The RSA Conference in San Francisco is one of the world's largest gatherings of information security professionals from all industries. Three ILTA members share their experiences from this year's conference, addressing educational content, vendor expo halls and peer networking. If you've never been to RSA, this will help you know what to expect.

Speakers:

Bill Caraher has 20 years of experience managing and supporting technology in the enterprise. As the CIO and Director of Operations for von Briesen & Roper law firm, Bill is passionate about innovative information security and business-focused technology solutions that align and empower his firm's client-focused attorneys.

William (Bill) Kyrouz is Director of Information Security at Mintz Levin and is based out of Boston. Working in legal technology since 2001, Bill is active in ILTA and is a member of the Threat Intelligence and Executive Committees with the Legal Services ISAO. He recently led his firm's effort to become ISO 27001 certified.

Sherri Vollick is an accomplished information security and risk management professional with over 15 years of experience in top-tier, global law and professional services firms. She is the Co-Chair of ILTA's LegalSEC Summit for a second time, and a member of the LegalSEC Steering Committee. Respected by colleagues and business leaders alike, Sherri has planned and facilitated complex projects in both small and global environments.

Recorded on 4-14-17

In 1946, Grace Hopper recorded the first-ever computer bug when a moth was found in the Harvard Mark II machine. Today, the practice of software testing and quality assurance is vital to all industries with the advancement of technologies. Legal Services is no different, but the focus on quality assurance and software testing has been slow to develop – until now.

Speakers:
Ralph Bonatz is the Global IT Quality Control Manager at Mayer Brown LLP. He has over 20 years of experience in quality control, performing a broad array of activities such as: establishing teams, test management and planning, test case authoring and execution, test tools and environment management, requirements management, defect management, authoring test strategy, and guiding test automation teams. Ralph’s experience crosses many different areas, including Legal, Insurance, Fleet Management, Healthcare, Trading, Enterprise Resource Planning and Government. He is a former U.S. Air Force officer and graduate of the University of Miami, FL, where he obtained a BSEE and minor in German.

Ryan LaMontagne has 16+ years as a QA Professional and is an experienced QA Manager delivering hands-on innovative testing solutions. Demonstrated history working in the law practice industry, Financial Industry, and High Tech. Skilled in Test Program Development, Test Automation, Project Management, Vendor Management, and Leadership.

Asima Macci is the Manager, Training & Quality Assurance at Bennett Jones in Calgary, AB. She has over 30 years' experience in designing and delivering technical training programs in a variety of industries. 18 of those years however, have been in Legal. She is passionate about connecting people with technology to increase organizational efficiencies, productivity and profitability.

Alan Reeson is the manager of the Quality Assurance team at McGuireWoods LLP, an international law firm with over 1000 attorneys across 23 offices in the US, UK and around the world. He has been with the firm since 2001 and his team is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining IT quality assurance and control processes for both projects and operations. Alan also serves as the owner of the Release Management process.

For everyone except Doctor Who, time marches on. How is that future impacting the skill sets that law firm technologists need to have? Listen to a conversation on current and future skill sets and how people, process and *new* technology is impacting the delivery of legal services.

Speakers:

Mitch Owens is the CTO at Gilbert + Tobin and leads the firm’s technology function. He has held senior roles in the global banking and professional services industries for many years. With a background that is predominately outside legal Mitch is able to provide a different, and interesting, slant on technology challenges that face legal firms today. The focus for Mitch, and his team, is clients - internal or external. He is constantly evaluating against the expected and looking to give them advantages. He has a diverse understanding of business functions and processes allowing for creative technology solutions.

Luke Schnoebelen manages technical training and e-learning development for his firm. He is solidifying a development process to improve the technology expertise for all firm employees, associates and partners. Luke also assists with all facets of in-house CLE, technology adoption and general promotion of process improvements.

Reporting is one of the most important and sometimes frustrating features of a LMS. Because firms have different needs, it can sometimes be difficult to get exactly what you need. Even with the data in hand, it may require skilled Excel manipulation. In this podcast, your ILTA panelists share great ideas and insights on how they are using reporting and getting at the data they need. We even touch on connecting the dots between your LMS data and actual performance data.

Moderator:

Speakers:

Claire Morris is an IT Training Manager for a leading international law firm. An accomplished professional with over 15 years of legal technology experience, she is passionate about developing the technical skills of all staff members. Claire creates new and innovative learning programs to deliver essential skills and make the best use of firm technology. She understands the unique culture of a law firm and that providing a full variety of learning methods is key to creating an environment where all can learn.

