The American Bar Association’s (ABA) pro bono project enjoyed the most volunteer participation ever in 2021, with more than 140 attorneys handling at least 50 legal inquiries last year.

The online program, ABA Free Legal Answers, includes participation from more than 10,000 U.S. lawyers in 45 states, according to information from the trade group. The web-based ask-and-answer service is aimed at helping income-eligible residents get legal assistance from volunteer attorneys.

“For those who cannot afford an attorney and have nowhere else to turn, ABA Free Legal Answers serves as a critical resource,” said ABA President Reginald Turner in a statement. “We are proud of the more than 10,000 volunteer lawyers nationwide who are helping to meet these important legal needs, and particularly pleased about the efforts of our FLA Pro Bono Leaders. We urge other attorneys to step up and assist as well.”

Recently, the ABA recognized the most prolific volunteer attorneys with the publication of its 2021 Pro Bono Leaders list. Texas led the pack with 14 individuals, organizations, schools or law firms answering more than 50 inquiries. Illinois, though, was a close second with 13 such entities qualifying for recognition.

“ABA Free Legal Answers offers a flexible online platform, even in pandemic conditions, to do this important pro bono work from our offices, homes, makeshift workstations at the courthouse and on our own time,” said attorney Brandon A. Robinson. “Participating on the platform with hundreds of North Carolinians has been one of my daily joys during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

From Twitter

Ukraine Advice Project UK @ukraine_advice Mar 11

"IMPORTANT UPDATE Since the project began on Monday 28 February, the response from the profession has been humbling, and somewhat overwhelming. The project has registered over 430 volunteer lawyers to date and given pro bono advice on almost 700 requests."

According to the ABA, the program has helped answer close to 200,000 inquiries and has doubled in volume over the last two years.

Earlier this year, The Association of Pro Bono Counsel put out a report detailing the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the pro bono service industry, and highlighted some of the ways to retain best practices moving forward. The report “Positive Change: How the Pandemic Changed Pro Bono and What We Should Keep,” includes analysis from the legal services community, non-profit legal advocates and experts in the field, according to the Counsel. “We hope it will spark thoughtful discussion about how we pro bono volunteers, legal services organizations, bar associations and the courts can continue to expand access to justice for all members of our communities,” reads information from the group.

According to the report, the Counsel recommends legal service providers offer things like virtual clinics, online platforms, in-person meetings when technological resources are unavailable, technological resources for volunteers and e-filing, among other things.

“This final report documents changes to the delivery of pro bono legal services during the pandemic, with the focus primarily on how the adjustments to intake, representation and advocacy impacted clients,” notes the report. “Our hope is that documenting and sharing these experiences and practices will inspire those responsible for delivering pro bono legal services… and those responsible for the systems with which pro bono client communities interact … to consider keeping the changes that benefited client communities, and to continue to develop accessible, client-centered systems that deliver just outcomes.”

Document automation means creating automated templates, using software, for legal documents (such as contracts).

Once the templates are created, users of the software usually answer questionnaires. Once it has this information, the software can instantly generate the contract, and you’re done.

The purpose is to automate the repetitive process of building a document from scratch each time you need a new contract.

In practice, many contracts are extremely similar, with just a few variations. So, for example, once you create an NDA template, the next time you need an NDA, you can generate the template much more quickly using the questionnaire.

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As a lawyer, you might not think of your work as “creative.”

True, on your off time, you might pursue creative endeavors such as writing, cooking, painting, or practicing a musical instrument. But the practice of law requires a rigorously analytic mindset that relies on precise, predictable processes and precedents.

From a professional standpoint, you probably relegate “creativity” to realms like advertising and product design.

But take a closer look at what you do, and you’ll see that you’re often called upon to come up with solutions that aren’t necessarily found in case law and legal textbooks.

During a difficult negotiation you’re handling for a business client, say, or in researching a legal problem that seems to have no obvious precedents, you may have suddenly come upon the solution while reading a book on a different topic, or while mulling over the matter during a long walk.

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There’s no question about it, content marketing is today’s marketing. It’s what everyone in the marketing world is talking about and has been talking about for the last couple of years.

And with good reason: within one broad banner, content marketing encompasses almost every aspect of marketing, client engagement and brand promotion.

It makes sense, then, that content marketing has been touted as the “must have” strategy for businesses, and many have jumped on board the content marketing train.

According to Hubspot, content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional marketing but costs 62% less. Furthermore, companies that publish at least 16 blog posts per month average 3.5 times more traffic than those that post four or fewer.

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General Electric's general counsel's 2012 compensation package afforded him almost $11 million in cash, making him the highest paid general counsel on Corporate Counsel magazine's latest list of the nation's 100 highest paid GCs. So reports Law.com.

At $1,853,671, the average take-home pay enjoyed by the lawyers on the list this year is the highest it has ever been.

Read the full article from Law.com here.

