My neighborhood was hit hard by the ice storm. We have been without power for eight days now and counting. Some of my neighbours have generators. Some don’t. Some have heat and water. Some do not.
It’s Not a Principle Until it Costs You Money
~ Bill Bernbach
We have all been reading about the law firm of Paul Weiss having settled with the Trump Administration to get out from under an Executive Order, the legality of which is to say the least, questionable.
Some say that Paul Weiss buckled under instead of defending the rule of law. Their Managing Partner said that they were facing an existential crisis and that they took reasonable steps to survive and protect their clients. He also mentioned that their peers in the legal industry offered little support, and in fact targeted their clients.
Stephen Shapiro is a speaker and advisor on business transformation. He wrote an article titled, “The Art of Decision Making” after the publisher rejected his preferred title of, “When You Sit on the Fence, You Get Splinters in Your Ass!” In his article, he argues that “movement in any direction is better than stagnation or indecision,” and he concludes that “if you sit on the fence, all you will get are splinters.”
I was at the receiving end of a rant from a young associate recently, who I will call Mike. I don’t mind when Mike calls me to rant, usually late at night on his commute home from work. He needs to unload, and I am happy to be a sympathetic audience.
This Article is about what lawyers need from LegalTech providers. I use Wills and Estates as an example, but the principles apply to many areas of practice.
You can read the article here: https://appara.ai/news-and-insights/where-theres-a-will
Do any of you old-timers remember the first ten minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark? Let me refresh your memory.
Dr. Jones retrieves the golden idol and tries to escape the cave. A giant boulder rolls towards him as he frantically tries to get out of its way. Finally he jumps over a cliff, only to come face to face with some scary looking natives with bows and arrows. Things only got worse for him from there.
We all know that when it comes to hiring people, “if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.” But what about when it comes to buying technology?
In a recent survey conducted by Appara about the State of Canadian Legaltech, eleven factors were identified as being important when law firms evaluate Legaltech, and cost was the third most-cited consideration, ranking just behind ease of use and features and functionality, but ahead of security, customer support, vendor reputation and reviews, and others.
The old timers among us will remember the 1970 movie Love Story, which featured what may be the stupidest line of dialogue ever. I refer to the statement that “love means never having to say you’re sorry.”
It would take a lawyer to build upon that bit of nonsense and make it into something even worse. And we are up to the challenge!
Paul is a junior lawyer. His supervising lawyer expects every document that Paul creates to be perfect. In order to ensure that this standard is met, all of Paul’s draft documents, no matter how routine, are reviewed and often revised. Paul resents the extra time that is required to achieve that standard, especially since he is working many, many hours.
I have been on many cruise ships. On every single one there was a daily meeting listed in the schedule of events for the Friends of Bill W. and Doctor Bob. After my first 10 or 12 cruises, I remarked to someone that these fellows must cruise a lot, because they have been on every cruise that I have taken. After laughing hysterically, my acquaintance informed me that Bill W. and Doctor Bob were the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, that they were no longer alive, and therefore most likely not on the ship, and that the listed event was a 12-step meeting for Alcoholics.