Technology. Not Just About Tech

• Author: Victor Li, Matt Reynolds, Stephanie Francis Ward, Amanda Robert
• Pages: 24-24

Business of Law | TECHNOLOGY

TECHNOLOGY

Not Just About Tech

ABA Techshow 2020 adopted a holistic approach to law, highlighting

wellness, marketing, ethics and more

BY VICTOR LI, MATT REYNOLDS, STEPHANIE FRANCIS WARD

AND AMANDA ROBERT

I’m not a lawyer,” Mary Shen

O’Carroll said during her keynote

speech at ABA Techshow 2020,

which took place Feb. 26-29

at the Hyatt Regency hotel in down-

town Chicago.

The director of the legal operations,

technology and strategy team at Google

has always been interested in working

faster and making things more ef-

cient—two qualities that never have

been associated with lawyers.

However, she argued the legal indus-

try nally seems to be moving closer to

where she’s always been.

“This is an industry that’s been

stuck in time for a long time,” she

said. “There are changes happening all

around us, and [they’re] accelerating.”

She added that bringing about neces-

sary changes in the legal industry would

require collaboration and cooperation.

In that vein, this year’s incarnation of

Techshow promoted a holistic approach

to legal technology. A diverse group of

speakers and panels provided confer-

encegoers with information, tips and

strategies across a wide range of topics,

including the accuracy of articial intel-

ligence in legal research, marketing, on-

line dispute resolution, wellness, ethics,

recruiting and retention of employees.

Rather than promoting tech for

tech’s sake, conference speakers and

panelists recommended attendees evalu-

ate their needs and think about poten-

tial consequences before adopting new

programs, platforms or apps.

“In terms of how I decide to use

technology, I ask myself if it will make

me a better instructor. I never try to use

technology just because I want to use

technology; there’s got to be a pedagog-

ical reason,” April Gordon Dawson, a

constitutional law professor at North

Carolina Central University School of

Law, said during a Feb. 27 panel titled

“Skills Building: Best Practices for

Teaching Tech to Law Students.”

Dawson said she uses QR codes to

take attendance. Additionally, her stu-

dents submit summaries of what they

have learned—and have an opportunity

to ask questions about—on the online

platform Airtable.

Meanwhile, lawyers looking to

utilize cloud computing and storage

should stay up to date on technologi-

cal advances and thoroughly vet cloud

storage providers before using them,

while recognizing that in some cases it

might not be for them. During a Feb. 28

panel titled “Cloudy, with a Chance of

Sanctions—or Success!” Nicole Black,

who is the legal technology evangelist at

MyCase and an ABA Journal colum-

nist, cautioned that if a rm has a client

who is a celebrity, a dissident or even

a terrorist, it should think twice about

using the cloud.

“There’s certain things that are that

sensitive that you probably want to

protect and not put in the cloud and

have this extra layer of protection with-

in your ofce, because that information

is so valuable to people that have a rea-

son to try to access it, whether it’s for

money or political gain,” Black said. She

added rms should ensure they thor-

oughly vet cloud-computing providers

before signing up, measuring security

and the provider’s backup strategy.

For lawyers interested in setting up a

subscription plan, Atlanta solo prac-

titioner Kimberly Bennett said using

technology to keep overhead as low as

possible while allowing lawyers to work

more efciently is a must. That means,

at a minimum, document-automation

software, practice management tools

and e-payment programs.

Bennett cautioned, however, that

lawyers must rst go over their books

and gure out what kind of rms they

are before implementing wholesale

changes. “You must understand what’s

happening in your business now before

you decide to go to a model like a

subscription later,” she said during

panel titled “You’re So Predictable:

Subscription Legal Services” on Feb. 27.

“After all, you’re not going to design a

subscription that’s not protable.”

Of course, sometimes you have to

know when to disconnect. During a

Feb. 28 panel titled “The Intersection of

Ethics and Well-Being,” criminal defense

attorney Jennifer Gerstenzang of San

Diego said there are several factors

contributing to issues with attorneys’

mental well-being, including the feeling

of always being on call and unable to

disconnect. She said while technology

helps attorneys with efciency, it also

makes it difcult for them to take the

time they need to recharge.

Fellow panelist Sharon Nelson,

co-founder of Sensei Enterprises in Fair-

fax, Virginia, agreed that it’s important

for legal professionals to recognize that

technology and constant connectivity

play a large role in well-being issues.

“In a technology conference, some-

times you have to teach people how

not to use technology and how to carve

some time for their own well-being,”

she said. Q

Mary Shen O’Carroll was the keynote

speaker at ABA Techshow 2020.

“

Photo by Saverio Truglia/ABA Journal

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ABA JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY 2020