A quick note to let you know that the proposed opinion was revised and resubmitted for public comment with an extended deadline of April 9, 2015 at 5 p.m. I stress that the opinion is revised because – if you're going to submit comments – you need to review the new version first!
PLEASE NOTE: Publication for public comment is not, and shall not be, construed as a recommendation or approval by the Board of Trustees of the materials published.
The State Bar of California Proposed Formal Opinion Interim No. 12-0006 (Attorney Blogging) has been posted for public comment. The comment period expires March 23rd, 2015 at 5pm.
PLEASE NOTE: Publication for public comment is not, and shall not be, construed as a recommendation or approval by the Board of Trustees of the materials published.
I just took a look through this top page. I've only posted ten times (including this one) in almost an entire year! I've got to try to step up my game, but honestly, it's going to be difficult as I get busier and busier. I'll do my best; in the meantime, here are my upcoming program(s) at the State Bar Annual Meeting in San Diego (I used the (s), because for one program, I'm making a guest appearance but am supposed to be in two places at once!):
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Thursday, September 11, 4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.
This is tentative. There's a meeting of the Council of Sections simultaneously with this program and since I will be assuming the role of Co-Chair at the conclusion of the Annual meeting, I need to be there.
I'm hoping to make my way to this session and appear for the last thirty minutes or so. But be warned; if I'm delayed, I might not make it. My colleague, Alex Lubarsky is presenting, so either way, I encourage you to check it out as he's extremely knowledgable.
This program will cover the rules and new technologies governing electronically stored information (ESI). Learn about cutting edge litigation technology advancements that will result in cost savings and streamlined management of ESI.
CLE: 1.0 Hour of Which 0.5 Hour Applies to Legal Ethics
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Friday, September 12, 2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
The National Security Agency (NSA) has been heavily featured in the news. While the agency collects our data, how does it use it? This program will address the NSA’s data collection and the unique challenges it presents to lawyers. Learn how to protect yourself and your clients' confidence.
CLE: 1.5 Hours of Which 0.5 Hour Applies to Legal Ethics
As you can imagine, questions about the NSA come up a lot in my presentations when I discuss attorney confidentiality, but with the outright panic I'm starting to see due to all of the misinformation out there, I feel it is time to address the issue in-depth. We're going to spend ninety minutes exploring attorney ethical obligations, what the NSA says they do vs. what they really do and how you can best protect client confidences – hopefully without experiencing a meltdown in the process.
That's it for this year. Hope to see you in San Diego!
Hi All – hope things are going well with you. I said I was planning to cut back on presentations, but somehow I was selected to do two programs at the upcoming State Bar of California Solo & Small Firm Summit in Newport Beach (note that's a change from the usual location, Long Beach). So, without further adieu, here's my schedule:
Generally speaking, senior attorneys tend to be intimidated by technology. On the other hand, junior attorneys tend not to be intimidated enough! This program strikes the balance and answers the burning question, “Am I doing enough to protect the privacy and confidentiality of both my practice and my client information?”
MCLE: 1.0 Hour Ethics
[I was awarded one of the coveted plenary sessions for the first time. Normally, we break into three concurrent MCLE presentations, but the plenary sessions have all 250 attendees. I'm going to have to be on my toes for this one…]
Panel presentation of the rules and new technologies pertaining to ESI (electronically stored information) that will level the playing field to allow a solo or small firm attorney to “go toe-to-toe” with a large law firm throughout the discovery process — even during the most complex and voluminous litigation. The speakers discuss cutting edge litigation technology advancements which translate to cost savings and more streamlined management of electronically stored information. New technology trends discussed include computer assisted review, analytics, the latest trends with computer forensics and automating litigation hold policies among others.
MCLE: 1.0 Hour Ethics
Hope to see you there!
Just wanted to share a couple of photos with you from my last meeting as Chair of the LPMT Section:
Me, incoming Chair Tangela Terry (right) and Special Advisor Larry Meyer (left)…
…and the gang!!!
I've been waiting for this for some time. Robert Brownstone of Fenwick & West (who I've cited many times on this blawg), has finally taken the plunge and launched the blawg, "IT Law Today: News & Updates on the lifecycle of electronic information management".
Folks, if you want to receive top of the line information and resources from one of the best in the business, I recommend you add him to your favorites lists (and while you're at it, follow him on Twitter as well – @eDiscoveryGuru).
You know how stingy I am about promotion on this blog, but this is one of my rare exceptions. Let me put it this way; when I have an issue that could go one way or the other and I want to chat with someone about the possibilites, Robert is the first person I call!
Make him one of your first stops as well – you will benefit greatly from his knowledge.
