The Digital Edge

Looking for the perfect tech gadget for a colleague or yourself? Sharon and Jim share a few of their favorite things for the holidays.

Technology can make an attorney's repetitive tasks much easier, but it can also make their lives a lot more complicated. With all the advances in technology it is easy for lawyers to accidentally commit malpractice at the speed of light. In this month's edition of "The Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology" you'll learn ways to avoid the ethical briar patch.

Holy downloadable data directors! In this edition of "The Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology" Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson discuss their favorite software utilities.

Jim and Sharon discuss courtroom technology and how to be your own Steven Spielberg at trial, storyboarding your case and showcasing technology. They go through the use of various kinds of technology explaining their uses and dangers and recounting stories from real-life trials.

How do you help clients find their way to your doorstep? Use the Internet's whizbang! This podcast contains many tips and strategies, including website development and search engine optimization, the purchase of keywords on search engines, directory listings (free and paid), electronic newsletters, blogs, podcasts, and much more.

Computers that can be controlled by speech used to be a matter of science fiction. In the real world speech recognition software has matured slowly. There have been significant improvements in recent years, but is speech recognition practical for daily use in your law office? Jim and Sharon discuss the highs and lows of digital dictation.

Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway discuss the pros and cons of outsourcing Electronic Discovery tasks overseas.

A wealth of free electronic discovery resources may be found at Craig Ball's website at www.craigball.com

Suggestions for tech toys from Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway!

Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway explain how ABA TECHSHOW is so much more than just a legal technology conference. Find related links at Law Practice Today a webzine of the ABA Law Practice Management Section here.

Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson discuss social networking for lawyers, focusing on the use of Twitter and Facebook.

This month Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson discuss Marketing in a Down Economy on the Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology podcast.

Jim Calloway and John Simek speak with Andy Adkins to discuss discuss his recently-published book, The Lawyer's Guide to Practice Management Systems Software, Second Edition.

Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson speak with Dan Pinnington and Reid Trautz to discuss discuss their recently-published book, The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Success: Essential Tips to Power Your Practice.

Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson discuss the importance of search engine optimization and share tips for selecting the right company to help put your Web site on the on the search engine map.

Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson welcome guest Ross Kodner to discuss the economic downturn and its effect on lawyers. Stay tuned for Jim, Sharon, and Ross's book, How Good Lawyers Survive Bad Times.

Following the informative discussion of Jim Calloway, Sharon Nelson, Ross Kodner's book "How Good Lawyers Survive Bad Times," this edition of The Digital Edge, explores marketing and management tools for lawyers during a down economy.

Join Jim and Sharon for a look at trends for the future – the economy and its effect on the legal profession, technology, and more!

Jim and Sharon welcome Carole Levitt and Mark Rosch to discuss their book (to be published later this year) "Find Info Like a Pro, Volume 1: Mining the Internet's Publicly Available Resources for Investigative Research.

Jim and Sharon prepare for the season of giving (and wanting!) with some great gift ideas for the tech lover in all of us.

Authors Erik Mazzone and Ben Schorr join Jim and Sharon to discuss the cloud computing title bout between the cloud curmudgeon and the cloud champion.

Sharon Nelson (flying solo because Jim Calloway is under the weather) interviews John Simek, one the foremost experts on computer forensics, and gets answers to some of the computer forensics questions most frequently asked by lawyers.

We welcome back Jim as he and Sharon discuss some hot technologies that may change the business of practicing law in 2010 and beyond.

Dennis Kennedy, respected legal technologist and author, chats with Jim and Sharon about how the practice of law is likely to change for the next generation of lawyers.

Jim and Sharon discuss some of the highlights of this year's ABA TECHSHOW.

A long-standing source of debate, Jim and Sharon talk about the billable hour, its role in so many firms, and creative solutions to it - AFAs.

Jim and Sharon welcome long-time friend and colleague Nerino Petro, as they discuss some of the greatest mistakes lawyers can make and how to avoid them.

With 14% of attorneys reporting to the ABA that they are now engaged in the virtual practice of law, Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway discuss how VLOs (virtual law offices) have gone mainstream.

Listen in as Jim and Sharon are joined by Catherine Sanders Reach – Director of the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center – to discuss some exciting and useful findings from the sixth volume of the Center's Survey Report.

