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Tech Circuit: LTNY Innovation EditionLaw Technology News 02-08-2013 One of the highlights of LegalTech New York was the chance for Law Technology News to shine a spotlight on the six winners of the 2012 LTN Innovation Awards — our 10th year of recognizing often-unheralded contributors to legal technology advances. This year, we held a short ceremony prior to the final keynote, on Thursday, January 31. The recipients were seated in a special up-front section in the jam-packed West Grand Ballroom, and we honored all the winners via a video presentation that described their accomplishments. The appreciative audience gave strong applause for the winners when we asked them to stand and be recognized for their good works. After the keynote, the winners taped individual LTN Videos about their efforts, and then we all traversed over to McGee's Pub, for our traditional and delightedly informal celebratory lunch. It was great to get to know the teams and hear more about their projects. The winners are featured in our new (February) edition of Law Technology News, and include:
• CIO of the Year: Neeraj Rajpal, Morrison & Foerster.
• Large law firm: Squires Sanders. Accepting the award: Stephen Goldstein, director of practice support, and Scott Kane, litigation partner. • Small law firm: Burton Law. Accepting the award: Chad Burton, principal. •Pro bono project: Seyfarth Shaw. Accepting the award: Allegra Rich, pro bono and philanthropy partner. (See " Child Care," October LTN.) Judging the competition, for all 10 years: David Whelan (Law Society of Upper Canada), Andrew Adkins III (CIO, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC), and Fredric Lederer (Center for Legal and Court Technology, William & Mary Law School). >> Duhigg Delivers: Charles Duhigg, a business investigative reporter for The New York Times, and author of the best-seller, The Power of Habit, was the keynote address on the final day of LTNY (January 31), and hit a grand slam. With simple, clever PowerPoint slides, and a very engaging speaking style, Duhigg mesmerized the audience — and unlike many "mainstream" keynote presenters, made a point to "connect-the-dots" to legal — as he discussed two chapters in the book. Duhigg explained how Paul O'Neill, when assuming the leadership of Alcoa (Aluminum Company of America), completely changed not just Alcoa, but the entire industry, by insisting on focusing on worker safety. By creating "keystone habits," such as requiring managers to report injuries within 24 hours and describe what steps that would be taken to prevent similar events in the future, injuries and deaths in the inherently dangerous industry plummeted, and Alcoa's profits skyrocketed. Duhigg also told the powerful story about how Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz adopted protocols that helped assure that customers would have a predictable and pleasant experience no matter what store they visited — and how those protocols had the unexpected consequence of providing a road to success for many of Starbucks' undereducated and initially unmotivated employees. Donna Payne, of Payne Consulting said her team was raving about the keynote. Tara Byers, vice president of development, was especially enthusiastic, saying "that he was easily the best keynote [speaker] she'd ever heard." Said Payne, "She's been here for 16 years, and has heard many, so that was indeed high praise." Check out our LTN interview with Duhigg, taped just before the keynote, here. >> Pinch Hit: Mary Galligan, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York Field Office Cyber/Special Operations Division, stepped up to the plate for the final plenary session at LTNY, when New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was unable to appear. Any panel discussing "cyberthreats" is sure to draw a crowd, and sure to make everybody nervous. Galligan commented that hundreds of law firms have been stung by hackers, reported LTN's Evan Koblentz. Said Sharon Nelson, president of Sensei Enteprises Inc., on her {Ride the Lightning} blog, "The word 'hundreds' should give law firms pause. Too many seem complacent, even when faced with the unpleasant truth that their information security is sorely short of the mark." >> The Show (Floor): While I was kept busy in our wonderful new Broadcast Studio, my colleague Sean Doherty was huddled with vendors, learning about new products, upgrades, and services. Over the next weeks, he'll be bringing you reviews of the launched offerings. Among some of the "coolest" releases were Advanced Discovery's debut of two new free e-discovery tools for its customers who use kCura Relativity review software. Also on his list: Bridgeway Software's new Law Department Maturity Assessment Tool; and Catalyst Repository Systems Inc.'s Insight Predict. Check out Doherty's assessments here. >> On-Deck Circle: As we absorb and process all the launches, ideas, networking, we know from experience that LegalTech West Coast will arrive sooner than we expect! (May 21-22 at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.) And watch for our April issue of Law Technology News magazine (print) where will bring you more highlights of LegalTech New York 2013. If you weren't part of the 12,000+ attendees this year, mark your calendar: LegalTech 2014 will be held Feb. 4-6! Monica Bay is the editor-in-chief of Law Technology News and a member of the California bar. Email: mbay@alm.com. Twitter: @lawtechnews @LTNMonicaBay |
• Champion of Technology: 
• Most Innovative Use of Technology in a Corporation: Cisco Systems. Accepting the award: