!

Here are highlights from Monica's post, but you can find it in its entirety here.

"This erratic economy has been tough on everybody, but none more so than the members of our legal technology community who have lost their jobs. It's difficult, scary, and challenging for even the most self-confident professionals.  On day 2 (Thursday June 25) we (Law Technology News and law.jobs) will host a very informal, free "Green Your Career" networking breakfast, from 7:45--8:45 a.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The event is FREE.  Job seekers will be encouraged to post their resumes on lawjobs.com, and all firms/vendors who attend will get free access to lawjobs.com (for a limited period, of course).

Please come, whether you need a job, or just want to offer encouragement. And if you are coming to show support, please bring along a gift card (you can pick them up at most supermarkets or drug stores), so we can give a day brightener "party favor" to each job seeker. It can be just a few dollars (or more if you can tithe a bit more generously) -- to a national "chain" such as Starbucks, Target, Macy's, Chevron, Von's, movies, SuperCuts -- you get the picture. Something practical and upbeat that will lift spirits!  (If you can't attend and want to send a gift card, mail them to us c/o Law Technology News, 120 Broadway, 5th floor, NYC 10271.)

Job seekers: Come for warmth, support and new contacts! If you e-mail us at lawtech@incisivemedia.com, we'll have a badge ready for you (and that will help us make sure we have enough coffee and danish). But you can also just show up.

Firms/vendors: If you do have a spot open, what a better place to find great talent? And even if you don't, you might tomorrow -- so bring lots of business cards. And as an added incentive for technology vendors: We will raffle off a wonderful lunch or dinner with moi (you can even use the word "solution" and I will promise to try not to cringe) where you can tell me about your company's plans, products and services and get a great meal on LTN!

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE! E-mail LTN at lawtech@incisivemedia.com for details.

LAST but not least: Please help spread the word!  Twitter this! Blog this! Reprint this post freely! Let's get viral! The permalink is http://tinyurl.com/LTWCbkf."