Innovations in legal technology

Keep pace with PACER

We’ve been monitoring PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) news and the latest is a big announcement from the folks at the Free Law Project via our colleague Sabrina Pacifici. The public can now set-up a limited number of PACER alerts for free at CourtListener.com. That’s right, I said free, which is indeed an interesting development and a major advance in the push for public access to legal information.

PACER Docket Alerts for Journalists, Lawyers, Researchers, and the Public

Develop your KM sales pitch

One of the biggest changes to affect librarians and other information professionals is the greater priority we must now place on outreach, promotion and communicating our value.

Knowledge management expert Nick Milton knows what it takes. When Nick talks, people who are serious about knowledge management listen, which is why his talking points are so valuable to the rest of us. As someone who knows what it takes to launch and maintain a successful KM program, Nick takes us back to one of the most basic building blocks of just such a system—getting buy-in.

Based on a talk he gave to an ISKO gathering in Singapore, this information comes to you in video format.

Legal tech learnings from #ILTACON

Let’s ride the waves of ILTACON, the annual conference of the International Legal Technology Association, which just concluded its 2018 event on August 23.

Following are just a few findings from ILTACON:

Kill the Company, Start an Innovation Revolution (podcast with Lisa Bodell)

Roundup of Company and Product News from ILTACON (from Robert Ambrogi)

Finally, ILTA has made photos and speaker materials available on its website, so whether you missed the event entirely or would appreciate a reminder, this is an excellent resource—thank you ILTA.

Blockchain for legal purposes

Much is said about the use of blockchain technology in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, for which the primary use so far seems to be for illegal purposes, like drug-dealing on the dark web. However, blockchain is promising for many legal uses, such as smart identity, smart contracts and dynamic registries. I’m happy to share news on those topics with my law library colleagues to keep our profession at the forefront.

Demos from Global Legal Blockchain Consortium

Data Analytics, Esquire

Mining legal data, computational law, and contract analytics and standards are just some of the topics in a new book edited by Ed Walters that is intended to help “legal professionals meet the challenges posed by a data-driven approach to delivering legal services.”

Data Analytics and the New Legal Services

Lawyers make decisions and judgements based on knowledge—expertise gained over years of practice. Now they have another decision-making resource they can tap into, one that is equally available to lawyers new and experienced: data.

The rise of the data-driven lawyer

That’s it for this month’s curated readings. Have I missed something?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.