4 Ways to Improve Your Law Firm’s Newsletters and Current Awareness

The key to a successful law firm client newsletter is more than just the right content. Include information that is relevant to the clients’ business, as items that may be interesting on a personal level. Then ensure you present it in the right way and remember to include a meaningful CTA - to have conversations further down the line.

Law librarians and the importance of training

May your training room be full!

In this article I want to highlight the vital role that UK legal information professionals play annually each September. My team can testify to the fact that late summer is a busy time. Those of us involved in legal private practice are preparing for a new intake of trainee lawyers. Depending on the size of the client firm, this can be from 5-20+ new starters, so there is much to do. 

Virtual teams and collaborative working #BIALL2017

I've now completed my first full week of truly remote working so am reasonably well equipped to comment on and consolidate the notes taken from the various relevant sessions. As usual BIALL had ensured that although there were topic overlaps, a different perspective was given by each expert. Eleanor Windsor from LibSource presented on 'Managing a successful virtual team', whilst the entire Vinge law firm library team came in to offer insight on working together in different offices. And finally a duo from the University of Law talked about collaborative working to reduce pressure on library services.

'Law Librarians! I want to make your role more interesting’ - #MmIT2015 Conference

Me looking professional

This is the full text of the talk I gave at the MmIT 2015 Conference 'With Power Comes Great Responsibility - How librarians can Harness the Power of Social Media for the Benefit of their Users'. This is a subject very close to my professional heart and I hope you will forgive me the length of this post.

Introduction

‘I want to make your role more interesting’ was one of the more unusual things that a lawyer has said to me in my twenty year career as a law librarian.

It was September 2013 and inspired by a talk given by commentator Helen Lewis, I had just written an article about internet trolls for my own wide ranging blog. I mentioned this in passing to the lawyer heading up a newly formed Collyer Bristow team – the official sounding ‘Cyber Investigations Unit’. This concentrates on assisting victims of cyber stalking, online harassment and abuse. After a read of my article,  he decided to make ‘trolling’ the topic of the next firm’s Cyber Matters newsletter. 

Richard Susskind Lecture: The Future of Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Richard Susskind has been making predictions about the legal profession for some years now. However when you’re closely involved with the practice of law on a day to day basis, as many of us are, it is hard to see the dramatic changes that have taken place. This is especially true if you’re in one of the middling sort of law firms. The firms in the extreme size brackets have probably seen the most change; high street firms with funding issues and larger firms with the push for outsourcing, diversification and international growth. All of this has been well covered in the legal press so Susskind has turned his thoughts to the future of litigation, specifically.

Part 2: Centre for Law & Information Policy #CLIP Launch!

These notes conclude the second half of the IALS Centre for Law & Information Policy launch on Tuesday 24th February. The theme was ‘Information flows and dams’. The first part is here. I didn't catch verbatim the last two presentations, and happily the keynote speech 'Does Privacy Matter?' is available online - I had another engagement!

EU Data Protection

David Erdos took the enormous confusion that is European data protection and asked ‘Is a reconceptualization possible?’. He made the case for the new regulation being bureaucratic, burdensome and illogical. Starting out with the relatively simple definitions of key terms, he said that personal data is any information relating to a person, even their job titles. Sensitive personal data includes racial profile, sexual identity, political affiliation etc. Given the general ban on processing sensitive data, taken to extremes, just by stating ‘David Cameron, Prime Minister and Conservative MP is a questionable breach of data protection.

Because of these broad definitions, effective protection is limited due to widespread non-compliance.' He quoted Bert-Jaap Koops (2014) and I’ve found this to clarify, ‘unless data protection reform starts looking in other directions — going back to basics, playing other regulatory tunes on different instruments in other legal areas, and revitalising the spirit of data protection by stimulating best practices — data protection will remain dead. Or, worse perhaps, a zombie’. He suggested some solutions:

1. There should be better definitions of the mischiefs that data protection counters.
2. There should be narrower scope and it shouldn't try to regulate everything.
3. It should acknowledge rights conflicts. Innovation shouldn’t be stifled
4. It should delineate peremptory rules
5. And it should be effectively enforced. 

