Just over five years after the start of the global financial crisis, the job of an Am Law 200 law firm leader arguably remains as tough as it has ever been. The painful decisions to cut staff and attorneys may now be a distant memory, at least for most firms, but there remain two distinct drags on Big Law businesses.
- December 31, 2013Richard Lloyd
e-Commerce professionals just aren't destined to get a good night's sleep. First there was the recession, slowing upgrades and new projects. Then lawyers using personal smartphones and tablets for work, raising confidentiality headaches. Now, a new challenge: Protecting against cyberattacks ' and convincing clients that the firm is doing this job well.
December 31, 2013Alan CohenWith a view to addressing a market imbalance ' litigation clients demanding better early case assessment, and commercial providers not developing tools to meet that need ' Duane Morris litigators handed the firm's technology team a mandate: Help us develop a system to assist our clients in the resolution of the ubiquitous try-or-settle conundrum and, in the process, position the firm to capture more litigation business.
December 31, 2013Adam SchlagmanThe world is getting smaller as technology changes enable us to share documents with those on the other side of the globe. When sharing documents "in the cloud" it is possible to see real-time updates when using the Microsoft 365 Office Web Apps. As most legal documents are created in Word, this column will focus on the Word Web App.
December 31, 2013Sue HughesSince the 2008 economic downturn, the U.S. legal market has undergone a permanent restructuring. With huge firms collapsing due to crippling debt, we see that legal services firms are no longer untouchable. The legal environment has become increasingly challenging as competition has increased, demand for legal services has remained flat, and firms are being forced to adopt more efficient, cost-effective and strategic business models.
December 31, 2013Scott PasterBy definition, metadata is data about data. For computer files, it includes metadata fields that are hidden to typical users. This information can be valuable for a court case, and it goes beyond standard electronic discovery data collection: it must be gathered and analyzed by a digital forensics specialist.
December 31, 2013Victor VitalThe e-discovery industry has come a long way in a short period of time. Fifteen years ago, the career path of an aspiring legal technology professional was quite uncertain. However, over time, clearer career trajectories have begun to emerge based on the career choices of pioneer ' and now veteran ' e-discovery professionals. Analyzing the divergent hiring strategies of service providers and law firms helps reveal those career trajectories.
December 31, 2013Bowe KurowskiU.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler ruled Hulu's alleged disclosure of users' viewing selections is enough to sustain claims under the Video Privacy Protection Act.
December 30, 2013Scott GrahamRecently, 37 states and the District of Columbia reached a $17 million dollar settlement with Google over its intentional circumvention of Internet users' privacy settings. The case stemmed from 'Google's bypassing of privacy settings in Apple's Safari browser to use cookies to track users and show them advertisements in 2011 and 2012. In total, Google has paid approximately $40 million dollars to federal and state regulators for intentionally harming the personal privacy rights of Internet users.
December 30, 2013Bradley S. ShearFederal Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Customer's Third-Party-Beneficiary Claim under First-to-File
Supreme Court Applies Atlantic Marine Standard to Forum Dispute in Patent Case
Claimed Inventions Falling within Prior Art Ranges Require Secondary Considerations to Show NonobviousnessDecember 30, 2013Howard J. Shire and Wyatt Delfino

