The Kennedy-Mighell Report

In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell reexamine the paperless office, survey the current process of going paperless, and speculate as to whether the era of the paperless office might have actually arrived. Kennedy muses the “if it comes to you in paper, it stays in paper” mentality of lawyers. While he points out that many of the themes around going paperles...

In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Tom Mighell interviews Dennis Kennedy about LegalTech New York 2015, covering highlights from the show and what this year’s event might tell us about future trends in legal technology. As always, e-discovery was a big topic, with an estimated 54% of the vendors falling within the e-discovery category. Kennedy speculates that information governance wil...

In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell revisit speech recognition technology, look at the ways people are dictating text today, and discuss arguments for and against using it in your law practice. Mighell discusses how faster speeds and improvement in broadband for Siri, Google Now, Cortana, and other tools have made speech recognition a hot topic. He persona...

Lawyers, even solos, are constantly working with experts, opposing counsel, court officials, and colleagues. Dennis and Tom like to keep an eye on new developments and the current state of collaboration tools and technologies, which they consider one of the most important, yet under-appreciated, areas of legal technology. In 2008, they wrote a book together called The Lawyer's Guide to Collaborati...

Every new year brings a new opportunity to "start fresh" and get something done that you might not have accomplished in the previous year. As we look ahead to 2015, we start to think about our legal technology resolutions for the coming year. There are often new technologies for lawyers that did not exist in the previous years and new ways of automating or organizing their lives. What are some spe...

As we reach the end of 2014, it's time to look back at the world of legal technology and some of the best advancements, worst fails, popular trends, and developments of the year. Using this information, trends and events can be predicted for 2015. What are the odds that two or more state bar disciplinary groups will issue rules about lawyers using technologies that will baffle lawyers that actuall...

As friends, colleagues, and clients documented their Thanksgiving holiday on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, it was made clear how big a role social media plays in the personal and professional lives of lawyers. Because it is so prevalent and necessary, social media can also be very overwhelming for many who are trying to maintain their online presence. But most lawyers know that engaging with o...

There has been recent talk of a "Podcast Renaissance," in which podcasts are better than ever and people have begun to appreciate the value of the podcast medium for education and entertainment. Who are we to disagree? There are educational podcasts, political podcasts, legal podcasts, technology podcasts, entertainment podcasts, and podcasts that combine subjects. There are podcasts that review b...

Recent statistics indicate that there will be more than 100 billion app downloads in 2014. Although there are more than a million apps available for download on the iOS and Android platforms, most users tend to rely on a core set of around two dozen apps. Lawyers have been using fewer legal apps in their practice but they still actively use other apps for work and in their personal lives. Apps for...

The College of Law Practice Management recently held its 2014 Futures Conference at Suffolk University Law School in Boston. This conference brings together members of the College of Law Practice Management and young innovative lawyers to discuss what the future of law practice might look like and how the attendees might provide an influential voice. Dennis and Tom participated in the program and...

Most of us assume that lawyers are slow adopters of technology because that's what we hear all the time. ILTA's InsideLegal Survey and the ABA Technology Survey are annual surveys of lawyers that provide some data about the actual usage of technology by lawyers. Because these surveys are voluntary, they give a big picture of changing trends rather than specific accurate data. Does the common assum...

With fall fast approaching, you can be sure of two things: football games and new phones! Apple and other vendors recently announced new editions of their phones, as well as some interesting new gadgets. With new options like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Watch, iOS 8, and Apple Pay, Apple-using lawyers need to think about which products they need (or want) and how to make the best use of...

Because lawyers often need to get up to speed on a topic quickly, most find that they can learn almost anything on the Internet, provided they can find the appropriate tools and resources. In the short term, lawyers often need to do quick research for a speech, webinar, or to talk to a specialist about a subject. More lasting knowledge is needed for specific case and client knowledge, starting a n...

"All right, Mr. Demille, ready for my close-up." Video phone calls have been talked about for many years, from the time this famous line appeared in the movie Sunset Boulevard. Videoconferences are becoming widely used in law firms and other businesses; many lawyers, legal professionals, and HR departments are using them to provide the feel of a meeting room without the time and expense of traveli...

While preparing for a trial, gathering documents for a transaction, or simply running errands, most lawyers face each day with an overwhelming number of things to get done. From simply remembering them all to putting the list into proper priorities, every legal professional could use some help. How can technology play a role in bringing the list of to-dos under control? What are some questions law...

Lawyers often focus on how they can use technology to improve the efficiency and quality of their legal services. However, technology has additionally started to change what people in other professions provide to their clients, even to the point of changing the meaning of "services." Professionals are now creating products that provide revenue in the form of royalties, thereby exceeding what can b...

According to a variety of surveys, the sales of tablets now exceed the sales of laptops and desktop PCs. In a few short years, iPads have made huge inroads into the legal market and are often part of a lawyer's standard toolkit. In addition to using an iPad for texting, editing documents, consulting a calendar, and email, lawyers are using apps specifically designed for trial presentations and pra...

Do you often do fresh searches on the same topics even though you've previously found good information? "Curation" is the word used to describe the process of collecting, organizing, and using good information you've found when you need it. Some people also think of this approach as personal knowledge management. This means having an archive of reasonably up-to-date and interesting information fro...

Many people, including lawyers, are using an organizational tool called Evernote and are singing its praises. They are enthusiastic about its capacity to capture all types of information in many formats, to organize information into useful notebooks, and to enable access to that information across multiple platforms. In a time when almost everything is done online, Evernote is a user-friendly web...

Does the standard approach to the website homepage still make sense in the era of social media? Some feel that the role of the homepage on your website has so diminished in importance (and traffic) that it is no longer relevant. Is it time for a new approach? In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss what people mean when they claim the website home page...

During their many years of public speaking, one of the biggest challenges Tom and Dennis have encountered is the webinar format. There are a lot of moving parts and some unique challenges. In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss how webinars differ from in-person presentations, how to prepare for and avoid common pitfalls when presenting on webinars, a...

Tom and Dennis do a lot of speaking, often as part of a panel. Most presentations these days take the form of a panel or other multi-speaker format. Presenting with others is quite different from presenting alone. In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the advantages and disadvantages of panel presentations, how to prepare for and avoid common pitfall...

Hosts Tom Mighell and Dennis Kennedy have done a lot of public speaking at events like ABA TECHSHOW. Over the years, they've developed insights about using new platforms and how to avoid technology-related obstacles. On this episode of the Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis and Tom discuss recent presentation lessons, practical tips for novice and veteran presenters, and some thoughts about better way...

Tom and Dennis recently attended ABA TECHSHOW 2014, one of the premier annual legal technology conferences. While there, they observed many interesting trends, saw innovative products, and met with numerous industry professionals. On this episode of the Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss TECHSHOW highlights, what interested them most, and their reflections on the curren...

Since 2009, the FBI has warned that law firms have cybersecurity problems with potentially far-reaching consequences. Changes to ethical rules, as a result of the American Bar Association's Ethics 20/20 effort, have clarified that keeping up with technology is a component of attorney competence. Where do ethics rules and cybersecurity measures intersect? In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Repo...