After entering a guilty plea, John Farahi, founder of Newpoint Financial Services Inc., was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on March 20, according to a National Law Journal story. The Beverly Hills businessman admitted his role in a $20 million Ponzi scheme and the plea could have ramifications for former Nixon Peabody securities partner David Tamman, who was found guilty for his role in the scheme.

Tamman’s lawyer, though, insists the two instances are different and “suspect the judge will listen to what we have to say and make a decision accordingly."

Read the full article from the National Law Journal here.

A Los Angeles nutrition company is locked in a legal battle with billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who has accused the company of perpetuating a pyramid scheme. Herbalife officials said the company will up their legal defense costs from $25 million to $40 million in the wake of Ackman’s accusations, according to a Los Angeles Times article.

Ackman, who reportedly bet $1 billion the company is a sham, has said most of the company’s sales people lose money and expects the company’s shares to fall to zero.

Read the full article from the Los Angeles Times here.

Food and Drug Administration logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When attorney F. Lee Bailey was indicted for mail fraud in 1973, he quoted a popular aphorism referencing the difference between how England and the U.S. treat their criminal defense lawyers.  “In England they are apt to be knighted; in the United States they are apt to be indicted.”  There is quite a bit of truth in the saying and the dangers inherent in practicing law in the U.S. are not only faced by defense lawyers.  Sensing an opportunity, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently set its sights on corporate in-house counsel.

In November, 2010, Lauren Stevens, a former vice president and general counsel for pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, was indicted on federal charges of making false statements and obstructing a federal investigation.  Stevens was accused of making false and misleading statements in a series of letters to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on behalf of her employer.  Despite it having been obvious from the beginning that Stevens was only relaying information furnished by her client and had no intent or motive to mislead federal investigators, she was enthusiastically pursued by the DOJ.  “Where facts and law allow, the Justice Department will pursue individuals responsible for illegal conduct just as vigorously as we pursue corporations,” Tony West, assistant attorney general for the civil division, said in a statement.  It should be noted that despite the DOJ’s stated commitment to pursue corporations, GlaxoSmithKline’s name was noticeably absent from the Stevens indictment.  West continued, “Criminal charges are appropriate when false statements such as those alleged here are made to the FDA.”

Read the full article here...

The American Bar Association has begun the piecemeal release of its ABA TechReport 2021, which takes a comprehensive look into how lawyers use technology in their everyday practices.

The first segment of the report was released on Wednesday, Nov. 10. In total, the publication will provide observation, analysis and predictions on a number of topics from leaders in the legal tech space, according to the trade association.

The report will be separated into eight different segments with the first portion of the report focusing on cloud computing. One area of particular note is with respect to data protection while engaging with the cloud.

“The 2021 Survey highlights a major concern that, while lawyers talk the talk about security concerns in cloud computing, to a shocking degree they do not walk the walk,” reads the report. “The poor results in the cybersecurity category should be a major concern for the legal profession. If you take only one thing from this TechReport to add to your 2021 technology agenda, it should be to up your game on cloud security, for your sake and, even more so, for the sake of your clients.” 

From Twitter

Digital Legal Lab @SectorplanDLS Nov 6

"There’s still time to submit your abstract for Digital Legal Talks 2021! We welcome published & unpublished work on law & digital technologies from interdisciplinary perspectives. More info & get involved here https://sectorplandls.nl/wordpress/digital-legal-talks-2021/"

Among some of the other topics covered in the report, which was compiled by the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center, include the impact of COVID-19, budget allocations and employee wellness.

For example, according to information in the survey, 26% of respondents reported a decrease in access to print materials as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This decrease was most obvious in firms of 100 or more, as 44% of attorneys in those firms reported a decline in access to print materials. Only 4% of those asked reported an increase in access to print materials, notes the tech resource center.

Further, the report also indicates law firms have increased their attentiveness to technology, and as such are budgeting for it at a higher clip than ever. The report points out 65% of firms are now setting aside funding for technology, while that number was only 62% in 2020, 60% the year before and even lower in 2018. As has been the case traditionally, larger firms tend to be more inclined to budget for technological changes than smaller ones.

According to analysis from technology consulting and research firm Gartner, in-house legal departments have been hesitant to shift toward new technological paradigms like automation, but COVID-19 might have accelerated the need to adopt such changes.

“The new pressures brought about by the coronavirus pandemic certainly have acted as a catalyst for this shift,” said Zack Hutto, a director at Gartner. “Legal and compliance teams have rarely been frontrunners to modernize, digitalize and automate. The pandemic has flattened staffing budgets and increased legal workloads; technology is the most obvious solution for many legal departments.”

