InsideLegal

Replacing Legal Market Trends with Real World Realities

Welcome to the 'new (ab)normal'! When is the last time you were glued to the TV, social ... pick your media to figure out what's next, not only in your own life but with the economy, your own businesses and anything and everything you care about? Oh yeah and there's the working from home 'thing', 24/7, with or without a proper place or space to call your office.

While we are all looking to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and somehow come out stronger on the other side, the reality of what the legal community is going through is as many commentators like to say "fluid", at best. In other words, we have no idea what's next or what we are supposed to do, how we are supposed to act, and how aggressive we should be about business as usual without coming off as annoyingly tone deaf.

I was recently invited by Qorus Software (producers of sales enablement/proposal/RFP automation technology) to address the "how the hell should we market right now, what's our reality and how does this match up with 2020 marketing trends and developments." We decided to host a "10 Marketing Trends and Realities" webinar to drill-down further and provide law firm marketers with some guidance (and a sanity check) as to what they could/should be doing during this crisis.

In addition to the webinar (which in exchange for some contact info you are free to access here), Qorus also produced an easy to follow and practical to use eBook: Adapting to Change: Definitive Guide to Law Firm Marketing in 2020. The eBook includes 8 practical tips on how legal marketers can seize the moment and put their best marketing foot forward. If you don't have time to download the webinar or the eBook, check out the 14-slide PDF (with all ten trends and realities) from the program.

Here are a few of the trends (and realities) that legal marketers should not only acknowledge but consider acting on now:

Client-centric marketing: This might be a no-brainer ... "all marketing should focus on clients", but you'd be surprised how many campaigns miss the mark. Check out any corporate legal survey and you'll quickly realize how much outside counsel DO NOT listen to client challenges and demands. The current crisis gives you a 'do-over' of sorts when it comes to revealing your authentic marketing self. Your clients are swimming with you in the deep end so why not work together to your collective advantage

Strategic content marketing is king: Content marketing is nothing new. Devising a clever strategy of how to leverage and amplify hard earned content is still novel and not the norm in legal marketing circles. Spend some energy on "marketing your marketing" with a 1-4-7 approach. Focus on one concept; develop four related content pieces such as newsletters, webinars, eBooks, and whitepapers; and chose seven distribution channels for your content including online, social, communal and direct. 

Community building ... the new black: Acquiring new customers is 6-7 times more expensive than marketing to an existing community base. These days, word-of-mouth means engaging through social platforms, sharing educational resources while introducing clients to your network of subject matter experts and influencers. Legal communities are out there and waiting with open arms. Check out ILTA, LMA, ALA, and ABA Law Practice for starters.

We will be sharing more legal marketing trends and realities in future posts gleaned from legal marketing and business development experts.

Law Firm Innovation: Many Roads to Take, Many Rivers to Cross

Happy 2019. I don't know about you but I was so ready to usher in the winter holiday and kick-off the new year that I missed some good legal content/news/gossip that's probably still sitting in my feeds and Inbox. With that said, I wanted to share a feature I wrote on the behest of fellow Legal-ite and really good guy Rob Ameerun for his Legal IT Today magazine published in December.

The topic is on law firm innovation, a subject matter that was red hot in 2018. If you are interested in what firms like Greenberg Traurig and Chapman Cutler are doing and how this latest firm tech development and commercialization trend actually dates back a few decades, please read on. 

So, what’s ahead for law firm funded and fueled technology innovation and entrepreneurship? Will the many flavors of innovation continue to expand, or will we see a consolidation of efforts across specific firms, application areas and incubators? Only law firm client demand and competition for superior client delivery will tell.

You can also download the entire December issue here. 

Legal IT Today - December 2018 Issue

Legal Influencers Weigh In On Legal Document Management

The hype and buzz surrounding artificial intelligence, lawyer robots, machine learning and predictive analytics in Legal is often times unbearable. Especially, when compared to the legal reality that this type of early adopter, nouveau tech is still in its infancy. Contrast this to document management systems (DMS), one of the most traditional, standard, yet mission critical applications within any law firm.