He outlined some historic support of narrowing the regulation’s scope. First was the Durant case at 28 ‘.It follows from what I have said that not all information retrieved from a computer search against an individual's name or unique identifier is personal data within the Act.’ And the second was the OECD framework guidelines 1980, which were very clear on definitions and scope. However given that the regulation is the most amended piece of legislation ever, he is pessimistic about any back tracking and/or tightening of definitions. 

Cloud Computing

The second speaker from this panel – and actually the last in my notes – was Asma Vranaki on ‘the rise of cloud investigations by European data protection authorities’. I have made liberal use of her blog post on the same matter because this was an exceptionally technical presentation. We did have a twitter exchange on the complexity of the matter so please excuse any errors; they are mine alone.

Cloud computing is the use of the internet to run applications or store data. Until recently, we kept everything locally on our computers or on a server in our office basement. Cloud computing revolutionises this because programs and data suddenly become accessible from any device and any location. The information is accessed remotely and not stored locally. If you have ever accessed web-based email, this is cloud computing. If you’ve streamed music or videos, this is cloud computing. Apps like Dropbx, MiCoach or Evernote both rely on cloud computing. Facebook? Cloud computing. And these innovative applications and technologies are proliferating and are clearly here to stay.

Cloud computing relies on large quantities of personal data, and scholars, regulators, and lawyers are becoming increasingly concerned about data protection issues. Who owns the data and how secure is it? It is these issues that the new European data protection laws are looking to address. Many global in-house lawyers are struggling with the complex and intricate data protection issues raised by cloud computing. Many organisations, including law firms, are adopting cloud computing technologies and services because it is an efficient, flexible, and cost efficient way to work. So what are the implications and how can we find out what is happening?

Asma’s work involves looking at various data sources:

1. Audits and/or investigations of cloud providers conducted by national data protection authorities;
2. Relevant press releases and opinions;
3. Current and proposed data protection laws, and; 
4. Relevant lawsuits filed against cloud providers on the grounds of breaches of data protection laws.

With this information she can assess the compliance of cloud providers with relevant data protection laws and determine whether cloud providers have breached relevant data protection laws. Her findings suggest that there have been a growing number of data audits and/or investigations of cloud providers, such as Facebook twice, Google and Whatsapp by national data protection authorities. At the same time, there is less litigation being filed against such cloud providers.

This trend in my view isn’t surprising. Firstly, it is inevitable that there would be an increase in audits because there are more cloud computing providers. What is more interesting is that there have been so few reported breaches. Perhaps the complexity and the international nature of the companies providing server space is one reason for the lack of investigations –and limited litigation. So many jurisdictions can be involved, and if there is more than one service provider, who is the data controller, which jurisdictional laws apply?

She warns in-house lawyers about these audits and says that this shift indicates a significant change in the methods and processes and people involved in assessing compliance. Additionally, further research needs to be conducted into the reasons behind the so-called rise of the ‘Audit Age’.


The event raised many interesting questions around subjects which have been in the news over the last week! There was a recent parliamentary report on drones; security around apps; the cloud, bio tech data...

Centre for Law & Information Policy #CLIP Launch!

These notes make up the first part of the IALS Centre for Law & Information Policy on Tuesday 24th February. The theme was ‘Information flows and dams’. The Centre itself is looking to advance research across the area of data access and ownership rights, data privacy and confidentiality, freedom of information, legal publishing (both free-to-internet and commercial), preservation and management of legal information, internet and social media regulation (in terms of content, access, and ownership) and the malicious use and misuse of data. It aims to build networks and encourage collaboration. 

Don’t Free Citizens Need The Right To Be Forgotten?

Last night saw the inaugural debate of the new Legal Debate Series organised by Thomson Reuters. It was a timely discussion around the highly contentious issue of an individual's right to control their own digital footprint and legacy. On May 13 2014 the ECJ backed the 'Right to be forgotten' and ruled that individuals can request that Google and other search engines remove links to 'inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant personal data'. The blurb continued, 'the implications for search engines, social media operators and in fact, any business with EU operations are huge'. Having already written about litigation and data protection, I was interested to hear if anything new could be brought to the debate.

Bloggers Beware

Blogs and their related video based versions ‘vlogs’ remain a popular way for individuals, organisations, and companies to communicate with others. Blogs are often linked to other networks, such as Twitter or LinkedIn; new content can be promoted to followers and friends. It takes minimal effort to produce a professional looking blog and generate a number of regular readers.