From Twitter

MarkUpgrade @markupgrade
"With the pandemic legal companies are seeking more innovation to enhance efficiency and decrease costs, hence turning to technology. Check out the #naming choices of the top players in the #legaltech sector
https://t.co/Xg4fEzAPWL?amp=1"

According to information from the ABA, the remaining segments of the report will be posted on Wednesdays through Dec. 29. The other topics are as follows:

• “Websites & Marketing”
• “Practice Management”
• “Budgeting & Planning”
• “Technology Training”
• “Solo & Small Firm”
• “Cybersecurity”
• “Life & Practice”

There’s no better time than now to sit down and plan for success. Law firms like yours need actionable steps and clear attainable business goals to achieve success and facilitate the growth of your business. 

Download FindLaw’s 2022 Law Firm Business planner today, in digital format.

Established in 2011 with seven staff, California-based employment law firm LightGabler has always been a very “tech-forward” firm — in fact, it has operated entirely paperless since its first day in operation. Today, it has 17 attorneys and a total team of 26 providing day-to-day employment advice and complex litigation counsel (in both federal and state courts) to businesses of all sizes and in all sectors. Since the firm’s inception it has been using ProLaw®, the comprehensive business management solution from Thomson Reuters, hosting it in the cloud.

LightGabler’s founders were already familiar with ProLaw, having used it successfully at the large firm where they previously worked. Running on relatively lean staff numbers, it was important to implement one solution that LightGabler could use for all of its practice management and matter management needs, including billing, timekeeping, accounting, reporting, contacts management, conflicts checks, and document control.

"I wanted a practice management program that can do it all, and I think ProLaw is the leader in that regard"

Jody Toerner, Executive Director

“ProLaw is an all-inclusive option and that’s key for us,” says LightGabler’s Executive Director Jody Toerner, who is responsible for all of the firm’s IT and accounting as well as its general operations. “Whereas some firms are running several different programs at once for different things, we have everything in one place, making it easy to use and saving us time. We don’t need anything else.”

For example, LightGabler uses ProLaw to create a database of contacts that can be seamlessly linked into client matters. It uses it as a virtual filing cabinet for client documents and emails — which is fully searchable — and as a repository for master documents. All pre-bills are edited and invoices tracked through ProLaw. Timekeeping reports can be run, detailing billable time and expenses. Accounting reports are converted into PDF format for review or into Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheets for data manipulation. The firm even cuts all of its checks through ProLaw.

The importance of interconnectivity

Toerner appreciates this wide scope of features and functionality, but just as importantly, she likes how interconnected the different parts of the system are and how they work together as a whole.

“ProLaw has a ton of bells and whistles, and even as an extensive ProLaw user myself, there’s still more to learn,” says Toerner. “That said, it’s so easy and efficient to maneuver around. One of the best things is the ability to “hot-key” directly into specific areas, without having to continually open new windows. So, if I’m in a matter and I want to know what a client owes us, I can just hit the ledger button and see the information instantly. Or a user can hit the timekeeping button and enter billable time from wherever they are in the system or in email. That’s genius.”

The integration between ProLaw and Microsoft Outlook® is one Toerner says is particularly valuable. She explains that attorneys like the ability to save emails into ProLaw, creating real-time visibility on matter status within the system, all the while enabling emails to stay “live” in Outlook so that those conversations with clients and contacts remain open.

With so much functionality available, it’s useful to be able to customize what options are available to users in ProLaw. For instance, LightGabler finds it helpful to minimize the list of fields that attorneys can choose from when managing their matters, so they are only viewing the ones they may need. The firm also implements customized settings around who can access its accounting data for security reasons. Toerner makes the point that it is possible to experiment with customization without fear of inadvertently causing problems that could impair the smooth running of the system.

"Being able to access such a comprehensive system from anywhere, on any device, is a huge benefit."

Jody Toerner

Talking in the cloud

Interconnectivity and integration also matter greatly when it comes to operating ProLaw in the cloud. Streamlined, remote accessibility allows attorneys to view documents and work on matters in ProLaw from anywhere, at any time, from any device. This “talking in the cloud,” as Toerner calls it, had always mattered to LightGabler, but it took on new meaning when the coronavirus pandemic hit, forcing firms to shift to remote working. Having ProLaw in the cloud meant that LightGabler was well positioned when this happened: its attorneys were already working this way; now paralegals and support staff also started to access ProLaw remotely.

“We’ve been very busy since the start of COVID-19, but we’ve had no downtime at all in terms of our ability to provide services to clients, because we had ProLaw set up in the cloud,” says Toerner. “I know that some other firms that hadn’t taken the leap into the cloud have really struggled.”

When the firm moved its cloud hosting provision to LevelCloud, with whom ProLaw has partnered since 2019, Toerner describes this as a game-changing moment. Its seamless integration with ProLaw was the main motivation for LightGabler to move from its previous cloud-hosting provider to LevelCloud. “I was thrilled when ProLaw opened the gates to LevelCloud to enable their servers to work together. We switched to LevelCloud and haven’t looked back,” she says.

Another reason for LightGabler’s choice of LevelCloud was that it wanted a private cloud-hosting solution, rather than being on a shared server with other firms. Toerner feels totally secure with having all of the firm’s files in the cloud. She notes that other firms are likely to have to follow suit sooner or later, given that “this is the way the world is moving.”