In this edition of "Legal Influencers Weigh In" we go under the hood with DMS. Specifically, we will drill down and deep on a recently completed DMS implementation survey and share commentary from some of legal's sharpest DMS minds. Also, anyone reading our corresponding feature ["Making Your DMS Migration (Relatively) Painless"] in the July/August issue of Legal Management will hopefully be able to connect the dots when it comes to DMS success and failure.

On premise, client-server DM systems have been around legal for 30 years and even native cloud-based solutions date back to 1999. Yet, still, after all this time one of the biggest challenges law firms as well as their legal technology business partners face is successfully navigating the DMS implementation, be it a new purchase, swap out or existing system upgrade.

Problems arise and DMS implementation survival is at stake, whether implemented internally by the firm; in collaboration with a business partner; fully outsourced to a DMS implementation partner or left up to the DMS vendor and their full service (from sale to implementation, training and firm ‘go live’) delivery. Why is that? What forces are in play that makes the DMS upgrade/DMS implementation the perpetual pain in legal IT’s, and especially firm users’, you know what?

Who better to ask then the experts? For the purposes of this post and my Legal Management DMS feature, I reached out to the leading minds (and hands) when it comes to legal DMS implementations, migrations, upgrades and the like. Our panel consisted of 21 experts, with a total of 2,848 law firm DMS projects under their belts, representing 16 of the leading DMS implementation, support, training, design, configuration and software solution providers. We asked the panel to complete a short survey focused on DMS deployment types; DMS implementation provider selection; tips for successfully navigating a DMS upgrade; and top reasons why DMS implementations (still) fail.

Looking toward the cloud
In order to provide an adequate technology baseline, we asked our experts, who collectively serve a broad range of small, medium, large, mega and global firms, to state the type of DMS projects they had been involved with over the past 12 months. 95% had worked on cloud-based DMS implementations followed by 71% involved with on-premise DMS to cloud DMS upgrades versus 57% busy with on-premise implementations. The bottom-line ...  law firms of all shapes and sizes are embracing the cloud, especially when it comes to DMS.

DMS selection survival
Selecting the right DMS service provider is nothing to scoff at. Its critical firms do their due diligence and ask the important, sometimes uncomfortable questions before it’s too late. According to our expert panel, the top five attributes and qualities to look for in a DMS implementation partner included: reputation (86%); peer feedback/what are other firms saying (76%); track record (71%): overall value (67%) and cloud experience (57%). In addition, several respondents cited the importance of finding a technology and business partner that is knowledgeable in the areas of Information Governance; change management; system design; user experience; cloud-based security, and possess the technology certifications and credentials to back this all up.

DMS implementation success
When asked to provide vital tips for navigating a successful DMS implementation, some of our experts focused on the importance of project planning, overall communication between firm and business partner teams, and achieving executive project buy-in. Kraft Kennedy’s Brian Podolsky, it's NY office Practice Leader, takes the notion of buy-in a step further: “Be sure to involve your attorneys and staff in some of the user interface and workspace designs, to ensure their workflows are considered and their ideas are heard.”

Others stressed the importance of user adoption, DMS usability and designing DM systems with adoption at the forefront. “With cloud services, the focus is now on designing for adoption and getting full value from the platform,” stated Joshua Fireman, Fireman & Company’s founder/president, and a recognized thought leader in areas such as knowledge management, change management and system design. “System design should involve IT and KM and include input directly from lawyers.”

Related to user adoption is user training. Most survey responses mentioned the need for training, pre, go live, and post, and the necessity to increasingly plan and budget for additional training to support the firm’s DMS ‘go live’.

Jason Scott, Senior Business Consultant with Tikit, and a track record of 200+ DMS firm implementations across the globe says it best: “Plan it, design it, build it, test it, communicate to the business what 'it' is, learn it and then roll it out.” He also emphasis the importance of having clear objectives going into any migration project ... "there should be a structured process in place to manage the implementation with clear objectives. and at the end, ensuring these objectives have been met. This might sound trite but you’d be surprised how often objectives don’t match up." 

