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It seems like all I'm doing these days is writing. Writing, writing, writing...
I came across this post from my colleagues at K&L Gates ("Electronic Discovery Law" on my blogroll). They've created a comprehensive list - with links - to all of the states that have enacted e-Discovery rules.
This is simply a fantastic resource - and it's why they're on my blogroll in the first place!
I hope you find it as useful as I do.
Remember this post from precisely three months ago? Well, I'm here to tell you; lightning does strike twice - and I mean exactly!
I'm out of town - in the same place I was three months ago - and once again, my Blackberry was working fine this morning...then it wasn't. It was virtually the identical problem to last time (frozen solid), except for two glaring differences; 1) I haven't made any modifications to the device in a while, so there wasn't any clue as to why this happened and, 2) (this is critical) I could get to my password screen and unlock the device. I would also like to note that I have virus software and upon reboot, was able to run a sweep before the device froze again - no sign of any contamination.
So, I went over to the same retail outlet, where some of the same people tried to do the same thing (a software repair push). Fail! I basically told the techs (same as last time) "I don't care if you have to wipe it out, I have no problem restoring from backup." (Yes, I have a recent backup, just like last time). I also told them, "Whether this works or not, I have to walk out of here with a working device."
But - just like last time - no love. They couldn't wipe the device, either. Now, here's where it gets ugly. Last time they had a spare Tour in stock - this time, they didn't. So, they offered to have a new one shipped to me via overnight courier. Normally this would be completely reasonable. Unfortunately this happened today, and on this particular day, this device must work. I can't forward my cell number elsewhere because I'm out of town, on the go and I need to be reachable (is that even a word?)
This is where the password-protection comes in. With a Blackberry (not familiar with how other PDAs handle this), when password-protection is enabled, a companion security setting automatically enables a 'doomsday' scenario - and you can't turn it off (unless you disable password-protection altogether). That's right; it doesn't just fail to unlock the device - it allows you to select the number of incorrect passwords you'll allow (from 3-10), then if that threshold is reached, the device wipes itself out. Even the techs at the store didn't know this. So, as a last resort, I suggested, since the only thing that did work was the password screen, try repeatedly entering an incorrect password to trigger doomsday. Even though the device was frozen otherwise, I hoped that enough of the O/S was running in the background that it might work.
SUCCESS!!!
Most of you know I tend to be vague about my devices, but most of you also have long since figured out my PDA is a Blackberry. The reason I mention it this time is, I'm afraid I'm worn out with them. Just like my clients, I cannot afford to have a primary device crashing for no reason. I lost more than half a day resolving this in the short-term, but for the long-term, I'm switching to a Droid.
The last time I linked you to some eDiscovery calculators was over two years ago. What's new? Well, I happened upon one for my PDA from BlueStar Case Solutions, and the cool thing is, it's available in Blackberry, iPhone, Android and Windows 7 flavors (even though it says "coming soon!" for Blackberry, the app is available).
Now, you know I don't endorse products (I'd never even heard of BlueStar until I saw this) - and aside from fiddling with this app, I can't tell you whether the calculations are accurate or not. But, if you're in the middle of a conversation or meeting - or sitting at your desk - and you want to get an idea of what the project cost or time might be, you can create a quick estimate; it's not like you can't run the comprehensive numbers later to confirm...
One handy module is an eDiscovery Glossary, with definitions for well over 100 of the terms we use on a daily basis. So, if you're just getting into this space, that might be helpful to you as a kind of 'cheat sheet' (of course, you may refer to it as 'reference material'). I knew the definition to every single term, without having to check. I'm not sure whether I'm proud or worried!
For most law candidates, the next administration of the bar exam is about a month from now. Those of us who have already had the pleasure of preparing for the exam would probably say that tedium is one of the worst parts of it. There's a lot of repetition involved.
I'm not without sympathy, so when I happened upon this bar prep board game, aptly named "Passing the Bar", I thought I'd pass it along. It's a fun way to focus on MBE questions, especially if you already have a study group together. I checked out some of the questions and they do pass muster, in my opinion.
Caveat: For those who intend to turn this into a drinking game, you're on your own!
The partnership I'm referring to was recently revealed at LegalTech in New York, but the benefits won't be available until later this year.
Nevertheless, this is exciting news for anyone with licenses to both LexisNexis and Microsoft Office 2007. Lexis will be integrated into the Office 2007 suite of products (which includes Outlook and SharePoint) and will be available for Office 2010, when it's released. This means no more back & forth between the Web and Office when performing legal research.
