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
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.
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.
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:
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.
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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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
You hear a lot these days about people live-blogging trade shows and other events. But with few exceptions live blogging (perhaps we lawyers should call it realtime blogging) fails because quality writing takes time. It's sort of like the speed of light or the force of gravity. There's just no getting around it.
So when we began discussing how to cover ABA TECHSHOW 2008, we nixed the idea of live-blogging this important event. Instead, we decided to publish reports as quickly as possible while maintaining high standards. Call it retrospective blogging. Or just call it good reporting.
But don't worry. We're done! Below you'll find our complete coverage of ABA TECHSHOW 2008 — 13 reports. If you're still hungry for even more coverage, you'll also find links to 33 additional reports in other publications.
Crazy Mazy ... Trade shows are unpredictable. Whenever you bring together thousands of smart, free-thinking people, sparks will fly. So who better to cover ABA TECHSHOW than our most unpredictable TechnoLawyer correspondent and the ultimate free thinker — Mazyar Hedayat. Or as we call him, Crazy Mazy, a name inspired by Apple's famous Think Different ad campaign about free thinkers, which begins, "Here's to the the crazy ones." When he's not reporting on trade shows, Mazy practices law in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
About TechnoLawyer Trade Show Reports
Even in today's wired world, trade shows continue to play an important role. But not everyone can attend trade shows. Hence, our trade show reports, which bring trade shows to you. You can find our trade show reports here in TechnoLawyer Blog, and also in TechnoGuide, a free newsletter that also contains exclusive content. Learn more about TechnoGuide.
Presenters: Tom Mighell & Friends Saturday, March 15 at 11:00 am
In addition to being a perennial favorite among both attendees and speakers, this TechShow staple is a great opportunity for the crowd to let its collective hair down and enjoy an often irreverent, free-form look at the Internet for lawyers.
This year was no exception as TechShow chairman Tom Mighell and colleagues took to the dais and led us all a journey of self-discovery and good fun. Of course your humble reporter was bushed by then so I just sat back and enjoyed the show.
Of the 60 sites, below you'll find my favorite 8 in no particular order plus 2 that I would have included:
When just one know-it-all site isn't enough, turn to this bulletin board forum where you might find for instance that you're not the only one who thought the "tab" button on your keyboard would order you a soda ... or who had a particular PDF question. Same difference.
Dodgeball was among the poster-children of the early Web 2.0 movement. The speakers agreed this site is great for reaching people with text messages when they get near a given location.
This site is just what you would guess: a remedy for what ails you. It also represents the pinnacle of "giving it away" when it comes to really useful information. Try to find something software-related that it doesn't address.
8. Google (including Google Docs, Google Calendar, Gmail, Goog411, etc., etc., etc.)
There is absolutely nothing I can add here that hasn't been written to death ... except maybe this:
• Nearly every aspect of the Google Office Suite is in the throes of being upgraded and improved on a constant basis.
• When I remember how Google Docs drew "oohs" and "aahs" at last year's TechShow it blows my mind to hear it tossed out in such a matter of fact manner as a viable office suite. What's the world coming to?
Twitter asks that you answer the question "What are you doing?" Respond in 140 characters or less and you're twittering. Join thousands around the world doing the same or keep the conversation private. It's a combination SMS system, social network, and cultural phenomenon.
About TechnoLawyer Trade Show Reports
Even in today's wired world, trade shows continue to play an important role. But not everyone can attend trade shows. Hence, our trade show reports, which bring trade shows to you. You can find our trade show reports here in TechnoLawyer Blog, and also in TechnoGuide, a free newsletter that also contains exclusive content. Learn more about TechnoGuide.
Coming March 6, 2008 to Answers to Questions: Tim Hughes reviews QuickFile4Outlook - Lawyer's Edition, Lisa Cadungug shares her experience with both Word and WordPerfect in a law office setting (plus we unearth an interesting snippet on this endless debate from a 1997 TechnoLawyer message), Forum Administrator Tom Rowe clarifies some issues regarding the online CIC Solutions Forum for LexisNexis Practice Management products (and we extend a welcome to Questions that don't fit there), David Herdman offers a simple solution for using two computers with one monitor, and Diane Hopkins reviews her new iMac after switching from a Windows PC. Don't miss this issue.
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Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.
