Welcome! I’m Mark, a law student at the University of Michigan, and a few weeks ago I read an article by Kevin O’Keefe, CEO of LexBlog. He was saying that law students should have blogs to help them build an online network and figure out their passions in law. I checked out LexBlog and found out that I could start a blog for free as a law student and have the support of an experienced community in keeping my blog updated and running smoothly. I decided to go for it, and as I hope the name of my blog implies, I make no claim of expertise on any topic I may discuss on this blog.

I plan to cover some topics of interest to current, new, and prospective law students. I may cover topics that intrigue me as they come up in my legal courses. I also plan to cover some topics of interest that I find in legal journals and other legal sources.

More than anything, I see this blog as a place for me to get my thoughts down on “paper,” to help guide the discovery of my legal interests and potential career goals. Currently, I have no legal experience beyond the law review articles and political philosophy books I’ve read. I’m excited to be starting my legal education, and I’ve probably idealized it in my mind. Regardless, my hopes are high that I will change a lot in the next three years, and I hope some of you will stick around and learn about the law with me.

As an entering 1L, you already know how to succeed academically, and are constantly receiving advice on how to ace your classes. However, there is minimal advice on how to manage law school with your life. Everyone talks about the work-life balance, but what about the school-life balance?

Here are some tips to achieve a healthy, active, and balanced life as a 1L and throughout law school

Meal Prep

When I first heard of meal prep, I scoffed at the idea. I’m in my twenties. I do not have a family to feed. However, meal prep is ideal for a busy student with little time to spare. I pick a Saturday or Sunday to do my meal prep, as I have the least going on during the weekend. Whether you choose to do meal prep because you want to save money, eat healthier, or enjoy a good meal even on your busiest days, there are a lot of benefits. Preparing your meals in advance will save you money because you will not be tempted to walk or drive down the street to buy a quick meal. Meal prepping is also a smart choice if you are trying to make healthier choices or lose weight. After a full day of classes and studying, we raid our kitchens and look for any type of nourishment to revive our depleted bodies, but in the moment we reach for the quickest things to eat, which are also the most unhealthy. However, by meal prepping earlier in the week, you already have a meal ready to warm up and eat. Moreover, after a long day the last thing anyone wants to do is cook a meal, so it is always nice to come home to a home-cooked meal, even if it is delayed by a thirty second microwave warm-up. One final benefit of meal prepping is being able to bring the food to school if your law school offers refrigerators, so that you can stay through lunch or dinner to continue studying.

Exercise

Whether you love or hate exercising, as law students it is impossible to find the time. I used to have that mentality too, but soon realized that I could absolutely find twenty, or even thirty minutes, a day to exercise. As a student, you need to have the mentality that exercise will actually benefit your studies, instead of seeing it as a distraction to your studies. Exercise benefits your academic performance because it helps you to be more energized and lowers your stress. The most important thing to do with regard to keeping your exercise routine, is to convince yourself to exercise for one month, as it takes thirty days to form a new habit. Thus, if you include exercise in your daily schedule for thirty days, you will be highly likely to continue exercising all semester. It is also important to choose the type of exercise that matches you, as you will undoubtedly stop exercising if you do not enjoy it. I love exercising outdoors, such as hiking, walking, or biking. It would take too long to drive to the foothills for a decent hike, so I opt for a park near my house. I do between two to four miles at the park everyday. Depending on how I feel during my walk, I may use the time to relax, call a friend or family member, or check my social media accounts and my email. Ideally, it would be best to set a schedule in which you exercise at the same time every day, but as a law student your obligations change daily, so at least attempt to plan when you will exercise a day ahead. Therefore, if you know that you are meeting a friend at the library at 6pm, which is when you normally exercise, then wake up thirty minutes to an hour earlier to get your exercise in for the day. You are undoubtedly going to have days in which you are so overloaded and stressed that you cannot spare a second to exercise, and that is understandable, so allow yourself two days a week to take a pass. Also, going to the gym is not always feasible because we are so limited on time, but there is no excuse not to exercise at home.  For example, if I only have twenty minutes to exercise I will do each exercise 100 times in my living room, so 100 squats, 100 lunges, 100 sumo squats, 100 mountain climbers, and alternate each one until I reach 100 of each. You can easily do yoga, free weights, or a use a stability ball at home. However, even if you do not own any equipment, there are endless exercises that only require your own bodyweight. Also, use Instagram and youtube to find new inspiration and new exercise routines.

