IMS is a management consulting firm focused on providing (within our client's own business environments) a stable foundation of knowledge, communication, and support necessary for accelerated growth and rapid improvement within a business.
LegalTech NY 2012 focused on e-Discovery & Cloud Computing technologies, issues and advancements, with a focus on a variety of critical and current issues (i.e. International and Cross-Border challenges). As firms migrate to the Cloud, new issues and considerations arise (such as the significant implications for case management).
Cloud Computing and E-discovery are by no means new topics, but their relevance and importance in the legal field have not diminished over time. If anything e-Discovery has grown in relevance as tools have improved and organizations have increasingly invested in technologies and processes.
VIDEO INTERVIEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS
To view included video content please click "web version" in the upper left hand corner of this e-mail.
Looking back at LegalTech New York 2012: LXBN TV shot 39 video interviews at the three-day conference. Colin O'Keefe highlighted the following as some of his favorite interviews of the conference:
Brett Burney of Burney Consultants on the iPad and the Best Apps in the Legal Community
Keynote Speaker Don Tapscott, Co-Author of Macrowikinomics, on the Digital Generation and 5 Themes in Tech, Biz and Law
John Haselmann's (Managing Partner of IMS) favorite part of LegalTech was a new model which creatively presents intelligently gathered metrics and data in easily understood visual formats.
Dynamic platforms integrate, visualize, and analyze many kinds of data (structure, unstructured, relational, temporal, and geospatial), and then provide that analysis of data to the industries that need it (including the US Intelligence Community).
"All this information is then displayed on a clearly designed graphical interface that looks like something Tom Cruise would use in a Mission: Impossible movie."
What is especially interesting is the versatility of this analysis: this model is in much demand in the intelligence, defense, law enforcement communities – and is now also utilized in the e-Discovery process.
IMS was quite intrigued by the concept of this platform of data analysis – especially in its potential to be utilized in other business practices. This model could be highly successful in Risk Management practices, and IMS looks forward to hearing more from the folks behind this very interesting venture.
THE CLOUD CONUNDRUM
A study by “American Lawyer” showed that most law firms worry about cloud security, using cloud computing only for non-critical data.
Which is strange considering that third party services, like Postini, have been handling sensitive law firm data for over a decade -- in other words permitting third party vendors to handle data is not new.
It is the term "cloud computing" which is relatively new and has provided a focus for outsourcing concerns. This is not to say that concerns are unwarranted or that maintaining a solid business continuity plan is not needed -- as long as one keeps in mind that contingency plans are always recommended regardless of the systems in use.
Furthermore, law firms are disappointed that the cost of cloud-computing has not dropped as much as they had hoped, and cloud users say that “savings have not been as great as expected.”
White Paper Evaluating Investment Decisions for Cloud Computing in Legal IT Architecture
DAILY RECAP
Inside Legal (IL) put together daily overviews of their own LegalTech NY 2012 experiences and activities (if you would like to get a taste of the action) which can be found, paired with their respective conference agendas, through the links below
Additionally Fidelus Technologies sponsored an event Tuesday night for industry insiders, vendors and consultants to exchange highlights and updates from from LegalTech at the Hilton Bridges Lounge and Bar. The topic of the night was moves and migrations as many of the guests were transitioning to new positions while others were managing to streamline their organizations.
The coolest product from LegalTech? Sean Doherty claims that it is AccessData's Mobile Phone Examiner Plus (MPE+) which provides easy access to remote custodians' data on iOS devices (iPad, Android, and BlackBerry OS, etc). According to Doherty's blog entry on the topic:
"AccessData claims that the MPE+ supports over 3,500 phones.
The company says the device can "preview, acquire, and analyze"
data at the point of capture and generate a customized
evidence report on-site, all of which can save you a great
deal of time, money, and grief."
"E-discovery needs that same hands-on approach.
E-discovery lawyers need to go through boot camp too, even if
they primarily just supervise others [...] You cannot manage others
at a job unless you can actually do the job yourself. That is
the hacker key to successful management."
eDISCOVERY ADVANCES OF 2011
The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel published a thought-provoking article by United States Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck and practicing attorney David J. Lender on the “10 Key E-Discovery Issues in 2011: Expert Insight to Manage Successfully.” The duo offer practical advice on how to overcome the hurdle of the high cost of e-discovery and other key issues that companies face today in the e-discovery process. As the authors say themselves:
"Conferences are held through the year, technology continues to improve, and more and more consulting firms and law practices are being formed to assist in navigating the e-discovery process. Yet, in conversation after conversation with companies, they continue to be concerned about the explosive cost of electronic discovery, the lack of predictability, and the risk of serious…sanctions for the attorneys involved."
Their article discusses the ten key issues that companies face and offers insight into how to manage those issues in the future.
Note: Hon. Andrew J. Peck was a key speaker at this year’s LegalTech New York for the January 30th Plenary General Session on the topic of “Man vs. Machine: The Promise/Challenge of Predictive Coding and Other Disruptive Technologies.”
