by Felicien | Sep 24, 2018 | Education
The mission statement for Clio is, “Transform the practice of law, for good.” Clio is arguably the leader in legal case and practice management software, but this motto is being echoed throughout the legal sector.
Lawyers have existed almost as long as mankind itself. For centuries, the profession has been known as an institution with a long and seemingly conservative tradition. Gradually, this is changing. Contemporary law firms are now using their intuitive understanding of business to influence technical innovation. This will greatly affect how legal companies behave in the future.
Why Are Law Firms Transforming?
As legal clients evolve, so do their expectations. Convenient solutions and immediate responses have become the norm in many sectors. Law firms have been encouraged to keep up, catch up, or be left behind. As the market for legal services changes, companies that provide efficient solutions will increasingly fill the void.
According to a study by the Georgetown Center for the Study of the Legal Profession, advancing technology will threaten law firms. It will allow clients to receive more complex advice from alternative providers than traditional firms generally offer. By investing in technology, legal companies are attempting to avoid this, and/or benefit from it. Additionally, they have a few things that make them particularly qualified. Things that most startup companies do not have, such as:
Access to loyal clients
Knowledge of legal industry needs
Resources
Skilled paralegals and assistants
Investing in technology is a response to the realization that they are uniquely positioned to capitalize on these developments.
Why Is the U.K. Leading the Way in Legal IT?
The U.S. has “Public Access to Court Electronic Records” (PACER). This provides nationwide, online access to U.S. Appellate, Bankruptcy, and District court documents and records. Most countries are not as transparent.
Without that system at their disposal, many U.K. firms have been developing their own systems for data analytics. This pushes them ahead of many U.S. firms in innovating and implementing technology.
What In-House IT Is Being Developed?
The recent trend has been for firms to develop IT solutions that focus on specific processes or that assess how the firm operates. These are used in-house to benefit the clients. They include technologies that track metrics to predict client retention or track employment disputes. Another example is the implementation of data management systems that integrate documents, records, and communication onto one platform.
Other innovative firms have built platforms like Pinpoint IP or Sentinel IP, which are patent analysis, management, and monitoring tools for intellectual property. These not only assess how a client’s portfolio compares to his or her competitors but also provides alerts if the patent is infringed upon.
Many new companies are unable to afford attorneys. Newly created records database tools provide a free online database of useful documents to assist young startup companies. These are just a few of the in-house IT solutions being developed.
How Are Law Firms Becoming Incubators?
It truly is a time of innovation in the legal sector. As some firms are developing specific technical products to benefit their sphere of influence, others are reaching higher. Through incubators, law firms are directing the creation and development of technology. Two of the largest and most influential incubators are Fuse and Nextlaw.
Fuse was launched by the U.K. firm of Allen & Overy. In addition to providing access to cutting-edge technologies, Fuse was developed to promote a “tech-focused mindset” in its lawyers. The first of its eight startups was Nivaura. Its platform streamlines the distribution and administration of financial tools through blockchain technology. Fuse’s other original startups include:
Avvoka
Corlytics
Ithaca
iManage
Legatics
Opus 2 International
Vable
Fuse’s second cohort also includes Bloomsbury AI, Kira Systems, Neota Logic, Regnosys, and Signal Media. Nivaura team members are entrepreneurs-in-residence. They share business experience and advice to help guide the other companies in the incubator space.
The Dentons law firm has the most well-known innovators of this kind. It is responsible for the incubator Nextlaw Labs and its investment vehicle Nextlaw Ventures. Its 10 current startups include the following:
Apperio
Beagle
Clause
Doxly
FileFacets
Hire an Squire
Libryo
ProFinda
Qualmet
Ross
Previously, legal technology was created by individuals unfamiliar with the needs and intricacies of the legal sector. By having attorneys work directly with the IT startup companies, the resulting technology is built to specifically address those needs.
In Conclusion
In the 21st century, the demand for tech is radically changing what it means to be a law firm.
In-house innovation and legal tech incubators are increasing in number. Some law firms are even looking toward expanding innovation outward. The push to develop better IT solutions for the legal industry has been almost overwhelming. Having attorneys lead the way is vital to the future of the field.
“We’re not in this for technology’s sake,” stated chairman of Fuse and partner at Allen & Overy, Jonathan Brayne. “We’re in this to solve problems.”
by Felicien | Sep 22, 2018 | Education
We’re Thinking Of You.
We hope you, your family and staff are all okay after the tornado that hit Ottawa/Gatineau last night. Our thoughts are with you if you’ve suffered any damage or tragedies.
If so, you’re probably overwhelmed with responsibilities. After ensuring that your family, friends, and staff are safe, you may need to deal with property damage. For this reason, we’ve included a list of tips that might come in handy to help you get your business back up and running.