Friends

Maintaining your friendships and having a support system will be vital to your success in law school. However, your relationships are going to change entirely throughout law school, and you need to ensure that you communicate with your friends to let them know that you are going to see them less than you used to. Let them know that it is nothing personal, and that they are still extremely important to you. Once you are engrossed in law school, you are going to be humored when thinking back to how you ever considered yourself busy in college. If many of your friends are from college, they will not be able to grasp how much more demanding your law school studies are, and the pressure to read the material each and every night to be prepared.

If you wish to maintain your friendships, the best way to ensure that you make time for your friends on a consistent basis is to schedule time for them. Make plans in advance and write it into your planner or your phone, as if it is an appointment. You are much more likely to continue to see your friends once a week or every other week if you make plans versus thinking that you will reach out to them when you are free. If you attempt to make plans at the last minute it is likely that your friend will have other plans, or you will have convinced yourself to just stay in, catch up on your favorite tv show, and relax. Granted as students, we all need time to ourselves to relax and decompress from a stressful week, but hanging out with friends is one of the best ways to de-stress and enjoy the limited time you have outside of law school. It is also important to maintain your friendships so that you have a support system to call when you are stressed and need motivation.

In recent years, more has been expected of not only younger players in hockey, but also of agents. Ken Campbell recently wrote an article about how hockey agents in Canada are trying to recruit children as young as 12 because of the steep competition.

The NHL is different from the NBA, NFL, and MLB in the source of its draft. Last year, the majority of drafted players in the NBA, NFL, and MLB were from the NCAA, while the NHL has more variety in its draft picks. In Canada, the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), helps supply the NHL with draft picks. The NHL also includes international players, like players from Russia or Sweden, in its draft.

The MLB draft eligibility only includes residents of Canada and the United States including the territories of the United States. Residents also include a person enrolled in a high school or college located in the United States.

This problem of drafting young children does not affect the NFL, MLB, or even the MLB, the same way it does since the NCAA plays such an important role in providing players for those league.

The NCAA rules do not allow for a player to be represented by an agent. This would limit how early an agent can get involved with a collegiate player. However, CHL players are not limited the same way, meaning agents will try to represent young children.

One answer may be for the NHL to place an age minimum, or a player has to wait a certain amount of time before being eligible. Both the NFL and NBA have restrictions like this. The NFL rules requires at least three years out of high school and used up college eligibility. The NBA rules require at least one NBA season to pass since high school graduation or would have graduated.

The other alternative is for rules to be put in place by any number of effective organizations. The CHL or any of the leagues that make up the CHL, the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), or the Western Hockey League (WHL) may put in place rules to be eligible for them. The NHL or the NHL Player’s Association (NHLPA) may also be able to put in rules that prevent representation for a player before turning a certain age.

However, this behaviour of going after young children to represent them is a problem that should be rectified soon.

Healthcare remains the top area of investment in artificial intelligence as measured by venture capital deal flow.[1] Artificial intelligence is what enables a digital device or “robot” to see and recognize objects or solve a problem that requires a level of intelligence. The primary aim of artificial intelligence applications within the medical field is to analyze relationships between prevention or treatment techniques and patient outcomes[2]. Programs with artificial intelligence are already developed and tested in many practices such as: medical examinations, treatment diagnosis and protocol development, drug evolution, personalized medicine, patient monitoring and care, etc. World renowned medical institutions and technology companies like the Mayo Clinic, National Health Service, IBM and Google have all created solutions to a variety of problems that are currently used in the industry. For example, IBM works with CVS Health on artificial intelligence applications on chronic disease treatment with Johnson & Johnson on analysis of scientific papers to find new connections for drug development.[3]

Hitting Home with Client Care, Literally

With new strides happening in the healthcare industry, people’s entire medical histories will be accessible to physicians, privacy protected and available to a variety of entities ranging from clinics to specialty hospitals. The result will be more beneficial doctor’s visits for the patient. This revolution will result in more widespread access to healthcare because if the patient is unable to or uninterested in visiting a clinic in person, they will be able to contact their healthcare provider on a smartphone, send a picture of video of their condition, and a computer will read the image or video and recommend how to proceed. Due to machine learning, artificial intelligence is better at pattern recognition than the human eye or brain so this avenue will result in improved patient care.