As proof of the power of such a shift, Toerner points out that her firm comprises users aged between 25 and 81 — and that the eldest is one of the solution’s biggest proponents. “Younger staff are great at coming up with ideas and questions about what ProLaw can do, and our 81-year-old attorney raves about it,” says Toerner. She understands technology can sometimes be a source of frustration in law firms if it fails to help attorneys operate more efficiently and effectively, but Toerner has no such concerns here. Overall, users seem very satisfied with ProLaw being hosted in LevelCloud.

Cost-effective systems and support

Having ProLaw hosted in the cloud removes the need for costly in-house servers or IT support, saving the firm tens of thousands of dollars per year. “When you map out all the costs involved in having local servers and IT support — and in running a variety of programs for different needs, like timekeeping and contacts management — there are huge cost savings to be made from having one externally maintained, all-inclusive program and one vendor,” says Toerner. ProLaw does all the software updates and maintenance and Toerner has one direct contact at LevelCloud who liaises with ProLaw to troubleshoot any back-end issues that arise.

That takes a huge amount of pressure off Toerner personally in terms of ensuring the firm’s critical technologies are well supported. As well as saving on costs and complexity, using an external hosting provider means that, rather than just having one internal member of support staff available to help a large group of users, the firm can have several specialists advising individuals all at the same time.

Training is relatively straightforward and is conducted internally by Toerner herself, who estimates that most people become fully comfortable with using it within a month. “It’s easy to teach people how to use ProLaw, and once they get going, they’re fine,” she says. “Most people wouldn’t want to go back to a paper-based system, and I certainly wouldn’t. We want to move with the times, and ProLaw enables us to do that. I’d recommend it for sure.”

LightGabler’s future plans for using ProLaw even more extensively include increasing the amount of report customization it undertakes and using the document assembly tool, which is the only component of ProLaw that the firm does not currently deploy. “Being able to click on a couple of buttons in ProLaw to create a template letter, for example, that can just be filled in — that would be a major time saver for us,” says Toerner. “We do everything else in ProLaw, that’s all that’s left.” 

LightGabler

LightGabler advises businesses across California on employment issues, employment and business litigation (including complex class, collective, and representative actions), intellectual property, and unfair competition. Its offices are in Camarillo in Ventura County.

Business challenges

Operating a paperless office, LightGabler needed a holistic solution that could meet all of its practice management needs, but one that worked effectively and efficiently in the cloud, enabling anywhere, anytime accessibility.

Why ProLaw

ProLaw delivers a comprehensive array of features and functionality all in one place. Critically, everything works together smoothly, with users able to “hot-key” quickly to different areas of the system. Its seamless integration with Microsoft Outlook and LevelCloud was another major plus.

Benefits

• All-in-one solution with extensive features and functionality
• Fast, efficient maneuverability around the program
• Makes processes like timekeeping and billing easy
• Interconnects with Microsoft Outlook and cloud-based service providers
• Remote accessibility, with no need for internal servers or IT support

Civil litigation firm Case Linden PC has been making a name for itself representing businesses, executives, and professionals in U.S. state and federal courts since 2001. With a team of 22, including 10 attorneys covering a two-state area (Kansas and Missouri), the firm is a boutique with a big impact and counts top insurance companies among its clients. From its original focus on employment litigation, it has grown in size and scope to provide expertise on a range of other claims, from personal injury and wrongful death to toxic exposure.

Business challenges

The firm wanted to create efficiency gains and enhance client service in an area of law governed by strict deadlines and highly specific client requirements. It needed a holistic solution to stay ahead of the game and be nimbler in responding to clients’ needs. And, it needed a solution designed with the “firm of the future” in mind.

Why ProLaw

ProLaw offered the full range of functionality Case Linden required, with significant scope for customization to the firm’s and clients’ exact needs. The firm was confident in the Thomson Reuters brand and the level of investment and insight that had gone into developing the solution as well as the prospects for ongoing support and future enhancements.

Technology as a Team Player

This is a firm for whom technology is not merely a tool, but an integral part of the team. Rather than viewing tech investments purely in terms of cost, the value they can deliver is top of mind: Case Linden sees the role of well-designed tech solutions no less than that of professional staff members.

"We have clients that provide us accolades all the time, and I know those are directly linked back to some of the functionality of ProLaw."

John Travers, Case Linden

This is certainly the case when it comes to ProLaw®, the comprehensive business management solution from Thomson Reuters, which comprises case/matter management, time entry, billing, accounting capabilities, and more. The firm has been using it since 2007.

The rationale for selecting ProLaw was simple yet ambitious. The firm was looking for a solution that could increase efficiency and effectiveness while elevating the firm’s practice to exceed client expectations and compete with larger firms, as well as support its growth.

