San Diego lawyer launches all-female, all-partner virtual firm

The fledgling virtual firm Vanst Law in San Diego has no office, no break room and no conference room of its own—so the partners get creative about finding ways to stay collegial. “Our firm culture is extremely important to us. We can’t meet at the watercooler, but isolation isn’t a problem,” says founder and CEO Cynthia Morgan-Reed.

Jul 1, 2019 1:25 AM CDT

Law firm awarded $900K in suit contending departing lawyers took confidential files

A former Boston law firm has been awarded $900,000 in its suit claiming that departing lawyers breached their duty of loyalty when they took the firm’s electronic database of files and misused confidential information. Jurors found for the Governo Law Firm last week in its suit against six departing lawyers…

Jun 28, 2019 12:40 PM CDT

These document assembly tools will keep your law firm on track

There’s no getting around it. The practice of law is document intensive and can often be tedious. Fortunately, there are steps your firm can take to reduce the repetition and automate the more mundane aspects document creation, writes lawyer Nicole Black.

Jun 25, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

The rise of the machines—but with checks and balances

The U.S. has been the world leader in AI development, including those used in the criminal justice system. But we are laggards when it comes to the regulation and oversight of the same technology, writes ABA Journal Legal Affairs Writer Jason Tashea.

Jun 25, 2019 6:00 AM CDT

Law firms are investing in innovation through venture capital services

Ari Kaplan spoke with Alex Nwaka, a principal with Touchdown Ventures, which provides venture capital services on behalf of leading corporations.

Jun 21, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

New tool by Harvard Law lets people explore language usage in caselaw

Parsing 6.7 million federal and state cases and 12 billion words, a new tool allows the public to explore the use of language over 360 years of caselaw. Released Wednesday, “Historical Trends” was built by the Harvard Law School Library Innovation Lab and is free to use. “I think it’s…

Jun 20, 2019 11:57 AM CDT

Avvo founder unwinds as he thinks about the next step

Mark Britton, the former CEO and founder of the attorney ratings site Avvo, is taking a break. But he has some business development advice for the profession, he tells the ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward.

Jun 12, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Lawyer count in US increases 14.5% from decade ago; these 5 states have highest number of active attorneys

The number of active lawyers in the United States increased 14.5% over the last decade, according to statistics released Friday by the ABA. The total number of active lawyers at the beginning of 2019 was 1,352,027, up from 1,180,386 in 2009, according to the ABA’s National Lawyer Population Survey. The…

Jun 3, 2019 11:46 AM CDT

Law firms are developing their own tools and software to better serve clients

BigLaw firms and boutique practices have increasingly shown an eagerness to enter into the technology products and services market. Subsidiaries and joint ventures specifically focus on creating and selling a variety of technology-based legal products and services.

Jun 1, 2019 1:00 AM CDT

Kirkland & Ellis hires director of well-being and plans apps to help increase resilience

A lawyer who is also a licensed clinical professional counselor is the new firmwide director of well-being at Kirkland & Ellis. The new hire is Robin Belleau, the former executive director of the Lawyers’ Assistance Program in Illinois, according to a press release and stories by the American Lawyer and…

May 31, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

The benefits of 21st-century word processing tools for lawyers

It’s safe to say that the creation of documents is an inescapable part of practicing law. That’s why the invention of word processing software had such a tremendous impact on law firms in terms of both internal processes and cost.

May 23, 2019 6:00 AM CDT

For law firms on the web, online accessibility for the disabled is good business

As legal services providers update their technology and grow their online footprints, they should build and use technology that is accessible to the broadest number of people, and that also includes people with disabilities.

May 21, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Integration of the legal profession and voice assistants is just a matter of time

Ari Kaplan spoke with Matthew Volm, the co-founder and CEO of Tali, a voice-enabled time capture software tool.

May 17, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

With significant changes, Thomson Reuters wants to be closer to its customers

May 15, 2019 11:20 AM CDT

BigLaw firm’s new app for clients generates answers from database and on-demand lawyers

Littler Mendelson has unveiled a new app that its management-side clients can use to find answers to their employment questions, either through a database of previous attorney responses or a live on-call attorney. Clients submit questions through the Littler onDemand app and immediately receive prior attorney responses when the question…

May 10, 2019 2:09 PM CDT