We would like to thank everyone who attended TechnoLawyer Festa 2010 on January 31, 2010 at A Voce Columbus Circle. You helped make it our best party yet. We'll post more details soon. In the meantime, check out the photos from the party.
TechnoLawyer Festa 2010
By Neil Squillante | Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Vote for TechnoLawyer Sweepstakes: Win Up to $500
By Neil Squillante | Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Please Note: The Vote for TechnoLawyer Sweepstakes has ended. We'll hold the drawing and announce the winners soon. Thank you to everyone who participated.
An unexpected windfall of $500 to close out 2009 won't get you much closer to retirement, but you could probably put it to good use. That's how much you could win in the Vote for TechnoLawyer Sweepstakes, which takes less than five minutes to enter. But you need to act now because this sweepstakes ends on December 31, 2009.
Vote For TechnoLawyer Blog, Send Us an Email Message, and Win One of Seven Cash Prizes …
Last year, your support helped us win big in the ABA Journal's Blawg 100 competition. TechnoLawyer Blog racked up 1,499 votes.
This year, we face a more crowded field of 13 legal technology blogs. Additionally, the ABA has changed the rules. We can no longer see how many votes we have. Even worse, the ABA now requires registration. Groan.
So to get out the vote we're holding a sweepstakes. Here's how to enter:
1. If you do not yet have an ABA Journal account, please create one. You may want to use a Gmail, Yahoo, etc. address to register.
2. After confirming your registration and logging in, visit the ABA Journal's Blawg 100 voting page, and vote for TechnoLawyer Blog.
3. After voting, send an email message listing your full name, city, state, telephone number, and email address to: sweepstakes1209@peerviews.com
That's it. If you win, you'll need to sign a declaration indicating that you voted for TechnoLawyer Blog.
Seven of you will win. Two first prize winners will each receive $500, and five second prize winners will each receive $100.
Voting ends on December 31, 2009 at 6 pm EST so don't delay. Please vote for TechnoLawyer Blog now!
VOTE FOR TECHNOLAWYER SWEEPSTAKES OFFICIAL RULES
1. ELIGIBILITY: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Vote for TechnoLawyer Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia who have reached the age of majority in their state of residence as of the date of entry and who vote for TechnoLawyer Blog in the ABA Journal Blawg 100. Employees and directors of PeerViews Inc., as well as immediate family members (spouses, children, parents, siblings) and those living in the same household as employees and directors, are not eligible to participate. Eligibility will be determined in the sole discretion of Sponsor. By entering, you agree to these Official Rules and to all decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding. Vote for TechnoLawyer Sweepstakes is sponsored by PeerViews Inc., 100 Church Street, Eighth Floor, New York, NY 10007 ("Sponsor").
2. TO ENTER: To enter, vote for TechnoLawyer Blog on the ABA Journal's Blawg 100 Technology Web page. If you have not previously registered with the ABA Journal you must do so first and confirm your registration. Registration with the ABA Journal is free. After voting, send an email message to sweepstakes1209@peerviews.com with your full name, city, state, telephone number, and email address. Email entries must be received by Sponsor's server no later than 11:59:59 p.m. ET on December 31, 2009. Limit of one (1) entry per person. Incomplete or garbled entries and entries without the requisite contact information will be disqualified. Entries generated by a script, macro or other automated means are not eligible.
3. DRAWING and PRIZES: Two (2) First Prize winners and five (5) Second Prize winners will be selected in a random drawing from among all eligible entries held on or about January 15, 2010. First Prize winners will each receive $500. Second Prize winners will each receive $100. Odds of winning a prize depend on the number of eligible entries received. Potential winners will be notified by email within five (5) business days after the drawing and must claim the prize by signing and returning a declaration of eligibility and liability/publicity release within five (5) business days of notification. If a potential winner cannot be reached within five (5) business days after the first attempt to contact such potential winner, or if potential winner does not timely return the signed claim forms, that potential winner will be disqualified and an alternate entrant will be selected in at random from among all remaining eligible entries. Any applicable taxes or fees on prizes are the sole responsibility of winners. Limit one prize per person. Prizes will be mailed in the form of a check to each winner within four to six weeks after the drawing date. No substitution of prize. Prizes are non-transferable prior to award. Sponsor is not responsible for actions after delivery.
4. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS: By accepting a prize, winners agree that the Sponsor, and those acting under its authority, may use winners' names, cities, and likenesses for advertising and promotional purposes in any media without limitation or obligation, and without further consideration, unless prohibited by law. By entering, you agree that the Sponsor, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and all of their respective officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents, will have no liability whatsoever for, and will be held harmless by you for any liability for any injury, loss or damages of any kind to persons, including death, and property, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from participation in the Vote for TechnoLawyer Sweepstakes, downloading any materials, or from the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize or prize-related activity. Void where prohibited.