Be careful during any cleanup – wear thick-soled shoes, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and work gloves before entering your property.
Save phone calls for emergencies as service may be limited. Use text messaging instead.
Don’t enter damaged buildings until they’ve been deemed safe to enter by local authorities.
Exercise extreme caution when walking through the damaged property. Avoid electrical wires that may be strewn about.
Don’t use any spark-producing equipment and don’t smoke as there may be flammable gasses or liquids in the area.
Don’t turn on any utilities without coordinating with your utility companies.
Take photographs and videos of any damage and make a list of materials and labour you use to repair your property for insurance purposes.
Request an advance payment from your insurance company to help you resume business operations.
Track the hours your employees work to mitigate damage as opposed to their normal duties for insurance purposes.
Contact government agencies for assistance and inform them if you will be undertaking any major restoration plans.
Notify your clients, vendors and other business associates of your circumstances and maintain transparency as you restore operations to their fullest.
by Felicien | Sep 21, 2018 | Education
According to Statista, there were 184 million ransomware attacks in 2017 and the average ransomware demand is over $1,000. Individuals, organizations, and companies have fallen victim to these attacks. Most people recognize the fact that ransomware is a danger, but they may not realize that it can actually destroy their company. The recent closure of Colorado Timberline after a ransomware attack is a solemn reminder of the seriousness of the dangers of ransomware.
What Happened to Colorado Timberline?
Colorado Timberline, a printing company in Denver, was forced to cease operations for an unspecified amount of time after a severe cyber attack. A statement on their website dated September 12th stated that they had been the victim of several recent cyber attacks, but the last – a ransomware attack – was something they would not be able to immediately recover from. The page that contained this statement no longer exists, but a similar statement was posted on their Facebook page:
Dear valued customers and suppliers of Colorado Timberline;
It is with great difficulty and a heavy heart that we must inform you that effective immediately Colorado Timberline has ceased all operations indefinitely.
We have recently been plagued by several IT events, unfortunately, we were unable to overcome the most recent Ransomware attack and as a result, this unfortunate and difficult decision was made.
We greatly appreciate the support and loyalty from each of you over the years.
Management of Colorado Timberline
Their Facebook page now lists them as permanently closed.
What Happened in the Ransomware Attack?
The data locker ransomware attack took place on the evening of August 14. The ransomware accessed their database server and encrypted the files it contained.
The issue that Colorado Timberline ran into, according to an explanatory post for their customers via their Facebook page, was that the hackers insisted that physical access to their files was necessary in order to obtain the encryption key even if the ransom were paid.
Colorado Timberline explained that it was not a matter of paying the ransom, but granting the hackers further access to their data was their greatest concern. Instead, they opted to make use of their data backups to restore the system and had their IT staff doing their best to extract as much data as possible from the encrypted database server.
This was not the first cyberattack that this company suffered, nor was it their last. Their Facebook page also indicated some issues on August 20th that had brought down both their website and phone lines.
As of September 12th, the doors at its physical location had been locked and closure announcements were posted in both English and Spanish. In an unusual twist, they had apparently just launched a new website tool for orders the day before the close was announced.
About Colorado Timberline
Colorado Timberline’s LinkedIn Page indicates that they had between 200 and 500 employees and that they had been in business for five years. They specialized in printing, including vinyl, apparel, banners, glass etching, and large format applications. In 2017 they were acquired by two out-of-state companies and their owner left in May. What impact that may have had on the decision to cease operations is not known.
How Data Locker Ransomware Works
Data locker ransomware malware (also known as a crypto ransomware) gains access to a computer, then it begins to search through the file system to find data that would be of value to the victim. It stays hidden as it both searches for this data then encrypts it.
Once the encryption is complete, the malware alerts the user with a message announcing that data has been taken hostage and encrypted. It will indicate how the ransom is to be paid (usually in a type of cryptocurrency, ironically) and how long before the decryption key is destroyed and the data rendered useless.
The Dangers of Ransomware
Even if a business or organization does have a backup of the data that has been taken hostage, they most likely have not tested the backup system to be sure that it works. Furthermore, any delay in getting systems back on line can quickly cost money in terms of sales as well as potential customers. If word gets out that a company has fallen victim to a cyberattack, it can negatively impact their reputation. Customers are naturally reluctant to risk sharing their financial data with a company that has been compromised in the past.
Conclusion
The first wave of modern ransomware attacks began to take place in 2015, according to “The Evolution of Ransomware” published by Symantec. The history of ransomware, however, can be traced back to 1989 where the first target was healthcare data systems. Now any company with valuable data is a target for attack. And, as with any type of hacking activity, the methods for infecting a computer with ransomware are continually evolving and improving. It is important for every business and organization, small or large, to make sure their cybersecurity systems are powerful enough to protect them and up-to-date against the latest threats.
by Felicien | Sep 21, 2018 | Education
LinkedIn is, as I’m sure you’re well aware, a hugely popular social media platform for professionals in a wide range of industries. The site allows for fantastic networking opportunities and gives you a place to get yourself, your business, and your skills out there for potential clients, partners, or employers to find.
