Photo of Ryan McClead

Ryan is Principal and CEO at Sente Advisors, a legal technology consultancy helping law firms with innovation strategy, project planning and implementation, prototyping, and technology evaluation.  He has been an evangelist, advocate, consultant, and creative thinker in Legal Technology for more than 2 decades. In 2015, he was named a FastCase 50 recipient, and in 2018, he was elected a Fellow in the College of Law Practice Management. In past lives, Ryan was a Legal Tech Strategist, a BigLaw Innovation Architect, a Knowledge Manager, a Systems Analyst, a Help Desk answerer, a Presentation Technologist, a High Fashion Merchandiser, and a Theater Composer.

At work I happily drink from the single cup coffee machine in the pantry, but that’s not coffee so much as a speedy caffeine delivery mechanism. On the weekends, when I have time to make coffee, I Make Coffee.  I put the kettle on to boil, then I pour a half a cup or so

It’s axiomatic that one learns more from failure than from success.  After all, success doesn’t immediately demand reflective analysis. If you are successful, it’s clearly because you were brilliant and made all the right decisions (just ask any bailed-out investment banker).  If, however, you fail, you are likely to go through a review of your



“Email is Where Knowledge Goes to Die”

I first saw this phrase on someone’s email signature, but sadly I can’t find the original email so I don’t know who said it.  I Googled the phrase and found this guy.  His origin story is pretty good, so I’ll go with it.  At the end of

Purchasing a notebook computer requires balancing three distinct parameters, portability, capability, and usability.  These three parameters are different for every person and as such, each buyer must adjust the value of these needs accordingly and make a purchasing decision that most closely aligns with their particular requirements.
Portability This is the most obvious parameter to

Many ground breaking, earth shattering, paradigm shifting solutions have begun with the words, “wouldn’t it be really great if…” Great ideas and solutions require people of vision with the ability to see beyond the current reality and dream fantastic possibilities for the future. Unfortunately, many stupid, dead-end, wastes of time have started exactly the same

What components do you need in order to compete with Apple and Google in the handheld and tablet environment? 
  1. Sexy Hardware
  2. Slick Operating System
  3. Software Distribution Platform

Research in Motion has exactly none of the three.  Jeffrey Brandt in today’s PinHawk newsletter pointed to RIM Suffers as Profit Falls 58.7% in yesterday’s NY Times.  Shortly

The EU made big news today by extending music recording copyright to 70 years. The BBC makes the argument that this will allow people who made a splash in their teens and early 20s to be able to support themselves well into their old age with money from their early hits.  “Performers generally start their

The following Friday afternoon rant represents a bit of a diversion from our regularly scheduled legal geekiness and focuses on more general geekiness. The opinions represented here are mine alone. If you agree, or disagree, I would love to hear why in the comments.
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It kills me that we’re seeing school arts funding decimated

I was in Nashville last week at the ILTA conference and Alternative Fee Arrangements were all the rage. My good friend Toby Brown, or as I like to call him Reverend Pricing, will be the first to tell you that the greatest, most brilliantly structured AFA does you no good if you can’t control costs.

My name is Ryan and I am a sarcastic person. I have a very dry sense of humor and I tease people that I like. A lot. This is simply who I am. My tongue is almost always planted firmly in my cheek. In person, this may endear me to you, or it may make