Matthew Marcinek, DMS Team Manager & Solutions Architect at All Covered, feels strongly about leveraging data found in existing systems and analyzing the data at hand in order to make informed decisions. “Above all, perform a pilot migration with the firm's data. This will allow the firm to see the results of their design and the migration process to confirm it is what they expect.” Marcinek agrees with Fireman regarding the importance of design: "The most important step in any DMS Implementation is the Design."

Mike Sanders, Senior Solutions Expert with NetDocuments, has 200+ DMS implementations under his belt. His advice ... "become familiar with best practices of the new system and how that may change some of your current processes." Beyond that, test, test, test before going Live." According to Sanders’ colleague JB Trexler, NetDocuments' Senior Director of Professional Services, DMS implementation success is typically based on … “1. Project support and communication from the top-down; 2.Know your data and clean it up/plan accordingly; and 3. Spend the correct amount of time on workflow and security.”

Failure to communicate

As evidenced by our expert conversations and survey feedback, communication breakdowns are more times than not the source of DMS projects gone badly. According to Jeff Alluri, Principal, VP Consulting with Element Technologies, DMS needs and the overall business case are not always clearly spelled out. “The message as to "why" we are choosing a DMS needs to be clearly understood by everyone within the law firm. With that being said, communication both internally at the law firm and externally with the selected DMS vendor is vital, and many times one or both of these are dropped or there is simply not enough of it.”

Jennifer McComb, a consultant with Software Analysis Corporation, also doubles down on the importance of communication. “Lack of communication is reason #1, #2 and #3 why DMS implementations often fail. Remember, your implementation person can't work in a vacuum. Make sure the people who will be actually using the product have a say in its setup. And, remember, implementation doesn't end at go-live. Be available for follow up.”

Another “why DMS implementations fail’ argument made by several of the surveyed DMS experts focused on the lack of change management and the overall perception that “we are dealing with a technology not a business issue.” 

Adds Michael Georgopoulos, eSentio’s Director of Document and Information Management Systems: "IT-led projects focus only on the technical conversion issues” making the point that a myopic, IT only view might make it more difficult to affect broader change. Viewing it only as a technology project fails to see the larger picture of how the system impacts business for the entire firm. It can also make another critical factor for success that much more difficult — leadership and staff buy-in.

Finally, lack of planning, regardless of where it starts, can bring down even the savviest and brightest technologists and product experts, and, most cutting-edge technology. 

The future is now

As I wrote in Legal Management, so much of what is wrong with DMS projects is most definitely also what’s right. Don't cut corners, plan accordingly, create a 'buy-in' culture, test until  the cows come home, (over) communicate, and when you think everyone's 'up to speed' on the DMS, offer up more user training. and more hands-on DMS KM transfer.

Thinking Out Loud About the Cloud

InsideLegal's Jobst Elster writes a bi-monthly column "Thinking out Cloud" for the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) member publication, Legal Management. As you probably figured out, he focuses on all things cloud computing related in this series. Below are the last two articles in the "Thinking Out Cloud" series - one focused on 2017 cloud trends and predictions; and an interview with James Gast, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of legal IT consultancy SpliceNet, on cloud security and ethics.

     

In addition to his regular bi-monthly column, Jobst is also commissioned to write periodic features for Legal Management. The latest one focuses on The Billable Hour’s Grip on Legal. His next feature scheduled for the June issue will explore attorney technology competence and required tech skills in today's firm. 

If you are with a law firm and would like more information on ALA, visit their Membership page. If you are a vendor that would like to work with ALA, visit their Business Partner page. If you are interested in connecting with Jobst regarding his columns or features, please feel free to email him at [email protected].

Thinking Out Cloud

Once the grandparents start telling you to check out the newest family photos they uploaded to the cloud, you know cloud computing has hit Main Street.

Cloud technologies are not only changing the consumer game, but increasingly making headlines within the legal community. Thus, the creation of the Association of Legal Administrators' (ALA) Legal Management magazine's newest addition, my "Thinking Out Cloud" column. The bi-monthly column will deliver insights into legal cloud computing trends and futures; showcase law firm cloud adoption and real world use cases; address cloud computing security and governance issues; navigate popular law firm cloud apps and services; and interview leading legal cloud computing minds.

