Category Archives: Education

Cost, Duties, Education, Implementation, International, Law Practice Management, Metadata, Privacy, Privilege, Sanctions, Scope, Social Media, Strategy, Technology, Zubulake

Summary of Executive Counsel Exchange – Day One

Last week, I attended day one of the Executive Counsel Exchange in Los Angeles, as has been my custom the past three years.  Just to clarify, this conference is sometimes referred to as the Executive Counsel 'Institute', but the actual program is called, "The Exchange" and the theme is, "e-Discovery
for the Corporate Market".

This year, the primary moderators were Browning Marean III of DLA Piper, my old pal Robert Brownstone of Fenwick & West and David Kessler of Fulbright & Jaworski.  This is one of my favorite programs because it's a roundtable.

The reason this particular conference is so beneficial is that attendees share their day-to-day experiences confronting the many eDiscovery challenges we know so well.  I've always considered the practical much more important than the theoretical – mostly because people, situations and budgets don't tend to comport to the (IMHO) wishful thinking that appears in many overly-optimistic project plans.

Take a look at the agenda.  If these look like the kinds of issues you see, think about attending.  The next event will be held in late March in San Francisco.

Education, Implementation, Judges, Law, Privilege, Scope, Strategy, Technology, vDiscovery Insights, Zubulake

v-Discovery Insights: Robert Brownstone of Fenwick & West LLP Discusses his Top 3 Concerns in Data Security

Robert Brownstone has been my friend and colleague for many years.  In fact, he was Chairman of @CalBarLPMT two years prior to me.  We recently appeared on a panel together called, "Under Fire: Defending and Challenging a Motion against Technology-Assisted Review – A mock Meet and Confer (26f) hearing".  He played the role of the Plaintiff's attorney and I the Defendant's.  Robert was a late addition to my panel and I was delighted to present with him again!

 

California Lawyer, Education, Law Practice Management, Management, Scope

CalBar Board Committee of Member Oversight Clarifies Definition of Acceptable MCLE


MP900403638As I wrote on July 24th, 2012:

"The State Bar of California Board Committee on Member Oversight seeks
to amend the definition of what qualifies for proper MCLE credit in the
state of California.  Apparently, some confusion has arisen regarding
whether CLE programs may only contain substantive law versus whether they may encompass other ares of law practice and/or law practice management."

On November 15th, 2012, the Board of Member Oversight voted to amend the education standards in MCLE rules 2.52(A) and 3.601(A), effective January 1st, 2013.  To be specific, they voted to change one
word, as illustrated below:

“The activity must relate to legal
subjects directly relevant to members of the State Bar and or
have significant current professional and practical content.”

This is great news for MCLE providers in the State of California – and my Law Practice Management and Technology Section, specifically – because effective January 1st, 2013, we may provide to you,
State Bar membership at large and the public:

  • Topics related to business or financial management of a law firm;
  • Topics
    related to law office operation, including but not limited to facilities, staffing,
    systems and equipment;
  • Topics
    related to creation and improvement of legal case work and work flow
    management, including time management of attorneys and support staff, and
    delegation of responsibility;
  • Topics
    related to the competent delivery of legal services and/or the establishment
    and maintenance of effective law office management;
  • Topics
    related to communications by and between attorneys and support staff
  • Topics
    related to the use of computer and/or Internet technology in the practice of
    law     or the management of a law office    .
  • Topics
    related to the lawful and ethical management of a law office’s financial
    accounts including client trust accounts.
  • Topics
    relating to lawful and ethical client fee agreements, fee sharing and referral
    arrangements.

My favorite is highlighted; considering this is a law technology blog, of course.  It's a win-win for all concerned.

eDiscovery California, Education, Judges, Science, Strategy, Technology

eDiscovery California: Upcoming Panel: eDiscovery and Legal Technology in Practice Conference – San Francisco

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I'm going to be on a roundtable panel at the Thomson Reuters 'eDiscovery and Legal Technology in Practice' Conference 2012 in San Francisco.  It's an all-day event, taking place on December 5th.  It's a terrific agenda; here's the scoop on my specific panel:

12:00pm – 1:10pm

Under Fire: Defending and Challenging a Motion against Technology-Assisted Review – A mock Meet and Confer (26f) hearing.

Panelists:

Nicole Armenio – Kroll Ontrack Solution Architect
Perry Segal – eDiscovery Attorney and Management Consultant, Charon Law
Hon. Socrates Peter Manourkian – Judge of the Superior Court, County of Santa Clara

It's entirely possible that by 1:00pm, the attendees will all be thinking about lunch…

Backup & Recovery Systems, Cost, Disaster Recovery, Duties, Education, Law Practice Management, Privacy, Security, Technology

Perry Segal Discusses the Cloud, Privacy & Attorney Ethics on KUCI Irvine 88.9FM – Monday, Nov. 12th at 8:00 a.m. PST

MP900309623

I guess the headline says it all, except I'd like to add that the interview will also be available as a podcast via iTunes.  I will also post an MP3 here Monday.

Here's a few of the additional details:

Privacy Piracy (88.9FM and www.kuci.org), a half-hour public affairs show with no
commercials broadcasts from the University of California, Irvine campus on
Mondays from 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time.  To learn more
about the show and listen to archived interviews, please visit www.kuci.org/privacypiracy.

