Hat tip to Scott Cone for pointing out this article on Top 10 Online Advertising Trends Of The Decade. It caught my eye since it was taking a longer term look at trends (versus just one year), revealing the more powerful shifts in the market. The trends are generally what you might expect, however the author gives great insights to the impact of each trend. For instance, the emergence of vertical ad networks is creating more powerful branding and audience targeting opportunities. What really struck me about these trends is the legal profession’s almost complete lack of use and/or understanding of them. We’re still arguing about the ethics of social media marketing. By the time we figure the ethics angle out, this boat will have long ago sailed. Admittedly, some of these trends have far greater relevance for consumer marketing (B to C). But still, law firms should at least be getting one or two of them. I suppose there’s an argument that lawyers are embracing the Video component (#8). But even then, only in a limited fashion and not in the viral way that brings the most ROI (see this great example). This is yet one more significant challenge for law firms looking to succeed in a competitive marketplace. My optimism continues to fade.


There are moments in the life of every Information Technologist when you wonder, maybe only to yourself, silently, why do I care so much? And yet you do. And the next question is, am I doing the right thing? In the right way? Is there a better way? It’s a slippery slope and it’s hard to stop the questions. I recently found myself in such a question-mire, so I did what I do when I need to make sense of something that has confounded me. I wrote about it. This time it took the form of a story or fable, a metaphor in search of context. I don’t know what it means, but I felt better having written it down. I hope you’ll permit me a fictional diversion at the end of the week.

The Plateau
I am a lifeguard on the Plateau of Relevance. Every day I sit perched on a chair at the edge, my back to the abyss, scanning the herd of suits that grazes silently before me. In the distance, the Foothills of Progress give way to the snow capped Peaks of Success, and I often daydream about standing in that snow, and looking back at my little wooden chair. But still I sit, for I have a job to do.
Once in a while something spooks the herd and one or more of the suits takes off at a gallop. If they head toward the edge, it’s my job to stop them before they plunge into the abyss. I’m not alone in my endeavor. To my right, about a half mile away, my colleague Henry sits reading a magazine. I pull out my little mirror and flash Henry a couple of times. He looks up and flashes back. He’s ok. Nothing to report. He goes back to reading. I look to my left where James, a half mile in the other direction, lies sleeping beside his chair. I flash the mirror, but no response, so I pick up my bag and begin to dig through it. My lunch, half eaten. A novel I just can’t get into. Last week’s paperwork that I really should finish, but… Flashing. I look up. Henry is waving his mirror wildly and pointing to the herd.
I see her immediately and she’s already at full speed, swinging her briefcase as she runs straight for the edge. I drop my bag and I’m off, gauging my vector and adjusting as I go. I’m always amazed that a suit in heels, a skirt, and pearls can possibly run so fast. I’m in shorts and sneakers and I can barely catch up. Henry waves as if to say, “You got this one? OK.”, then he goes back to reading his magazine. Lazy punk. That’s all right. I’ll get to her. I’ve got just enough time. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I notice ten more heading my way….maybe twenty. This could be a stampede, but I can’t worry about that now. I’ve committed to saving this one suit and that’s all I’m focused on. I reach her just as she steps off the edge. I grab her arm and we crash to the ground. She dangles over the side as her briefcase falls into the clouds below and disappears. “Hold on!”, I yell. I can hear the footfalls of the herd getting closer and soon, shoes on my back, and head, and they just keep coming. 20, 30, 50, it seems there’s no end. They’re piling over each other and tumbling off the side. I watch as they spin and flip through the air and eventually disappear beneath the clouds. I may lose the whole herd this time, but I refuse to lose the one I’ve got in my hand. I squeeze harder and I can feel her hand slipping. I yell again, “Hold on!”, but it’s no use. She doesn’t want to be saved. She looks up at me and says softly, “Let me go.” And it doesn’t matter, because I can’t hold her anyway. She slips from my hand and I watch in horror as she plummets through the clouds and out of sight.
I lie there for a moment, staring into the chasm, allowing myself to feel the loss. Why am I here? What good am I doing? What is the point of all this? I can feel rocks digging into my chest, there is dirt in my teeth, and at this moment, more than ever before, I long to lie in the snow and look to the sky. I stand up and brush myself off. I’m bruised and battered, but most of the herd is still behind me, grazing the plateau, and I’m relieved. I could not have lost more than a dozen. Not good, but not the total loss I feared. Hundreds of thousands of suits remain, grazing, oblivious to the carnage that just occurred. I limp over to the nearest suit. He’s reading his Blackberry.
“Why are you so close?”, I ask.
“Huh?”, he says looking up.
“Why are you all so close to the edge?”, I reiterate.
“Edge?”, he says obliviously.
I give up and walk back to my chair. The suit goes back to his Blackberry and dissolves into the herd.
The snow is foremost in my thoughts now. I look to the peaks. I’ve never been there. I’ve never even seriously considered the trip. After all, who will do my job? But now, I can think of nothing else. I look to Henry and give a flash. He flashes back and waves. I flash James, but he’s still asleep. I grab my bag and start walking through the herd. Surely the agency will replace me, right? But what difference does it make? If I can’t save them, who can? I pass a young suit, a 9 or 10 year old boy, in a blue blazer and khakis. He’s sitting on a large rock, playing a game on his phone and as I pass, he looks up and says, “Hey mister! Where ya going?”
“The mountains”, I say, slightly startled by the words, having never heard myself speak them aloud before. “You wanna go?”
He shrugs, then stands and walks beside me. We walk together toward the setting sun. I look back over my shoulder and see that a large portion of the herd is following us at a safe distance. I smile. I didn’t expect that, and it makes me happy. My companion reaches up and takes my hand. I am filled with wonder and possibility as we start our journey. I look down at the boy, prepared to tell him about the snow on the peaks, about the pass we’re going to take through the foothills, about the obstacles we will have to overcome. I hope that he will share my excitement in anticipation of the journey ahead, but he is occupied. The glow of his phone screen lights his face and he’s absorbed in his task.
“Gng 2 mnts”, he types and hits send.
Yes we are, and that is good enough for now.

