Monthly Archives: July 2017

Has Technology Really Killed The Personal Touch In Law Practice And Is That Really A Bad Thing? – Above the Law

Posted: July 20, 2017 at 3:03 am

In her recent post, In Defense of Personal Relationships in the Practice of Law, my fellow columnist, Jill Switzer writes how technology has killed the art of interaction between lawyers. Switzer observes that lawyers rarely have opportunities to meet in person sincehearing conferences that were once handled face to face before a judge now take place by phone; the meet and confer requirements of various civil procedure rules are satisfied through an exchange of emails and nasty-grams, CLE courses are viewed alone via webinar rather than in a room filled with colleagues and depositions are conducted remotely by phone or Skype.Yet while Switzer mourns the changes wrought by technology because theyve displaced the personal relationships that meant almost everything to us dinosaurs, I celebrate technology changes precisely because theyve enabled me to create meaningful personal relationships, and indeed, to build a career that might have otherwise been foreclosed to me as a woman and a parent.

As Ive written many times, when I started my law firm back in 1993, the most advanced technology available to me was word-processing and email which wasnt much use since few others were using email for business at that time. Researching legislative history back then entailed a trip to the bowels of the House Office Building, Annex 2 which could consume several hours. Filing a brief required at least a full day of lead time to allow sufficient time for production of an original and fourteen bound, 50-page copies and that too, necessitated a drop off at the copy store. As for networking, two of the bar committees that I was involved with at the time (back when I still could tolerate bar activities) each met monthly during lunch, (which is also when brown bag CLE programs were held) all of which took over two hours out of my day when taking into account travel from my office to the event then back.

As for personal connections I didnt make any. As a young lawyer starting out in my practice, most colleagues wouldnt even return my phone calls. I managed a couple of meetings by trekking over to colleagues offices under the guise of young lawyer seeking advice, but honestly, I cant recall a single occasion when another lawyer reciprocated or invited me out. The so-called personal connections among lawyers only work when one a lawyer stands to gain something be it a referral or new connection and as a young lawyer, I had nothing to give so I was persona non-grata in networking circles. I wonder, how many times Ms. Switzer or her colleagues have actually introduced themselves to a newbie lawyer at a networking function, asked about their practice and then called to invite them out to lunch. My guess is somewhere between one and zero.

In any event, I could have tolerated the networking and committee lunches and long trips to courthouses and Congress and worked longer hours to make up lost time. But once I had kids, all of that changed. Because I wanted to spend time with my daughters, I moved my practice back to my home but I was able to continue working because most of my clients were remote. Back then, I workedin the short stretches of time when my daughters napped or were in pre-school or with a part-time nanny, then after they were in school and at night between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. when my husband was able to take over. Back then, every minute counted and suddenly a lunchtime meeting with the bar committee wasnt just a lost lunch time, but a lost work session since it would consume the entire period that my girls were in pre-school. A two-hour deposition two hours away amounted to a six hour day where my husband might have to step in to do pickup. I barely had enough time to get my existing client work done then to go out evenings and network. I very nearly lost my practice .

But then, shortly after my younger daughter was born in 1999, technology happened. Of course, it had been around for years before, but it wasnt until the late 90s that it really began to penetrate the legal profession.Now, instead of spending an afternoon to carry a brief over to the D.C. Circuit, I could zap it out a few seconds before midnight. Legislative history and other legal research were available at my fingertips so my research wasnt confined to the hours when the law libraries were open. And with scheduling conferences now taking place by phone, I could expand my practice to federal courts several hours away without having to worry that Id have to drive 4 hours for a 10-minute conference.

Meanwhile, rather than take away personal interaction, technology facilitated connections with other lawyers all over the country. In 2000, I joined the ABAs Solosez list serve which gave me 800 welcoming people from all over the country to talk to about my practice and personal matters as well. In fact, it was through Solosez that I met one of my best friends, a woman a few years younger than me who was also balancing a home-based practice with raising kids. A few years after that, came blogging which is how I found clients and bolstered my reputation in my industry and also met and befriended three other ATL columnists, Bob Ambrogi, Kevin OKeefe and Nicole Black. Finally, social media like Facebook and Twitter and Instagram emerged, which provided an opportunity to learn more about my lawyer-colleagues personal lives their hobbies, their recipes, vacations, their triumphs and sorrows.Ive since met many of my online friends as well either when they or I am traveling to another city or at conferences. Those relationships also go far beyond the professional.After my husband died two years ago, only a small handful of my colleagues here in D.C. lawyers whom Ive met and worked with on multiple occasions reached out to me. By contrast, dozens of lawyers whom I knew only through social media sent cards, condolences and donations to my husbands designated charities.