5. MISCELLANEOUS: All entries become the sole property of the Sponsor. In the event of a dispute, entries will be deemed made by the authorized account holder of the email address used to submit the entry. The "authorized account holder" is deemed as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, service provider or other online organization that is responsible for assigning e- mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. A potential winner may be requested to provide Sponsor with proof that the potential winner is the authorized account holder of the email address associated with the winning entry. If for any reason the Vote for TechnoLawyer Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned, including due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, human error or any other causes beyond the control of the Sponsor that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the promotion, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the promotion and to select winners from among the email entries received prior to such failure. The Sponsor is not responsible for late, lost, illegible, incomplete, stolen or misdirected mail or email. Sponsor is not responsible for any computer, telephone, satellite, cable, network, electronic or Internet hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections, or availability, or garbled, corrupt or jumbled transmissions, traffic congestion, or any technical error, or for injury or damage to participants' or to any other person's computer related to or resulting from participating in the Vote for TechnoLawyer Sweepstakes.
6. WINNERS' LIST: For a list of the prize winners, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Vote for TechnoLawyer Sweepstakes Winners, PeerViews Inc., 100 Church Street, Eighth Floor, New York, NY 10007, between December 31, 2009 and January 31, 2010. Requests received outside this period will not be processed. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery of Winners' List.
Brother MFC Reviews; Copernic Review; Multiple Monitors Tip; Skype Caller ID; Power of TechnoLawyer
By Sara Skiff | Thursday, August 6, 2009
Coming today to Answers to Questions: Steven Schwaber reviews his Brother MFC printers, Paul Bannon reviews Copernic Desktop Search Corporate, Caren Schwartz shares her experience with multiple monitors and remote desktop, Steve Hall reviews Skype, and Frank Lanigan demonstrates the power of contributing to TechnoLawyer. Don't miss this issue.
How to Receive Answers to Questions
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The Answers to Questions newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
TechnoLawyer Wins ABA Blawg 100 Award (Harry Truman Style)
By Neil Squillante | Monday, March 9, 2009
On January 2nd at midnight central time voting for the ABA's Blawg 100 contest ended. The raw vote count didn't look good for us:
1,931: FutureLawyer
1,545: TechnoLawyer
Nonetheless, I still felt hopeful that justice would prevail because I knew that we was robbed.
On January 7th, the ABA declared TechnoLawyer the winner of its Blawg 100 contest for Best Technology Blog. Here's the final vote count in this category:
1,499: TechnoLawyer
295: Slaw
256: The MacLawyer
241: FutureLawyer
150: Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog
105: Real Lawyers Have Blogs
102: Ross Ipsa Loquitur Blog
93: Ernie the Attorney
82: DennisKennedy.com
64: Inter Alia
The winner changed in two other categories as well, which had many scratching their heads.
The ABA announced the results in an article euphemistically titled, Some People Love the Blawg 100 a Little Too Much.
The ABA wrote:
For a handful of blogs, multiple votes were cast from the same computer in quick succession. Some of those votes came from blog owners, but others were coming fast and furious from computers overseas that were apparently unconnected to the blogs for which they were voting. After voting closed on Jan. 2, we stripped those bogus votes out of the totals. The totals that now appear on each of the category pages include only votes that were legit.
Years ago, the ABA was behind the curve when it came to the Internet. That's no longer the case as evidenced by its sleuthing of the Blawg 100 results and by its ever-impressive Web site. Nice job ABA.
Thank You for Your Vote (Singular) ...
The ABA's fascinating explanation leaves several unanswered questions. I love a good mystery so over the past two months, I've developed a theory about what happened, especially the source of those overseas votes. But after much heated debate, my colleagues have persuaded me to drop my JFK-like musings and just announce our victory ...
I'm thrilled that TechnoLawyer won the ABA's Blawg 100 Award. I'm equally proud of the fact that we lost only 46 votes from the raw vote count because it means that you and your fellow TechnoLawyer subscribers followed the rules. You deserve a round of applause. We would like to thank everyone who voted for us once and only once.
Please look at the official results and visit all the excellent blogs in the technology category.
How to Receive TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to lawyers, law office administrators, and others in the legal profession. We link to each new TechnoEditorial and dozens of other articles on the legal Web each week in our BlawgWorld newsletter, which is free. Please subscribe now.
My Law Firm Is Better Than Yours Plus 54 More Links
By Neil Squillante | Monday, February 23, 2009
Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 44 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:
InsideLegal's LegalTech Report (Including TL Party Photos)
With Whom Do You Compete? Using Competitive Intelligence
Law Firm Video Tips: Keep it Short and Use a Creative Title
This issue also contains links to every article in the February 2009 issue of Law Practice Today. Don't miss this issue or future issues.