Are You Using Your LinkedIn Profile To Its Full Potential?
LinkedIn is, as I’m sure you’re well aware, a hugely popular social media platform for professionals in a wide range of industries. The site allows for fantastic networking opportunities and gives you a place to get yourself, your business, and your skills out there for potential clients, partners, or employers to find.
By following these three easy tips, you can get even more out of the platform by improving your overall skills with LinkedIn.
Tip 1 – Change How Your Profile Is Viewed
Not everything in your LinkedIn profile needs to be visible to everyone who visits your page. Much like the privacy controls on Facebook, you can easily change how your networking and profile information is viewed. Start by clicking on the ‘Me’ icon at the top of the page, then select ‘Settings and Privacy.’ Click on the privacy tab and you’ll see more than half a dozen options for changing who can see what information about you. You’ll also see other privacy-related settings that are customizable. Take a moment to go through these settings and adjust them to suit your preferences.
Tip 2 – View Your Post Statistics
Sharing content to your page is a common use of the LinkedIn platform. If you’ve ever posted an article or video to LinkedIn, you can see specific demographics about your readers or viewers that can give you a better idea of who you’re reaching. To view these stats, click on ‘Me,’ then select ‘View Profile’ and scroll down the page until you see the ‘My Dashboard’ section. Click on ‘Post Views’ and then click the ‘Posts’ tab.
On this page, scroll down to the post you want to view the stats for and you’ll see the view count displayed in the lower left corner of the entry next to a small graph icon. Click on the text next to the graph and the stats of your readers or viewers will be displayed, broken down into company, title, and location. At a glance, you can see who your primary audience is made up of. This is a great way to find out if the content you’re sharing is attracting the demographics you were hoping to reach.
Tip 3 – Use Boolean Search Terms
LinkedIn allows for the use of Boolean search parameters, giving you the ability to filter your searches more specifically to find exactly what you’re looking for. You can do this by adding or eliminating elements from the search parameters. Let’s say for example you wanted to find someone who is an expert in presentation design. If you use that as a key term in your search, your search results would show anyone who had the words presentation and design in their profile, even if the two words were located separately on their page. By adding quotes around “presentation design,” your search results would only list those that had the two words together. Quotations only need to be used when using multiple word-search terms.
Another example could be if you wanted to find someone that has expertise in both infographics and presentation design. This time, you would type in infographics AND presentation design. By adding the AND qualifier, you group those two terms together ensuring that you see more relevant results.
Some other Boolean search parameters you can use for more targeted searches include the qualifier OR, which separates one or more search terms such as “Vice President” OR VP OR “V.P.” OR SVP OR EVP.
Parenthetical searches allow for more complex searches by combining terms and qualifiers using parentheses, such as design AND (graphic OR presentation) or (copyediting OR “copy editor”). The NOT qualifier allows you to do a search that excludes specific parameters, for example, VP NOT director or the more complex (Google OR Salesforce) NOT LinkedIn. A few small tweaks to the way you conduct searches can give you much better results in much less time.
Your LinkedIn profile is a powerful professional tool when wielded properly. There is a lot more you can learn just by exploring both your page and the site itself that can help you do even more with your account, but mastering the basics and learning a few cool tricks is a great way to start.
Ready to learn even more about how you can use this networking and social media platform in new and exciting ways?
by Felicien | Sep 21, 2018 | Education
Microsoft Office, the software suite that gave us that blueprint for all other word processing software, Word, has gone to the Cloud. Office 365 (O365) offers a cloud-based alternative to the desktop Microsoft Office 2016. There are plans available for limited home or personal use, or professional business use. But the best part is the free educational version: Office 365 for Education.
What Is It?
A collection of the most used Office 365 applications completely free for education employees and students.
Includes:
Word
Excel
PowerPoint
OneNote
Yammer
SharePoint
Who’s Able To Use It?
Anyone with a current affiliation with an educational institution: faculty, staff, and students.
Eligibility
Must be enrolled in or working for a school. Anyone with a school-based email that can receive messages may subscribe for free. Former students or employees may still access a limited functionality version of the app that allows document viewing only.
Below are 28 Reasons To Start Using Office 365 For Education:
Access to a Trusted High-Quality Product
Most widely accepted word processor in use. Easier to teach to students and not much need to teach to educators. It doesn’t need to be “gotten used to.” Getting students familiar with this program prepares them better for college and the workforce later. They will encounter either Microsoft Suite or software that is extremely similar because offices use this software over all others.
