Blacklines & Billables

SummaryEpisode 13 of the Blacklines & Billables podcast: our “Voices” podcast from the Clio Cloud Conference in New Orleans. We asked a range of lawyers and technologists attending the conference for on-the-spot short answers to a range of questions about ClioCon, the technological needs of small law and solo practitioners, and trends on the legal technology landscape more broadly. Their reactions and impressions created this pod, which captures a snapshot of the ClioCon experience and provides a window into the important conversations currently taking place in small law-focused legal tech community.The Questions:What’s the most important difference between the tech needs of small firm or solo practitioners and those of large firm lawyers?What has been the most important technological advance for small firm and solo lawyers over the past five years?What will be the most important technological advance for small firm and solo lawyers over the next five years?(a) [For practitioners:] If you could snap your fingers and magically create the perfect app or service to help or fix a part of your practice, what would it be and why? (b) [For non-practitioners:] What’s the biggest unmet technological need for small firm or solo practitioners?What’s been the most interesting or surprising thing you’ve been hearing or seeing around ClicoCon?In your opinion, what’s the most valuable part of the ClioCon experience?Special thanks to all of guests (in order of first appearance):Ernie Svenson, LawFirmAutopilot.comDan Lear, Right Brain LawGyi Tsakalakis, AttorneySyncAllen Rodriguez, ONE400Jae Um, Six ParsecsChad Burton, Curo Legal & Modern Law PracticeJason Tashea, Legal tech writer & Adjunct Professor at Georgetown LawJared Correia, Red Cave Law Firm Consulting & GideonAllen Weinberg, Family law attorneyKeith Lee, LawyerSmack.comJoshua Lenon, Lawyer in Residence at ClioAdam Camras, Legal Talk NetworkAmanda Brown, Legal tech consultantJoyce Schwensen, AttorneyKrista Coggins, Remedy Outside CounselMike Whelan, Jr., Lawyer ForwardSarah Glassmeyer, Project Specialist Manager at ABA Center for InnovationIrene Mo, AttorneyJules Miller, Prose Ventures See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 12 of the Blacklines & Billables podcast: the next installment of our “Voices” series--this time from National Harbor, Maryland at ILTACON 2018. We asked a range of lawyers and technologists attending the conference for on-the-spot short answers to a range of questions about ILTACON and the legal technology landscape more broadly. Their reactions and impressions created this pod, which captures a snapshot of the ILTACON experience and provides a window into the important conversations currently taking place in the legal tech community.The Questions:What makes ILTACON interesting or unique as a legal tech conference?In your view, what (a) legal tech development or (b) motivating force/pressure is most likely to generate meaningful, short-term innovation in the practice of law?Rewind 3 years, what’s a development on the legal tech landscape that you would have expected to have happened by ILTACON 2018, but still hasn’t?Conversely, what’s an innovation or development on the legal tech landscape that’s happening more quickly than you expected?What information about legal technology and the legal tech market do you wish you had, but you find is actually quite difficult to obtain?What part of the legal landscape is most in need of significant innovation?If, as part of the ILTACON package, you received a 1% equity stake in a legal tech company of your choice, which company would you choose and why?What’s the most valuable part of the ILTACON experience?Special thanks to all of guests (in order of first appearance):Michael Callier, Senior Corporate Counsel at DarigoldMelvin Evans, Director of Information Technology at Hand Arendall Harrison SaleGinevra Saylor, Secretary of the ILTA BoardWill Norton, CEO & Founder of Simply AgreeKevin O’Keefe, CEO & Founder of LexBlogDavid Hobbie, Director of Knowledge Management (Litigation) at GoodwinMatt Homann, CEO & Founder of FilamentEd Sohn, Vice President, Product and Partner Management at Thompson ReutersFelicity Conrad, CEO & Co-founder of PaladinJeff Pfeifer, Vice President & Chief Product Officer at LexisNexisNicole Bradick, CEO & Founder of Theory & PrincipleJeanne Marie Boswell, Director of Technology Training at Paul HastingsOwen Byrd, Chief Evangelist & General Counsel at Lex MachinaJames Desjardins, Associate Director of Practice Technology at Cravath, Swaine & MooreCarol Lynn Grow, VP of Marketing & Sales & Co-owner of LawToolBoxJason Dirkx, Knowledge Management Counsel at Littler MendelsonMonet Fauntleroy, Senior Manager of Practice Innovation at White & CaseCourtney Murphy, eDiscovery & Litigation Technology Attorney at Clark HillAnand Upadhye, Vice President of Business Development at CasetextTessa Ramanlal, Solicitor at Herbert Smith Freehills & Co-founder at ANIKA See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 11 of the Blacklines & Billables podcast: our interview with Nick West, Chief Technology Officer of Mishcon de Reya and Director of MDR Lab, a legal tech incubator run out of Mishcon’s offices in London. Building on the discussion begun in our blog post entitled “Law Firm.VC? Law Firms Launching Legal Tech Incubators, Accelerators, and Venture Arms” and continued in our conversation with Dan Jansen of Nextlaw Labs on Ep. 6, our conversation with Nick explores the structure and purpose of MDR Lab, Mishcon’s motivations for starting the Lab, the successes of its first cohort, trends on the legal tech landscape, and the key distinctions and differences between the UK and US legal tech markets.For more information about MDR Lab, please visit: https://lab.mdr.london/. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Summary: The next installment of our “Voices” series—this time from the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium’s 2018 Institute in Las Vegas. Armed with a portable microphone and eight questions about CLOC and legal technology and innovation, we asked a range of lawyers and technologists to share their views on key issues facing the legal and legal technology ecosystems. Their short, on-the-spot answers created this “Voices of CLOC 2018” podcast (Episode 10 of the Blacklines & Billables podcast). The Questions:As a legal technology conference, what makes CLOC special?What's something you'd like to see or hear more at CLOC?What's something you'd like to see or hear less at CLOC?What’s the most significant difference between the legal tech needs of corporate legal departments and law firms?Which legal innovation or technology product has been most significant for your professional life over the last three years?What’s the most interesting company, product, or innovation (with which you’re not affiliated) that you’ve seen at CLOC?What part of the legal landscape is most in need of significant innovation?What’s your favorite source of information about what’s happening in legal technology and innovation?Special thanks to all of our guests (in order of first appearance):Chris Chin, Deputy General Counsel at GoogleScott Weber, General Counsel at Lumina NetworksJanelle Belling, Managing Director of E-Discovery Services & Strategy at Perkins Coie LLPKen Adams, President at Adams Contracts Consulting LLCSusan Raridon Lambreth, Principal at LawVision GroupAmeen Haddad, Assistant General Counsel at OracleCarlos Gámez, Senior Director of Innovation – Legal Business at Thompson ReutersBill Henderson, Law Professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of LawPaul Lippe, Member of the Advisory Board, Elevate ServicesNoah Waisberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Kira SystemsKingsley Martin, Chief Contract Scientist at AkordaSusan Hackett, CEO at Legal Executive Leadership LLCRon Friedmann, Partner at Fireman & CompanyBrian Kuhn, Global Leader and Co-Founder of IBM Watson LegalDavid Cambria, Global Director of Operations for Law, Compliance, and Government Relations at Archer Daniels MidlandDean Sonderegger, VP Legal Markets, Innovation at Wolters KluwerByron Buck, Senior Corporate Counsel at Caterpillar See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Armed with a portable microphone and eight questions on the past, present, and future of the legal tech industry, we struck out to capture a taste of the #Legalweek18 experience for our listeners. A compilation of short answers to important question from 18 of legal tech’s key thinkers and innovators, this “Voices of Legalweek18” podcast encapsulates some of the most important trends in legal technology and reflects the important conversations happening at one of the world's largest legal tech conferences.The Questions:Looking back, what was the most important legal tech trend or development of 2017?Looking forward, what will be the most important legal tech trend or development of 2018?What’s something that over-hyped on today’s legal tech landscape?What’s something that under-hyped on today’s legal tech landscape?Who is your favorite legal tech Twitter/social media follow?What’s the most significant current obstacle to the wider adoption of legal technology?Name an institution on the legal landscape (firm, school, corporate, etc.) doing something particularly innovative.What has been (or do you expect to be) your favorite part of Legalweek18?A special thanks to all of our guests (in order of first appearance):Dan Jansen, CEO of Nextlaw VenturesCatherine Krow, Founder and CEO of Digitory