In the series on law firm profitability, the clients weren’t directly addressed. As law firms struggle to adapt to a profit margin business model, what will the impact be on how much clients pay and on the quality of services they receive?

We explored two basic methods for lowering the cost of delivery of legal services, which can obviously impact the fees clients pay and the quality of their service. We’ll tackle these methods much like we did from the law firm perspective.
Fewer Hours
First up is finding ways to use fewer hours to provide the same service. This included the use of LPM and process improvement and innovation. The value of LPM to clients, in my opinion, is more about consistency than savings. Having well-defined plans up-front, means more consistent execution and quality of service. Or in other words – standardization equals quality. Fewer things fall through the cracks, when you have a plan to avoid them. An added benefit of LPM is the potential for savings. Just having a thought-out plan can eliminate some unnecessary tasks that would have been done otherwise.
Process improvement has significant potential for benefiting clients – just like it does for law firms. By attacking the plans and processes generated by LPM with an eye towards reducing hours and costs, firms will be indirectly attacking the cost to clients. Every hour reduced is an opening to reduce the costs to clients. And just as importantly, process improvement can maintain and improve quality of service (provided it is done well).
Cheaper Hours
Lowering the cost of service per hour can benefit clients as well. We have 3 options under this heading. First off – new staffing models mean lower cost per hour on comp. Essentially this means giving work to staff attorneys instead of more expensive associates. Staff attorneys will have lower costs and may have lower rates. So the savings to clients in an hourly arrangement will depend on the staff lawyer rates relative to associates’. Typically these rates are lower since most firms base rates loosely on comp. So the savings to firms would be passed on in part along to the client.
Next up is leverage. From our last post, we saw the benchmark of 1% of leverage improvement resulting in about a 1% improvement of law firm profit. Using those same metrics, 1% improvement of leverage results in .6% to .7% savings to a client. Caveats:

  1. This is just a benchmark and will differ based on different firms and practices. 
  2. The metrics are derived with an hourly billing model. 