How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.
Live From the TechnoLawyer Party: Mobile Legal Apps
By Sara Skiff | Monday, February 9, 2009
We would like to thank the 102 people who braved the snow on February 3, 2009 to attend the TechnoLawyer Party (2009 Edition) in New York City. We'll have photos and a more detailed report on the festivities soon.
In the meantime, I'd like to share with you a short video interview of TechnoLawyer publisher Neil Squillante that was filmed just as our party was getting underway by West's senior communications specialist Angelique Schaffer and posted on West's Westblog. Angie was joined by Scott Augustin, West's director of communications. (You can see Angie, Scott, and Neil from left to right in the above photo.)
In the video below, Neil discusses one of his top five 2009 predictions for the legal profession — robust legal applications for next-generation smartphone platforms like the iPhone, BlackBerry Storm, and Palm Pre. Neil discussed this prediction and others in greater detail in his recent article, TechnoLawyer's 2009 Legal Industry Predictions.
Transcript
What's the top legal tech trend for 2009?
Earlier this year I published an article with my top five predictions for 2009. I think one of the biggest is going to be the development, the explosion really, of mobile applications for lawyers. With the advent of the iPhone, the BlackBerry, the next version of Windows Mobile, Google's operating system for telephones, I think that's probably going to be the big story this year, although it may take till the end of the year for us to really start to see it gestate.
Why?
Well lawyers have always been pretty mobile, and while they've always been described as technology laggards, the one thing that lawyers really adapted to very early and quickly were these mobile smartphones like BlackBerrys, Treos, iPhones, etc. The fact that you can now almost do anything that you can do in your office on these phones, particularly with these rich applications that are coming out, will change the way lawyers work and make their lives a lot better actually. They won't have to go back to their office after court, for example, to do something. They can get it done right there and then go home.
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to lawyers, law office administrators, and others in the legal profession. We link to each new TechnoEditorial and dozens of other articles on the legal Web each week in our BlawgWorld newsletter, which is free. Please subscribe now.
Godzilla Attacks Law Firm Video Plus 61 More Links
By Neil Squillante | Monday, February 9, 2009
Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 32 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:
Live From the TechnoLawyer Party: Mobile Legal Apps (Video)
Six Don'ts for the End of Your Presentations
How Williams Mullen Capitalized on the Credit Crisis
This issue also contains links to every article in the January and February 2009 issues of Law Practice, and Law Technology News. Don't miss this issue or future issues.
How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.
If You Can Spare 3 Seconds, Please Vote for TechnoLawyer Blog
By Neil Squillante | Wednesday, December 31, 2008
We have never won an award. But we have a good explanation.
Most publishing awards from the Pulitzer on down require the payment of an entry fee. We've never bothered to enter any of these competitions.
But after years of apathy, we've decided that we would like to win an award.
The American Bar Association has nominated TechnoLawyer Blog (this site) for the Best Legal Technology Blog. And to its credit, the ABA chose the nominees on merit without requiring an entry fee.
The ABA has made it very easy to vote. No registration is required. Just scroll down the page and check the box next to TechnoLawyer Blog.
If you can spare 3 seconds, please vote for TechnoLawyer Blog now.
Voting ends on January 2, 2009! Thank you!
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. Please subscribe now.
Happy Birthday to BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide
By Neil Squillante | Wednesday, July 30, 2008
One year ago today we launched BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide — a free eBook.
We believe it has become the most widely reviewed legal eBook of all time, proving that everyone is indeed a critic. We have found 70 reviews to date.
So what better way to celebrate than by showcasing these reviews? Below you will find choice quotes from ten of our favorite reviews — in no particular order and not all of them favorable.
Of course, the only review that really matters is yours. So please download a copy now to see what all the fuss is about.
Everyone's a Critic: Ten of Our Favorite Reviews
Brett Burney, A Review of TechnoLawyer's Free BlawgWorld 2007 ebook, LLRX
"In their usual flair and capacity, TechnoLawyer has created a unique and interactive eBook that brilliantly takes advantage of the technology found in PDF files. BlawgWorld 2007 was designed to open in just about any PDF viewer and it worked very well in my various tests.... [B]oth ebooks are entirely free to download from the TechnoLawyer Website. You aren't even required to register, provide your name or e-mail address, or join TechnoLawyer (although you would be well served to do so) — you just simply click the link, download the book, and start reading."
Robert Ambrogi, BlawgWorld 2007: I Still Don't Get It, ALM Legal Blog Watch
"Squillante and Skiff deserve high praise for the design and format of BlawgWorld 2007. The book employs a navigation system that takes full advantage of the features of PDF. The concept is "three clicks from anywhere to anywhere." That holds true, enabling the reader to find and get to articles quickly and intuitively.... I am able to evaluate a blog only by reading several postings over a period of time. To take one self-selected post and add it to a compendium of posts from other bloggers seems to serve no practical purpose other than to stroke the egos of the bloggers who are included."
