Why Contract Lifecycle Management Matters

February 17th, 2012 → 6:50 am @ Ari Kaplan

During Legal Tech New York 2012, I had the chance to speak with Tim Sparks, the CEO of CLM Matrix about contract lifecycle management.  He noted that the company’s Matrix software solutions are uniquely designed for Microsoft SharePoint, automatically draft contracts in Word, and dynamically create essential workflow.  Watch our interview below:

ari kaplan &automation &clm matrix &content generation &contracts &corporate legal department &document creation &general counsel &ghostwriting &in-house counsel &incremental innovation &law firm &law practice management &law-related &legal industry &legal management &legal practice &legal tech new york &Legal Technology &leveraging technology &management &project management &reinventing professional services &Reinvention &sharepoint &solo practice &tim sparks

The Rise of Enterprise Apps

February 10th, 2012 → 7:15 am @ Ari Kaplan

I had the chance to interview Eric Elfman, the CEO of Onit at Legal Tech NY 2012. We discussed the company’s business process and productivity apps, designed to solve very specific problems, including contract review and approval, ethics violation tracking, and whistle blower reporting. Watch our interview below:

ari kaplan &Blog &ghostwriting &incremental innovation &iphone application &law firm &law practice management &lawyers &legal industry &legal practice &Legal Technology &reinventing professional services &Reinvention

Strengthening Litigation Support Career Opportunities

February 8th, 2012 → 1:10 pm @ Ari Kaplan

At Legal Tech NY 2012, I had the chance to speak with David Netzer, the President of LitigationSupportCareers.com, which he describes as “an alternative to Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com.”  In a continuing trend of leveraging the web to pursue local opportunities, Netzer created LitigationSupportCareers.com to provide a portal for the industry to specifically advertise legal technology and litigation support positions.  He notes that it builds efficiency by increasing the number of qualified applicants while reducing the amount of resumes that employers ultimately need to evaluate.  Job seekers can also proactively search for positions by location, category, and employer type.  Watch our interview below:

ari kaplan &Blog &careers &ghostwriting &incremental innovation &jobs &law firm &law practice management &law-related &lawyers &Legal Technology &litigation support &reinventing professional services &Reinvention

Reinventing the School Year

February 3rd, 2012 → 7:11 am @ Ari Kaplan

I read this post 10 Big Reasons We Need to Reinvent the School Year from Online Colleges and it resonated with me because of my research and recent article – Applying the Alternative Fee Model to Law School Tuition, which has generated some additional discussion.  The Online Colleges staff writers conclude that “the school year that worked for students decades ago simply isn’t practical for today’s students” and propose altering the school year because, among other reasons:

Flexibility in the length of high school could help students better prepare for college.

The reasons behind the creation of summer vacation don’t really apply to modern life.

Students often simply don’t have time to learn everything they need in a school year.

Year-round school can also impact students’ overall health and well-being.

This discussion is taking place across the educational spectrum as technology continues to transform the manner in which we deliver information.

ari kaplan &Blog &college &law school &law students &reinventing professional services &Reinvention &Students

Perspectives from Legal Tech New York 2012 – A CODiE, Contracts, and Client-Centered Technology

February 1st, 2012 → 6:30 am @ Ari Kaplan

There is a great sense of optimism at this year’s Legal Tech New York conference. I had the chance to capture some of the perspectives from the show, including:
Samantha Miller, the director of product management for website services at LexisNexis, who discussed Client Center’s 2012 Software & Industry Information Association (SIIA) CODiE Award for Best Legal Solution.

ABA Legal Rebel, Ken Adams, the author of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting (ABA 2d ed. 2008) and the founder of Koncision, discussing his 2012 alliance with global contracts powerhouse, Business Integrity, makers of ContractExpress.com.