Even though this is benchmark data, I am guessing the same sort of split between law firm gains and client gains would apply to other fee arrangements and other cost reduction efforts. The difference between the law firm gain and the client gain is a reflection of the ‘Rule of Three’ aspect of law firm economics.

Lastly we have the reduction of firm overhead costs as a means of lowering cost per hour. By driving down a firm’s overall overhead numbers, the cost per hour worked goes down. In this scenario I don’t see the client benefiting.

  1. Major reductions in overhead only bring modest reductions in cost per hour. 
  2. By reducing the amount of resources available to the lawyers, their productivity goes down. 

I haven’t seen any metrics that describe this yet, however, the likely outcome is an increase in the number of hours required to perform the same tasks. One obviously example is lawyers having to perform work they used to give to secretaries. So reductions in overhead for firms probably don’t benefit clients and may well drive their costs up.

Bottom-line: almost all of the efforts described that will improve law firm profitably, will also lower costs for clients, or at least create the opportunity from them to be lower. Additionally they have the ability to maintain or improve quality via standardization and tighter management of tasks and processes.
The one exception is the reduction of firm overhead costs. This effort has the least potential for positively impacting clients and actually may hurt them. Currently it is the primary effort firms have been making and continue to make.
My advice to clients:

  1. Understand the impact of each of these efforts and change your behavior to drive their adoption within the firms you use. 
  2. Pay attention to which ones your law firms employ.

We’ve all been there: you’ve got a fantastic idea that you know is going to save your law firm a bundle of bucks but it may take some buy-in from your law firm leadership.

I know that a couple of us know that scenario from the marketing side: having to respond to RFPs from clients. We probably all have used some sort of proposal software, written the proverbial “About Us” page and passed it on to a partner to deliver to a potential client.

But just how do you sell your own lawyers on investing in their own firm? Well, according to Steve Tobak, coach to technology CEOs, you’ve got to learn to tell a better story.

First, know your audience. For me that means figuring out what kind of learner the lawyer is: do they do better with words, visuals or numbers? Are they analytical, big picture, or intuitive?

Next, tell the attorney:

  1. why should he should care
  2. what’s in it for him, and 
  3. what’s the criteria for determining whether is this a good idea or not.

Now that’s the set-up for your story.

Tobak says if you can satisfy all three of these criteria, especially the last one, you are half-way there.

Now, the story itself.

In your situation, you are trying to get the lawyer to buy in to a new business process, new software, a new something. So you have to tell them a story about how this new system has worked in another law firm or department, with tremendous success.

For example, I like to tell the story about how my social media efforts led to new relationships with several new contacts in my industry and have developed into full-blown working relationships.

Tobak then talks about delivery, or what I would call personality. Be friendly, confident, loose. Don’t over-work the request with charts, stats and slide presentations (I tend to do this, so do what I say and not what I do!).

Then, at the end, don’t forget to close the deal. Now this can be hard because you’ve got to get them to make a commitment. So you need to decide what you want them to decide. Do you want a new color printer?

Then ask for it.

But do give the lawyer an out, or at least, some leeway. You don’t want to make the lawyer feel like a heal for turning you down–you still have to work with the guy and you want to be able to go back to him. And make sure and ask when you can ask again.

So, in the end, telling a story isn’t about spinning something out of whole cloth. Instead, it is a strategy that takes careful planning.

We’ve all got our heroes…Mom, Dad, or a teacher in High School are traditional ones, but how about in your profession? Who are the heroes in your profession that have changed how you look at your profession? Perhaps it isn’t even a person, but maybe some event or act from a group of people that makes you proud to call your self a professional. This week we have a number of perspectives… even one from a professional musician… about the heroes we look up to in our profession.

