LAWTECH GURU BLOG by Jeff Beard

See You at LegalTech New York!

It's been a busy week preparing for an even busier one next week.  I'm looking forward to seeing many friends and colleagues in the Big Apple.  Look me up if you'll be there, and you can also leave word for me at the Daticon EED booth.

With the somber economic situation, everyone is trying to cut costs while increasing efficiency.  eDiscovery process, technology, and sourcing decisions are naturally important concerns and priorities within many companies.  Enterprise platforms and service combinations are evolving and emerging to address the entire eDiscovery process, from in-house processes and solutions to those provided by leading service providers.

Please join Jeff Jacobs and me, Senior Consultants from Daticon EED, and Aaron Brown, Program Director from IBM, for a very informative and engaging discussion on:  "E-Discovery Technologies & Services in the 2009 Economic Environment:  In-sourcing, Outsourcing, and Hybrid Solutions", Monday, Feb. 2nd, at 10:30 a.m. in the Emerging Technologies session track.

See you there!

WSJ’s Mossberg on Windows 7 Beta – Leaves Vista in the Dust

I rather enjoy reading Walt Mossberg's Personal Tech column.  Walt likes to tell things as they are, the good and the bad, without slanting it with too much tech enthusiasm or jaded pessimism.  He recently loaded the Windows 7 Beta onto two laptops and overall had some good things to share about it, including a personal video. If his experience is any indicator, performance is noticeably better than Vista, its nag prompts are better controlled, and there's some interesting tweaks to the user interface relating to the task bar for better control.

I'm also interested in the new multi-touch input feature likely heavily influenced by Apple - think iPhone and iTouch for sizing photos and videos with your two fingers.  But as it requires new hardware that supports multi-touch, I just found another compelling reason to look for a new laptop when Windows 7 is officially released.

On the downside, he notes that currently only Vista users can upgrade directly to Windows 7, not XP users.  Supposedly there will be a migration process from XP that will involve several hops aimed at preserving data, but it doesn't sound too appetizing.  This may affect some, perhaps more the consumer and small business side.  However, as most experts will tell you, a fresh install of a new OS is usually far better than an upgrade, and I'd expect many enterprise deployments to follow this curve.

Also, he confirmed what I've been hearing that Microsoft is removing some of its basic free apps (Windows Mail, Calendar, Movie Maker, Photo Gallery, etc.) from the Windows 7 installation package.  Instead, there will be Windows Live counterparts available for download, with the idea that they will be more web enabled.  I tend to use more third party apps for those tasks anyway (e.g., Outlook, Photoshop, etc.), so it's probably not as big of a deal as it may sound, and if it helps Windows 7 to be a bit leaner than Vista, that should be a very good thing.

Many of us are hoping that Windows 7 will be what Vista should have been.  Don't expect too much of a departure from Vista, though - it's been said repeatedly that Windows 7 shares much of Vista's kernel (the main operating component) - which would also explain why Walt didn't experience any compatibility issues with some leading third party apps.  If his first impression with the beta is any indication, it sounds like Microsoft has learned from some of its mistakes with Vista.  But as with any major new release, we'll definitely be hearing more as its release date nears.

2009 Predictions From Across the Blogosphere

It wouldn't be a new year without predictions popping up all over the blogosphere.  I've made a number myself in previous years.  This time around, I thought I'd share those that caught my attention and got stuck in my "filter" if you will.

Regardless of those that may amount to nothing more than either wishful thinking or pessimism, it's illuminating to read and keep them in mind as we move forward into the fresh year.  Without further ado:

1. Sonya Sigler (Guest blogger at Ralph Losey's e-Discovery Team blog): 2009 Predictions and Trends

GC Sonya Sigler covers such compelling issues as cooperation, controlling costs, and competence, and along the way discusses effective information management and using technology to your advantage.  Well written and worthy of inclusion on Ralph's inestimable blog.

2. Tom O'Connor (docNative Paradigm Blog): 2009 Predictions

Litigation technology veteran Tom O'Connor discussses the prospects of eDiscovery vendors and consultants in light of the economy and other factors.

3. Tom Asacker (a clear eye): Nine Predictions for 2009

Tom Asacker (author, speaker, provocateur, and marketing guru) doesn't post about legal or technology issues.  Instead, he provides a motivational kick in the seat of the pants that should jolt every business leader out of their current doldrums and into action: "The reality of the coming year is that the precipitous decline in the economy will create a collective pause; a 'space' of epic proportions for organizations and individuals. Yes, it will be unpleasant for many. But it will also be an opportunity in disguise for those willing to seize the moment."

4. Clearwell: 2009 Electronic Discovery Forecast

An EDD vendor shares its Top 10 Electronic Discovery Predictions for 2009.  Caveat:  While I enjoy reading Clearwell's e-discovery 2.0 blog, I think several of the items in this particular list are slanted toward selling their particular offerings.  So you may want to keep this in mind as you read and decide for yourself.  For example, I disagree that the newly enacted FRE Rule 502 will rise to the level of the desired panacea for automated review.  Professional care and competence (both legal and technological) will remain under the microscope.  However, I agree that being able to "show your work" is not only important, but will provide increasing advantages over time.

5. The CMS Watch Analyst Team: Technology Predictions for 2009

Predictions about the intersection of eDiscovery, compliance, and technology would be incomplete without a discussion of the content management market.  Perhaps my favorite prediction from this article:  "Taxonomies are dead. Long live metadata!"  Anyone who's ever worked with a content management system (DMS in legal circles) knows that people do not, and will never, categorize things in the same way.  So don't fight it.  Use the data's own unique characteristics to make it accessible and useful.  Also look for an interesting nugget on social computing's near-term future and splintered progress in the enterprise at prediction #9, as well as some interesting comments explaining a new emphasis on application search at #8.

And there you have it - a wide range of predictions sure to make us think about trends and priorities over this coming year.