Beginning August 5th and ending August 24th, the State Bar of California Law Practice Management and Technology Section offers free memberships through the end of 2013 to attorneys and non-attorneys alike. This is a great opportunity to test-drive the section for free! For more details about the benefits we offer and how to get your free membership, click here.
Well, that's another Solo Summit in the bag. This was my third in a row (Calbar has been presenting them for five years) and although I noticed all of the Bar staff running around with very concerned looks, they probably needn't have been so worried; the conference went very well.
As I've said before, in some ways, I prefer it to the annual meeting because it's more intimate and one can actually pause to talk to the attendees and not always be running somewhere else. Also, the programs are custom-made for the Solo and Small Firm practitioner in California.
LPMT put on four programs this year; and I attended all of them. Well, I had to attend at least one, since I was the speaker…
Biased as I may be, I have to say that our group put on some excellent programs. Of course, the proof will be in the pudding (which for us means when we receive the rating sheets from the attendees in a few weeks).
I was only able to attend for a day-and-a-half this year, but I'll give the same advice as last year: If you want to collect a large amount of CLE credits on pertinent subjects with 300 like-minded attorneys and many networking opportunities, consider attending next year!
Just a quick reminder that I'm presenting Program #19 at the Calbar Solo and Small Firm Summit in Long Beach, California:
The Mobile
Lawyer & Professional Responsibility: Confidentiality in the Digital Age
Friday, June 21, 2013
1:15 p.m.-2:15 p.m.
Lawyers
are open for business 24-hours a day.
They communicate via Twitter & Facebook, on smartphones, tablets
& notebooks – in coffee shops, taxicabs, airports and on airplanes. This program reviews recent COPRAC opinions
addressing technology and provides tools to protect confidences and privacy for
both attorney and client.
It's not too late to register and join us!
I've just returned from day one of Legaltech West Coast. I'd hoped to attend both days this year because my Calbar LPMT colleague, Andy Serwin, presented the keynote this morning, Alas, it wasn't meant to be…
Leading up to the conference, the meme was that this is the new, improved LTWC with the addition of, "The California Lawyers' Track". Makes sense. Depending on which statistic you consult, approximately 20-25% of the lawyers in the United States reside in California. So, how did all this measure up to their most hard-to-impress critic, Mikey?
(It's me…it's me…I'm talking about ME!)
First of all, it not only makes sense, it's smart. I'm the first one to admit that virtually all of the programs I present contain at least 50% Ethics content – not only because it's great as far as addressing educational issues that attorneys need to know - but also because Calbar has a mandatory requirement that California attorneys attain four hours of specialty credit in Ethics every three years. The specialty credits are notoriously hard to come by and it always results in higher attendance at my events. I'm sure the gurus at LegalTech understand this factoid. They also worked in our other specialty credit requirements: Bias & Substance Abuse. However, three out of the four were presented on the final day
(incentive to entice California attendees to stick around for day two, LegalTech? Well played…)
If you attended all specialty sessions over two days, you'd satisfy one-hour Bias, one-hour Substance Abuse and two-hours Ethics. That's four out of a total of six hours required!
Advantage: LegalTech
Ok, great; the potential is there. But none of that matters if the programs aren't substantive. Were they? If you've been reading me for a while, you know I don't dole out compliments much, but I have to say that I found the content of the three sessions I attended to be excellent; and the final session of the day may have been the best I've ever attended at any conference.
Unfortunately, I was unable to get there early enough to see the keynote speaker, D. Casey Flaherty (and I regretted missing him even more after attending his program in the final session of the day – see below), so I started with "A Panel of Experts: A Candid Conversation". Judges Jay Ghandi and Suzanne Segal (no relation) discussed the challenges brought by eDiscovery. If you follow my Twitter feed, you saw the money quote from that session.
Mid-day, I went another direction. Owen Byrd from Lex Machina was presenting on his article, "Moneyball for Lawyers: How Data and Analytics are Transforming the Practice of Law". This was also the title of an article Owen wrote for our LPMT Committee publication, "the Bottom Line", which will be published in a week or two. He showed us how they're using data in whole new ways to give attorneys every advantage in a case.
To end the day, it was back to the judges (or so I thought) with, "Judges' Panel: The Current State of the ED Market". At first, I was disappointed because the "judges'" panel had only one judge, presenting via Skype. That ended up working out just fine. The live panel included one big firm eDiscovery attorney and the aforementioned Casey Flaherty, Corporate Counsel for Kia Motors America. Here's the deal. Mr. Flaherty walked us through the painstaking process he followed to procure the best eDiscovery vendors for Kia that he could find. What did I think? Read my assessment at the LexisNexis "Matters of Practice" Blog.
Well, that's a wrap for this year. See you next year at LTWC 2014!