The inaugural column "Cloud Security ... A Competitive Advantage" appears in the March issue. We also recorded a corresponding Legal Management Talk podcast on the topic. Consider it the lazy/mobile person's version of the article.

Here's what you'll discover when reading or listening:

• A few years from now, we won't be talking about cloud technologies, just tech solutions since everything will follow the cloud/SaaS model. Who still uses 'www' when describing a website?
• The security 'S' word is no longer a show stopper when it comes to cloud adoption in law firms.
• Law firm CIOs are realizing (some faster than others) that dedicated cloud providers are much more capable and equipped to handle cloud security and best evolve with the frantic pace of cloud security and compliance requirements.
• Law firms can 'off load' client mandated security technology audits to their cloud providers.
• By embracing true native cloud applications, firms will reap the benefits of the “one-to-many” cloud infrastructure as it evolves and improves through periodic updates. In essence, once in the cloud, the firm can virtually hitchhike, almost for free, on the rate of cloud innovation.
• The Legal Cloud Computing Association (LCCA) is on to something with its recently published Cloud Security Standards essentially designed to give legal professionals more peace of mind when selecting (and using) true cloud technologies. Beyond the column, check out this Legaltech News article on the LCCA standards including commentary from highly esteemed legal technology folks.

The next issue of Thinking Out Cloud will appear in May, focused on cloud apps and services legal professionals attending ALA's Annual Conference & Expo in late May can look forward to. Interested in Thinking Out Cloud? Drop me a line.

ALA Interviews InsideLegal's Jobst Elster on Law Firm Purchasing Trends

Listen to the Podcast

Recently, the Association of Legal Administrator's (ALA) Legal Management Talk Podcast invited InsideLegal to share some highlights from the results of our 2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey (Survey). Since 2006, we have partnered with the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) to produce the annual survey examining the technology budgets and purchasing trends of ILTA member law firms. The Survey includes detailed technology budget data; updated information on firms’ purchasing influences and patterns; legal IT department trends and challenges; and expansive sections on specific legal technology purchases – both last year’s and those planned for the upcoming year. The 2015 Survey marks the 10th edition of this ILTA/InsideLegal collaboration. 

Check out ALA's other podcasts and subscribe here. 

Foley & Lardner Shares Cloud Strategy with InsideLegal

Recently, the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) commissioned InsideLegal's Jobst Elster to conduct a follow-up to his "Getting Comfortable in the Cloud" cover article featured in the May 2015 issue of its member publication, Legal Management. In the October issue, Jobst has a virtual 'sit down' with Rick Varju, Foley & Lardner's Director of Projects & Infrastructure Operations, to discuss the firm's strategic stand on cloud computing and talk brass tacks about some of the specific cloud technologies the firm is currently relying on and rolling out in the future. 

Rick Varju
Foley & Lardner

Read the interview to get the full scoop but here are a few take-aways from our chat with Rick that should enlighten:

• Foley & Lardner has been moving closer to a 'cloud first' approach ... "Today, more and more of our new tech discussions start off with a focus on whether cloud-based offerings can be leveraged."
• Cloud-based services the firm currently leverage include NetDocuments document management; Chrome River expense reporting and invoicing; Meeting Room Manager conference room scheduling; Absorb Learning Management System for internal training delivery; LexisNexis eBooks legal library online; Vuture marketing communication automation; and Proofpoint for spam email filtering.
• Larger cloud service providers can offer greater levels of security for a firm's data than they can themselves.
• Agility and the move to more of a consumption-based usage model are also very attractive with the cloud. Having the ability to easily and quickly grow or shrink cloud app or service usage as needs change, can be both cost effective and extremely advantageous, especially in M&A-type situations.

 

10 Legal Tech Influencers Weigh In On the State of the Legal Cloud

Over the past few months, my mind has been in the clouds ...literally. The Association of Legal Administrators asked me to author a "working in the cloud" feature for the May issue of Legal Management (LM), ALA's member-only publication. The idea; talk to law firms, CIOs, technologists, vendors and analysts and gauge the state of legal cloud computing. What are firms doing? which cloud technologies are hot? what's the overall attitude toward cloud alternatives? and what's next on the path to 'cloudy skies'? You can read the full article, "Getting Comfortable in the Cloud" here.

