LegalTech Review – Sunday 20th January 2019

Linklaters begins moving associates into permanent tech roles

Andrew Messios writes in LegalWeek that Linklaters is looking for tech savvy associates to leave the partner track and move into permanent roles in its specialist tech operation Nakhoda.

Two tribes go to war

According to Joanna Goodman writing in the Gazette:

“Legal tech proponents are dividing into opposing camps. One says the industry should stay within its comfort zone, the other can’t wait to jump on the innovation bandwagon.”

New technologies are throwing out the book on law procedures, and Aussie legaltech startups are helping them do it

Stephanie Palmer-Derrien interviews Smart Drafter co-founder Adam Long and Legaler co-founder Stevie Ghiassi in smartcompany about how their respective businesses could change the way legal services are delivered.

The ugly side of law firm research

Building on the momentum of the #MeToo movement, John van der Luit-Drummond, Editor of The Legal 500 UK Bar and Asia Pacific writes on LinkedIn about how the publication plans to tackle inappropriate behaviour directed towards its team:

“Going forward, we’ll be encouraging our editors and researchers to call out unacceptable behaviour and will be empowering them to walk away from meetings where they feel unsafe or are not treated with the respect they deserve.”

“Reproduction of the legal profession” at risk from automation

Nick Hilborne writes in Legal Futures about a new paper Legal Professionals of the Future: Their Ethos, Role and Skills by Professor John Flood, in which Flood notes that:

“Junior associates and paralegals are the endangered species in the law firms. The effect of automation here could be dramatic in that if junior associates were to be gradually culled from firms, the entire reproduction of the legal profession could be jeopardised since law firms are structured around associates being promoted to partnership.”

Podcast: What Does the Federal Government Shutdown Mean for Legal Information?

With the partial government shutdown approaching one month, Marlene Gebauer and Greg Lambert attempt to make some sense of what that means for those relying on information produced by the US Government, in a 3 Geeks and a Law Blog Podcast.

Podcast: HM Land Registry’s Head of Digital talks geospatial data and blockchain

Director of Digital, Data and Technology John Abbott joined TechTalk Radio to discuss geospatial data and blockchain technology.

What Does It Say When A Legal Blockchain eBook Has 1.7M Views?

Mark Cohen wrote in Forbes about the attention that Legaler’s recently released eBook Blockchain For Lawyers has received on LinkedIn. Cohen posed the question:

“What does that staggering number say about blockchain, legal technology, and the legal industry? Clearly, blockchain is a hot legal topic, along with artificial intelligence (AI), and legal tech generally.”

With Legaler’s CEO Steve Ghiassi’s original LinkedIn post announcing the release of the book having now received over two million views (a view meaning that someone saw your post on their LinkedIn homepage feed, not that they read the eBook), Brian Inkster in a post on a The Time Blawg felt that the use of the 1.7m figure by Cohen was misleading:

“Suggesting that 1.7 million people viewed an eBook on Blockchain for Lawyers when the reality is that maybe 1.7 million people glanced at an advert for that eBook and only circa 500 actually read it is misleading in the extreme.”

Views aside, the eBook itself is a well written introductory guide to some of the principles of blockchain, along with its benefits and links to resources for further reading. If you want to learn more about blockchain then this is a great place to start. The eBook is available to download from the Legaler website.

 

 

Photo by Alex Blăjan on Unsplash

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