Working smarter

To John Travers, controller operations manager for Case Linden, who had been used to working via shared systems in his previous role at a leading global consultancy firm, efficiency and effectiveness in practice meant working smarter, with better oversight, consistency, and control. ProLaw has not disappointed and continues to impress. As Travers explains, “We chose ProLaw because it was best in breed at the time, and it still is.”

John Travers says that ProLaw has fundamentally changed the way the firm operates for the better—so much so that it has become a core feature in shaping the firm’s culture. Crucially, it has enabled teams to become more collaborative, which feeds directly into the efficiency and effectiveness agenda.

With ProLaw, having a central repository of real-time client and matter information that is easily accessible to everyone enables attorneys to do their jobs better and helps build a common language in how matters are dealt with.

This environment enables Case Linden to leverage its expertise. Thanks to the easy-to-search records, archives, and legal documents, attorneys can get up to speed quickly when taking on new cases. They can learn from past firm work instead of reinventing the wheel, and new staff can rapidly gain insight into the workings of the firm.

A major factor behind this cultural shift is that, like other solutions the firm uses from Thomson Reuters such as Westlaw® and eDiscoveryPoint™, ProLaw is built with a clear understanding of the market and the specific requirements of end users in mind. Travers comments, “That comes from a lot of investment and research, highlighting how important it is to work with a partner like Thomson Reuters that is well established, fully entrenched in that conversation, and forward thinking. That’s vital when selecting a product that is going to be the infrastructure for your organization.”

Critical infrastructure

The result of this deep legal sector knowledge is what Travers describes as the uniquely rich feature set in ProLaw. Having reviewed many other systems on the market, the firm has failed to find another solution that addresses all its various requirements like ProLaw does.

“We are still finding ways to extend and capitalize on that investment in ways we could never have imagined,” he says. “It has deep and robust functionality. Every single feature we looked at with ProLaw was important, be it docketing, document assembly, e-billing, contact integration, or record keeping. But the way it all works together in one place under one umbrella application is critical.”

ProLaw may be sophisticated enough to meet very complex needs, but it is not complicated to use. According to Travers: “Our end users rave about ProLaw. Former employees always report back and lament how much they miss it!” Case Linden found the initial implementation and data conversion very smooth, and that experience has been replicated with every upgrade since.

One example of how ProLaw makes attorney’s lives easier is the Full Text Indexing feature, which allows for powerful, intuitive content searching within documents. Another is its Pro Filing feature, which integrates with Microsoft® Outlook® to streamline email management. This allows users that receive (and send) large volumes of digital information to manage it effectively, such as by automatically saving copies of emails or attachments into appropriate folders. It even allows simultaneous automatic time entry.

Its mobile functionality also opens up new possibilities for delivering client service and managing professionals’ work/life balance alike. Enabling attorneys to access documents in court, at home, or even on vacation helps them do a better job in more flexible ways, which is essential as remote working takes off.

In fact, Case Linden has been using ProLaw remotely since its implementation. This meant that when staff went into lockdown due to Covid-19, the firm could seamlessly maintain business as usual. Travers is keenly aware of how vital that business continuity was to the firm.

"ProLaw is unique compared to other systems—its feature set is very rich. We are still finding ways to capitalize on that investment in ways we could never have imagined."

John Travers

Tailored tools

The extensive functionality of ProLaw has the added benefit of being customizable, and this was a major selling point. One standout example is the way in which Case Linden has been able to develop its own internal docketing system within its workflow using the ProLaw docketing feature.

Litigation is an area of law in which there are often strict, specific deadlines and reporting requirements that are ­­­imposed either by the court or by clients. Therefore, tailored tools that facilitate meeting those needs can make a big difference to both case management and client satisfaction.

Likewise, Travers adds that ProLaw can be molded to fit a firm’s specific data storage needs, creating custom tabs to determine how data should be stored and presented in the way that users want to see it. As he points out: “Most applications don’t allow you to add database fields like that. The ability to customize ProLaw is tremendous.”

The customization list goes on: Travers also cites the fact that the application is extremely versatile in allowing the creation of custom e-bills related to each client. This matters significantly, given that they do not all want billing information delivered in the same format, nor do they use the same billing codes.

The firm uses ProLaw to tailor how it reports its activity to clients while adhering to stringent billing guidelines. Making those routine—yet important—processes more accurate and streamlined truly creates efficiencies that improve client service and equates to savings for clients.

“When you have a client say to you: ‘How do you do this so quickly? How are you able to consistently provide me with the information I need so seamlessly?’ That’s an unquestionable return on investment in a professional services organization,” says Travers. “Clients are constantly evaluating the quality and efficiency of the service they are getting. The longer a legal file is open, the more expensive it is. So, if we can make them look good by managing their litigation more swiftly and successfully, they recognize and reward it in repeat work and referrals.”

