The Trust Machine: The Technology Behind Bitcoin Could Transform How the Economy Works (via The Economist)

Screen Shot 2015-10-30 at 8.43.57 AMWe offer some initial conversation of the application of Blockchain to legal services in our deck called Fin(Legal)Tech.  Obvious starting points for the blockchain in law include – real estate transactions, smart contracting, asset verification and the enforcement of judgements,  financial services regulatory work (such as we have discussed in our paper on resolution planning), etc.  These ideas (together with other related and important technological developments) extend to large segments of transactional / regulatory  legal space.  The goal is to reduce needless friction – which is endemic to most processes ( and legal centered processes are particularly bad).

Law Firm COO & CFO Forum Pre-Conference Workshop on Big Data / Legal Analytics / Legal Informatics

Screenshot 2015-10-29 13.45.15Yesterday I had the pleasure of participating in the Thomson Reuters Law Firm COO & CFO Forum Pre-Conference Workshop on Big Data.  The half day workshop explored various way that law firms and outside counsel can use data to be better lawyers and run better businesses.

Here is the information for my panel (below) and the full program is located here.

Few business trends are as simultaneously revered, derided, appreciated or ignored as that of big data. Used (somewhat flippantly) to describe large, complex data sets that resist traditional data processing applications, big data represents both a beginning and end for many professional industries ill- prepared to harness big data’s myriad benefits and value. This opening conversation lays the framework for our program by addressing four key questions and concerns:

  • What is big data?
  • Why should we use it?
  • Where does it lie within a business organization?
  • How do we identify ROI and value in big data investment?

Moderator:
John FernandezUS Chief Innovation Officer and Partner Dentons; Global Chair, NextLaw Labs

Panelists:
Justin Ergler
Director, Alternative Fee Intelligence and Analytics, GlaxoSmithKline
Daniel Martin KatzAssociate Professor of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law; Chief Strategy Officer, LexPredict
Michael S. Klastava – Vice President, Global Head of Legal Data & Analytics, American International Group, Inc.
Christopher ZornLiberal Arts Research Professor of Political Science and Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University; Principal, Quantitative Analysis, Lawyer Metrics

2015 Legal Management Forum – Madrid

“Organized by Wolters Kluwer and Inkietos, and under the honorary presidency of His Majesty Felipe VI, the Legal Management Forum aims to serve as a space for reflection and knowledge of the main challenges and opportunities related to management in the legal profession.”

The global legal innovation conversation is growing and it was my pleasure to deliver the keynote address to the more than 400 in attendance here in Madrid.