Lida Pinkham has over 20 years of experience leading technology learning in industries including higher education, libraries, banking and law firms. Since joining Ice Miller in 2014, she has led the technology training team to expand technology learning to a variety of formats, partnered with HR to develop a learning and assessment program for secretaries, and increased usage of learning materials and the LMS by over 200 percent, developing a culture where all are empowered to learn and develop. A Microsoft Office Certified Specialist with a Master of Education, Lida is involved in the Association for Talent Development, organizes a monthly legal technology trainer lunch and is a member of the Midwest Legal Technology Trainers steering committee.

Recorded on 2-27-17

We discuss how physical security tends to be overlooked while we focus so much time and energy on the technology side of security. Keeping your firm’s people and assets safe can rely on good physical security planning and design.

Description: What is all the talk about legal project management? This discussion, Q&A style, dives in to the ins and outs of project management (PM) and legal project management(LPM) from the beginning phase of looking to implement it in your business or law firm. Why is legal project management important for every organization to take stock in and implement to increase productivity? How can LPM help you and your business become more efficient in your daily workflows and produce greater work product?

Speakers:

Michael T. Clear is a Partner at Wiggin and Dana LLP, where his practice is focused on estate planning, estate and trust administration, probate litigation and business succession planning. Michael serves on the firm's client service delivery task force, which is leading the implementation of legal project management at the firm. He is a co-chair of the Probate and Estates Section of the Fairfield County Bar Association and is a member of the board of directors of the Connecticut Chapter of the Exit Planning Exchange (CT XPX).

Recorded on 1-10-17

Description: Because it is one of the main functions of an LMS, we're looking at course scheduling this month. In this podcast, we'll touch on everything from developing a strategy on how much and when to offer classes, as well as the challenges with scheduling training virtually or across multiple offices. Do you segregate classes by role and what challenges or benefits has that presented with scheduling? Are other departments in your firm using the LMS for scheduling? Finally, how do you promote or communicate your class schedule?

Moderator: Michelle Spencer's skills reside at the intersection of people, processes, technology and learning. She can translate technology for non-technical people and manage projects by getting groups connected and communicating, enabling them to work effectively towards their end goal. Michelle is adept at managing learning and IT projects from both the technical and human perspectives. She uses her knowledge -- gained from three decades spent on both legal and IT project teams -- to help your team. Contact Michelle at [email protected].

Participants:

Claire Morris is an IT Training Manager for a leading international law firm. An accomplished professional with over 15 years of legal technology experience, she is passionate about developing the technical skills of all staff members. Claire creates new and innovative learning programs to deliver essential skills and make the best use of firm technology. She understands the unique culture of a law firm and that providing a full variety of learning methods is key to creating an environment where all can learn.

Lida Pinkham has over 20 years of experience leading technology learning in industries including higher education, libraries, banking and law firms. Since joining Ice Miller in 2014, she has led the technology training team to expand technology learning to a variety of formats, partnered with HR to develop a learning and assessment program for secretaries, and increased usage of learning materials and the LMS by over 200 percent, developing a culture where all are empowered to learn and develop. A Microsoft Office Certified Specialist with a Master of Education, Lida is involved in the Association for Talent Development, organizes a monthly legal technology trainer lunch and is a member of the Midwest Legal Technology Trainers steering committee.

Recorded on 12-19-16

As we enter and rise through the ranks of our organizations, we face the opportunities and challenges afforded by two separate yet interlaced aspects of employment: professional development, bettering ourselves and accomplishing goals, and leadership, the responsibility of finding ways to best serve those whom we manage and help them accomplish their goals.

To explore this further, we asked three of your ILTA peers to share their experiences, advice and tips. Read the article that summarizes all three perspectives in the Winter 2016 Peer to Peer. 

Featured in this episode: Scott Christensen, Senior Associate at Olenick & Associates, speaks about professional development. 

As we enter and rise through the ranks of our organizations, we face the opportunities and challenges afforded by two separate yet interlaced aspects of employment: professional development, bettering ourselves and accomplishing goals, and leadership, the responsibility of finding ways to best serve those whom we manage and help them accomplish their goals.

To explore this further, we asked three of your ILTA peers to share their experiences, advice and tips. Read the article that summarizes all three perspectives in the Winter 2016 Peer to Peer. 

Featured in this episode: Charles Baldwin, Shareholder at Ogletree Deakins, speaks about leadership.

As we enter and rise through the ranks of our organizations, we face the opportunities and challenges afforded by two separate yet interlaced aspects of employment: professional development, bettering ourselves and accomplishing goals, and leadership, the responsibility of finding ways to best serve those whom we manage and help them accomplish their goals.

To explore this further, we asked three of your ILTA peers to share their experiences, advice and tips. Read the article that summarizes all three perspectives in the Winter 2016 Peer to Peer. 

Featured in this episode: Brian Donato, Chief Information Officer at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, speaks about leadership.