Will our data be any safer in 2026? That was the question I was asked to answer at the College of Law Practice Management’s 2016 Futures Conference. As part of a great legal technology panel, my answer was quick and decisive: No, it will not be. … Read The Rest

Well, the short answer is: Read William Henderson’s ABA Journal article “What the Jobs Are.” It’s hard to improve on Bill’s excellent work. But I’ll offer some complementary thoughts here.

By 2026, we should be coming to the end of an extraordinary period in the law: several years of a continuously shrinking legal profession. The overall number of lawyers is going to decline for two main reasons: … Read The Rest

Alternative Business Structures (ABS) is the innocuous label given to one of the most important, yet ignored, issues facing the legal profession today. It is the debate whether or not to change our ethics rules to allow non-lawyer corporate investors and managerial professionals to invest in new forms of law firms and share in the profits — something that is currently prohibited in 49 states.

Proponents — often from large firms and academia — want to allow ABSs to spur additional capital investment in firms. They want to close the so-called “justice gap” in the legal services market by attracting additional capital investment to firms to develop more robust systems and technology so more people can obtain affordable legal services. Much of this new capital would flow to existing big firms to help them expand into consumer services such as family law, personal injury and bankruptcy, among others.

Opponents — mostly solo and small firm lawyers — are concerned the profit motive of these non-lawyers will negatively impact professionalism. … Read The Rest

I was recently challenged to explore what client service will look like in 2026. The good news is the conversation has already started, but the bad news is law firms have a long way to go. It is great that the idea of “client service” is authentically being explored within law firms, but what many lawyers think of as client service is really just table stakes. What is lost is that client service creates greater client loyalty and greater client loyalty yields more work, higher realization and stronger promoters. But firms only earn that loyalty when they demonstrate a deep understanding of their clients’ needs and expectations. … Read The Rest

I deal in “clouds and dirt.” That’s how Gary Vaynerchuk (entrepreneur, angel investor, four-time New York Times best seller, and digital marketing agency CEO) began the closing keynote to the capacity crowd at this week’s Clio Cloud Conference in Chicago.

And the metaphor of “clouds and dirt” is a pretty good way to describe the Silicon Valley inspired, high-energy ClioCon, which delivers sessions that motivate lawyers to reach far beyond the status quo in their businesses, alongside sessions that dig deep into using technology to actually work on big ideas.

So, sticking with “clouds and dirt,” here are five motivating things I (and the 800 other attendees) learned at the conference, along with a few tips to add to your action plan. … Read The Rest

Following a recent post about networking, a reader asked, “What’s the best way to introduce yourself at a networking event?” What follows is for business contexts. For social etiquette, I’ll defer to Emily Post (or my late mother, who, while my siblings and I were growing up, we considered one and the same).

How you introduce yourself is determined by your purpose in attending the event. Most people adhere to the traditional networking philosophy (which I hope we’ve dissuaded you from embracing), so their purpose is simply to meet people, collect business cards, send a follow-up email and hope for the best.

But, I say your purpose is to filter the crowd to … Read The Rest