Some lawyers were concerned when the Model Rules of Professional Conduct were changed to include a comment that competence as a lawyer included an appreciation of “the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.” 
Now 31 states have adopted some version of this language in comment 8 to Rule 1.1, according to legal technology journalist
Podcast on The Data-Driven Ethics Initiative
You may not have heard of something called the Data-Driven Ethics Initiative. The organizers say it is an initiative to gather and use data to completely overhaul and improve the Rules of Professional Conduct to better benefit the public. Skeptics say it is an effort primarily funded by online legal tech companies with goals that
A Brief Recap of ABA TECHSHOW 2018
ABA TECHSHOW was held March 8 – 10, 2018. So the column, A Brief Recap of ABA TECHSHOW 2018, by me and OBA PMA Darla Jackson is not exactly “hot news.” Such is the result of print publication deadlines sometimes. But only a few of the previous TECHSHOW 2018 reviews mentioned the interesting relationship
The Ethics of E-mail Tracking Software and Web Bugs: More Complicated Than You Might Think
Yesterday’s feature on Attorney at Work was Does Email Tracking Violate the Rules of Professional Conduct? It was written by Mark C. Palmer, who is Professionalism Counsel for the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism. He cites a recent Professional Conduct Advisory Opinion from the Illinois State Bar Association, (Opinion No. 18-01, issued January
Thoughts of Real Transformative Change in the Legal Industry from Ken Grady
A few weeks ago I wrote about Dennis Kennedy's feature on Thinking Smartly About Smart Contracts. My link to his blog post had an additional link to his useful discussion of 
blockchain. It seems to me that smart contracts will catch on relatively quickly, especially with big multinational corporations doing business in many countries.
Expanding Access to Justice through Online Dispute Resolution (Podcast)
Most lawyers have heard of ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) but may not be as familiar with the subset of ADR called ODR (Online Dispute Resolution.) A good primer is contained in our Digital Edge podcast, Expanding Access to Justice through Online Dispute Resolution.
Our guest, Colin Rule, is imminently qualified to speak on this
The Legal Profession in Transition- Solo Practitioners and Their Future
Discussing the future of law has become a cliché in my professional circles. Science fiction writer William Gibson's famous quote "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed" seems more true than ever as I talk into my smart phone and it talks back to me just like the communicator Captain
Some Thoughts on The Future of Law
It is one of the most exciting weeks of the year for many legal technology experts. It is the week of ABA TECHSHOW. ABA TECHSHOW is many things. I’d encourage practicing lawyers to attend at least once. Among these many things is that it is a gathering of some really smart people working as, or
Dennis Kennedy on Thinking Smartly About Smart Contracts
I can now predict confidently that smart contracts are going to be a reality sooner than almost everyone has predicted. I say this because the push to adopt smart contracts will come from major corporate clients of law firms, whether the lawyers in those firms are ready or not. And firms that are not ready
Fear Artificial Intelligence, or Not?
For an interesting juxtaposition of opinions about AI and the future of law, here are a couple of items to review.
Bob Ambrogi's piece in Above the Law is titled Fear Not, Lawyers, AI Is Not Your Enemy and even has a subtitle of "The dirty little secret of AI is that it can make