I should have known that this is the 666th post from this blog as soon as I woke up this morning to find what my friends wrote about me… apparently, there were some emails flying around last night which I wasn’t included!!

Enjoy the different perspectives, and forgive the love-fest that I received toward the end.

Also, don’t forget that these Elephant Posts are meant to be a public forum, and we all really want to read different perspectives. Scroll down to the bottom to read next week’s question and follow the instructions on how you can contribute your perspective.

Legal Researcher Perspective
Greg Lambert
The Group @ OSCN.NET
Between 1999-2002, I worked one of the best jobs that a law librarian (especially one with a knack for being a techie/geek) could ever want to do. The Oklahoma Supreme Court made a commitment that it would change how it handled the Court’s opinions, and would create an online system (oscn.net) that allowed for anyone to see the Court’s decisions, the day they were published, and they adopted the Uniform Citation System that allowed those decisions to be officially cited that same day.

The staff in the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) were some of the brightest, forward thinking group of people I ever worked with. The law students that worked as interns for the AOC, and had to do all the grunt work of getting old cases ready to be released on the site were great to work with, and I don’t know if they realize the importance of their work, even 10 years later. OSCN put every single court decision from the Oklahoma Courts, with Uniform Citations, going all the way back to the Territory Courts of 1890. We even offered to help, and host other states to do the same with their court decisions. Unfortunately, only Wyoming took us up on that offer. I really wish more states would look at what OSCN is doing and follow the trail blazed by a group of heroes.

B2B Marketer Perspective
Kathryn DeLia
A Material Girl…
My professional hero is Madonna. Yes you may think that is corny and everyone has an opinion of her, but take a look at the business aspects of her. She is extremely marketing and PR savvy, negotiated a financially successful deal with Live Nation for maximum exposure for tours, tons of merchandise including her recent launch of ‘Material Girl’ clothes with her daughter. She has built her brand extremely well and kept it that way for 20 years. Yes, I am sure she has some excellent business advisers but I don’t think they were the brains behind her reinvention, etc. Pure marketing power – a marketing girl who built a sensational brand to become all material girl! Now that is a hero to emulate.

Librarian Perspective
Laura Londa
Leader not Manager
I need to list 2 people, but for the same reasons.  One is Cindy Zollinger, CEO of Cornerstone Research and the other is Bob Oaks, Chief Library & Records Officer of Latham & Watkins.  They are both truly leaders not just managers.  While they do need to manage a lot, when it comes to people, they lead.  They not only show you what is possible, but also instill in you the belief that you can achieve it.  They also both have the unique ability to be kind and caring while still running things.  You can’t help but trust them implicitly and you know that the choices they make for you and the company are carefully considered and respectful of you and of the goals of the company.  There is never any doubt that they are in charge, but there is also always the understanding that you can go to them with suggestions and ideas and you will never be dismissed out-of-hand.  They not only lead, but are willing to learn and know that there is always more to learn.  There are very few chiefs that have these qualities.  I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to work for and with both of them.  And I have always sought to model my work after them as I move into more “”managerial”” roles.  I try to lead as they would, not just manage.

Business Intelligence Analyst Perspective
Denise Rabogliatti
It Opened My Eyes
My hero is the individual who gave me my first research project. The project was simple and direct (and it was a paid exercise). I found that it piqued my interest in finding a career in which I could search for information, pull it together and present it in a way that answered an information need. If I had not had this opportunity, I do not know if I would be writing this today.