Jim and Sharon discuss the importance understanding metadata. With the amount of misinformation and lack of knowledge about metadata, it is important for legal professionals to understand how misuse could ultimately affect their businesses.

Jim and Sharon take a look at the little-discussed topic of law practice management audits. Hopefully you will never have an audit ordered on you or your law practice. But what can you learn from the items that an auditor might examine that will help you be a better lawyer?

'Tis the season to be a techie as Jim and Sharon highlight tools - and most importantly, toys - for everyone's holidays.

Jim and Sharon welcome author experts Carole Levitt and Mark Rosch to discuss their recent (and extremely successful) book, Google for Lawyers: Essential Search Tips and Productivity Tools.

Jim and Sharon are joined by two-time Emmy Award winner Lu Ann Reeb, Co-founder and President of Legal Talk Network, LLC.

Past ABA TECHSHOW Chairs Jim and Sharon welcome Paul Unger, Chair of ABA TECHSHOW 2011, for a preview of the exciting 25th anniversary of bringing lawyers and technology together!

Jim and Sharon discuss a number of trends that impact the future of the legal profession.

Jim and Sharon discuss a New Book Release - iPad in One Hour for Lawyers by Tom Mighell

ABA TECHSHOW 2011 closed with a crowd in attendance for 60 Sites in 60 Minutes. Jim and Sharon joined colleagues ABA TECHSHOW 2010 chair Paul Unger and TECHSHOW planning board member Erik Mazzone for this lively presentation. Jim and Sharon just couldn't get enough of talking about interesting and fun websites for lawyers so they decided to discuss some of the websites here, beginning with a 'missing site" that was mysteriously omitted from the original 60 Sites presentation.

Information security for lawyers is major issue. Bedrocks of the attorney-client relationship are attorney-client privilege and confidentiality of client information. Jim and Sharon are joined by Dave Ries, who is a partner with the firm of Thorp, Reed and Armstrong, a former ABA TECHSHOW planning board member and an expert on information security for lawyers, to discuss this critical issue.

Sharon and Jim interview Bill Gibson, noted author and lecturer and the President at the College of Law Practice Management about starting a law practice. Bill tells newly-minted lawyers what it is essential to have and to think about as you form your own practice and offers his very best tips and techniques.

Hosts Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway talk to Brett Burney, the principal of Burney Consultants and a nationally-recognized expert on Apple products about "All Things Apple for Lawyers.

This month Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson interview Ben Schorr of Roland Schorr and Tower, who is the author of The Lawyer's Guide to Microsoft Word 2010. Ben shares several tips and great information about all of Microsoft Office 2010.

Sharon and Jim discuss their favorite tips for using social media, including ways to maximize your results while minimizing your time, privacy safeguards and stories from their own successful use of social media.

This month Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson continue their annual tradition with Tech Toys for the Holidays 2011, the 49th edition of The Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology podcast. They agree that this is their favorite podcast of the year and note that if any listeners want to send them any holiday presents, they are not hard to locate.

Sharon and Jim welcome Carolyn Elefant, an attorney and the author of Solo by Choice: Be the Lawyer You Always Wanted to Be. Carolyn talks about how solos should market themselves through social media and in other ways, how they can stay current with technology and the budgetary and ethical implications of cloud computing for solos.

Sharon and Jim welcome Reid Trautz, the Chair of ABA TECHSHOW 2012. Reid offers a preview of the conference, which will take place March 29-31 in Chicago, including new educational sessions, social events, the keynote by Ben Stein and discounted pricing.

Sharon and Jim interview Barron Henley, a partner at Affinity Consulting Group, about the technology that lawyers need today to efficiently open and operate a law office. These are the various specific products mentioned by Mr. Henley during the discussion. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list.

In this episode, Sharon and Jim discuss using iPads in the courtroom with Tom Mighell. This podcast was motivated by a webinar that Jim and Tom did with trial lawyer Jamie Moncus earlier this year for the ABA Law Practice Management Section.

This month Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway interview Catherine Sanders Reach Director of Law Practice Management and Technology for the Chicago Bar Association. The topic is Ethics and Technology The Rules are Changing.

Sharon and Jim talk to noted litigator Dave Ries about information security (or the lack thereof) in law firms. They discuss why law firms are increasingly targeted by hackers, how the hacks are accomplished and steps that law firms should be taking to safeguard their data.