I’m just back from a great ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago last week. I learned lots about legal technology and enjoyed the company of fellow technology enthusiasts. Wish you all were there, but as I know many SLAW readers were not, in lieu I offer a great collection of articles from the just released 2011 Techshow Tips issue of Law Practice magazine:

• Tablet Users Face Off: iPad versus Slate Shootout
• A Day in the Life of an iPad Lawyer
• A Look Inside the New Mac Apps Store
• Must-Have iPhone Apps
• 10 Tips for Getting Started with Open Source Software
• Google

The features on professional networking site LinkedIn change frequently, so it is worth spending some time periodically to update your profile.

Earlier this month I attended the AIIP (Association of Independent Information Professionals) annual conference. I took a bit of extra time to attend one of the pre-conference workshops put on by Scott Brown, owner of Social Information Group, on using LinkedIn. It was good to have a current, detailed look at the network and its current features.

Allow me to share a few things I learned:

• some of the formatting options are hidden under unrelated sections in

Public Safety Canada released an information paper, Social Media / Webmail / Smartphones: Networking with Risk,

The purpose of this Information Note is to raise awareness of some threats and vulnerabilities that have recently affected users of various social networking sites, webmail services and smartphones. These widely used communication technologies have taken on a significant role not only for individuals, but also for organizational communications and outreach initiatives. This document is aimed at providing organizations with an overview of some of the risks that are associated with using these technologies with the intent of promoting the use of applicable

In late 2008 I proposed that eventually someone would use a legal blog post as an authority in their factum. Here’s to one step closer to that goal.

I just noticed that a blog post of mine on Slaw about Ron Livingston was cited in an article by Rebecca Phillips in the Fall 2010 issue of the Campbell Law Review, Constitutional Protection for Nonmedia Defendants: Should There be a Distinction Between You and Larry King?

Phillips discusses statements made by social media users used in defamation cases and its conflict with First Amendment rights. In her conclusion she mentions . . . [more]

Standards for on-premise, cloud and mobile technologies used by lawyers have, to-date, been lacking. While an abundance of recommendations, best practices and other guidelines have been issues by Bar Associations and other organizations, there has not been a single, comprehensive document lawyers could look to for clear guidance on what minimal standards should be adhered for on-premise, cloud and mobile technologies.

The International Legal Technology Standards Organization (ILTSO) aims to change that. ILTSO is a non-profit organization consisting of attorneys, bar association representatives, IT professionals, and business leaders with a stated mission of “helping attorneys and clients better understand the . . . [more]

LAWPRO has seen a significant increase in bad cheque frauds targeting lawyers all over North American over the last two months, and over the last week several new names are being used on the ongoing collaborative agreement frauds. We are also seeing more activity in the last few weeks on frauds involving a real estate purchase deposit and a settlement of an employment related personal injury claim. Over the last few months several hundred lawyers from across North American have reported to us that they received various versions of these messages attempting these frauds. See below for more details on . . . [more]

Last week TechCrunch featured a terrific guest post by Mark Suster about Why Startups Need to Blog (and what to talk about …). In reading Suster’s blog post, it occurred to me that many of his recommendations for startups apply equally well to law firms.

The kinds of questions I constantly hear from lawyers about blogging – “what should I blog about?”; “who is my audience?”; “where should I post?”; etc. – are the same kinds of questions many startup company bloggers-to-be ask about blogging. Suster’s article provides insights that bloggers from any industry can benefit from.

A few . . . [more]

The Montreal Gazette yesterday published a profile of LexUM, the outfit that operates the free legal information service CanLII and that also publishes the decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada.

The article briefly explores plans by LexUM to expand its business into the private legal market. LexUM recently went private, severing its ties with the University of Montreal.

Today Lexum still operates CanLII – a go-to site frequently consulted by lawyers, judges and other legal professionals as well as members of the public – but has set its sights on making inroads into the lucrative and burgeoning market

Since the IPad was introduced it has commonly been acknowledged that the IPad and its brethren are transitional devices, a stepping stone to the next transformation in computing. I believe that time has come a bit sooner than expected. Forget the IPad, the Blackberry, the Android, I want a Pomegranate! The question is not, what does it do? The question is what does it not do? Have a look for yourself: Pomegranate . . . [more]

Google has introduced a brand-new feature called Gmail Motion, which allows you to control e-mail through your body’s movements. I can only begin to imagine how the body language of an aggravated counsel will easily degenerate into uncivil communications, and possibly profanities.

You can read more about Gmail Motion on the official Google blog. Movement specialist, Lorraine Klayman, M.Sc., has a YouTube video explaining the feature further, as does Paralanguage expert, Dr. Dennis Tooley, Ph.D. . . . [more]

Last week Twitter announced support for secure HTTP, or HTTPS, for its popular microblogging service. Twitter joins Facebook, who announced support for HTTPS earlier this year, and Google, who enabled default HTTPS access for Gmail over a year ago.

The ever-increasing support for HTTPS is a good thing for the web and its users, as it protects data from being snooped upon by hackers or other third parties. Plain, unencrypted HTTP is highly susceptible to eavesdropping attacks, especially if you are using a public Wi-Fi network. Everything transmitted over HTTP, whether the contents of an e-mail or a username/password . . . [more]

The CRTC has released its timline for consultations on Usage-Based Billing (UBB). We’ve been following the story at Slaw here and here. A good source for updates on the issue is Lindsay Pinto’s blog at Open Media.ca, and of course Michael Geist is providing excellent commentary.

The whole issue is particularly interesting because of the strong reaction the proposal has provoked in Canadian consumers. If I had to guess, I’d say that UBB is irksome to Canadians mainly because of the unreasonable caps proposed, and the transparently anti-competitive character of the caps (and this on multiple fronts). . . . [more]