The new product is aptly named, "Lexis for Microsoft Office". One interesting item of note; many firms use WordPerfect because of its outstanding legal tools and have been understandably reluctant to migrate to MS Office. It'll be interesting to see how this new partnership influences the future direction of law firms.
Let me give you my position. I'm someone who, as a Consultant, is always attempting to travel the shortest distance between two points (which, as we know, is a straight line). With that in mind, when I've gone into companies, if they have an established suite of products, unless there's a glaring need to change, I try to keep them within the same parameters.
This has absolutely nothing to do with which products I find superior; it's purely in an attempt to limit the number of vendors, and it has a practical purpose (you IT'ers out there know exactly what I mean). To illustrate (and I'm not pointing fingers here...), how many of you have contacted vendor support for two products, say, Lotus Notes living on a Novell server and had support from both companies deflect from addressing your issue by saying "it's their problem"?
If you have Microsoft Office living on a Microsoft Server, that problem is eliminated because all they can do is point fingers at themselves.
In that context, if a firm is already heavily-invested in LexisNexis and Microsoft products, but still holding on to WordPerfect, perhaps someone in IT thinks this is the time to make a change.
Ever since I joined the executive committee of the State Bar of California's Law Practice Management & Technology Section, my thought processes have modified somewhat to thinking more about 'law practice management' along with the 'technology' aspects.
The next presentation of the California Bar Exam begins Tuesday, February 23rd. In sympathy with all law students who will be sitting for the exam, I happened across this nifty BarMax: California Edition application for the iPhone. It incorporates essays, MBEs, performance tests and flash cards all into one.
Most California students use BARBRI to prepare for the Bar exam, but I didn't, save for their excellent PMBR MBE books. They bring new meaning to the term "Red State/Blue State", which, by the time I'd spent two months studying, referred more to my state of mind from one minute to the next than the color of the book covers. I also used Finz for MBEs and in my opinion, they're even harder than PMBR Blue (the book cover is orange; as in "A Clockwork...").
Let's put it this way; if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, an extra $1,000 available and excellent eyesight, this certainly could be a viable option. When I took the exam in Ontario (that's California, not Canada), every nook and cranny in every hotel I visited was filled with students and their laptops/flashcards/books, cramming for the next session. It'd be a lot easier to use an iPhone or other device.
I do find it amusing that the California Edition was developed by "Harvard lawyers". No matter...just meet Buffy & Skip on the veraaaandaaah or in the yaaaaaahd for a cocktail - and don't forget your argyle...
(I was doing ok until I mentioned argyle, wasn't I? Overkill, I think...)
What a week! Legal stuff...plus, I had a blown laptop and had to stage a new one (in order to bring you my rapier wit, theoretically)...and I have to prepare for a new client on Monday. This one's a law firm. It's a completely different experience working with large, corporate clients as opposed to large, corporate law firms.
This post is relevant to you if you're a techie who will be accessing a lot of PCs to accomplish your e-discovery due-diligence. I use a lot of remote access software and since I was staging this new PC anyway, I needed something that would work not only with XP, but with Vista and Windows 7.
There's nothing more frustrating than constantly having to go from one PC to another because you forgot a file or some such nonsense, your network permissions aren't cooperating, it won't print and you end up wasting more time troubleshooting that issue instead of just connecting remotely and dealing with it...and that's all in the same house, let alone bringing other locations into the mix.
By luck, I came by this terrific software called UltraVNC (aka uVNC). Folks, this is just a great little product! Not only is it compatible cross-platform, but they were very smart about access control. You can have no password, you can set a password for view-only access and you can set a separate password for take-over access. That's what makes it great in a formal environment.
And here's the best part; it's free. I'm going to be putting it through the paces, but I just thought I would share. I haven't been this excited about a piece of software since...er...well...
Oh...never mind...
This one is for lawyers. There's a new free application, CLE Mobile, that allows attorneys to get their continuing legal education credits on an iPhone (and an iPod Touch). In order to use it, you must set up an account at West LegalEdcenter. Note, the app is free, but you must purchase the CLE programs.
I have an iPod Touch. I also have an account at West LegalEdcenter. Furthermore, the press release says I can get a free ethics CLE program if I download the app. I happen to be one-hour short of my ethics CLE requirements.
Hmmm...are you thinking what I'm thinking?
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