He makes a direct correlation between ROI for ProLaw and the firm’s success. “We’ve tripled in size since implementation, and there’s no doubt in my mind that ProLaw has been instrumental in that growth. It helps us enhance service quality because our attorneys can focus on delivering excellent work without friction or distraction. We have clients that provide us accolades all the time, and I know those are directly linked back to some of the functionality of ProLaw.”

Achieving future goals

Now that ProLaw has enabled the firm to become more efficient and cohesive, helping it to expand, Travers is confident that it has what it takes to help Case Linden achieve its future goals, too. He envisions the ability to mine their own data­­­­­­­­­­­—accessing it, analyzing it, and taking action accordingly—will be key for firms in the years ahead. The architecture of ProLaw already allows firms to do this effectively, and it is a key focus area for ongoing expansion and enhancements.

He argues that, when investing in a solution that is going to play a major role in the firm’s future, it is important to choose a partner who is going to back that product for the long term. This means not only in terms of ongoing support so that it keeps working well, but how in touch they are with the market, continuously developing the product so it delivers the functionality firms need to serve clients.

“We chose ProLaw because it spoke to all aspects of our needs and because Thomson Reuters backs it. We love it, and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it,” says Travers.

ProLaw has changed our firm by helping to create a common culture and raising the professionalism of our practice. It’s also perfectly positioned to help us meet our future goals.

John Travers

Lasting Benefits of ProLaw

• Practicality – delivers easy-to-access, real-time information all in one place
• Unique set of features with rich, robust functionality, including powerful search tools
• Significant scope for customization to meet wide-ranging needs
• Easy implementation and seamless upgrades
• Delivers major efficiency gains on routine tasks
• Freedom to access information anywhere, anytime via mobile devices

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the landmark federal legislation that shaped gender equality law for the last five decades in the U.S., turned 50 last week. Legal scholars, education experts and athletes reflected on the impact of the law and considered what else can be done to improve equality in the U.S.

To that end, the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) celebrated the milestone in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and the Democratic Women’s Caucus with a series of events, including a STEM field day and discussion on Capitol Hill. “It’s great to see everyone celebrating this essential legislation and the progress made over the last 50 years, yet we cannot take Title IX for granted,” said Danette Leighton, WSF CEO. “As transformational as the law has been, the full promise of Title IX has not yet been met for many girls and women across our nation; we still have work to do.”

According to Title IX for All, since 1990 there have been 781 lawsuits filed by individuals who felt their rights were infringed upon during investigations related to Title IX complaints. Ahead of the anniversary, the WSF issued a report entitled “50 Years of Title IX: We’re Not Done Yet,” which outlines the group’s legislative agenda and highlights areas where it sees opportunities to strengthen the law.

One area that could use some improvement, notes WSF, is with respect to young girls’ participation in sports prior to college. According to the advocacy organization, the report indicates even though girls’ high school sports participation is up twelvefold since 1972, girls today still lag where their male counterparts were at the time the law was passed. The number of boys playing high school sports in 1972 pushed past 3.6 million, compared to the 3.4 million girls playing today. Further, female participation falls well shy of the 4.5 million boys playing presently, it adds.

“Through the lens of the past 50 years, the full power of Title IX will not be realized without recognizing that not all girls and women, as well as individuals whose gender identity does not conform to Title IX’s implicit and explicit gender binary, have benefited from the legislation or been well-served by it,” continues the report.

According to WSF, there are still gaps in the law with respect to Black, Latinx, Asian, Indigenous and other female athletes of color facing obstacles to participation. These challenges extend to the LGBTQ+ community as well as female athletes dealing with disabilities. “It’s vital for everyone–especially younger generations–to understand their rights to equal access and opportunity. That’s at the heart of this important law, which needs to be fully enforced and protected to reach equity,” Leighton said.

From Twitter 

The Recount @therecount

“It’s not just about sports … it’s not just about education, Title IX is about who we are as a nation.” — First Lady Jill Biden and tennis legend Billie Jean King ahead of the 50th anniversary of Title IX on Thursday https://twitter.com/i/status/1539670954988773382"

Recommendations from the group to strengthen Title IX and improve the scope of the law’s protections include:

• Continuing to fund the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the U.S. Department of Education so it can “expand its efforts to enforce Title IX and shorten the investigation and resolution timeline for all reviews;”
• Initiating proactive reviews for more institutions and offering guidance related to questions about enforcement;
• Passing the “Patsy T. Mink and Louise M. Slaughter Gender Equity in Education Act of 2021,” which recognizes the need for more training, resources and technical assistance to schools;
• Ending the “contact sports exemption,” which WSF says “denies girls and women the opportunity to try out for some teams otherwise designated for boys and men.”
• Reassessing Title IX’s applicability to intramurals, club sports and recreation programs.

“As a collegiate student-athlete, I know first-hand the power of Title IX–I benefitted greatly from it,” said Meghan Duggan, WSF president and U.S. Women’s Hockey Team Olympic medalist. “The opportunity to play, challenge myself, master new skills and excel, created a powerful foundation for my career both on and off the ice. I want every girl to have that same opportunity to unlock her own possibilities. Ensuring Title IX stays strong is important for everyone.”

