Ernie The Attorney

Technology webinars (how to go paperless & more)

Last December my friend Dane Ciolino and I put on a half-day seminar called Digital Workflow for Lawyers, which was very well received.  The point was to show lawyers how to make the transition from a paper-based law practice to a more digital one.  We are planning to do a couple of full-day seminars in November—one in New Orleans and one in Baton Rouge.

But in the meantime, we'd like to do some smaller online programs to help folks learn how to improve their tech-lawyering skills.  If you've already signed up for email notices at the Digital Workflow website that we set up then you'll be getting announcements as they are sent out.  But, if you haven't, and you're interested in getting notices about our seminars & webinars, then click here.

The nice thing about the webinars is that anyone can participate, even people outside Louisiana.  Basically, if you have a high-speed internet connection then you can join in (although we probably won't be able to offer CLE credit outside Louisiana).

And if there are particular things you want to learn about then send us an email with those suggested topics.  We have posted the written materials that we used at our seminar online if you are interested ind downloading them.  Just visit the website and click on any of the links along the left-hand side.

Two day seminar in New Orleans for solo & small firm lawyers

The Louisiana State Bar Association is holding its second annual Solo & Small Firm Conference in New Orleans this Thursday and Friday at the Sheraton Hotel.  Much of the information will be focused on how to use technology better.  Mostly, though it's a seminar designed to help solo lawyers or small firm practitioners with all aspects of their practice. 

I'll be speaking on Thursday afternoon, along with Tom O'Connor.  Our topic will be Electronic Discovery for Solos & Small Firms.

The program has dual-tracks so you can pick topics that appeal to you, as opposed to being locked into a set series of lectures.  The program provides 12.5 hours of CLE, including an hour of Ethics and Professionlism.  I understand from the organizers that it's almost sold out, but you can still sign up as of this posting.  You can get more information about the program here.

Speaking today at Loyola Law School

Today I'll be attending the Loyola Law School Symposium: On the Brink: The Judiciary's Tug of War with Technology.  Famed appellate blawger Howard Bashman and I will be on a joint panel that starts at 4 pm. The event is open to the public.  The address is 526 Pine St., room 405.  

Here's a short blurb about the conference:

In recent years the amount of information available from the Supreme Court has transformed the landscape of technology in the courtroom. Although the Court still operates mostly behind closed chambers, technology has enabled a wide-eyed view into the courtroom through a variety of tools, like the availability of oral arguments online via Oyez.org, the speed of Court coverage, and immediate blog responses. In this way technology has changed not only the ways we learn about the high Court and other courts, but it has also changed the way we learn about the law. 

Professors and scholars can analyze an oral arguments' effects on the decision, students are also able to analyze the argument and gain more insight into a case, oral advocates are able to perfect the advocacy and bloggers have the ability to raise new ideas and create new legal theories across vast distances.

However, the Supreme Court has not always been cooperative, and remains reluctant to increase technology in their courtroom. At the yearly budget hearings the Justices ask Congress for more money due to an ever increasing docket and Congress explains that the minute the justices allow cameras in the courtroom to increase transparency for their constituents, they will be granted the budget increase in full. Thus, the tug of war between the judiciary and technology.

Stop by if you're in town and can make it there.  It promises to be a provocative discussion.

Upcoming 'paperless lawyering' seminars

Dane Ciolino and I plan to give more Digital Workflow seminars in the future.  Feedback from our recent half-day seminar was very positive, with most people saying they want more in-depth information about paperless lawyering—especially information on how to use Adobe Acrobat better.

Here are the topics that people requested, and which we plan to cover in the upcoming year:

• Advanced PDF (bates-stamping, redaction, meta-data removal, OCR, digital signatures, and document production)
• Practical E-Discovery (email gathering and production, privilege culling, working with outside vendors)
• Organizing digital information in every day practice
• Paperless depositions, hearings & trials
• Effective use of video evidence 
• Using Powerpoint (or Keynote) to persuade 
• Effective E-mail management 
• Web resources for lawyers 
• Internet marketing for lawyers 
• Apple computers in law practice 

If you're interested in getting an email notice of these upcoming seminars click here.  We plan to give seminars outside of New Orleans (and even outside Louisiana) so if you're from elsewhere go ahead and fill out the form. 

My seminar on Powerpoint (tomorrow in New Orleans)

I'll be speaking tomorrow at the New Orleans Bar Association's Procrastinator's Program.  My talk is about how to use Powerpoint as a lawyer (actually what I'll say will also apply to Apple's Keynote software). The registration fee is $55 for NOBA members and $60 for non-members.  