Law Student Perspective
Danny Johnson
So Fly Like a G6
My professional hero is Kirk Jowers. I’m starting law school in August and Kirk has given me critical advice about preparing for and pursuing my goals in law. He is the most quoted man in Utah politics and is a partner at a DC firm but still manages to spend time with undergrads at the U of U.
At my job at NetDocuments my hero is Marc Duncan because of his skills on the office IndoBoard 

Professional Musician Perspective
Artie Langston
Heroes In Low Places
My greatest hero and mentor is Ray Brown, who some may know as the long time bassist with Oscar Peterson, and onetime husband of Ella Fitzgerald.

Ray was a consummate artist, and his eminence talents were derived from hard work, as well a beautiful soul.
In spite of his fame, Ray always had time for young people, and the times we met were both thrilling, instructive, and inspirational. the first time I heard him play, I knew without a doubt what I wanted to do with my life, no matter what the cost.

The greatest compliment I ever received was when Snookum Russell, another friend and mentor who had nurtured the careers of a number of great Jazz artists, told me that he had not enjoyed working with anyone as much since he had Ray Brown in his band.

Ray is gone now, but I remember every word he told me, and have passed the wisdom of them down to my own students over the years.

Law Librarian and Competitive Intelligence Liaison Perspective
Jan Rivers
@Glambert Rules!
Greg Lambert is my professional hero. While being a full-time law librarian and manager, he also contributes to a fabulous blog, tests out new and exciting technologies, gives back to his profession, and is always collaborative, informative and, above all, entertaining. Also,rumor has it that he plays a mean sax….”
AFA Perspective
Toby Brown
Greg the Great Oracle
When it comes to knowledge – for possessing, sharing  and knowing how to find it – Greg rules.  The 3 Geeks blog truly rides on his shoulders due to this factoid.  His commitment and passion to knowledge is beyond belief.

It used to be when I wanted to find something, I would first send emails out to my circle of knowledge (a.k.a. The Brady’s).  Usually the Greg (a.k.a. The Master of Knowledge) would be a the first or at least an excellent responder.  So then I switched to first sending him a note.  And finally, after much prodding from Greg – I just check our blog.  9 times out of 10 he has already discovered the bit of knowledge I need, reviewed and analyzed it and posted about it on the blog.

That’s why 3 Geeks Rules.  Greg is my professional hero since he sets such a fine example of how to master knowledge and share it with the world.

To boot – he’s a damn fine friend to have.

Knowledge Management Perspective
Ayelette Robinson
“Greg, You Are Da Man”
Greg Lambert is my hero because he inspires those around him to share and collaborate in ways that make us not only better professionals, but also better people.

Thank you, Greg!

Internet Marketing Perspective
Sophia Lisa Salazar
“The One, The Only …”
Greg Lambert! 🙂

After much thoughtful consideration, I know that Greg is the only other person that can write as much as I can but he actually posts his stuff!

Always thoughtful, always productive, always provocative, Greg’s aces in my book.

He’s not only a 3Geeks Blogger, he’s a hell of a nice guy!

Competitive Intelligence Perspective
Zena Applebaum
Man of Geeky Mystery
Greg Lambert is my professional hero.  I don’t know how he does it!  He plays with gizmos and gadgets all day and still manages to be seen as a thought leader and man knowledgeable about libraries and the law.  How does he do it???

I want to be like Greg.

Law Librarian Perspective
Mark Gediman
Greg Bueller-er- Lambert Is My Hero
I don’t know anyone who is more of an all-around mensch than Greg Lambert.
He is always there to keep me in my place.  He critiques my work, pokes pins in my premises and gives me cool nicknames (like Sam the Butcher-don’t ask).

He’s the one that goaded me into blogging into the first place.   So know my critics now know who to blame.
I can’t think of anyone who works harder or nags better to get stuff out of me (to be fair, I did commit to it.  At least, that’s what Greg told me).

Seriously, Mr. Lambert is inspirational:  He has a respected blog, he is willing to serve in a leadership role in his organizations, he is a respected voice in the librarian community, can go toe-to-toe with the best of them when it comes to pop culture and, most importantly, is a great guy to have a beer with.