Three Yale Law School professors who have done extensive research on gun violence have called for a refocusing on the issue in light of the horrific mass shooting that took place last month in Uvalde, Texas.

The legal scholars, Ian Ayres, Abbe Gluck and Tracey Meares, who recently worked together on an issue of The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics entitled “Gun Violence in America: An Interdisciplinary Examination,” each weighed in with their thoughts about legislative and legal solutions to gun violence in the U.S., according to an announcement from the law school.

Ayres is the Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professor at Yale Law School and a professor at the Yale School of Management. He is advocating for a “decentralized, libertarian approach” to combat gun deaths and recently co-authored a book detailing what that might look like.

“Traditional gun control is top-down state control. The government decides which guns and people should be restricted, then attempts to enforce these restrictions,” said Ayres. “Our book’s proposals instead empower people. It first searches for individual members of society who have sufficient information and incentives to take action to reduce gun violence. It then tries to give these decentralized actors new actions that they can take. Instead of imposing one-size-fits-all rules on society, it gives individuals the liberty to reduce the risk of gun violence.”

One such way this could be accomplished is through the adoption of a new proposal known as Donna’s Law. Under this plan, individuals would be empowered “to temporarily suspend their ability to purchase and possess firearms.”

“Prior research demonstrates that even a short delay in gun acquisition can reduce suicide, and a large percentage of the population would self-restrict in this manner,” Ayres said.

From Twitter 

Rep. Mary Miller @RepMaryMiller Jun 12

"I will vote against the Biden-Schumer gun confiscation legislation, which includes red flag gun confiscation that violates the Second Amendment rights of my constituents."

Recently, a version of this legislation was introduced in Louisiana by state Sen. Jimmy Harris. The “Louisiana Voluntary Do Not Sell List” was originally proposed in 2019 as HB No. 101, and Ayres notes several states have either proposed or enacted similar legislation.

According to a website dedicated to the bill’s passage, the Louisiana bill is named after Donna Nathan, who killed herself with a handgun she purchased despite having required inpatient mental health services. “Donna’s Law is a voluntary self-registry prohibition to gun sales for those who choose to create self-defense against suicide. If one chooses to reverse their registration, they would be given a waiting period of a couple weeks,” reads the website. “While this won’t prevent every suicide, it could have prevented many others.”

Ayres also points out private businesses can also help reduce gun violence by voluntarily enacting policies outside what is mandated by law. For example, in 1994 Walmart opted to stop selling handguns. Ayres argues this policy “robustly reduced the number of suicides in affected counties.”

From Twitter

Occupy Democrats @OccupyDemocrats Jun 11

"BREAKING: Thousands of Americans gather on the National Mall for the 'March for Our Lives' rally against gun violence, joining their voices to call for lifesaving gun reform laws. RT IF YOU SUPPORT NEW GUN LAWS!"

Gluck, who is the Alfred M. Rankin Professor of Law, faculty director of the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School and a professor of internal medicine at Yale Medical School, addressed the value of litigation victims and families have brought against gun manufacturers in the broader context of solving gun violence.

“As we have seen in contexts from tobacco to opioids, litigation can be a powerful tool in galvanizing the regulatory response necessary to address a public health crisis,” Gluck said. “Litigation can increase the salience of a public health issue, elicit closely guarded information to move public opinion, and prompt legislative action. When it comes to suits against gun violence, however, litigation has faced significant and unusual obstacles—but the tide may be turning.”

Among some other relevant developments Gluck pointed to include the 2020 congressional authorization of $25 million for gun violence research, which was largely blocked until recently, and the newly discovered cracks in the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which provides general immunity for manufacturers. Despite those protections, though, victims of the devastating Newtown, Conn., shooting won a $73 million settlement after alleging certain marketing tactics violated state law.

Meares, the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor and a Founding Director of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School, said she is focusing her research on the relationship between law enforcement, shooting victims and their families. She also pointed to a law in Connecticut that addresses risk factors for gun owners.

“For too long and much too often, the response by some to mass shootings has been to answer gun violence with more guns and to claim that the best response to shootings is a reactive strategy that prioritizes law enforcers with higher powered guns than those used by shooters,” Meares said. “Research has long demonstrated that access to guns makes people in their homes less safe—especially from suicide-based gun violence. Red-flag laws can help as well.”

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been forced to address a “dramatic” surge in cybercrime from bad actors spanning the globe, and it has called upon its allies abroad and the private sector back home to help it combat the spike.

To that end, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen provided an update on U.S. efforts to combat cybercrime while speaking at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence at the 14th International Conference on Cyber Conflict (CyCon 2022) held in Tallinn, Estonia. He also called upon allied states to strengthen their partnerships with the U.S. and one another. Specifically, he pointed to trade remedies, sanctions and diplomatic efforts, along with other traditional law enforcement strategies, as key tools to address these issues.