Obviously, this is a topic with many angles and 'it depends' and 'what if' scenarios, especially in the legal market. The LM article and accompanying sidebar only scratch the surface in documenting the relevance of cloud technologies in everyday law firm life.

Since I've had way too many great conversations to fit into one feature, I figured it would be practical to include additional expert quotes and commentary here. Consider it the companion guide to our Legal Management content.

State of the (cloud) union

So David Houlihan, Principal Analyst with Blue Hill Research, was one of my bar mates in New York recently when we joked about the cloud (still) being the hottest trend in annual legal technology surveys and benchmarking studies. Hot might describe the rate at which firms are increasingly open-minded when it comes to cloud applications and starting to deliver business value to their users via various ‘as-a-service’ models. Or, hot might describe the earnest belief that this ‘cloud thing’ is new. As David stated “the irony is that thanks to LexisNexis and Westlaw, legal has actually been doing cloud solutions for longer than we've had ‘the cloud,’ we just don't think of it that way.” The same goes for email … Microsoft launched Hotmail (now Outlook.com) in 1996 and 8 years later Google introduced Gmail. Right around the Great Recession in 2008, folks started giving this web-based/application service provider model a new label … cloud computing.

Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney, the author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers, and Legal Technology Evangelist at MyCase.com: "After solo and small firms, I think that large firms will be the next to incorporate on a large scale cloud computing into their systems that store confidential client information. Right now most large firms are already using cloud computing for less sensitive data but will eventually use the cloud, most likely via private clouds, for other types of data as well. And midsize firms will be the last to move to the cloud in full force. The biggest barriers for many firms are security concerns. However, when lawyers educate themselves about the security of their data as it now exists in their firms when stored on premises versus the security offered by many cloud computing providers, they often realize that many legal cloud computing solutions offer more secure storage for sensitive data than what they're currently using."

Adds Houlihan: "Cloud/SaaS models create deployment and pricing models that put software capabilities within reach of the limited financial and IT resources of small firms. eDiscovery is increasingly a cloud market as well, especially as the market matures and basic capabilities are commoditizing."

Speaking of cloud-based eDiscovery ... Brett Burney, owner of Burney Consultants, 2015 ABA TECHSHOW Chair, prolific speaker and author on all things legal tech (especially eDiscovery/lit support): "Most of these SaaS-focused eDiscovery and litigation support players have been in the market for the last 7-10 years but just like any cloud-based service, they continue to be questioned about their overall security capabilities. Lawyers continue to find it incredibly difficult to overcome their irrational fear of using cloud-based services, even though every lawyer uses unencrypted e-mail every day to send the most sensitive and confidential information to clients."

"The biggest advantage of SaaS e-discovery tools is that they’re so easy to use. If you can upload a picture to Facebook, you can upload a .PST file to these services. Files are processed on the backend and presented to reviewers so they can filter, search, tag, and produce the files themselves. And these tools come with all the advantages of any other cloud-based platform in that updates and security patches get applied automatically without the firm having to worry about it," concludes Burney.

The cloud at work 

Microsoft Office 365 and Azure have given Houston-based Bracewell & Giuliani an easy, cost effective platform to build out a firm alumni and emergency site as well as a client extranet solution. Azure provides the ability to securely tie back into the firm’s network, saving internal users from providing multiple logins and passwords.

Sean Luman, Senior Director of Knowledge Management at Bracewell & Giuliani: “After discussing benefits, costs, and limitations of each, we opted for the Azure solution. Maintenance of these machines is much easier than on-premise or private data center boxes and speed is solely dependent upon internet connection performance. While the above issues could be problematic with on premise solutions, the Azure cloud deployment has made so many of the arduous and mundane tasks we loathed obsolete.”

