Recently in Legal Technology Events Category

It's always great to see your teammates recognized for hard work and significant achievements. As a FindLaw flunky, (we're the adopted child of Thomson Reuters and sibling company to Westlaw), I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the various company products that were honored by The National Law Journal's Readers' Rankings.

Westlaw Next is not only one of the biggest names in the legal research game, but it's also the Best Legal Research Vendor for the second consecutive year. It also ranked #1 for it's iPad App and was recognized as the Best Solo Firm/Solo Practitioner Research Vendor. KeyCite took the top spot in Legal Citators and Westlaw Drafting Assistant was named the Best Tables of Authority Solution.

Whew. That's a lot of Westlaw love.

Sure, the legal industry isn't the most creative in the world. But can a robot eventually perform the job of a lawyer?

We may be about the find out.

In the burgeoning field of "quantitative legal prediction," engineers and computer scientists are creating programs that can perform some of the functions of attorneys. By combining databases with algorithms, these engineers are creating programs that can analyze case variables and identify patterns in order to predict the outcomes of a case, reports Dallas Blog.

There's been a lot of speculation as to whether iPads, smartphones, and other devices will ever play an active role in the practice of law.

While most attorneys may own these devices, many are unsure how to actually use them to help their practice. However, as apps for lawyers continue to be developed (and improved upon), we may be entering a time of transition as these devices and their apps go from novelty to practicality.

Recently, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) recently released its ADR app for lawyers. Unlike most other apps developed for your tablet or smartphone, this app actually provides some utility for lawyers involved in arbitration, mediation, and other forms of alternate dispute resolution.

It seems like the Microsoft Kinect is being used for everything but video gaming these days. The latest innovation brings the Kinect's facial recognition capabilities to a whole new level, one that could also change the way lawyers think about lie detection.

The breakthrough comes courtesy of Japanese researchers from the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo. The team there was able to modify the body-wagging accessory to detect tongue movements, PCWorld reports.

The goal of the project is to help rehabilitate people with speech and swallowing disorders, but the application also spells potential in the field of legal discovery.

LegalTech 2012 has officially ended. The three-day conference, held at the New York Hilton, offered up opportunities for tech-savvy lawyers to network and learn.

Thomson Reuters, FindLaw's parent company, had a booth at Legal Tech. FindLaw's corporate sales consultant Aaron Black was also on site at the conference this year. Our intrepid "correspondent" rubbed shoulders with a lot of vendors and attorneys this week.

So what was the buzz like at LegalTech 2012?

Things aren't looking too great for the defendants in an antitrust class action filed by Silicon Valley's high-tech workers.

The suit accuses Google, Apple, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Adobe, Intel and Intuit of illegally agreeing not to "poach" one another's employees. A Justice Department investigation into the matter settled in September 2010, but it is only now that some of that evidence has been released.

The evidence appears to validate many of the claims made in the Apple poaching lawsuit.

Tech-savvy lawyers everywhere know that new developments in software, hardware and communications are happening every day. Maintaining an arsenal of up-to-date gadgets and apps may mean increased productivity.

Why not peruse through some free legal webinars to learn more about legal technology?

FindLaw's Legal Technology Events page has recently been updated, adding in many new - and some free - webinars and conferences.

Some events are live conferences, which may be coming to a city near you. Others are entirely web-based, meaning you can be learning legal technology in the comfort of your own home (and, dressed in pajamas).

It's that time of the year again: the 25th ABA TECHSHOW will going on at the Hilton Chicago from April 11 to 13.

The silver jubilee celebration of the legal technology event will feature over 50 programs on legal technology, including e-discovery, going paperless and social networking, with over 1,500 people expected to attend. The event will also have a number of experts and manufactures of legal technology on hand.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

In this age of terrorism fear and increased security, we live with the necessary hassle of full-body scanners at airports. While going through these scanners can be time consuming and a hassle as we try to make our way onto our flights, have you thought about what happens to the scanned images of your body?

Well, if you haven't, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer has given this some thought. Indeed, he is proposing a bill that would make it illegal for anyone to distribute or copy these images in an unauthorized fashion.

ProLaw has an exciting new development for iPad users. ProLaw is an integrated software suite designed to automate the practice and manage the business of law. Pro has features that simplify, streamline and coordinate the work of attorneys and staff in small and mid-size law firms, corporate legal departments and government law offices.

Now Bellefield Systems, in partnership with ProLaw, has released its first iPad application. The app was unveiled this week at LegalTech, in New York.

The app is called iDocExplorer, and is already available for download from the iTunes App store. The app allows attorneys to access documents and other matters on the go, in a secure and efficient manner. Bellefield systems is also developing more iPad applications throughout 2011.