The mail yesterday brought the premiere issue of a new legal technology magazine, NextGen_Law, published by the Daily Journal Corporation in California. Tekkie that I am, I immediately searched for its Web alter-ego, only to discover that it has no Web site, at least that I can find. Odd for a technology magazine. I did find one other blogger who had the same reaction.

Even though I am a loyal columnist for and reader of Law Technology News, I’ll readily acknowledge that there is room in the legal industry for another good technology magazine. This appears not to be it. The overall editorial tone is addressed to the non-believers of the world. It focuses on elementary topics that seek to interest lawyers in using technology rather than take them to a higher level in their technology use.

Case in point: One of the lead stories is a point/counterpoint addressing the age-old Mac vs. PC debate. A full year ago, I criticized the ABA Journal for giving front-cover play to this issue. Another story addresses another tired topic — whether to go paperless. The question for most lawyers is no longer whether to do this, but how to make it happen in their firms.

The best piece is the cover story by G. Christopher Ritter, a former trial lawyer who is now a trial-graphics consultant and is author of the ABA book, Creating Winning Trial Strategies and Graphics. His piece is enlightening for its preaching of tolerance. More technology is not necessarily better technology, Ritter says. Visual strategy should be tailored to the case, the message and the attorney. Sometimes that means whiz-bang graphics, sometimes it means a blackboard.

I would tell you how to subscribe and read it for yourself but it provides no such information. There is an e-mail address, so you can try this: nextgen@dailyjournal.com.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.