Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Eric Kuperman, Esq., a litigation support consultant for vdiscovery, which provides discovery management and e-discovery solutions to law firms and corporations nationwide. We discussed Kuperman's legal career, the changes in the legal community over the past decade and the expansion of e-discovery services into the small law firm market in 2010.

I spoke with Eric Kuperman, Esq., a litigation support consultant for vdiscovery, which provides discovery management and e-discovery solutions to law firms and corporations nationwide. We discussed Kuperman's legal career, the changes in the legal community over the past decade and the expansion of e-discovery services into the small law firm market in 2010.

I spoke with Ed Walters, co-founder and CEO of Fastcase, a next generation legal research service seeking to democratize the law and advance the state of legal research. Walters is a former journalist and big firm lawyer, who wanted a different solution to the traditional research tools so he and a partner built it themselves. We discussed the genesis of Fastcase, which now has more than 380,000 subscribers, the future of online legal research and the impact of these changes on the practice of law.

I spoke with Charles Moore, the founder and CEO of RocketLawyer.com, an online legal service provider. Before founding RocketLawyer, Moore was an original member of the Venture Law Group and helped Yahoo! close its series B and C rounds of funding prior to its IPO. RocketLawyer's board members include Google CLO, David Drummond, and Martindale-Hubbell CEO, Ralph Calistri. We discussed ways that empowering consumers to manage their legal issues provides advantages to lawyers, the migration of the practice of law online, and future trends in the legal industry.

I spoke with Mark Britton, founder and CEO of Avvo.com, one of the leading online legal websites with 1.5 million unique visitors per month. Britton, a co-blogger on this site, and I discussed Avvo's history, its rapid growth, and the ways in which lawyers can benefit from its services. One of my favorite quotes from the conversation is: "We get lawyers tons of business! Avvo is just a fantastic place for lawyers to set themselves apart and attract new clients - all for free."

I spoke with Arihant Patni, the CEO of Bodhi Global, a legal support services firm based in the U.S. and India that provides litigation support, corporate due diligence and contract management. We discussed offshore outsourcing trends, the advantages of using overseas support services, and the future of outsourcing in U.S.-based litigation. Patni noted that it is no longer a question of where activities are taking place. The flattening of the world has placed the focus on quality, rather than location.

I spoke with Afshin Behnia, the CEO of Mitratech, a provider of legal matter management and e-billing software. We discussed trends in the legal industry and the economic impact of the recession. He reported an upward trend in litigation caused by, among other factors, increased regulation and stronger enforcement. He also highlighted that corporations could realize material savings on legal fees through coordinated outside counsel management and implementing a preferred counsel program.

I spoke with Joy Heath Rush, the Enterprise Multimedia Manager at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago and the President of the seven-member board of directors for the International Legal Technology Association about the upcoming ILTA annual conference, which she described as "the number one venue for peer networking for people who are professionals in legal technology and unmatched educational sessions." Among other interesting initiatives, there will be ILTA TV and additional early morning super sessions ("extra keynote sessions"), including one by Richard Susskind, author of The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services (Oxford University Press, 2009).

I spoke with Jane Allen, president and founder of Counsel on Call, a provider of flexible legal solutions for lawyers. She noted that success in the current environment is more about securing the best value for the money being spent, rather than simply cutting an organization's spending. In that regard, law firm partners are being strategic and are trying to make good business decisions to weather the down market. Law firms and clients are also trying to determine whether a new model of practicing law is emerging. She noted "on the bright side" that while the legal employment market has tightened, there are more opportunities for lawyers than ever before to do things outside of the traditional practice.

I spoke with Brett Owens, the CEO and co-founder of Chrometa, a company that makes time capture software for solo practitioners and small law firms, about its 2.0 release. The product records and organizes time spent by application, e-mail, Internet activity, and document. It also allows users to view their totals by day, week, month or a customized range. Brett and I discussed the innovation trends in the legal community and the impact of Web 2.0 tools on recent advancements in legal technology.