Tech Jargon: Some Cheat Sheets for Lawyers
Lawyers know jargon. We've got our alphabet soup of laws and government agencies, our obscure doctrines, our endless, archaic Latin phrases. But even lawyers can be left scratching their heads at the constantly evolving (and sometimes meaningless) stream of tech jargon that can pass their way. We're talking about the startup kids who want your help incorporating a company that will "gamify cross-office collaboration through SoLoMo tech." Or the new law school grad who is so excited to tell you about his project coding "self-enforcing crypto-ledger-based smart contracts."
Are those even words?
Five Helpful Tech Jargon Resources
Thankfully, you're not the first person to struggle to make sense of tech jargon -- meaning there are some good resources out there for translating techie insider speak into words that are intelligible to the rest of us. Here are some of the more helpful ones.
1. 35 Technology Terms Every Entrepreneur Should Know
Even if you don't work with a lot of tech startups, these are helpful terms to know if you're going to be talking to tech people -- or even just reading about tech developments. This resource breaks down terms by categories like "Cloud" and "Systems and Operations" and provides quick, easy-to-understand explanations of common phrases like SaaS and "open source."
2. Techopedia
Techopedia is an online tech dictionary that goes beyond just providing a simple definition to its terms. It also gives you a pretty detailed explanation of them. So, say you're looking up "identity token" when researching security protocols. Techopedia tells you what it is literally, but also how the tokens work, why they matter, and the difficulties companies can experience when implementing them.
3. Tech Terms
Another online tech dictionary, Tech Terms does exactly what you would expect -- defines and explains technology terms. But there's a few added bonuses, as well. You can get terms of the day, take tech-related quizzes and research common tech problems. Tech Terms also has an app, meaning that you can access it easily when you're on the go.
4. The Most Obnoxious and Overused Startup Jargon
Being fluent in any type of jargon means being able to separate the meaningful terms from the meaningless ones. Here's a good place to start.
5. FindLaw's Technologist
Of course, you've always got us here at FindLaw to help make sense of the law and technology for you, covering everything from daily legal and tech developments to explainers for lawyers, like "What Is Blockchain? A Lawyer's Guide" and "Top 7 Things Lawyers Need to Know About Encryption."
Looking for a tech-savvy legal professional to join your firm? Post the job for free on Indeed, or search local candidate resumes.
Related Resources:
- Unicorns, Narwhals and Cockroaches: Time to Brush up on Today's Tech Jargon (Tech City News)
- When Can Jargon Hurt Your Case? (FindLaw's Strategist)
- Can Data Analytics Help Improve Your Trial Prep? (FindLaw's Technologist)
- 5 Tech Toys for the Tech-Savvy Attorney (FindLaw's Technologist)
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