California Lawyer, Cost, Duties, eDiscovery California, Education, Law Practice Management, Security, Strategy, Technology

eDiscovery California: Upcoming Presentations: CalBar 85th Annual Mtg

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Why have I been missing in action the past couple of weeks?  Because I over-committed, that's why!  Note to self: Don't propose two presentations for the CalBar 85th Annual Meeting, thinking that only one will be selected…WRONG!!!  So, to kick-off my re-appearance on this blawg, here are my two upcoming presentations in Monterey:

eDiscovery eVolution: Crawl, Walk, then Run Your Case!  (Program 25)

Thursday, October 11, 2012  4:15 p.m.-5:15 p.m.

Strategy matters, and litigation is a term of art and a
little showmanship. Learn how to strategize during a case to get the
most out of each other for the clients' benefit.

Presenters:  Perry L. Segal, Derick Roselli

CLE: 1.0 Hour General Credit

This is going to be a good one, because I'm taking the role of attorney (type-casting) and my LPMT colleague, Derick Roselli, takes the role of technology expert; which is his true specialty at HP/Autonomy.  We're going to do a walk-through of a case from the perspective of the attorney consulting with his expert on a case, from start to finish.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Cloud: Secure? Yes. Ethical? Not so FAST!  (Program 50)

Friday, October 12, 2012  10:30 a.m.-12 noon

It's essential to conduct due diligence regarding a
vendor's security practices to insure the confidentiality of client
data. Even if the data is believed to be secure, it may violate an
attorney's legal/ethical obligations. Learn the next step– assuring
client communications are secure and ethical.

Presenters, Perry L. Segal, Donna Seyle

CLE: 1.5 Hours of Which 1.0 Hour Applies to Legal Ethics

Donna Seyle is another of my LPMT colleagues, and we're going to do a practical examination of attorney ethics rules – both ABA and California – as they pertain to data and social media interaction in the cloud.  Our goal is to explain to attorneys how even a secure cloud may violate ethical obligations to the client if additional precautions are not followed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I 'officially' assume the Chairmanship of LPMT at noon, Sunday, October 14th.  Here we go!

California Lawyer, Duties, eDiscovery California, Education, eMail, Implementation, Law Practice Management, Privilege, Security, Technology

eDiscovery California: Proposed Formal Opinion 10-0003 (VLO) is now Formal Opinion CAL 2012-184

Attorneys, please take note: The State Bar of California Proposed Formal Opinion Interim No. 10-0003 (Virtual Law Office) has been adopted as Formal Opinion CAL 2012-184 (link opens 7-page pdf).  If you missed it the first go-round, I highly recommend that you familiarize yourselves with this opinion.

I can lead you to the water (but I can't force you to make the Kool-Aid).

Backup & Recovery Systems, Education, eMail, Implementation, Technology

‘Outlook’ for Hotmail: Cooler with a Chance of Replacement

MP900385981Normally, the announcement that Microsoft is transitioning away from Hotmail to their new cloud-based Outlook interface wouldn’t register much space on this blog.  However, due to my posts about using Hotmail to emulate ActiveSync on your devices, there is a tie-in.

First, there’s the perception that having a Hotmail account is somewhat embarrassing.  Why?  Who knows.  I don’t care about how things look; I care about making use of the most efficient process to achieve the goal.  You can even replace an existing hotmail.com address with a new outlook.com address (although you were never required to use a hotmail.com address).  But, if these issues held you back from trying it, well, your problems are solved.

But here’s the better news.  Based on my assessment, Outlook is just a superior interface.  Also, if you implemented Hotmail, transitioning to Outlook takes about two mouse-clicks and doesn’t interrupt or affect ActiveSync.

So, maybe you want to revisit the process…

California Lawyer, Education, Law Practice Management, Management, Scope

Public Comment Requested: CalBar Board Committee of Member Oversight Asks, “What is an MCLE?”

Dragon-weathervane-1As stated in the headline, The State Bar of California Board Committee on Member Oversight seeks to amend the definition of what qualifies for proper MCLE credit in the state of California.  Apparently, some confusion has arisen regarding whether CLE programs may only contain substantive law versus whether they may encompass other ares of law practice and/or law practice management.  Here's the issue in Calbar's language:

"The proposed rule amendment clarifies and eliminates ambiguity as to what constitutes permissible and credit-worthy MCLE. Additionally, the change also expands the scope of acceptable MCLE to programs and activities that relate directly to the management and operation of a member’s law office and to mediation training."

Concurrently, CalBar's Task Force on Admissions is in the process of evaluating the implementation of a pre-admission practical skills training program.

Folks, these issues are near & dear to my heart. Obviously, as the incoming Chair of CalBar's LPMT Section, I have a few opinions on this subject.  Considering that most law schools don't spend much time focusing on what successful candidates should do once they arrive in the real world of law practice, I feel that limiting continuing legal education offerings to substantive law-only would be a huge detriment to newbie attorneys as well as veterans.  At least, that's what we see from the attendance at our CLE programs.

Therefore, I ask that you examine the proposed amendment, then make your voices heard.  Public comment remains open through September 8th, 2012.