Monday, February 08, 2010
Survey: Media Access to Mass. Courts

The Judiciary/Media Committee of the Supreme Judicial Court is considering revisions to the Guidelines on the Public's Right of Access to Judicial Proceedings and Records. In order to evaluate whether the guidelines should be amended or expanded and what other initiatives the committee might wish to pursue, the committee is asking members of the news media to complete a survey on media access to the courts.

As a member of the Judiciary/Media Committee and in my capacity as executive director of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, I am helping to disseminate the survey and compile its results. If you are a journalist who covers the Massachusetts courts, please take a moment to complete the survey and return it to me.

You can download the survey here, in Microsoft Word format: Survey of Media Access to Courts.

posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 11:25 AM, , links to this post

Friday, February 05, 2010
Interview with Rocket Matter Founders

During LegalTech, I recorded this conversation with the founders of Rocket Matter, Larry Port and Ariel Jatib. Rocket Matter is a Web-based practice management and time-and-billing application. They talk about their product, the cloud, social media and the cow in their office. Lots of background noise, and Ariel is softer than Larry, but listenable. 

Listen to or download the MP3 file: rocketmatterinterview.mp3.

posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 8:39 AM, , links to this post

Thursday, February 04, 2010
Update on Errant iPhone Evidence App

Last week here, I reported on an iPhone evidence app that was missing one of the federal rules. The company that created the app, Tekk Innovations, contacted me to say that it has now updated the app's description to say, "Current as of December 1, 2007." That may not be enough to alert everyone that it is missing a rule, but it is a step in the right direction.

The company also said that it has another app, Lawstack, that it describes as its "flagship legal app." Lawstack has all the federal rules update through December 2009, it said. It includes the Constitution and the federal rules of civil procedure, appellate procedure, evidence, bankruptcy procedure and criminal procedure.

posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 5:53 PM, , links to this post

Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Thomson Reuters Acquires Super Lawyers

In a move that underscores the increasing importance of lawyer ratings and reviews in helping consumers select a lawyer, Thomson Reuters announced today that it has acquired the Super Lawyers, the suite of attorney-rating publications and Web site created by Key Professional Media, based in Minneapolis, Minn.

Super Lawyers creates and distributes an annual listing of outstanding U.S. lawyers by state and practice area, reaching 11 million consumers via inserts in leading city and regional magazines, as well as online. Super Lawyers will be part of the Thomson Reuters, Legal, Business of Law group, which offers lawyer marketing and client development tools, and includes the FindLaw and Hubbard One businesses. The Super Lawyers business will be led by Vice President and General Manager Barb McGivern.

I met briefly today with Christopher Kibarian, president of the Business of Law group, who said that the Super Lawyers ratings will be integration in the Findlaw lawyers directory, along with consumer reviews and other information designed to help consumers choose a lawyer. The Super Lawyers site will also continue to operate as a separate site.

"Super Lawyers is an extraordinary complement to our business," Kibarian said in a press announcement. "Attorneys rely on word-of-mouth and recommendations to build their client base. We’re pleased to be able to provide the attorneys selected to the Super Lawyers list with additional support and services to achieve greater visibility and recognition for their accomplishments."

Kibarian said that a key priority for Thomson will be to provide assurances of the independence and integrity of Super Lawyers ratings. Super Lawyers already employs a rigorous selection process, he said, one that has been recognized by bar associations and courts across the country for its credibility and sophistication. It combines peer nominations and evaluations with third-party research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selections are made on an annual, state-by-state basis. 

On top of that, Thomson will create an independent advisory board to ensure the integrity and independence of the ratings process.

I will write more about this, but this is clearly part of a larger trend towards providing consumers of legal services with the same types of reviews and ratings that consumers expect when buying other products and services.

posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 5:20 PM, , links to this post

Monday, February 01, 2010
Screen Caps of Lexis Office Integration





posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 8:34 AM, , links to this post


LexisNexis Unveils Office Integration Today

Lawyers spend much of their time at their computers, and much of that time using Microsoft Word or Microsoft Outlook. In recognition of that, LexisNexis today is announcing a major new product that integrates search and other tools directly within Word and Outlook. Called Lexis® for Microsoft Office, the product is an add-on to Office that lets lawyers access these tools as they work within Office applications.

Simply put, the product splits the screen within an Office application and brings results and information right into the application, whether it is Word or Outlook. Notable about the product is that it enables powerful and intuitive search within Office not just of the LexisNexis database, but also of the open Web and of a firm's own document management system, all simultaneously and all with just a couple of keystrokes.

The product adds three primary search components to Word and Outlook. Results are displayed alongside the document or e-mail, so you see both simultaneously. The three components are:
For lawyers who are connected to SharePoint Server and Microsoft SharePoint Workspace, this tool also provides the ability to store, organize and share documents on a related topic from a SharePoint site. SharePoint can also act as an internal company database from which Lexis for Microsoft Office pulls information.

Although LexisNexis is announcing Lexis for Microsoft Office today at LegalTech in New York, the product will not immediately be available. It will launch for Microsoft Office 2007 in spring 2010, the company says, and will be available with Microsoft Office 2010. It will not work on older versions of Microsoft Offfice. To access and use the product's capabilities, users will require a current LexisNexis subscription.

Lexis developed the product in conjunction with engineers from Microsoft Corp. It has been beta testing the product with law firms for several months and refining it based on their input. Lexis says the testers have been enthusiastically pleased with their ability to access key information about a document from directly within Office.

Even as Lexis readies this product for release, the company is engaged in a parallel effort to broadly overhaul its core research product, with changes in the works for its technology, design and functionality. The initial release of that will be later this year. A spokesman I talked to described the product being announced today as "the first step in our journey of reinvention."

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posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 8:33 AM, , links to this post

Saturday, January 30, 2010
Gov. Patrick and I Reach Out

I cannot explain the weird expression on my face as I greet Gov. Deval Patrick, the honoree at the recent 45th anniversary dinner of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation.

posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 10:46 PM, , links to this post


Amazing Photo of Quincy Market in 1904

Here is a preview, but go to photo blog Shorpy to see a high-resolution version.

posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 2:03 PM, , links to this post

Friday, January 29, 2010
WestlawNext: More Screen Caps

As a follow-up to my post earlier this week with a first look at WestlawNext, here are a half-dozen screen caps provided by West:
 

  



 

 

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posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 6:05 PM, , links to this post


Evidence App for iPhone is Missing a Rule

[Read an update to this post.]

Lawyers, beware the errant iPhone app! I recently installed an app, FR Evidence, which promised to provide "the complete text of the Federal Rules of Evidence." Problem is, it is missing Rule 502, which was added to the FRE effective Sept. 19, 2008.

The app is created by Tekk Innovations, a company that has made a number of legal apps for the iPhone.

For a free iPhone app that has the complete FRE, along with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Constitution, try LawBox.

posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 12:58 PM, , links to this post


Fastcase iPhone App Now Publicly Available

Earlier this week, I posted an exclusive first look at a pre-release version of the new iPhone app from Fastcase. It provides no-cost access to a full library of cases and statutes.

The app has now been approved by Apple and is available for download from the App Store.

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posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 10:55 AM, , links to this post