Bonnie Shucha, BlawgWorld 2007: I Finally Get It, WisBlawg
"BlawgWorld is all about educating non-blogging legal professionals about blogs. What are they? What do they have to offer? Which ones match my interests? Hopefully, then, some of these readers will be intrigued enough to venture out into the blogosphere. As a someone who has devoted a lot of effort to educating legal professionals about blogs, I feel almost embarrassed that I didn't get it before now."
Ross L. Kodner, Responding to Legal Blog Watch’s Critique of BlawgWorld 2007 E-Book, Ross Ipsa Loquitur
"What I find is that the majority of lawyers still barely know what a blog is, no less subscribe to multiple blogs and actually learn from all the valuable content that’s out there.... TechnoLawyer is providing something very valuable to the average lawyer in the trenches .... If even a handful learn something that helps them improve their lot in law practice and extends to improvement of their service to clients, then it’s a success."
Michelle Golden, BlawgWorld 2007 eBook Just Released!, Golden Practices
"The eBook is super easy to navigate as its creators boast readers are never more than three clicks from what they seek. It's a well-designed approach to eBooks and if you are thinking of developing one, this is a model you'll want to check out."
Michael Bates, Technolawyer — BlawgWorld 2007, Calgary Criminal Lawyers' Weekly
"As a lawyer who tries to keep current with the various advances in technology that can help to streamline the practice of law, I am one of numerous subscribers to the TechnoLawyer website and newsletters. I am also a contributor to TechnoLawyer's online project known as BlawgWorld ... an impressive collection of legal blogs from around the World Wide Web."
Jeremy Blachman, Blawgworld 2007, Jeremy Blachman's Weblog (Anonymous Lawyer)
"Graphically the whole thing is really impressive.... And they've packaged it with something called the TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide, which answers burning questions like, "How can I get data off a live exchange server for discovery?" and "How do you convene a mediation when the other side doesn't want to talk settlement?" I mean, irrelevant to my own life, but it actually seems like a reasonably useful resource if this is the sort of stuff you do all day."
Jim Calloway, BlawgWorld 2007 Is Published, Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog
"Some will find fault with any selection of best blawgs, but this certainly should give anyone a feel for the varied and interesting content being published by the citizen journalists within the legal community.... However, there is an interesting addition this year with the inclusion of Technolawyer Problem/Solution Guide. It features 185 law office technology problems with 185 suggested solutions. It is a sponsored feature, so that means you will be getting one particular vendor's suggested solution. But it is another useful tool."
Andis Kaulins, LawPundit Judicial Clerkship Posting Published in BlawgWorld 2007 by TechnoLawyer, LawPundit
"BlawgWorld 2007 is an exceptional freely downloadable pathfinding legal e-book published today by TechnoLawyer, the leading internet law tech resource.... Compare the extensive reach and the easy availability of this avantgarde peer-reviewed e-book publication to the dwindling readership of the pay-based printed journals still being churned out in the legal field and in other academic disciplines, as if the internet did not exist."
Sheryl Sisk Schelin, BlawgWorld 2007: A Review, Blawg in a Box
"If BlawgWorld's stated goal is to introduce lawyers to new blogs in a more efficient way, I have to say I'm not convinced it's a success. But if the goal was to produce an amazing eBook — well, here, TechnoLawyer succeeded wildly." [Sadly, Blawg in a Box no longer exists so we cannot offer a link.]
What Do You Think?
We welcome your opinion on our eBook and on all other topics as well. You may not know it, but TechnoLawyer is the grandaddy of social networks in the legal profession. Each year hundreds of lawyers and law office administrators share their wisdom within our peer-written newsletters. Please sign up for one or more of these newsletters while you're here. Like our eBook, they're free.
BlawgWorld 30,000: Watch the Video and Download the eBook
By Neil Squillante | Monday, June 9, 2008
Recently, our popular eBook, BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide, surpassed 30,000 downloads.
To commemorate this milestone, we created the short video above. In less than 2 minutes, the video features 14 of the bloggers who contributed to the eBook as well as many other legal industry insiders. Watch the video to see if you can identify everyone (including yourself perhaps).
Email the BlawgWorld 30,000 video to a friend.
Download Your Free Copy of the eBook
BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide is a free PDF eBook.
The first half of the eBook, BlawgWorld 2007, showcases the best essays from 77 of the most respected legal blogs (blawgs). The second half, TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide, provides solutions to 185 common problems encountered by law firms and legal departments.
More than 34,000 legal professionals have already downloaded the eBook. Please download your free copy now.