Predictable save patterns. Users can set up a specific saving interval, save manually, or select auto-save just for emergencies. Contrast that with Google Docs, which defaults to automatically saving every time typing stops for more than a moment or two. A few errant keystrokes or a fight with a cat, and you’re out of luck.
Saves work in a reliable format even when saving as a PDF. Moving information across apps is easier when they’re all from the same platform too – everything is compatible.
Better spell check than most other paid programs (Microsoft 2016).
Has many options for formatting right in the program itself.
Online free or low-cost templates.
Tracks changes. You can see earlier versions of your document if you need to without using an add-on or extension.
Easy to migrate your files and preferences from your old versions of Office.
Portability
All of the applications on the free version are easily accessed and used from tablets, Chromebooks, and other limited use, low-storage devices commonly purchased by schools. With Office 365 and Office 365 for Education, there’s no clunky installation using up all of the memory on student devices.
Students can use it on their phones.
One TB of storage for each user, with options to purchase more.
Reliability
Microsoft has been in business for decades and has not only consistently improved the usability of its software, but also offers high quality training resources on its website.
User-friendly.
Familiar. Whether you’re aware or not, you have been using this software in many areas. The way that things work in Microsoft Office are the way things work nearly everywhere words appear on a screen. It’s familiar and appealing with intuitive actions.
Cloud Storage
Saves space…literally. Saving to the cloud means less hardware and fewer AC units.
Saves a salary. See above. Let Microsoft handle tech inquiries and storage issues while your edtech team focuses on training and troubleshooting.
Limited functionality setting for former students and employees allows for document viewing. Everything is stored on the cloud and therefore accessible wherever – even after a student graduates.
Automatic upgrades! But without imaging, inserting disks, or resetting your computer to accept changes, because with O365 you are never installing anything. When the time comes to upgrade, this is done automatically and there doesn’t need to be a whole technology roll-out from IT. It’s just done.
Ultimate portability – finally a trusted product that can be accessed for free from any internet-ready computer. Just add an internet connection. And a laptop, tablet, smartphone, or some device that’s not even on the market yet, like VR Slime 3D!
Sign up your school and add new users.
Free, helpful training and information program. Promotional kits get the word out and training videos online get everyone using the app to its fullest potential.
Option to upgrade for some or all by just using the paid version of Microsoft 365. Staff and maybe a computer lab available for students to use when the full Office Suite is required. For instance, maybe you have the free version for most of the school’s users, with special lab access for the paid versions. In the rare instance that a subject requires the full suite, it’s much easier to pay for a handful of licenses for one year or so to cover that class or office, rather than to install a paid program that is primarily used only for word processing anyway, on every computer in the school.
Scalability
It takes only minutes to sign someone up as a new user as opposed to installing the program every time someone needs it or automatically installing Office 2016 on a bunch of computers whether or not someone uses it (a clear waste of resources).
Cloud still saves documents and projects as view or read only after an employee or student leaves the school.
Training And Advertisement
Free Promotional Kits are available to educators who have signed up their schools for O365 so you can get the word out about the new software and its features!
Collaboration. Applications such as Yammer and Sharepoint give teams a way to share work and communicate more effectively than email.
Microsoft Office for Educators Page. Such a helpful, cool resource. Offers tons of video tutorials and other training materials, as well as opportunities to share with other educators what you’re doing in your classroom.
Interoperability Even With BYOD
Microsoft Office is now available on the Mac and other Apple products! So even the occasional square Macintosh peg in a round Microsoft hole can communicate with others. Great for BYOT schools who run into interoperability issues.
Just Try It Out – It’s Free!
Now that Office 365 for Educators is available for free, there is no longer a compelling reason to waste money or waste digital and literal space. Try it on a limited basis at first to see if the program will work for you. It’s not a trial, so there’s no pressure to make a decision right away. If you feel that you need more than the limited version offers, purchase a plan that suits your needs and use the free version for instances where the comprehensive suite isn’t needed. It’s probably one of the easiest EdTech decisions you’ll make this year.
Available Applications On O365 vs. O365 For Education
Office 365 (O365) Paid Version
Office 365 For Education
Cloud Based (non-desktop) version of the most recent Microsoft Office Suite
Free version of Office 365. Also in the cloud (not for the desktop). Has fewer features than O365 but is free to eligible members of the educational community.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Excel
PowerPoint
OneNote
Outlook
SharePoint
Exchange Online
OneDrive
Publisher
Microsoft Access
Skype for Business
InfoPath
Microsoft Teams
Paid Subscription (Various Plans available; increased/unlimited storage begins after five paid subscriptions)
Word
Excel
PowerPoint
OneNote
Yammer
SharePoint