Skip Lohmeyer, Jackson Kelly’s CIO: “The core competency of a law firm is not to purchase and maintain a bunch of software and hardware. But, purchasing and maintaining makes  perfect sense if there is a competitive or operational advantage.  However, if a service company has commoditized the same, functional service in the “cloud” (or SaaS, IaaS, etc.) and the cost is about equal, it stands to reason the firm should be looking at those as serious alternatives. Security, compliance, continuity, functionality, and performance all top the list when considering cloud services vs. in-house/firm owned and operated solutions. [See Lohmeyer’s "Should Your Firm Head to the Cloud" Legal Management sidebar for more]

Rick Varju, Foley & Lardner's Director of Engineering & Operations: “Firm leadership understands the value that hosted applications and services can offer, provided we maintain full ownership and control of our data and the hosted service provider meets and maintains industry standard data security requirements. We've been moving closer and closer to a ‘cloud first’ approach to new application and services planning and provisioning over the past couple years. Today, more and more of our new technology discussions start off with a focus on whether or not the cloud-based offering of the application can be pursued as an alternative to hosting it all internally.” [Look for more from Rick and what Foley's is doing in the Cloud in the upcoming October issue of Legal Management]

Jared Correia, Assistant Director and Senior Law Practice Advisor for the Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program, advises the state’s practitioners on law practice technology decisions and purchases including the cloud. "The gateway drug for most solos and small firms with respect to the cloud is case management. Those are the systems that people will buy first, then, they start adding. That's once they've figured out the benefits of an law practice management system."

“Most of the innovation in our community comes from lawyers situated in the entrepreneurial sectors of the big city (Boston). These are usually solo lawyers or very small firms, whose managing partners have a significant interest in technology for gaining efficiency … hence the interest in the cloud. Generally, solos and small firms discover cloud technology when an existing system fails: the server goes, or the case management system that hasn't been updated since 1998 gets too wonky; then the potential cost-savings, at least initially, become very appealing to them.”

Seizing up cloud training

Stacy Gittleman, CEO and Founder of Encoretech, a nationally recognized technology training, learning and development organization, looks at cloud computing from a firm user’s and overall training impact perspective. “Until recently, users have had a lifetime of experience navigating drop-down menus, tool bars and right-click functionality with relative minor change to the user interface and application workflow for each new version of software; that all changes with a move to the cloud,” notes Gittleman.

Editor comment: If we state the case for cloud computing, can't we make the same assertion for non-traditional, cloud-based training? Lawyers are increasingly mobile as are their clients so the services offered to support technology use and overall productivity have to match this ‘lifestyle’. However, Gittleman and other professional trainers will make the case that instructor-led hands-on classroom training is still warranted. Especially for new cloud rollouts, initial live support is crucial since most of the “learning” happens when users are back at their desks. 

Cloud futures: we have SaaS and many 'as-a-service' models ... what's next?

Doug Horton, CEO of Handshake Software: “The next big thing for computing in law firms will be a "service-as-a-service" model … rather than mid to large sized firms hiring full time application/technology-skilled staff, they will be able to "rent" them as needed for discrete projects, just as they can "rent" data space and computing power.  The advantage to the law firm is that they do not have to carry excess capacity and are able to "staff" up accordingly based on specific projects.”

Horton contends that the only full time employees in law firms might well be the lawyers, paralegals, KM or other staff who are directly involved in providing the legal services to the clients - the actual work product of the firm.  Various law firms are already outsourcing different back-office and operations functions so the service-as-a-service model may not be so farfetched.

Matt Duncan, CEO of NetDocuments: “The future of the cloud will rely on an increasing focus on system integration and customization to firms’ unique technology landscape. Apps and integration marketplaces and platforms, open APIs, and the technology and channel partners to support them, will be at the forefront of legal technology innovation.”

Duncan concludes: The biggest challenge firms are facing today revolves around the client demands for security and compliance. The Am Law and Global 100 firms are faced with an onslaught of audits coming from their big-name clients. This presents an incredible opportunity for specialized vendors to address these information governance and data privacy concerns, without putting the burden on the firm itself. Meeting these client demands is simply not possible or feasible with on-premises or hosted solutions as it becomes prohibitively expensive and cumbersome for a firm to tackle global data privacy, security, and data encryption demands."

This concludes our impromptu legal thought leader cloud 'sound-off'. Also, I hope you take a moment to check out the Legal Management cloud feature or peruse the entire May issue -- free for members, available on a subscription basis for non-members. Enjoy. 

