Plenty of Options

• Author: Amanda Robert, Jason Tashea and Stephanie Francis Ward
• Pages: 35-36

Business of Law

MAY 2019 ABA JOURNAL || 35

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS PHOTO

Plenty of

Options

ABA Techshow proves lawyers

don’t need unlimited budgets

to beef up their tech and security

By Amanda Robert, Jason Tashea

and Stephanie Francis Ward

In the ever-evolvi ng world of legal tech-

nology and cybersec urity, it can be over-

whelming to determ ine the right platform

or vendor for a firm.

But it doesn’t have to be.

The overall theme of 2019’s iteration of ABA Techshow,

which took place from Feb. 27 to Ma rch 2 at the Hyatt

Regency Chicago, wa s “future-proofing your pract ice.” In

that vein, Sharon Nelson, pre sident of Sensei Enterprises

in Fairfax, V irginia, and Je Richa rdson, partner at

Adams and Reese i n New Orleans, stressed during thei r

panel session that it was i mportant not to get paralyze d by

indecisiveness as a res ult of the abundance of technologi-

cal options available in t he marketplace.

For many, said Nelson, finding the right technolog y is

“confusing” becau se it’s not what lawyers do: They prac-

tice law. While covering a plethora of tec hnologies, she

and Richardson fo cused on the need for security featu res

such as device encr yption, two-factor authentic ation and

mobile device management , which allows a firm to con-

trol, find and wipe clea n mobile devices if they are lost or

stolen. But their vetting proc ess also works for case man-

agement and billing soft ware or hiring a securit y audit or

training firm , for example.

For those who don’t have the time to read the blogs,

listen to the podca sts and stay up-to-dat e on every new

tool or security fe ature, Nelson recommended hiring an

expert to be a “BS fi lter” and cut through adverti sing lan-

guage and slick sa les pitches. She also noted that getti ng

endorsements from trust ed colleagues is also a good way

to vet technology be cause “they don’t have a dog in the

hunt .”

Technology can be pricey—but lawyers don’t need t o

break the bank. D uring a dierent panel session, Sherri

Davido, CEO of BrightWise in Mis soula, Montana, told

the audience: “The most eect ive things in cybersecu-

rity are fre e.” She and co-panelist David Ries, of coun-

sel at Clark Hill in P ittsburgh, said the cheapest and

Technology

an email that the pun itive approach works, too. “When

we began, nearly hal f (46 percent) of the firms met the

minimum diverse st ang requirement; as of [the fourth

quarter of fisc al year 2018], 88 percent of the firms met

our requirements,” she said. HP requi res quarterly diver-

sity progress dat a from its law firm partners.

Diversity Lab’s own solu-

tion is to sign firms up to

abide by the Mansfield

Rule. (See “Slow Growing,”

October, page 52; and

“Mandating Diversity,”

October 2017, page 32.)

Named for a pioneering

women’s rights activist f rom

Iowa, Arabella Ma nsfield,

who in 1869 became the first

female lawyer in the U.S.,

the rule commits fi rms to

armatively consider at

least 30 percent women and

attorneys of color for leadersh ip and governance roles,

equity part ner promotions and senior lateral positions.

In August 2018, Diversity L ab announced that 41

firms had ach ieved Mansfield certification, includ ing

Arnold & Porter, DLA Piper, Littler Mendelson, O rrick

Herrington & Sutcl ie, Reed Smith and WilmerHale.

Orrick manag ement-side employment law partner

Lynne Hermle, who head s an 11-female, two-male tria l

team that defends law fir ms accused of discrim ination,

says the Mansfield Rule works. “I t hink we’re going to

see the most progress c oming out of these types of objec-

tive, data-base d approaches and joint eorts among law

firms and corp orate legal departments,” she says.

Stacy agr ees, pointing to Diversity Lab st atistics that

show 40 percent of Mansfield Rule- certified law firms

have increased diver sity in their leadership ranks w ithin

the first year, and that over one-t hird of these firms are

promoting more diverse assoc iates to partner while hir-

ing more diverse lateral a ssociates and partners.

Of course, the bes t appeals might be monetary. The

open letter reminds law fir m partners that “collectively,

our companies spend hundred s of millions of dollars

annually on legal ser vices, and we are commit ted to

ensuring equal ity in the legal profession.” It was signed

by lawyers from Booz A llen Hamilton; Chan Zuckerberg

Biohub; Getty Images; Heineken, USA; Ly ft; Toshiba

America Elec tronic Components; 23andMe; U.S. News

& World Report; Vox Media; Waymo; and others.

“We, as a group, will di rect our substantial outside

counsel spend to those law fir ms that manifest result s,”

the letter concludes. Fang, the chief leg al ocer who

drafted t he missive, acknowledges the skeptics w ho call

for stronger action. “But when clients ta lk, law firms lis-

ten,” she says. Q

Arabella Mansfield