In fact, I want to be just like him when I grow up.

Information Technologist Perspective
Scott Preston
The Renaissance Man
Greg Lambert is my professional hero.
He has a tremendous breadth of knowledge with experience in law, computers, programming and legal research.  He is always bringing new technology and ideas to the table.  He is fun to work with, inspires many of us to contribute to the greater community and has introduced me to some truly great people.  Greg is one of those amazing people that seems to be able to morph into whatever is needed at the moment.  He is more than willing to share his knowledge and does so in a manner that makes everybody feel important.  Rumor has it he is really good at Frisbee golf too.

I want to be just like Greg when I get to be his age!

Greg is the Renaissance Man.

Business Intelligence Analyst Perspective
Denise Rabogliatti
What! More?
No one says that we can’t have more than one hero . . .

Greg is one of mine.

What more can be said than has already been stated? His broad and deep knowledge, insatiable curiosity and willingness to share will lead the profession to the future. He is an example to which we can aspire.

Blogger & Collaborator Perspective
Greg Lambert
Let’s Finish Off The Love Fest With Some “Brady Love”
Well… waking up early this morning to discover all the “love” that my fellow Brady Bunch crew wrote about me was both fun to read, and a little embarrassing at the same time (but, I quickly got over the embarrassment.) A couple of years ago, I wrote a post called “Improve Yourself – Join a Clique” where I mentioned my clique (AKA “The Bradys”) and the benefits of having peers that you can bounce ideas off of. Although it appears from the previous writings that I’m doing the heavy lifting in this relationship, it is not true. I just happen to be the loudest member of a great group. So, I thank them for their kind words, but I also have to remind them that it is the overall conversation and collaboration that we give each other as a group that is what makes this a great relationship. As anyone in “The Bradys” knows, they love to give feedback… just ask anyone of us that has gone to a meeting for an hour, only to come back to their desk and see 25+ emails sitting in their in-box from “The Bradys” responding to a question one of us asked.

Next Week’s Elephant Post Question:

What Unorthodox Predictions do you have for 2011? What Taboos are going to go away this year?

The first few weeks of the year are filled with predictions of changes to come in the legal industry. Most of those predictions are “yawners” (such as Richard Susskind’s prediction of firms adopting more social media, adopting cloud-based apps, and using tablets… which Toby labeled as Susskind “jumping the shark” on his predictions.)

Let us know what you think are changes that are occurring “under the radar” in the industry. Are partners at firms going to feel the downsizing this year – by being downsized themselves? Are unprofitable practice groups going to be cut loose from their firms? Will there be a change in the legal publishing industry that will shake up the way law firms buy legal research? Is outsourcing going to be no longer a taboo word that makes the hair on the back of every one’s neck stand up?

So the Elephant question for next week is, What are your “other” predictions for 2011?

Simply fill out the form we have created for this question, and you can check in occasionally to see what others are contributing. This should be a fun Elephant Post to read!!

See you next week!!

A couple of years a ago I posted a short book review on “Lessons From the Courtroom” by Frank Jones.

Frank has just notified me you can download his book for on most e-reader devices, including Kindle.

The e-book is only available through January 17, so don’t delay.

You will have to sign up to access the book on the site. Here’s the link: www.FreeKaplaneBooks.com

Tell me if you heard this one before… three people (two guys, one woman) working in the legal industry decide to create a group blog to discuss their diverse views on the legal world. Turns out that this isn’t me re-telling the story of how 3 Geeks got started, but rather how three folks from the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati area decided to start their own blog called The Strategic Adviser Blog. Although the blog has only been going for a month, I’m seeing some good stuff coming out of there, and wanted to give a fellow group-style blog a shout-out and have readers of 3 Geeks head over there and see what they have to offer.

