Future & Trends

Over at Lawyerist, Sam Glover penned a thoughtful, witty piece questioning whether the recent crop of legal technology companies promising to disrupt the practice of law, can or will actually deliver.  Sam asserts that many of these companies haven’t a clue as to how lawyers practice and consequently, they “build a “solution” to what they…

An apple a day may keep the doctor away – but an app each day ensures that a doctor is always on-hand.  One new app, First Opinion allows users to text message doctors health-related questions. FirstOpinion pairs each user with a specific doctor and over time, they build relationships. The app isn’t intended to offer…

Yesterday, Bob Ambrogi reported on the emergence of yet another lawyer-focused social network, this one called Foxwordy, which touts an invitation-only membership and “access to thousands of docs and clauses authored by experts” as two of its unique features. Of course, what’s also potentially unique about Foxworthy is that it may charge for membership (or…

There’s a new law firm on the block here in Washington D.C., reports the Washington Post — easily recognized by its sunny yellow bike. The cycle analogy is a bit of a play on words, since here, the BIKE stands as an acronym for the Tandem’s tagline, “Be yourself, Innovate, Kindness and Engagement.” Not surprisingly,…

The problem with being late to the party in the blogosphere is that there’s often nothing left to say. And so it is that late with my dispatch on #ReinventLaw, I find that most of what I would have described — from the mixed bag of speakers and their varying degree of success with the…

I love TED Talks. Over the years, I’ve  shared a bunch of them at MyShingle. In many ways, Ted Talks are like a trip to the gym or an easy run: they make me feel both refreshed and virtuous without the sacrifice of a real lifestyle change needed for long term health benefits. Now, however,…

You might say that recently sanctioned  Delaware attorney Fred Barakat didn’t set his sights high enough.  Suspended for two years for several disciplinary violations including representing clients from his Pennsylvania home without a bonafide office in Delaware, Barakat could have been a paragon rather than a pariah had he founded an #AltLaw operation instead of settling…

Tis the season for trend spotting! As the year winds down, predictions of hot practice areas and the future of law will cram the legal trade press and blogs.  In fact, Bob Denney has already released his always excellent annual “What’s Hot and What’s Not” over at Attorney at Work; if you only have time…