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Recently, I attended a conference of law firm managing partners, practice management advisors, law firm CIOs and CMOs, law professors, and other legal management experts from the U.S., Canada, Scotland, England, and Australia. Professor Michael Wesch's YouTube videos came to my attention as we discussed the impact of Web 2.0 in the legal world. In June, Wesch, an anthropology professor at Kansas University, spoke before the Library of Congress about the cultural changes in the world highlighted by YouTube. (You may have already seen Professor Wesch's video, "The Machine is Using Us") I recommend you watch this presentation he gave to the Library of Congress: An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube. This second video is almost an hour, but worth the time. It is food for thought as the legal profession evolves within a flattening world, as we adapt to the ideas of younger lawyers, and compete to survive and thrive in that evolving world. Keep track of your ideas as you watch . . .

Film/Video Equipment Service, Inc. v. Janice Kay Baker, etc., Case No. 07CV11123: 11/18/08 This is a business damages case brought by a company against its former Vice President of Sales. Exhibits in this case are primarily made up of various email communications between Defendant and clients, vendors and other contacts of the business. Many exhibits are made up from email strings, including several different authors, recipients and dates. Before the court and jury are able to read the emails, the attorney highlights and does call-outs of portions of the emails. Moral Juries (and sometimes the court) are naturally cynical about highlights. They want to know what the exhibit contains before you tell them (through highlighting) that only portions of the exhibit are important. This helps your personal credibility and is not truly a waste of time. Use highlights and call-outs in a way that does not appear to prevent the jury and the court from understanding the context of the exhibit. You won?t look like you are trying to gloss over other information and impact your own credibility.

Internet Explorer, still the most popular web-browser today, has long been derided for its susceptibility to security exploits. Along came Firefox to challenge the dominant Windows browser, promising a more secure environment. Both browsers have now been revamping, issuing new versions and making sure to let end users know that security and privacy are top of mind in the development process. Because IE is part of the Windows operating system those running Windows must keep Internet Explorer up-to-date and patched ? even if it is not their primary browser. And, just because they do not seem susceptible to the high number of security holes, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome and others must kept patched and up-to-date. What?s more, when was the last time you updated your various browser plugins, add-ons and co-dependent applications? According to PC Mag's Security Watch end users do not keep add-ins up to date. For instance, Adobe Systems browser add-in Flash, that plays video and other types of multimedia, has been exploited several times. Adobe's free and widely available Reader application, which is called up by browsers to read PDF files, is constantly being updated with security patches. Other software that is called by the browser, like QuickTime, RealPlayer and Windows Media Player must also be kept up to date. Also, keep in mind other plugins and addons, as these may put an otherwise secure browser at risk. Remember to only download applications and applets from reliable sources (preferably the vendor) and turn on automatic notification of updates if available.

On September 9th, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) and the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) Task Force on Discovery released the results of a survey of trial lawyers from across the country. The survey called electronic discovery a ?morass,? with 87% of lawyers stating that e-discovery is too costly. The survey also found that the excessive cost of discovery is forcing settlements, instead having settlements take place on the merits. Lawyers also believe that judges do not do enough to control excessive discovery, especially with costly e-discovery, with 89% of lawyers saying judges needed to assume a greater leadership role. The ABA Journal article on the survey, including a link to the report, may be found at http://www.abajournal.com/news/litigation_too_costly_e_discovery_a_morass_trial_lawyers_say/print/

A business plan is your roadmap to the financial future. A well thought-out business plan demonstrates that you have done the homework necessary to launch your practice or to move forward to the next level. Business plans can be as simple or as detailed as you wish, but they always contain four essential elements: a general description of your practice, including the legal services you intend to provide and the markets you intend to serve; your financial plan, including a budget detailing anticipated revenues and expenses; your management plan, with a description of how you will set up your office and support the delivery of your legal services; and your marketing plan, showing how you intend to keep existing clients and reach new ones. For help in drafting a business plan that will move your practice forward, take a look at The Lawyer's Guide to Creating a Business Plan, A Step-By-Step Software Package, 2008 Version, by Linda Pinson. Based on her award-winning Automating Your Business Plan, this software package has been designed specifically for lawyers so they can make the right decisions for a successful and profitable business future. The step by step program assumes that you know nothing about writing a business plan and leads you through the process while it uses spreadsheets to do the calculations for you. It also comes with a PDF version of the book Anatomy of a Business Plan, and is available from LPM Publishing through the ABA's webstore . The LPM Member price is $149.95. Non-Member Price is $179.95. Item code is 511-0528. A bargain at any price.

123People.com is a meta-search site devoted to locating information about people from multiple publicly available sources on the Internet like social networking sites (e.g. Linked In, Facebook), news outlets, blogs, and individual Web sites. A name search returns information including: Street addresses E-mail addresses Phone numbers Images Biographies The site had previously only been available in Europe during its public trial period. Rivals include: pipl.com, wink.com, spock.com, peekyou.com, yoname.com, and to a lesser degree ZabaSearach (which only provides address and phone number results).

Attention innovators ? are you delivering legal services over the Internet? Get recognized! Get to TECHSHOW! Get nominated for the James I. Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in eLawyering! The James I. Keane Memorial Award is named for James I. Keane, the founding Chair of the ABA eLawyering Task Force created in 2000 to carry out a presidential initiative of ABA President William G. Paul, of Oklahoma City, to examine ways that lawyers could use the Internet and other electronic resources to deliver legal services to people of moderate means more efficiently and effectively. Thus, the focus of the James I. Keane Memorial Award is the innovative delivery of personal legal services, with special attention given to firms and entities that serve both moderate income individuals and the broad middle class. For nomination materials and more information, visit the James I. Keane Memorial Award webpage http://www.abanet.org/lpm/award/jimkeane/. Nominations must be mailed by January 15, 2009, and will be reviewed by an impartial jury. Winners will be notified by February 15, 2009, and will be honored at a special ceremony at the ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago in April, 2009.

The Association of Litigation Support Professionals ? the only organization whose members comprise the full range of individuals involved with litigation support ? will host its first educational event. The 2008 ALSP Fall Forum: Education Through Collaboration, 13 ? 14 November in Chicago, features two educational tracks designed for various professional levels, an executive workshop specifically for litigation support managers, a networking reception and ample opportunity for attendees to talk one-on-one with top solution providers. ALSP promotes peer-to-peer learning by providing top-notch sessions presented by your colleagues in the legal industry. Come away with helpful resources including checklists and industry best practices that you can use for quality control, client satisfaction and efficiency improvement. Visit www.alsponline.org/2008fallforum for additional information and to register. Questions? Contact info@alsponline.org or 800.430.6651.