Here are more details:

Persuading with Powerpoint
Tuesday, Dec. 23rd | 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
11th floor of Pan Am Bldg, 601 Poydras

To register: call 525-7453, or email CC Kahr

The materials will be handed out electronically by the bar association, but here they are in case you just want snag them now and show up at the last minute (or if you can't make it).  

Hope to see you there!

Feedback on Digital Workflow seminar

We had great attendance at our seminar last Friday, with some great questions from the audience. Obviously, people are eager to learn more about how to make the shift to a paperless practice.  This is one of the anonymous comments we received from our follow up survey:

"I had a prior commitment that made me leave early, but there is no doubt that my time would have been better spent at the seminar. This was possibly the most beneficial seminar i have been to.  If it is going to be repeated, I will be going and I will be bringing my whole firm."

Thanks to everyone who came.  We're looking forward to doing more of these seminars in 2009 so keep checking this site (or the Digital Workflow site) for more information.

Digital workflow seminar tomorrow

There are still a few slots open for the seminar on Digital Workflow tomorrow at the Intercontinental Hotel in New Orleans. It's best to sign up in advance to assure a spot, but we'll certainly welcome walk-ups if we have room.

The seminar is from 9:00 am to noon on the 3rd floor of the hotel (Poydras Room). Grab your written materials from our website (left side under 'Pages') if you want, though you won't need them during the seminar. Techy Becky will be helping us with the sign-in so just look for her as you approach the registration table.

Upcoming program on Paperless Lawyering

In the past two years I've given several presentations on 'Digital Workflow,' or how to make your law practice less dependent on paper. Whenever I give this talk the room is always packed with people who want to know the step-by-step process of becoming more digital.

About six months ago Dane Ciolino and I were tapped to give this presentation together, which was great because, over the years, Dane and I have often had lunch together to talk about our 'paperless law practices' and share ideas on how to make things better. So presenting together was a lot of fun for us, and (from the feedback we got) entertaining and informative for the audience.

This summer Dane and I taught a 'virtual class' together at Loyola Law School. The class was about practical lawyering in the digital age, and it was done purely over the Internet. When the class was announced there was a rush to sign up, but we limited the class to 20 students so that we could ensure quality and work out any kinks without too much chaos. Everything went pretty smoothly and, once again, the class was very well received.

It occurred to us that there's a big demand for this kind of information, and it's not really being presented very often around Louisiana. So, we decided to take the bull by the horns and put on our own CLE Seminar. The idea is to create a group of basic, intermediate, and advanced sessions. And to present them on a fairly regular basis. We're going to start with a 3 hour session on December 12th, in the morning. For more information, and to register for the seminar, click here.

This will not be a traditional CLE seminar, although it will give you 3 hours of credit, including an hour for Ethics and an hour for Professionalism. We will give you useful information, presented in an engaging way.

Upcoming CLE on Digital Workflow

In the past two years I've given several presentations on 'Digital Workflow,' or how to make your law practice less dependent on paper. Whenever I give this talk the room is always packed with people who want to know the step-by-step process of becoming more digital.

About six months ago Dane Ciolino and I were tapped to give this presentation together, which was great because, over the years, Dane and I have often had lunch together to talk about our 'paperless law practices' and share ideas on how to make things better. So presenting together was a lot of fun for us, and (from the feedback we got) entertaining and informative for the audience.

This summer Dane and I taught a 'virtual class' together at Loyola Law School. The class was about practical lawyering in the digital age, and it was done purely over the Internet. When the class was announced there was a rush to sign up, but we limited the class to 20 students so that we could ensure quality and work out any kinks without too much chaos. Everything went pretty smoothly and, once again, the class was very well received.

It occurred to us that there's a big demand for this kind of information, and it's not really being presented very often around Louisiana. So, we decided to take the bull by the horns and put on our own CLE Seminar. The idea is to create a group of basic, intermediate, and advanced sessions. And to present them on a fairly regular basis. We're going to start with a 3 hour session on December 12th, in the morning. For more information, and to register for the seminar, click here.

This will not be a traditional CLE seminar, although it will give you 3 hours of credit, including an hour for Ethics and an hour for Professionalism. We will give you useful information, presented in an engaging way.

Off to speak in New Hampshire

Today, I'm off to New Hampshire where I'll give a talk tomorrow morning. I'll be speaking to the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in beautiful Bedford, New Hampshire. The focus will be on gathering and managing digital information. Criminal lawyers (like civil lawyers) face the stark reality that their client’s words and actions are being captured in many digital forms: surveillance cameras, text messages, Thumb-drives, web-browser history and so on. I'll be back on Sunday, hopefully in time to watch the Hornets clinch another playoff win against San Antonio.