The most popular platforms are WordPress, Blogger, and Tumblr, and are designed to be easy to use. No programming or technical expertise is required. A variety of sophisticated applications known as ‘plug-ins’ can turn a blog into a shop front, an interactive company advert, a way for a school to reach out to alumni, or even a membership only discussion site. With over 42 million blogs on WordPress alone (2012 stats), the number of blogs available is staggering. Of course, only a tiny number are controversial or problematic but there are potential legal issues around inadvertent or intentional misuse.

Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration

By the 'c' side

An article and event came together in happy synchronicity this week. The resultant combination made me consider the true meaning of the word 'collaboration'. A look at the dictionary tells me:

1. to work together with another or others on something.
2. derogatory to co-operate or collude with an enemy, especially one occupying one’s own country.

The FT article on ‘the dangers of a rising C-level for the business environment’ (8/12/14) caught my eye because of its stress on assertiveness training for team members. The author takes a humorous look at the proliferation of chiefs – his ‘c’ word - in the business environment and the dangers of perceived infallibility. He outlines the importance of knowing one’s limits and working within systems, ensuring the smooth running of corporate machinery. He concluded that the real ‘c’ word was ‘colleagues’.

A CPD Review of the Year

Reflections...

CPD is an essential part of being a chartered professional of any type. So I’m pleased to announce I’ve just submitted my CILIP revalidation statement. For those of you unfamiliar with CILIP processes, when you charter you are expected to maintain your professional development by annual revalidation.

I admit that this is my first formal revalidation. It’s not that I haven’t been keeping up-to-date, just I hadn’t informed CILIP. This year has been different for two reasons; they broadened the types of valid CPD, so time spent on reading, presenting, social media etc all count towards the minimum 20 hours; and at the end of last year they launched a virtual learning environment to help with the administrative process.

Wearable Technology: The Impact on Society and Privacy

What do I know about wearable tech? What do I know about my own privacy settings on the tech that I carry about with me? How much of my personal data am I unwittingly giving away to large corporations through apps, GPS, internet searches? With these questions in mind I attended the panel discussion organised by the Halsbury Law Exchange. I was there in a couple of capacities; partly as representative of my firm and partly as an interested consumer.

Data Protection: A Litigation View

Data protection is normally presented from a risk/compliance point of view and, indeed, it is an essential part of a firm's responsibility to their clients. Information professionals should be involved with these compliance duties and be familiar with processes and principles. However, what about the litigation point of view? Yesterday David Glen of 1 Brick Court took us though some recent legal developments but any errors in law or omissions in sense are all mine!

Background
 

The Data Protection Act 1998 was formed out of the EU Data Protection Directive (also known as Directive 95/46/EC). For the first decade of its existence, it caused a stir as a new area of law but then, litigation-wise, essentially discarded. Data protection has been seen as a secondary cause, offering a peripheral remedy after remedies that libel and misuse of information offer.

David believed that this is shifting and we will be seeing a change in the future. He suggested that people are far more aware of their personal data protection rights because of increased discussion in the press. The increased willingness of the judiciary to apply the data protection thresholds is also key; Tugendhat J. has turned it into a radical issue. The final case (below) that he discussed applies the DPA's already broad issue of fairness in an even wider way.

Property Law Current Awareness

A guide for the grumpy!

Sometimes it's good to go back to basics and take a fresh look at a topic. In the past I've worked with property departments, helping them access and make the best of current awareness. However I felt a bit rusty last week so I've popped some sources together and I hope that others find this collection useful - and feel free to tell me about any others. My focus is UK material and I've steered clear of planning law.

There are a wealth of sources for ensuring that property lawyers are fully conversant with current affairs. From newspaper special reports, to social media, I have included an updating method suitable for everyone.

Thoughts on ​Art, Funding and Conflict

Storm clouds gathering

Apparently some small world events have broken out whilst I've been studying. Thankfully my work enables me retain some semblance of a connection with the news, through reading the papers and having vaguely intelligent conversations with colleagues.

One of these colleagues is an interesting outspoken individual with some strong views. A lawyer, with strong views? Yes I know, most strive to be beyond bland but there are some out there willing to stick their neck out.

