People are collaborating more than ever before.  There are more collaboration tools and technologies than ever before.  Yet, the actual adoption of collaboration tools seems to lag behind the desire to use them.  In this episode, we discuss the gap between tools and people in collaboration, the common challenges faced when implementing collaboration tools, especially ones used by lawyers, and our best recommendations for improving the adoption of collaboration tools and technologies in 2012.

Link to the episode:  Making Collaboration Tools Work in 2012

Segment 1:  Making Collaboration Tools Work in 2012

Segment 2:  Revisiting – wherein we discuss some legal tech issues that we left out of our last episode, Pardon the Legal Technology Interruption 2011

Segment 3:  Parting Shots

Did technology rock the legal world in 2011, or was it a sleepy little year for legal tech?  What were the tech highlights and lowlights for 2011?  In this episode, we pay homage to one of our favorite shows, ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, and offer up a wide-ranging, fast-paced and highly-opinionated review of what transpired in legal technology during the past year.

Link to the episode:  Pardon the Legal Tech Interruption

Segment 1:  Headlines and Oddsmakers

• Headlines
• eDiscovery
• Social Media
• Using Social Media for Non-Marketing
• Not Your Marketer’s Social Media:  Ten Ways Lawyers Can Benefit from Non-Marketing Uses of Social Media
• Cloud Computing
• iPhones, iPads and Macs
• Oddsmakers – what are the odds that:
• 2012 will be the year the Blackberry loses its place as the smartphone most used by lawyers?
• Tom:  25%
• Dennis: 40%
• Lawyers will be using LinkedIn more than their Outlook contacts in 2012?
• Tom:  15%
• Dennis: 30%
• Lawyers will start bringing their own computers to work next year?
• Tom:  25%
• Dennis:  40%
• Most lawyers will still be using Office 2007 in 2012?
• Tom:  75%
• Dennis: 100%

Segment 2:  Word Up

• Lawyers should think of new software development like predictive coding and IBM’s Watson as ______
• Tom:  Salvation
• Dennis:  Friends
• A recent survey reporting that 94% of the AmLaw 200 law firms plan to use blogs in their social media marketing initiatives is ______
• Tom:  Interesting
• Dennis: Hallucinatory
• The day of doing most of your legal work on a smartphone is ____
• Tom:  Distant
• Dennis: Here
• Keeping up with all of the developments in legal technology has never been more ______
• Tom:  Exhilarating
• Dennis:  Daunting

Segment 3:  The Big Finish

Many social media users have been surprised recently by changes to the design and user interface of the web pages and apps they have been accustomed to using with these services.  These kinds of changes have been happening for quite a while, but this round of changes seems to have created a backlash from longtime users.  Are these kinds of changes fair or foul?  In this episode, we discuss recent interface changes by Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others, the response to these changes and the rollout of the changes, and the implications for users as they rely more and more on cloud services.

Link to the episode:  Who Moved My Social Media Cheese?

Segment 1:  Who Moved My Social Media Cheese?

• Twitter Gets a Major Overhaul
• Facebook Timeline

Segment 2:  Revisiting Our Gift Guide

• One more plug for Sonos
• Powerstick – quick charges of your mobile devices
• Prankpack Gift Boxes
• Amazon Prime
• You can get laser printers under $100

Segment 3:  Parting Shots