Here’s what the writers over at The Strategic Adviser Blog are focused on:

  • Jay Fossett – Leadership and Organizations
  • Maureen Donnellan – Social Media
  • Jeff Sanders – Environmental Issues
There is a fourth Adviser listed, but I haven’t seen anything posted yet from Patrick Crowley (policy and politics focus). Come on Patrick!! Get something out there!! 
I emailed Jay Fossett over the weekend to see how things are going, and he is feeling the pains that everyone who starts a blog tends to feel in the first few weeks. Jay says, “The hardest thing is finding the time because we are all busy with our jobs. The biggest issue is finding time to write something that we hope is thought-provoking yet easy to read.” Most of us have struggled with the same thing. I’ve always took the approach that if an idea is festering in my head, it is probably something that others would find thought-provoking, too. I’ve been shocked sometimes at the things that we put out that grab people’s attention, that I thought was kind of a “fluff piece,” but the readers found stimulating (I’ve also put out some things that I thought would really get a lot of feedback, only to hear the gentle sound of crickets chirping in the background.) 
The Advisers aren’t really promoting their blog yet. I actually found it through a mutual acquaintance that pointed me in their direction. Fossett talked about the fact that right now their really only promoting the blog to friends via “our Facebook page and some email recommendations.” That’s probably a great place to start.
We wish our new friends over at The Strategic Adviser Blog the best of luck with their new blog. I told Jay Fossett that he needs to keep after the others to keep contributing posts, because in the blogging world, consistency and content are what brings people to your blog, and keeps them coming back.
   

After reading NYTimes reporter David Segal’s article, “Is Law School a Losing Game?”,I thought back to the year that I graduated law school.

The earlier ’90s were not much kinder than now. Coming out of school on the heels of the energy recession, I was one of the lucky few to land a job. Most of my peers struggled to make their way: forming their own partnerships, going solo, moving back home to join the family law firm, going into legal recruiting.

I’ll never forget one day when I was being extra diligent and made my way back to my alma mater’s library when I ran into a former classmate. I was shocked when he told me that he was bird-dogging cases at the courthouse while living out of his car.

I’ll never forget the look on his face: it was a mixture of horror, shame and desperation.

I was the first in my family to become a lawyer.

When a relative decided to follow in my footsteps, I cautioned them in all the mistakes that I had made: focus on your grades, forget about class recitations, get as many clerkships as you can and start looking for a job as soon as you start school.

And, above all, don’t live off of student loans.

There were many days that I regretted that law degree. Today, I have made my peace with it. And now I know that I’m fortunate to have a job in the legal field that is personally satisfying.

Not everyone is so lucky.

For those of you familiar with SlideShare.com, the online presentation software portal recently announced the winner of their 2010 “World’s Best Presentation” contest.
A design firm in Honolulu won with “Smoke – The Convenient Truth”.
Nearly 80 slides long, it packs a graphical punch, bringing home the ravages of cigarette smoking. Strong messaging, meaningful graphics and stark lay-outs emphasize their points.
One of the judges, leadership and communications coach Carmine Gallo, compiled what he thought were the 4 winning strategies to a stellar presentation:
  1. Put your audience first
  2. Sketch the story
  3. One idea per slide
  4. Take your time to design–the winner said it takes them 60-90 hours to complete a project.

Of course, this got me to thinking about some of the law firm presentations that I’ve seen in the past and I had to cringe.Remember the goal of the presentation: educate the audience. And most people in this day and age want to be entertained when educated. Ask any teacher. A combination of personality, immediacy and valuable information is what makes a great presentation.When marketing, the presentation is just the appetizer that whets the appetite. The lawyer’s presentation is an opportunity to demonstrate his or her persuasiveness, creativity and intelligence. And if done well, the presenter will be stampeded at the end of the presentation and peppered with questions. I’ve seen it happen. A slide crammed with data is not the way to go. A wise winnowing of influential and impactful data is far more persuasive.Want to learn some lessons in persuasive presentations? Just take a gander at SlideShare’s other contenders.

