My Powerpoint on Russian Courts and Media

It was a year ago tomorrow that I left for my trip to Russia. A year later, the trip stands out as one of the most memorable events of my life. After I returned, I gave a presentation in Boston on Russian courts and the news media. I have converted that presentation to Flash and posted it here, should anyone be interested in viewing it. I have also posted my photos of Russia, taken in Moscow and the Siberian city of Tomsk. Below is a photo of Tomsk's famous Chekhov statue.

Lawyer2Lawyer: The Am Law 100

Our topic this week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer is the Am Law 100, which reports that total revenues for the nation's highest-grossing law firms reached $64.5 billion. We discuss the survey and what it reveals about the state of the legal profession with Aric Press, editor-in-chief of The American Lawyer magazine, and Bruce MacEwen, consultant to law firms on strategic and economic issues and author of the blog Adam Smith, Esq. Here are the show links:

• Episode details.
  
• Download the MP3 file.
  
• Listen in Windows Media.
  

You can receive all Lawyer2Lawyer programs by subscribing via RSS or using iTunes. Our podcast is produced by the Legal Talk Network.

OUT-LAW, ABA Journal Win Webbys

Winners of the 2008 Webby Awards have been announced, honoring excellence in Web sites in more than 100 categories, and in the law category, the Webby Award winner is OUT-LAW.COM, the IT and e-commerce legal-help site of the international law firm Pinsent Masons. Winner of the People's Voice award -- decided by votes from the public -- is the Web site of the American Bar Association magazine, the ABA Journal.

Lawyer2Lawyer: Case Law in the Public Domain

Legal publishing is a $5 billion industry. Now, the portion of that industry that focuses on publishing and selling court opinions is facing a threat from movements on several fronts to put all federal and state case law in the public domain (a topic I've written about here on several occasions). We look at what is being done to "free" case law in this week's episode of the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer. Joining my cohost J. Craig Williams and me as guests are:

• Thomas F. Bruce, director of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University Law School.
• Carl Malamud, founder of Public.Resource.org.
• Andy Martens, senior VP of new product development at Thomson West.

Here are the show links:

• Episode details.
  
• Download the MP3 file.
  
• Listen in Windows Media.
  

You can receive all Lawyer2Lawyer programs by subscribing via RSS or using iTunes. Our podcast is produced by the Legal Talk Network.

My op-ed today on open meetings

The Boston Globe today published an op-ed I wrote on current efforts to reform the Massachusetts open meeting law: Open the doors to public meetings.

Updates on Two E-Discovery Sites

Updates to two of the sites I discussed in my recent two-part article, "Discovering E-Discovery on the Web" (Part One, Part Two):

First, I wrote in the article that DiscoveryResources.org "may be the leading e-discovery portal" and that its Sound Evidence blog, written by e-discovery expert Mary Mack, is "one of the best known e-discovery blogs." Tomorrow, the site will be relaunched with a number of updates and improvements. According to Mack, changes to the site will include:

• New navigation for tracking e-discovery best practices and case law.
• New "From the Experts" articles on current e-discovery issues and trends.
• A new "Bookstore" featuring the latest books on e-discovery issues.
  
• RSS feeds for tracking the latest news and information.
  
• Updated links to industry resources and judicial opinions.
  
• A newly designed monthly newsletter.
• Links to industry blogs and other e-discovery community resources.
  

Meanwhile, one of the blogs I discussed in the article, Information Governance Engagement Area, has been discontinued in favor of a more ambitious project. Its author, Rob Robinson, a marketing veteran who has worked with several e-discovery companies, has just launched Complex Discovery, which he describes as a source for "information, tools and tactics relevant to the growing discovery market." The site is organized around key e-discovery stages, including collection, processing, review and production, and already has a number of useful resources. In addition to the "standard" articles, news items, guidelines and the like, Robinson has incorporated several innovative features:

• Scribd - iPaper Document Library: An online repository of interesting and applicable papers relevant to the field of e-discovery.
• Yahoo! Pipes EDD Mashup: An aggregation of key e-discovery RSS feeds.
• Twitter - ComplexDiscovery Updates: A Twitter feed that highlights the daily posting on the ComplexDiscovery RSS feed.
• Mogulus - Video Learning on EDD: A video channel designed to share publicly available video presentations relating to e-discovery.
• Mofuse - Website Mobile Version: A mobile version of the ComplexDiscovery site designed mobile devices.

Robinson invites suggestions of relevant RSS feeds to add to his Yahoo! Pipes aggregator.

Free AmLaw 100 Webinar Today

Aric Press, editor-in-chief of The American Lawyer, presents a free webinar today in which he previews the results of this year's Am Law 100. The 15-minute program begins at 3 p.m. Eastern time. Register for it at this page.