Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Sandy Serkes, the co-founder, president, and CEO of Valora Technologies, a provider of document, data, and content analytics solutions for corporate, legal, and government clients worldwide, who received honorable mention at the Information Governance Initiative’s inaugural conference for the organization’s Information Governance Evangelist of the Year award. We discussed the definition of information governance, how it differs from e-discovery, the distinctions between the two types of matters, how to determine whether an outcome is successful, and how to choose an information governance solution, among other topics.

I spoke with Eric Mandel, the founder and managing member of Indicium Law, a boutique firm focused on navigating clients through the legal, technology, and process issues related to eDiscovery, cyber risk, data privacy and protection, and information governance. Eric serves on the Steering Committee for The Sedona Conference, Working Group 1, and the Board of Directors of the Legal Technology Professionals Institute. e discussed the genesis of Indicium and the community it serves, the connection between cyber risk and information governance, where U.S. privacy regulations are headed, and the impact of the Internet of Things on the legal community in 2016.

I spoke with Sue Pasfield, the Founding Director, and Janis Richman, the Director of Consulting, respectively, for Capensys, a full-service international technology training company focused on the legal industry. They are also founders of the Legal Technology Core Competencies Certification Coalition (LTC4), a non-profit group that has created industry-standard legal technology core competencies. e discussed the advantages of a goal-based approach, the key trends in training, and how the movement toward certification and audits is impacting the market, among other topics.

I spoke with Chris Stock, the CEO of LEAP US, a cloud-based practice management tool for solo practitioners and small law firms. We discussed how LEAP differs from the other law office management solutions on the market, its cloud technology, how attorneys are using mobile practice management tools, and the trajectory of the practice management software sector headed, among other topics.

I spoke with Karl Harris, the Vice President of Products for Lex Machina, a software-as-a-service provider of data analytics for patent and trademark litigation data, recently acquired by LexisNexis, where he leads all product management, development, and strategy. We discussed Lex Machina’s custom insight apps designed to help lawyers leverage information to win cases and close business, how they integrate with Lex Machina’s legal analytics platform, the tools it is launching, and where the sector is headed in 2016, among other topics.

I spoke with John Gilbert, Senior Vice President of nQueue, a cost recovery, document scanning, and routing solutions provider. We discussed ways that law firm’s are approaching cost recovery in the current market, the likelihood of a paperless future, the importance of uniform scanning, and where the sector is headed, among other topics.

I spoke with Eric Wangler, President of BigHand North America, a software development company specializing in delivering speech, task delegation, document creation and process improvement solutions. We discussed the release of BigHand Now, the evolution of workflow management, how organizations are using it to increase efficiency and build accountability, the key considerations for choosing a solution for managing workflow, and the future of the sector (particularly given the collaboration between BigHand and Integreon), among other topics.

I spoke with Shelley Brown, an attorney and the Director of Managed Review Services at RVM, a full-service e-discovery provider. We discussed the impact of managed review, the characteristics of a successful contract attorney, the effect of artificial intelligence on e-discovery, and the advantages of near-shore vs. off-shore litigation support, among other topics.

I spoke with Jason Smith, the Senior Director and Legal Counsel at Apttus, a software company that facilitates deal flow in various industries. He focuses on contract lifecycle management. We discussed how the interest in contract lifecycle management has evolved over the past few years, the results of the General Counsel’s Technology Report, and the key trends that are likely to influence the legal market in 2016.

I spoke with Jeena Cho, a San Francisco bankruptcy attorney with JC Law Group, and the co-author of the upcoming book, The Anxious Lawyer: An 8-Week Guide to a Happier, Saner Law Practice Using Meditation (American Bar Association, March 7, 2016). Jeena is also the host of the Resilient Lawyer podcast. We discussed how she balances her law practice and consulting, her inspiration for writing The Anxious Lawyer, what readers expect to take away from it, whether lawyers struggle with achieving happiness, and meditation best practices, among other interesting topics.