Anyone that has ever tried a “Natural Language” search… whether using something as generic as Google, or searching a more focused databases like Westlaw or Lexis… knows that it is a hit or miss type searching strategy. The nuances of the English language make a sentence like “Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas” nearly unintelligible for computers. (How did that elephant get in your pajamas, anyway??) Legal research providers have always dreamed of establishing an algorithm that can take a normal sentence that a human can interpret fairly easily… understanding that the person was wearing pajamas, not that the elephant was in the pajamas… by using their experiences, knowledge and intuition to understand exactly what the sentence means, thus being able to give an appropriate response to the sentence. It is this ability – this insight – that humans have, that computers simply have not been able to accomplish so far.

Enter IBM’s “Next Grand Challenge” where the scientists at IBM accept this challenge, and attempt to create a computer system that can not only handle natural language, but can understand the nuances that are found in the game show Jeopardy!

The IBM Jeopardy! Challenge poses a specific question with very real business implications: Can a system be designed that applies advanced data management and analytics to natural language in order to uncover a single, reliable insight – in a fraction of a second?

The IBMers are calling the project “Watson,” named after the company’s founder, Thomas J. Watson (not Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick like I initially assumed.) Sam Palmisano, IBM Chairman and CEO, says that , like its big brother, Big Blue (the computer Chess Master), or Blue Gene (Human Genome Project) Watson is attempting to do something that many people believe is impossible for technology to accomplish – “the ability of a computer to do something that’s far more challenging than chess: to understand natural human speech about a limitless range of topics, and to make informed judgments about them.”

Here are some videos that explain the Jeopardy! challenge, and the glitches, and accomplishments that Watson has shown so far. If you are a legal researcher, you should watch these videos from that angle, and think about the possibilities that can come from applying the techniques that IBM is using to answer the scope of questions presented on the game show, and start wondering how that could apply to a more narrow set of legal topics and questions that we face on a day-to-day basis.

The Next Grand Challenge

The part on “Open Question Answering,” that Dr. Katharine Frase discusses around the 2:00 mark the issues and differences between “searching” and “keywords,” and the issues of understanding and interacting in “the way normal humans communicate.”

What is Watson? Why Jeopardy?

Because you have to really understand the complexity of the English language, not just the pieces of information, the nature of the game Jeopardy! presents a very good challenge for Watson to not only extract knowledge, but to interpret that knowledge. Watson has to understand the nuances of the “answer” that is presented by the Jeopardy! host, and not only answer it quickly and accurately, but also to understand when not to answer if it is wrong (risk factors.) That’s a very complex idea, and one that made for some funny answers at first, but over time, Watson started getting the “questions” right… 15% of the time, 50% of the time, then 60% (average player level), then 70% (average Champion level), 80% (3x Champion level), then 90% (Grand Champion level). What was a little scary, was the speed at which the increase occurred… in less than a year, it went from 15% accuracy, to over 80%.

In 2011, IBM’s Watson is supposed to compete on an actual show of Jeopardy! It will be interesting to see how the technology advances of “Open Question Answering” work not only in the areas of answering game show hosts… but how this type of advancement in natural language in computer databases can work to improve the way those of us conduct what we call “search” today.

One interesting issue that I saw on another video that goes into depth of what Watson can do, one of the first questions that Watson was asked, was answered incorrectly (according to a comment, and the answer I got from WolframAlpha.) Watson answered that “ln((12546798*pi)^2)/34567.46” was 0.00885, and the answer according to other sources is actually 0.001011917. Will one of you with a degree in Mathematics (or at least a good calculator) double check that, please? If Watson answered this incorrectly, then IBM may want to look at Watson’s math algorithms one more time before going on to face the Jeopardy! Challenge.

[Note: seems that Watson wasn’t wrong after all… see the comment below that explains the issues with the parens placement.]

Watson’s Question
Watson’s Answer
WolframAlpha’s Answer