A Look Back at InsideLegal's Top 10 Posts in 2014

Happy New Year! To help you kick off 2015, we will be publishing a variety of useful resources and posts on the legal space over the next couple of weeks. [Subscribe now to receive these tools via email.]

Before we look forward to 2015, we wanted to take a look back at InsideLegal's highlights from 2014, beginning with our 10 most read posts...

1. Law Firm Technology: What Law Firms Said They Bought Last Year (broken down by firm size) (January 6)
2. ILTA's 2014 Technology Survey: An Early Holiday Gift for the Legal Tech Community (December 4)
3. Law Firm Technology Budgets: Who is Spending What (February 6)
4. InsideLegal[Tech] New York 2014: Privacy, Innovation and New(ish) Technologies (February 13)
5. 2014 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey Delivers Promise ... Increased Tech Spend (August 20)
6. ILTA 2014 Conference Registrants by Country (July 28)
7. LexThink.1 2014 'End of Irrelevance' Speakers Announced! (March 10)
8. LegalTech NY 2014 Agenda Word Cloud (& Comparison to Past Years) (January 23)
9. ILTA 2014 Conference Registrants by Firm Size (August 13)
10. ALA's Legal Management Goes Digital ... Looks Ahead with Future Legal Technology & Strategy (January 14)

Here are a few that didn't rank, but that we felt should have:

1. AALL Big Data Panel: Discussing Big Data Opportunities with Firm Partners (July 15)
2. InsideLegal[Tech] New York 2014: Essential Facts, Figures & Predictions (February 4)
3. What Technology ILTA Law Firms Said They Plan to Buy This Year (broken down by firm size) (January 27)

Stay tuned...

ALA's Legal Management Goes Digital ... Looks Ahead with Future Legal Technology & Strategy

Ten months ago, the Association of Legal Administrators' (ALA) editors shared their plans to 'go digital' with their Legal Management membership publication come January 2014. We loved the idea at the time, and now that we have previewed both the iPad app as well as the newly designed digital magazine website, we adore it even more. Today marks the official launch of the new medium which according to ALA's executive director Oliver Yandle provides members with "outstanding, robust, in-depth content presented in an engaging, interactive, immersive experience" -- definitely a more engaging and rewarding user experience than its previous paper counterpart. 

Before we dive into more bells and whistles of the new digital platform, let's focus on the first issue's theme -- "Law Firm Futures, focusing on where the legal industry is headed in the years to come." The topic works well with the digital launch plus is one of the hot topics among legal professionals ... what's on the legal horizon? how do we get there? and how can we manage to not only keep our clients happy but attract new ones along the way? Technology is no doubt the linchpin in helping law firms find answers to these questions. InsideLegal was fortunate enough to author the inaugural issue's cover story: "Strategizing Today for the Legal Tech of Tomorrow", a close look at how technology can/is helping law firms move beyond the dreaded status quo. We'll dedicate more time (and blog space) to this article a bit later, but wanted to thank our team of nine legal thought leaders and influencers who contributed commentary and insights for this feature. The article can be openly viewed via the tablet apps.

As promised, here are some more details on the new digital format:

• The new monthly (12 issues per year!) Legal Management will deliver exclusive educational content in truly innovative fashion. Download the free app for iPad or Android tablet, and start interacting ... 
• The tablet apps including the January 2014 issue as well as archived content will be available for all (not only ALA members) to experience. Sometime around February or March, subsequent issues on the apps will also be password protected but the editors plan to publish monthly samples so that potential members or other interested parties can preview new content. Existing members/those with UN/PWs can access the new website at any time.
• Hyperlinks and other touch-features of the tablet version allow readers to connect directly with authors and from the magazine.
• Multimedia features provide more in-depth content through video, podcasts and other media. The new customized, easy-to-read, easy-to-navigate website provides access to all of the same content that is available on the tablet version.
• Make sure to click through all the features and icons on the iPad/Android tablet versions since there is bonus/additional content waiting to be discovered.

Overall, we applaud the ALA for going digital and giving their nearly 10,000 strong global membership a 'new and improved' way to  consume legal management, marketing, operations and financial-themed content.