Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Nehal Madhani, the founder and CEO of Alt Legal, a cloud-based software tool to prepare and manage global IP filings. He will be presenting at the Clio Cloud Conference on the role of APIs and how Clio can be leveraged as a platform from the perspective of an attorney and a programmer. We discussed the genesis and evolution of Alt Legal, its influence in the legal market, the competitive landscape for tools of this type, and key predictions, among other topics. In addition, given his experience as a former attorney with a big firm who left the practice to start a software company after teaching himself to code, he shared some advice for lawyers interested in striking out on their own beyond the practice of law.

I spoke with Phi Tran, the Director of Communications and Client Development with Xact Data Discovery, an international discovery and data management company that supports law firms, corporations and government agencies. A former practicing commercial litigator, she helps clients implement best practices and defensible cost-effective solutions to their e-discovery challenges. She will be speaking at Relativity Fest this week and we discussed the characteristics that distinguish Xact in the marketplace, trends driving the growth of e-discovery, how clients choose between domestic and offshore review, the importance of Xact’s multi-tenant deployment of Relativity, and its new data center in Texas, among other topics.

I spoke with Charlie Lee, the Founder & CEO of LeGuard, a live interactive legal fee tracking system, He is also the author of Churn That Bill Baby: The Solution to Controlling Excessive Legal Billing. We discussed the genesis of LeGuard, how it works, the target audience, and what the introduction of a tool like LeGuard signifies about the evolution of the legal profession.

I spoke with Victor Medina, the founder of the Medina Law Group, a New Jersey-based estate planning firm, and the creator of MILOfest, a national attorney-tech conference solely for those using Macs in their law offices. We discussed Medina’s practice and the genesis of MILOfest, the level of Mac usage in the legal field, the rising popularity of MILOfest, and the type of programming that can attendees expect during the event taking place November 12th through the 14th, among other topics.

I spoke with Mary Mack, the new executive director for the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists. With more than a decade in the e-discovery field, Mack is a frequent commentator on industry issues as well as the author of A Process of Illumination: The Practical Guide to Electronic Discovery and the co-editor of the Thomson Reuters treatise, eDiscovery for Corporate Counsel. We discussed her new role at ACEDS, the importance of certification for e-discovery professionals, key trends in training, and the organization’s 6th Annual E-Discovery Conference.

I spoke with Stephanie Giammarco, a partner at BDO Consulting, as well as the national practice leader for forensic technology services. We discussed BDO’s approach to e-discovery, how leveraging data analytics differs from filtering data, the ROI of data analytics and visualization, the impact of globalization on e-discovery analytics, and best practices for organizations interested in managing their data more proactively.

I spoke with Bob Gogel, the CEO of Integreon, a leading legal process outsourcing firm serving both global law firms and corporations. Prior to joining Integreon in 2011, he was the CEO of Enrich, an employee benefits consultancy, and has held positions on the executive boards of AXA Group and Siemens Business Services GmbH. We discussed why legal processing outsourcing has become so attractive to law firms and corporations, Integreon’s new global delivery center in Austin, offshoring and onshoring preferences, and data security best practices.

I spoke with Todd Miller, the CEO of gwabbit, a leading ERM and data optimization solution. Miller is also the founder of WebFeat, the former CEO of Knight Ridder’s SourceOne subsidiary, and the owner of four information technology patents. We discussed the genesis of gwabbit, the problem it solves in the marketplace, how firms in the AmLaw 100 and 200 are using it, and the company’s plans for the 2015 ILTA conference, among other topics.

I spoke with Doug Horton, the president and CEO of Handshake Software, a provider of SharePoint-based products and services to the legal market. We discussed how Handshake Software is helping law firms streamline their use of SharePoint with its Jumpstart portal for rapid deployment, its Expertise Locator, and key integrations with LexisNexis and Neudesic, among others. Horton also highlighted how Handshake Software supports Microsoft Office 365 and SharePoint Online, and what the company is planning for the 2015 ILTA conference.

I spoke with Jeffrey Roach, president of Encoretech, a learning & development organization delivering technology training to the legal and corporate communities. We discussed Encoretech’s Training-as-a-Service initiative (a finalist for ILTA’s Innovative Solution Provider of the Year award), innovative ways that law firms are providing technology training and gauging proficiency, the trajectory of the trend of issuing technology certifications and assessments to help law firms support their technical skills, and the company’s plans for the upcoming ILTA conference, among other topics.