If you own a computer connected to the Internet then you’re using technology in your law practice. The question is how you get more out of your tech tools (without having to spend too much time or effort)? One trick is to piggyback off of other lawyers, learning from their triumphs and failures. Here are some news tidbits that might help you out:
- Can the cost of tech be assessed as costs in litigation? There isn’t a lot of guidance from courts, and one would expect that judges would be reluctant to assess the costs of using technology against losing litigants. But, a recent California state appellate opinion approved the trial court’s award of $24,103.75 for costs of visual presentation tools. The award included the following expenses: “Trial Video Computer, PowerPoint Presentation, Video Deposition Synchronizing, and Trial Presentation Professional for Nine Days.” If you plan on using visual display tools, you might want to bookmark that case for later when you seek costs (assuming you’re successful at trial).
- Can a click on button serve to accept a contract? Apparently so, at least according to this online article about a US Fourth Circuit opinion involving a transfer of a copyright interest. Probably not surprising. But maybe indicative of a new trend: click-to-accept-contracts.
- Could you pass a tech audit created by Kia Motor Company’s corporate counsel D. Casey Flaherty? According to this ABA Journal article, none of the firms he’s audited so far have passed. You might want to read Mr. Flaherty’s recent online article about his tech audit. The big takeaway? Corporate clients are starting to consider using tech audits as a way to negotiate lower fees, and to expose inefficiency in large firm billings.
One tool that would have helped those law firms pass the Kia Motors tech audit would be this one page cheat sheet of PDF key skills & shortcuts. We’ll be offering plenty of practical tips, and webinars on core tech skills that corporate counsel now expect their outside firms to know (hint: most of them use Excel extensively).
If you haven’t updated your profile with us you might want to do that now so we know which tech topics you’re most interested in learning about in the future.