“Today, many of our gravest national security threats manifest in cyberspace,” Olsen said. “The National Security Division is responsible for going after malicious cyber activity by nation-state actors and their proxies. This is an area where we have seen a dramatic increase in the complexity and intensity of threats.”

Appropriately, the theme of CyCon 2022 was “Keep Moving,” something law enforcement and prosecutors will have to do in a multitude of ways. “If taken figuratively, the discussion will revolve around challenges posed by constant evolution of technologies and threats, and ways of formulating and coordinating our response,” according to the event's organizers. “In the literary sense, we are interested in cyber security of transportation and supply chain, military mobility or autonomous technologies and automation.”

Olsen warned of specific threats coming from adversarial nations like Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, with extra emphasis on the former. Those threats include stealing intellectual property, trade secrets and technology, exerting malicious influence over democratic processes, attacking critical infrastructure and harboring information on U.S. citizens.

“Our strategy is to use all the legal tools and authorities we have available. One of our core authorities is the enforcement of U.S. criminal laws and we continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute individuals for malicious cyber activity,” Olsen said. “We do this because it is essential to hold these individuals accountable, and because it is one way we can inform the public about the nature of the threats we face.”

For example, the DOJ announced charges earlier this year against a cohort of Russian nationals suspected to be working with their government to threaten energy infrastructure in the U.S. over a period of several years between 2012 and 2018. Another case alleges a Russian national and military research institute member attempted to hack an industrial control system in the U.S. and abroad. “The goal was to physically damage the safety functions of these systems,” Olsen said.

Olsen emphasized the importance of cooperation when combating these threats, as well as employing a diverse array of anti-cybercrime tactics. Prosecutions, for example, are only a part of what the DOJ toolbox has inside. “This is why even where arrest is unlikely, the department prioritizes the disruption of criminal activity that poses a threat to national security through other legal tools like search and seizure,” Olsen said. “Recently, DOJ has taken more proactive steps to disrupt nation-state cyber threats before a significant attack or intrusion can occur and using tools beyond traditional criminal charges.”

A pair of Texas lawyers and a trio of law firms providing humanitarian aid are among the 2022 winners of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Pro Bono Publico Award, given each year to lawyers, law firms and legal institutions serving the nation’s disadvantaged and poor.

This year’s winners are:

• Maddy Dwertman, senior associate at Baker Botts LLP in Austin
• Mark Melton, partner at Holland & Knight LLP in Dallas
• Law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
• Law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
• Law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

“These services are of critical importance to the increasing number of people in this country living in a state of poverty who need legal representation to improve their lives,” notes the trade group.

The awardees will be honored at the ABA annual meeting set to take place between Wednesday, Aug. 3 and Thursday, Aug. 9, in Chicago. A presentation for the winners will take place Friday, Aug. 5 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. CST.

“Since 2018, Dwertman has provided volunteer pro bono services for American Gateways, a central Texas nonprofit whose mission is to champion the dignity and human rights of immigrants, refugees and survivors of persecution, torture, conflict and human trafficking,” according to the ABA. “In the past [two and a half] years alone, Dwertman has donated more than 865 pro bono hours, 320 of them during the pandemic year of 2021.”

According to her nominating paperwork, Dwertman was credited as being “a tireless pro bono advocate … [who] has had immense positive impact on the low-income communities that American Gateways serves.”

From Twitter

Community Legal Aid @Cmty_Legal_Aid May 31

"The 2021 Annual Report, new Pro Bono opportunities, the Worcester office move, and more! Community Legal Aid’s May Newsletter is OUT NOW! https://communitylegal.org/justice-matters-community-legal-aid-news-may-2022/"

Melton was recognized for his work setting up a new non-profit that has aided more than 10,000 Dallas tenants over the last two years. “When COVID-19 first began, Melton realized evictions would be a major issue during the pandemic. He recruited more than 250 Dallas lawyers to help tenants navigate the complex legal process of eviction. Under Melton’s leadership, and after more than 2,500 hours of his own pro bono work, the ad hoc, pro bono project has grown into a nonprofit called the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center,” according to the ABA.

From Twitter

Pryor Cashman @PryorCashman

"The @ABAesq Pro Bono Exchange featured Jamie Brickell, a partner in Pryor Cashman’s #Litigation Group, and the firm’s #ProBono work on behalf of the Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Consortium (@PrecedeStudy) at @nyulangone https://www.pryorcashman.com/news/aba-spotlights-pryor-cashman-pro-bono-efforts-for-precede"

According to the announcement, Akin Gump was recognized for, among other things, its work with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals applicants and Afghans seeking humanitarian parole.

Additionally, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP was also recognized for its work with Afghans through the creation of the Afghanistan Refugee Assistance Task Force as well as its prolific disaster relief efforts and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati was recognized for its work with both Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.