Bob Krantz, the dynamic CEO of Mindseye Solutions discussing the company’s technology and its impact on the discovery process.

ari kaplan &Blog &contracts &document creation &ghostwriting &law firm &law-related &lawyers &Legal Technology &writing

The Rise of Meaning-Based Coding and the Changing Landscape for Information Governanace

January 30th, 2012 → 7:17 am @ Ari Kaplan

In anticipation of Legal Tech, I spoke with George Tziahanas, the senior vice president for legal and compliance solutions at Autonomy.  We discussed the rise of meaning-based coding, the convergence of Stratify and Introspect, and the changing landscape for information governance. Listen to our interview below:

ari kaplan &automation &autonomy &Blog &corporate legal department &cost per document &document review &general counsel &George Tziahanas &ghostwriting &in-house counsel &incremental innovation &law firm &law practice management &law-related &legal and compliance &legal industry &legal management &legal practice &Legal Technology &leveraging technology &meaning based coding &predictive coding &reinventing professional services &Reinvention

Fixed-Fee Document Review and the Automation Revolution

January 26th, 2012 → 4:48 pm @ Ari Kaplan

In anticipation of the upcoming Legal Tech New York conference, I spoke yesterday with Steve Harber, the President and co-founder of DiscoverReady, a leading provider of e-discovery services.  Steve and I have been discussing fixed-fee document review services and innovations in automated review for a few years.  He shared his views on how the market has changed, as well as key trends for 2012 and beyond.  Listen to our discussion below:

alternative fees &ari kaplan &automation &Blog &Client Billing &corporate legal department &cost per document &document review &fixed fees &ghostwriting &global &incremental innovation &law practice management &law-related &lawyers &legal industry &legal management &legal practice &Legal Technology &leveraging technology &reinventing professional services &Reinvention &steve harber

Reinventing Law Practice Management

January 24th, 2012 → 9:40 am @ Ari Kaplan

In anticipation of attending Legal Tech New York next week, I wanted to share this conversation with Paul Unger of Affinity Consulting Group about reinvention in law practice management. He discusses the impact of cloud computing, online learning, and how the use of technology in the courtroom is “breathing new life into what [lawyers] do.” Watch our interview below:

ari kaplan &Blog &ghostwriting &incremental innovation &law firm &law practice management &law-related &lawyers &legal industry &legal practice &Legal Technology &management &paul unger &project management &reinventing professional services &Reinvention

Applying the Alternative Fee Model to Law School Tuition

January 12th, 2012 → 8:50 am @ Ari Kaplan

In my column for the National Law Journal online today, I note that the time has come to talk more openly about the cost of a legal education and I don’t mean cheaper, I mean different.

I have been studying the industry for years.  I released my report: The Evolution of the Legal Profession: A Conversation with the Legal Community’s Thought Leaders on the Front Lines of an Industry in Transition (underwritten by DiscoverReady) in 2010 and have addressed law students at almost 50 law schools worldwide since the release of my first book, The Opportunity Maker in 2008.

My conclusion: 2012 can be the year to implement a positive shift in the logistics of legal education. The legal academic community has jump-started this discussion by beginning to implement changes to the curriculum, practical training initiatives, and greater transparency in reporting employment statistics.

Read the column here.

alternative fees &ari kaplan &articles &Blog &fixed fees &law firm &law school &law students &lawyers &legal education &legal industry &legal practice &Legal Technology &reinventing professional services &Reinvention &Students &tuition

AllAboutLaw and Empowering Career Decisions

January 9th, 2012 → 7:18 am @ Ari Kaplan

I have had the honor of addressing students at law schools at colleges throughout North America and at the London School of Economics. As such, I am always interested in spotlighting great resources and speaking with those who provide them.  During my visit to LSE, I met with Paul Harris, founder of AllAboutLaw and AllAboutCareers to talk about how he and his team are making career advice more accessible to students across the globe.  We discussed why he founded AllAboutLaw in September of 2008 and its growth to about 25,000 members, who regularly access a wealth of information about law schools, courses, internships, jobs, and firms in the UK. Watch our interview below:

ari kaplan &Blog &ghostwriting &global &law firm &law school &law students &law-related &lawyers &legal practice &london &reinventing professional services &Reinvention &Students