We disagree on many things. Our most recent putting the world to wrongs is the Palestine/Israel conflict, about which we profoundly clash. He has familial, emotional, and I guess, client ties to Israel; whereas I am merely a relatively well informed onlooker with horrified and baffled sense of unease about the whole bloody conflict. In my view, the forces on neither side are particularly pleasant, and I feel that there are powers working behind the scenes to prolong the agony of the average person on the war torn streets.

Book Review: Social Media in the Legal Sector

Although I write about a variety of subjects, some of my recent posts are responding to pockets of social media illiteracy and are mostly aimed at those in the legal world.

Long before getting to grips with content, a new or prospective user needs to acquaint themselves with the technology and the appropriate platform. They need to be confident in their social media abilities, and comfortable that they are not going to destroy a hard won professional legal reputation by a misplaced tweet or a badly written blog post. Social media for business is a commitment of time and money so you need to know whether it is for you.

But if you’re not internet savvy, how do you take that first step? If I need to find out about a new product or unfamiliar social media network, I would search for a quality blog about it, read relevant trade press reviews, or ask my twitter or librarian network. This requires you to be able to identify trustworthy online sources. If you are unsure, then an expensive book published by a reputable legal publisher might be the answer for many lawyers.

Twenty Years as a Law Librarian - Admin

Remember these?

This is the fourth in this series of Twenty Years in Law Librarianship. Given it has been generated by general high level themes of my Chartership Report, such as technology, communications, and professional bodies, I decided it was time for something more prosaic

The reality is that librarianship entails a lot of admin, and although it's boring and unglamorous it is vital to the smooth running of the library service. Whether you are just starting out or reaching the vigorous middle age of your career, admin is everywhere, so it seems appropriate to salute its ubiquity.

ICLR Online Review

The ICLR was established in 1865 to “prepare and publish, in a convenient form, at a moderate price, and under gratuitous professional control, of Reports of Judicial Decisions of the Superior and Appellate Courts”. With a long standing information pedigree, excellent archive, and a selective editorial approach, I felt optimistic about their online database. I've put down a few thoughts.


The Main Site

Before logging in to ICLR Online, I looked at their main site which has a wealth of free information. As well as the latest case summaries/published cases search, it has an up-to-date blog, details of ICLR events, and other entertaining snippets. I must admit to not using the case digests in my current awareness, but I have now rectified this by adding their RSS feed onto my reader. This is going to be an extra part of my daily bulletin and I can link to the summaries.

Twenty Years as a Law Librarian - Communications

Early librarian communication

This is the second in my series of 'Twenty Years as a Law Librarian' blogposts. Although the first was about technology, whilst writing it I found myself constantly thinking about communications. I decided to split the two so I could expand on other areas so that, for example, in the technology piece I could explore the development of  search engines, electronic services, and library catalogues. In this I want to explore different aspects of communications, not just in the obviously technologically reliant areas, but the many other ways we communicate day-to-day.

Twenty Years as a Law Librarian - Technology

Not a computer pic

It’s not just the internet that has been around for ages. Turns out I have too. I have been mining my LA/CILIP Professional Development Report (1999) for insight into what has changed (or not) in the information profession. In this first piece I focus on technology, but I will be reviewing communication methods, taking a look at changing training requirements, and comparing the state of the profession - then and now.

It was 1998. I’d just come off the standalone Lexis terminal after finding a case for a lawyer. He’d been grateful for my speedy search technique not because he needed it quickly, but because spending longer than 10 seconds on there meant a hefty fee. I was pleased that I’d found an unreported case and it had made me think about doing my job without a networked computer.

I asked the experienced library manager I worked with, 'what was librarianship like when you first qualified?’ Her response was ‘cards, cards and more catalogue cards'. She had been in the profession since the late 1970s and the changes she’d seen fascinated me. I am now in the same position as she was. I have been in (law) librarianship full time since 1995, and chartered in 1999. It is now 2014 and the past twenty years have seen incredible developments.

The basics have not changed. We are still employed to find the right information, at the right time, and at the right price. Our libraries and the way our users access information have changed beyond technological recognition. We may have different job titles and work in areas which may not previously have come under ‘library and information’ but the areas I am looking at remain constant, even if the details change. Technology is all encompassing in our role so I have picked out a few naïve gems from my report.