Knowledge Management for Law Firms :: In case you missed it… Mar 2 - 8, 2008

Here are some of my favorite legal knowledge management & technology blog posts and other items from the week of - March 2 - 8 , 2008:

• Is Technology Failing to Simplify Life? (Tim Ferriss)
• Legal Issues from Facebook and Related Social Media Technologies: Panel Discussion (Slaw - Connie Crosby)
• Apple Aims to Put iPhone Into the Workplace [I hope they succeed] (NY Times)
• 10 guidelines for building your blog’s credibility (Real Lawyers Have Blogs)
• Web Technology Trends for 2008 and Beyond (Read Write Web)
• Social Networking Moves to the Cellphone (NY Times)
• Padded lampposts for distracted texters being tested in London (Engadget)
• What a feed reader can do for you (Caselines - David Hobbie)
• DLA Piper launches trainee internet portal (”…similar … to the popular social networking sites Facebook and Bebo…” Managing Partner Magazine)
• Document Management Systems (DMS) and Knowledge Management (Eric Blue’s Blog)
• Lifestream - Aggregating Youself (KM Space - Doug Cornelius)
• Federal Court to Put Information in Your Pocket (Law.com - Lynne Marek)
• If you must use PowerPoint, study Steve Jobs, Cory Doctorow, or Larry Lessig’s speeches (Scoble on Twitter)

LawyerKM :: Knowledge Management & Technology for Lawyers and Law Firms

Is JD Supra inter-law firm Knowledge Management?

Lots of people are writing about JD Supra, the new free database of legal documents. Is this the start of some sort of inter-law firm KM? Is there such a thing? Doesn’t the definition of KM for law firms (or at least a good one from Knowledge Management and the Smarter Lawyer by Gretta Rusanow) exclude the idea of inter-firm KM? One of the goals of KM in law firms is to meet the firm’s business objectives, right? Perhaps sharing legal articles (MoFo is the #2 contributor to JD Supra, but all of the documents are articles) helps meet business goals if doing so is seen as marketing. But are any firms going to share the good stuff — the “intellectual capital” that really gives them the competitive advantage over the other firms out there? It’s difficult enough to convince some lawyers to share knowledge within their own firms, so only time will tell. It just went live.

Regardless of the future of the KM implications of JD Supra, I like the resources tab. It is a nice collection of web sites for state and federal courts, law school clinics and journals, and national and state bar associations. Handy stuff to maybe link to on your law firm’s intranet.

LawyerKM :: Knowledge Management & Technology for Lawyers and Law Firms

Survey on Information Professionals Use of Web 2.0 and Knowledge Management

dBusinessNews, of Denver, reportedthat LexisNexis released a report on “how Information Professionals (IPs) are adding value to their organizations through technology and knowledge management.” 

Interesting highlights:

• 93% of librarians saying they currently use intranets for managing and distributing information
• 39% of information professionals access Weblogs at least weekly
• 34% of information professionals access wikis

However, “less than two in ten access video podcasts (16%), or audio podcasts (15%).”  This is surprising.   Podcasts are a great way to learn on the go and make commuting time to learn. 

Among the most successful new initiative/service that information professionals have launched in the past year: document search, retrieval, delivery, and access enhancements.  This comes as no surprise, as many law firms are still struggling with how to quickly and efficiently find internal work product.  Document management search engines, though better than they have been, are still horribly ineffective.  Solutions from providers like Recommind and Practice Technologies are gaining traction in firms, but like the wheels of justice, the wheels of change at some firms sometimes move slowly. 

LawyerKM :: Knowledge Management for Lawyers