Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with David Netzer, the President of LitigationSupportCareers.com, which he describes as “an alternative to Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com,” at Legal Tech NY 2012. 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 number of resumes that employers ultimately need to evaluate. Job seekers can also proactively search for positions by location, category, and employer type.

I spoke with Bob Krantz, the CEO of Mindseye Solutions about the company’s technology and its impact on the discovery process.

I spoke with Ken Adams, an ABA Legal Rebel, 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.

I spoke with 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.

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.

I spoke 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.

I spoke 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.”

I spoke 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.

I spoke with Tony Williams, the founder of Jomati Consultants and the former managing partner for Clifford Chance, for Reinventing Professional Services and during my visit to London late last year. We discussed trends in the legal profession for 2012 and Williams noted that “Law firms are going through a massive transformation … and it is really just beginning.” He highlighted that law firms are coming to terms with a more sophisticated buyer, globalization, and relatively flat profitability. These factors, among others, are causing firms to think about how they operate, the clients they target, and the markets in which they provide services.

I spoke with Andrew Partridge, the co-founder of Mondaq, about the evolution of content distribution and the value of metrics in marketing. He noted that since the market has changed, professionals are much more focused on who reads their work, why and for how long. Metrics that can profile those readers and permit organic follow-up are increasingly important. Ultimately, content generation is about showcasing your expertise, he notes. “The key is getting to the detailed analytics behind the readership.”