Technology has enabled hundreds of female lawyers who 20 years ago might have left the law to stay home with children to instead remain in the legal profession or reinvent themselves within it. And its given lawyers access to a far more varied and diverse group of colleagues than any of us could find even in a metropolitan area such as Washington D.C. where I am based.For me, its not even a close call that technology has improved the legal profession in large part because it has provided more opportunity for personal interaction, not less.

Meanwhile, those close, collegial relationships of yore that Switzer longs for, if they did exist as she recalls were only open to a small select circle of insiders but not to young lawyers with few clients or contacts or to mom-lawyers working the 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. shift. Lets never return to that world again.

Carolyn Elefanthas been blogging about solo and small firm practice atMyShingle.comsince 2002 and operated her firm, theLaw Offices of Carolyn Elefant PLLC, even longer than that. Shes also authored a bunch of books on topics likestarting a law practice,social media, and21st century lawyer representation agreements(affiliate links). If youre really that interested in learning more about Carolyn, just Google her. The Internet never lies, right? You can contact Carolyn by email atelefant@myshingle.comor follow her on Twitter at@carolynelefant.

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Has Technology Really Killed The Personal Touch In Law Practice And Is That Really A Bad Thing? - Above the Law

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These are the nostalgic technology struggles that only 90s kids will understand – The Sun

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The Sun
These are the nostalgic technology struggles that only 90s kids will understand
The Sun
THESE DAYS if a page takes more than a 1.6 seconds to load, we're ready to hand the computer back to the shop and claim a new one. But remember when you could leave the screen to make a cup of tea and still be waiting for your webpage on your return?

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These are the nostalgic technology struggles that only 90s kids will understand - The Sun

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Nanomesh technology results in inflammation-free, on-skin health monitoring electronics – MobiHealthNews

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On-skin sensors that monitor vital signs can often cause inflammation, but that may be about to change. According to a new study in Nature Nanotechnology, a new approach to this technology using a nanomesh structure could have positive implications for long-term health monitoring.

The new sensors are inflammation-free, are very gas permeable, and theyre thin and lightweight, without the use of any pesky substrates that can contribute to skin discomfort. That means they can be directly laminated onto human skin for longer periods of time. The sensors mesh structure is made of biocompatible polyvinyl alcohol, which enables that gas permeability without blocking sweat glands, and its stretchable without causing any additional discomfort, even if its affixed for a considerable amount of time. In tests, only one case of inflammation was discovered, and that was due to a patients metal allergies. Theyre also versatile. The mesh conductors can attach to irregular skin surfaces -- say, the tip of a persons finger -- and maintain their functionality even when a persons natural body movements folds and elongates the skin. Nanofibres with a diameter of 300 to 500 nm were prepared by electrospinning a PVA solution, and were intertwined to form a mesh-like sheet. When the nanomesh conductors were placed on the skin and sprayed with water, the PVA nanofibers easily dissolved, and the nanomesh conductor attached to the skin. According to the study, the approach has opened up a new possibility for the integration ofelectronic devices with skin for continuous, long-term health monitoring.

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Tech sector finally gets back to where it was in the bubble 17 years ago – CNBC

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One measure of technology stocks is now higher than during the dotcom boom.

The S&P information technology sector grouping closed above $992 on Wednesday, smashing through the $988.49 dotcom bubble high from March 27, 2000, according to FactSet.

The constituents of that group have changed considerably since then: Facebook for instance, wasn't even around in 2000. And the technology sector SPDR ETF, a slightly different grouping that includes some telecom companies with the ticker "XLK," was only around $57 on Wednesday, well below dotcom-boom highs of $65.44.

Still, it marks a milestone in the growing dominance of technology companies in the stock market, as companies like Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft have grown more valuable than most other public companies around the world.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also hit fresh all-time highs on Wednesday. Shares of Amazon.com, Microsoft, Facebook and Adobe traded at highs not seen since their IPOs, and Priceline shares were also at an all-time intraday high.

