The Legal Tech Expo, held Nov. 29 at the Needham Sheraton Hotel, was a free, all-day tradeshow highlight-ing the latest technological innovations aiding the practice of law.
The first Massachusetts Bar Association technology-focused tradeshow in nine years, the expo was a joint effort with Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and attracted more than 120 members of the Bay State legal community.
Many participating attorneys attended the event to learn ways to simplify their practices and promote office efficiency through various electronic services.
“We are here to help attorneys spend more time on billable hours versus non-billable hours,” said vendor participant Tim Resker, director of sales for Integrated Scanning Solutions, a company focused on electronic document management systems. Fellow vendor Steve Brogdon, senior account executive for secure e-mail vendor Zixcorp, noted that companies are starting to look at the legal market as something that could be viable to business.
The seven-hour expo featured 29 vendors, 28 of which also participated in 15-minute discussions and product demonstrations. These “Tech Talks” were offered throughout the day, providing attendees with tailored information dealing directly with firm needs. MBA staff presented information about the Casemaker program and the recently launched MBA online forums.
One of the Tech Talks, given by LexisNexis Sales Executive Nick Sater, walked attendees Joanna Cobleigh, a divorce lawyer in Springfield, and her assistant, Donna, through cost-effective ways to improve their business. In addition to promoting her practice through word-of-mouth, Cobleigh currently advertises through the Web and the Verizon Yellow Pages. To enhance Cobleigh’s Internet exposure, Sater recommended continual Web site updates in order to generate higher search page listings on Google.
“The most cost-effective way to increase business is to link your Web site to Lawyers.com,” said Sater. “There are 1.5 million searches a month and ‘divorce’ is the number one search item.”
Cobleigh was particularly interested in finding ways that LexisNexis could help her firm research new legislative action. In particular, Cobleigh wanted to learn about new legislative action on private mortgage lenders that might soon have an effect on divorce lawyers.
Other Tech Talks included information about the recent interactive learning experience created by Boston University, providing attorneys with the foundation to leverage business expertise within the technology industry, as well as trial and mediation products and services provided by companies such as Jack Daniel Court Reporting.
The next Legal Tech Expo will be held in the spring in Boston. Updates will appear in Lawyers Journal.
Sponsors
Boston University, silver sponsor
Catuogno Court Reporting, bronze sponsor
Videre Conferencing, bronze sponsor
Featured vendors
ACS Services
Alpha NetSolutions
Computer Recycling USA
Direct IT
Divorcenet.com
Smart Closings
First American Title
Genesys Conferencing
Group Dynamic
Internet Bar Association
Jack Daniel Court Reporting
Kenai Computer Forensics
LexisNexis
Metropolitan Telephone Co.
NEMH Systems
Montech Inc.
New England Trial Services
Northern Business Machines
O’Brien and Levine Court Reporting
Page after Page
Paper Trace
RetroFit Technologies Simplifile.com
T-Mobile
The Computer Guy
TSS Software Corp.
Turbo Law
Your Page Today
Westlaw
Zixcorp