LegalCasey Flaherty, ProcertasDaryl Shetterly, Director of Orrick AnalyticsAndrew Arruda, Cofounder and CEO of ROSS IntelligenceOliver Goodenough, Professor at Vermont Law School, VP and Director of Skopos LabsNehal Madhani, Founder and CEO of Alt LegalHaley Altman, Founder and CEO of DoxlyDan Linna, Professor and Director of Legal RnD at Michigan State University College of LawAlma Asay, Chief Innovation Officer of IntegreonBob Craig, CIO of Baker & HostetlerStephen Allen, Global Head of Legal Service Delivery of Hogan LovellsRyan Alshak, CEO of PingBob Ambrogi, Creator of Law Sites, Editor and Publisher of LexBlogEmily Foges, CEO of LuminancePatrick Fuller, VP of Legal Intelligence at ALM IntelligenceNick Bruch, Senior Legal Market Analyst at ALM IntelligenceBill O’Boyle, Founder and CEO of North State Consulting See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 8 of the Blacklines & Billables podcast: our discussion with Ed Walters, CEO of Fastcase, on the accelerating march of artificial intelligence and its implications for the law and its consequences for lawyers (and the public at large).In this episode, we take a fascinating tour through some of the most important and dizzying technological developments of the day, and Ed’s unique brand of incisive, yet level-headed analysis helps us make sense of where we stand, where we’re likely headed, and what the implications are for lawyers, law practice, and our legal framework more broadly.The fascinating discussion dives into a wide range of topics relating to the development of artificial intelligence and autonomous machines, including: (a) exploring the background and pedagogy of Ed’s course at Georgetown Law and Cornell Tech on “The Law of Robots,” which seeks to engage conversations about the potential need for new legal and regulatory approaches to governing AI-driven technologies; (b) analyzing why NOW is the critical time for lawyers and lawmakers to grapple with foundational legal, moral, and ethical questions raised by the development of adaptive machine learning; and (c) dealing with the social impact—from job losses to over-reliance on technological crutches—of increasingly powerful and autonomous machines.For more of Ed’s singular perspective, follow him on Twitter @EJWalters. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 7 of the Blacklines & Billables podcast: our interview with guest-poster Patrick Delaney to follow up on his blog piece entitled "In-House Looking Out: 4 Tips for Outside Counsel."Part of B&B's "View from the Client Side" series and one of the blog's most popular posts to date, "In-House Looking Out: 4 Tips for Outside Counsel" details four general, yet essential tips that help law firm associates deliver the best possible advice to their clients. Building upon his blog post and drawing on a wealth of experience as a firm-lawyer-turned-in-house-counsel at one of the Big Four accounting firms, Patrick lays out specific tips and tricks--as well as their underlying rationale--to help law firm associates understand not just what they should be doing, but WHY they should be doing it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 6 of the Blacklines & Billables podcast: our interview with Dan Jansen, CEO of Dentons-backed Nextlaw Labs, which describes itself as a “global collaborative innovation platform focused on developing, deploying, and investing in new technologies and processes to transform the practice of law around the world.” Picking up on the discussion begun in our blog post entitled “Law Firm.VC? Law Firms Launching Legal Tech Incubators, Accelerators, and Venture Arms,” our conversation explores Nextlaw Labs’s “value-added VC” model that seeks to drive the reinvention of the practice of law via technology, examines law firms’ potential motivations for engaging with and investing in the legal tech startup ecosystem, and highlights key trends in the broader legal tech landscape.For more information about Nextlaw Labs, visit: http://www.nextlawlabs.com/. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 5 of the Blacklines & Billables podcast: our interview with Dan Linna, professor and Director of Legal RnD – The Center for Legal Services Innovation at Michigan State University’s College of Law, discussing Phase 1, Version 1.0, of the new Legal Services Innovation Index, consisting of an “Innovation Catalogue” and “Law Firm Index” to assess, categorize, and catalogue legal industry innovation. Our interview explores the project’s background, scope, current methodology, and plan for the future, including Professor Linna’s hopes that this self-described “MVP” (minimum viable product) will be the first step in a long-term project to create a comprehensive accounting of legal innovation and technology adoption, shining a light on transformative changes in the ways lawyers and law firms—and, in the future, law schools—do business to accelerate the development of better models for delivering more effective and higher value client service. For more information on the Legal Services Innovation Index, visit http://www.legaltechinnovation.com/. For more thoughts from Dan Linna on legal innovation and technology, you can find his blog, LegalTech Lever, at: http://www.legaltechlever.com/. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 4 of the Blacklines & Billables podcast: a panel discussion on callback interview tips for law students. Answering questions about Biglaw callback interviews submitted by members of the B&B community following our blog post entitled “Law Firm Interview Tips: EIW/OCI Edition” and the “Interview Q&A” Associate Intel meetup, host Christian Lang and guests Victoria Coyle and Matt Weinberg explore the dos and don’ts of Biglaw callbacks and offer opinions on common interview-related questions shaped from the experience of interviewing hundreds of candidates on behalf of top firms.Among others, the questions include:What’s the most important information to learn about a law firm before and during a callback interview?How much research about a firm should an interviewee conduct?What are the best and worst things a candidate can do in a Biglaw interview?Is it ok for a candidate to express uncertainty about his or her professional interests in the interview?Should an interviewee proactively address perceived weaknesses in one’s resume or background?What are the best/most effective questions to ask in an interview?Are there any unexpectedly inadvisable fashion or attire choices?Given the choice, should a callback interviewee always go to lunch, and—while at an interview lunch—is there anything an interviewee should not order?How can one to pick the right firm among multiple offers, including balancing a sense of “fit” with firm prestige?Should candidates send interview thank-you notes?Should candidates split their summers or pursue a summer rotation to a foreign office? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 3 of the Blacklines & Billables podcast: our interview with David Wolfson, Executive Director of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP, discussing the "Milbank@Harvard" associate training program and exploring the associate-development lessons learned from the firm’s implementation of this novel, firm-wide, multi-year training program.Offering a week of immersive, offsite training to associates in the firm’s fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-year classes, Milbank@Harvard is a unique program designed to give mid-level and senior associates the legal, business/finance, and leadership/management tools they need to excel and provide the highest level of client service.Our interview with with Mr. Wolfson explores the contours of the program, the motivations driving Milbank’s investment, and the insights garnered from the program's first five years of implementation. Among other topics, we discuss:why the program begins in the associates’ fourth year;how the program’s focus and curriculum has evolved;the primary associate-training obstacles faced by Biglaw firms;the keys to associate success in the modern law firm;the impact of technology and other stresses facing the modern law firm on associate training;common associate weaknesses; andassociate-development advice for junior associates and law students.More information about the Milbank@Harvard is available at https://www.milbank.com/en/careers/milbank-harvard.html. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 2 of the Blacklines & Billables podcast: our interview with founder and executive director of “Fix the Court,” Gabe Roth. Fix the Court is a national, non-partisan organization dedicated to Supreme Court reform—intending “to take the Court to task for its lack of accountability and transparency and to push Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s eight associate justices to enact basic yet critical reforms to make the court more open and honest.” In this pod we explore the Fix the Court’s signature “Fixes” (listed below) and discuss why the Fixes are important, how they might work, and the implications are for American judiciary. To learn more about Fix the Court, visit its website at fixthecourt.com.The FixesMedia and Public AccessTerm LimitsCode of EthicsStocks and RecusalsFinancial DisclosuresPublic Appearances See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guest host Patrick Delaney and host Christian Lang discuss the background of the broader Blacklines & Billables project (its provenance, mission, and content to date) and the vision for the podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.