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Tech sector finally gets back to where it was in the bubble 17 years ago - CNBC

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Brexit: British and EU negotiators to outline progress – BBC News

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BBC News
Brexit: British and EU negotiators to outline progress
BBC News
Brexit negotiators are to outline what progress has been made so far as the latest round of talks come to an end. The UK's Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU's Michel Barnier will meet to assess the past four days of talks. Groups of British and ...
Brexit talks: progress on rights but divorce bill still a sticking pointTelegraph.co.uk

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East Timor vote highlights young nation’s uneven progress – ABC News

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Almost two dozen parties are contesting parliamentary elections in East Timor this weekend that are likely to return independence heroes to power despite frustration in the young democracy with lack of economic progress and warnings the country could be bankrupt within a decade.

East Timorese hope the elections will repeat the success of a peaceful vote for the largely ceremonial role of president in March, which was the country's first election without U.N. supervision since peacekeepers left in 2012. Political stability is particularly crucial for the country, which officially gained independence only 15 years ago, because it is facing a financial time bomb.

Oil revenues, which finance more than 90 percent of government spending, are rapidly dwindling and the country's $16 billion sovereign wealth fund could be empty within 10 years with the government's annual withdrawals exceeding its investment returns, according to La'o Hamutuk, an East Timorese research institute.

An opinion poll commissioned by the International Republican Institute, which promotes democracy in the developing world, showed almost half of East Timorese surveyed in May were undecided about which party they would vote for on Saturday. But the current cast of leaders, whose popularity owes much to their history as fighters in East Timor's struggle for independence from Indonesia, are unlikely to be unseated.

Parliament is currently dominated by a national unity coalition led by Fretilin, the party of Prime Minister Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo, with CNRT, the party of resistance leader and former president Xanana Gusmao, who remains highly influential. Seats are allocated to parties based on the percentage of votes won if they poll higher than 4 percent.

The Popular Liberation Party, a new political force led by former president and resistance fighter Taur Matan Ruak, is campaigning on a platform of better access to education, anti-corruption and compulsory military service to address high youth unemployment and may pick up a few seats.

Campaigning, which was punctuated by parties trading accusations of vote buying, ended on Wednesday without major incident.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, voted overwhelmingly in 1999 to end 24 years of brutal Indonesian occupation. Indonesia's military and pro-Indonesian militias responded to the independence referendum with scorched earth attacks that devastated the East Timorese half of the island of Timor.

Today, the country of 1.3 million people, still faces poverty with many people lacking clean water and sanitation. Unemployment is high and young people are increasingly looking abroad for work. The top and perennial concern of voters in the IRI survey was the poor condition of roads. They also believed government corruption was worsening.

"Here in Dili it is very difficult to find jobs," said Agustinho Lopo, who like other young Timorese hopes he can find work in South Korea.

To develop the economy, leaders have focused on big ticket infrastructure projects such as airports, a highway and a special economic zone funded from the dwindling $16 billion Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund. It was established in 2005 from revenues from the now almost-dry Bayu-Undan oil field. The field forecast to end production in 2021.

In an acknowledgement that progress is uneven, both Fretilin and CNRT have vowed during the campaign that the benefits of their development plans will be spread more widely.

As the country's funds run down, development of the potentially lucrative "Greater Sunshine" oil and gas field in the Timor Sea is stalled by a boundary dispute between East Timor and Australia and the insistence of top East Timorese leaders that the processing plant be located in East Timor despite industry experts saying that would make development of the field financially unviable.

In March, an Australian parliamentary committee heard testimony from an expert who predicted East Timor could become a failed state without revenue from Sunrise, outraging East Timorese leaders despite similar warnings coming from other quarters in recent years.

East Timorese, however, are still optimistic about the future. The IRI survey showed 68 percent believed that East Timor would be better off in a year's time.

Ano Peji Colo, a student at the National University of Timor, said East Timor needs other industries, not only oil and gas, to compete with other Southeast Asian nations.

"I really hope that the new government will invest more in the economy. The government shouldn't depend on oil and gas because oil and gas is not sustainable," he said.

Wright reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.

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Lack of Progress at US-China Talks Raises Stakes for Trump – Wall Street Journal (subscription)

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Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Lack of Progress at US-China Talks Raises Stakes for Trump
Wall Street Journal (subscription)
WASHINGTONHigh-level economic talks between the U.S. and China ended Wednesday without any concrete agreement or future agenda, leaving the Trump administration's efforts to recast trade ties with Beijing in limbo. After a full day of bilateral ...

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Trump budget chief touts progress in rolling back regulations – The Hill

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White House Budget chief Mick Mulvaney will releaseon Thursdaya report claiming progress on regulatory rollback, a major priority of the Trump administration.

