It was an epiphany, of sorts, for Greg Garman. In 2015, after 18 years at the same firm, including several as managing partner, he came to believe that most firms operated under a broken business model. Within weeks, he and several colleagues left the firm to start a smaller, more innovative practice, and he…
My Most Popular Posts of 2019
The LegalBoard is back, baby!
Every year for the past decade, I have compiled a year-end list of my most-popular posts. Two years ago, by a wide margin, my top-viewed post was about the debut of the LegalBoard, a keyboard designed for lawyers. This year, the LegalBoard again takes the top spot, thanks…
AALL Plans Startup Area At Annual Conference; Invites Applications
For the first time at its 2020 annual conference, the American Association of Law Libraries will dedicate a portion of its exhibit hall to featuring startups and emerging companies in the legal information field.
Start-Up Central will be a dedicated space at the annual meeting for newer companies to showcase their products and…
Aderant Acquires Bellefield Systems, Expanding its Cloud and Compliance Offerings
The legal technology company Aderant, which provides business and practice management software for larger law firms, has acquired Bellefield Systems, developer of the cloud-based mobile-friendly timekeeping product iTimekeep, which runs on Microsoft Azure, and its related product OCG Live, which works with iTimekeep to enforce compliance with outside counsel guidelines at…
Walking Out The Door: Why Are Women More Likely Than Men to Leave Law?
Although it has been some 40 years since women started entering the practice of law in large numbers, and even though women make up as many as half of incoming associates each year, they still account for just 20% of equity partners at larger firms. Part of the reason for this is there is…
AI Contract Management Company Evisort Raises $15M to Drive Next Phase of Growth
It has been quite a year for legal tech startup Evisort. Twelve months ago this week, the company introduced its flagship product, Document Analyzer, a cloud-based AI and text-mining application that helps enterprises analyze and manage their contracts. At the time, I wrote that it “might just be the hottest legal tech and…
State Net Legislative Tracker Marks 50th Anniversary with Platform Upgrades and New Analytics
The legislative tracking service State Net, which is owned by LexisNexis, is marking its 50th year in business by rolling out upgrades to its infrastructure and search and new analytics.
Founded 50 years ago in Sacramento, Calif., State Net was acquired by LexisNexis in 2010. Two years ago, LexisNexis put Daniel Lewis, vice…
LawNext Episode 58: Jim Sandman, President of the Legal Services Corporation
Jim Sandman may be one of the most impassioned advocates in the United States for ensuring access to justice for all. As president of the Legal Services Corporation since 2011, he oversees an organization that funds free civil legal services to more than 130 legal aid programs throughout the country. As a…
Some Random Tips for Writing Better Blog Posts
Over the last couple weeks, I have read and reread hundreds of posts from legal blogs. My reason for doing this was to screen the entries submitted in the inaugural LexBlog Excellence Awards contest, before sending the finalists off to the judging panel that will select the winners.
In reading through all…
An Update on the LexBlog Excellence Awards
In September, we announced a new awards competition for legal blogs — the inaugural LexBlog Excellence Awards, designed to honor exemplary writing on legal blogs — and we issued a call for entries.
We said then that we would announce the winners on Dec. 9. As many of you have noticed and asked about, that…
Breaking: Fastcase and Casemaker Settle Copyright Litigation over Georgia Regs
The two legal research companies Fastcase and Casemaker have settled their three-year legal battle over Casemaker’s claims of copyright in Georgia administrative regulations.
In federal court in Atlanta, the two companies jointly filed a stipulated dismissal of the matter. The request did not not reveal the terms of the settlement, but the dismissal was “with…
LawNext Episode 57: Jeroen Plink, CEO, Clifford Chance Applied Solutions
Jeroen Plink was named in 2018 as CEO of Clifford Chance Applied Solutions, a subsidiary of the international law firm Clifford Chance that designs and develops software to address clients’ business challenges. He is responsible for product development and go-to-market strategy for all its products, including CC Dr@ft, a legal document automation platform.
Plink…
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