In the first five months of this administration alone the net cost of our regulatory agenda has been less than zero dollars, Mulvaney said in a prepared statement, in which he trumpeted the economic agenda he has dubbed MAGAnomics. MAGA is an acronym for President Trump's campaign slogan Make America Great Again.

Mulvaney's report will tout the administrations withdrawal or deactivation of 860 regulatory actions, and that the administration has issued only half as many economically significant regulations when compared to the same period last year.

It also notes that the Congressional Review Act allowed Congress to undo a series of Obama-era regulations, and says the administration has achieved an annualized cost savings of $22 million from agencies.

This Agenda represents the beginning of fundamental regulatory reform and a reorientation toward reducing the overall regulatory burden on the American people, said Neomi Rao, the budget offices administrator for regulatory affairs.

Critics have charged that some of the regulatory rollbacks have come at a cost to the environment, consumer protections, and health.

For example, the Bureau of Land Management is proposing a repeal of a regulation for hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, which the administration says is duplicative, and the Environmental Protection Agency is giving up regulations on oil and gas development in the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservations in Utah.

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CSX execs defend early progress in restructuring railroad – SFGate

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Josh Funk, Ap Business Writer

Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP

In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, photo, a CSX freight train passes through Homestead, Pa. CSX Corp. reports financial results, Tuesday, July 18, 2017.

In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, photo, a CSX freight train passes through Homestead, Pa. CSX Corp. reports financial results, Tuesday, July 18, 2017.

CSX execs defend early progress in restructuring railroad

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) CSX's new chief executive is defending the restructuring progress made in the first four months since he was hired to lead a turnaround of the railroad.

CEO Hunter Harrison, who's previously led turnarounds at three other railroads, says he's pleased with the improvement so far.

"I thought we had a hell of a quarter," Harrison said Wednesday.

The Jacksonville, Florida-based railroad has taken nearly 900 locomotives and 60,000 freight cars out of service and laid off 2,300 people this year. Harrison said those changes haven't all paid off yet.

Changing the operating the model a railroad uses is difficult because everyone who works there is used to operating a certain way. Harrison said the level of resistance is about what he expected.

CSX is working to eliminate infrastructure it doesn't need and consolidate operations. That includes shutting down most of the railroad's 12 railyards to eliminate redundancy.

The railroad will also consolidate all of its dispatching into one central location instead of the current nine early next year.

But Wall Street appeared disappointed with CSX's guidance for the rest of the year, and the railroad's shares fell 5.1 percent, or $2.77, to close at $51.87 Wednesday.

CSX reiterated that it's on track to achieve a forecast 25 percent improvement in earnings per share this year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been predicting adjusted annual earnings per share this year of $2.29.

The 72-year-old Harrison was hired by CSX in March after pressure from the Mantle Ridge hedge fund that owns 5 percent of the railroad. Harrison previously led turnarounds of Canadian Pacific, Canadian National and the Illinois Central railroads.

CSX Corp. said Tuesday that its second-quarter net income improved 15 percent to $510 million, or 55 cents per share, as it hauled 2 percent more freight. That's up from $445 million, or 47 cents per, share a year ago.

Coal was somewhat of a bright spot in the quarter with a 7 percent increase the volume CSX hauled. But demand for coal has crumbled over the past several years because natural gas has been so cheap and environmental concerns have been growing

Harrison offered a bleak long-term outlook for the fuel Wednesday and said he wouldn't make any major investments to haul coal.

"Fossil fuels are dead. That's a long-term view," Harrison said. "It's not going to happen overnight. It's not going to be two or three years, but it's going away in my view."

The railroad's quarterly results were weighed down by $122 million in restructuring charges. Without those charges, the railroad said it would have reported earnings per share of 64 cents.

Most of the $122 million restructuring charge in the second quarter was related to Harrison's hiring. CSX agreed to cover $84 million in compensation that Harrison forfeited at Canadian Pacific when he retired early. Shareholders approved those payments last month.

CSX operates more than 21,000 miles of track in 23 Eastern states and two Canadian provinces.

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Trump Shows Progress in Push to Rein In Federal Rule-Making – Wall Street Journal (subscription)

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Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Trump Shows Progress in Push to Rein In Federal Rule-Making
Wall Street Journal (subscription)
The Trump administration has cut the number of regulatory actions in process across the federal government by nearly 20%, a new report will show on Thursday. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which analyzes the costs and effects of ...

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