People with chronic conditions will have the option of in-home care by medical professionals who will virtually check-in with the patient. Healthcare professionals will have the ability to chat with remotely about data that they’ve received from implantable, wearable or external sensors. Those sensors will be constantly monitored by robots with artificial intelligence who will double as caregivers. With artificial intelligence integration, people who are sick will receive care for a smaller cost in a more relaxed setting.

What Happens When at Home Care Isn’t Enough?

            Hospitals will limit themselves to the diagnosis of rare or complex conditions or intensive surgeries. The goal is for hospitals to no longer have a designated ICU because every room will be a “self-contained ICU”[4]. Each room will have the ability to connect with remote specialists through built-in cameras for examinations, which will incur less expense for the patient as they will no longer have to travel to meet with the specialist. Hospital staffing ratios will vary according to the individual patient’s need as determined by artificial intelligence risk-monitoring and treatment algorithms. Physicians will also receive aid with diagnosis and evidence-based treatment by cognitive computing systems like IBM’s Watson [5].

Will It All Be Rainbows and Butterflies?

While artificial intelligence prevents many errors in the medical field, it is also causing new kinds of mistakes that the industry has not experienced before. An example of this is an overdose case at the University of California, San Francisco where doctors delivered a massive overdose of antibiotic to a 16-year-old patient. Though the error was safely remedied, the lesson was clear: there’s still a great deal of progress that artificial intelligence can make in the healthcare industry.[6]

Artificial intelligence is continuously thinking, processing and updating itself to ensure productivity, but that does not always mean that it will make the correct decision. Entirely remote patient care, a universal database for medical records and having every patient room at a hospital be an ICU isn’t going to happen tomorrow. That doesn’t mean that this type of technology boom is thirty years away either. There is no concrete number of years until this artificial intelligence integration happens, but it has so much potential and I believe this integration will reform healthcare completely, for the betterment of society.

[1] CB Insights Artificial Intelligence report. 28 June 2016.

[2] Coiera, E. (1997). Guide to medical informatics, the internet and telemedicine. Chapman & Hall, Ltd.

[3] Spear, Andrew. “From Cancer to Consumer Tech: A Look Inside IBM’s Watson Health Strategy.” Fortune, 05 Apr. 2015. Web. 2 Mar. 2017.

[4] Buchman, Tim. “The Smarter ICU.” Emory Medicine Magazine. Emory University , June 2015. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

[5] Weber, David. “12 Ways Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Health Care.” H&HN. American Hospital Association, 28 Sept. 2015. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.

[6] Miliard, Mike. “Q&A: Robert Wachter on health IT’s ‘hope, hype and harm’” Healthcare IT News. HIMSS Media, 02 Apr. 2015. 3 Mar. 2017.

photo-28Content Pilot has released their 2016 Global 50 Website ranking and report, updating their foundational best practices for law firm web site design.  To download the free report, go here:

http://www.contentpilot.net/Subscribe

Morgan Lewis was the only firm to score an “Excellent” rating of 85.4%.   The report takes a global look at law firm websites, including how well their content communicates their brand on an international scale, translations available, and usability.  The report is a great resource for any law firm looking to freshen or redesign their website.

 

Only six years ago Watson, IBM’s computer system, beat former Jeopardy! champions on national television. Since, both the IBM designers and the machines which they develop have made great improvements and the impact on our everyday lives is not far away. After Watson won, IBM developed the ‘deep learning and natural language’[1] interaction to form “cognitive computing” a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that involves self-learning systems to mimic the way the human brain works inside of a robot. Today, Watson-powered applications are doing everything from helping in the healthcare field to assisting financial advisors plan our futures[2].

Will AI Overtake Lawyer’s Careers?

Many people believe that artificial intelligence is not close to taking over anything more than certain dull, everyday tasks, such as sorting data, however more mechanical and technology driven tasks are already outsourced to artificial intelligence. A recent example of artificial intelligence going beyond ordinary, simple tasks would be Casepoint’s CaseAssist case evaluation program. CaseAssist is one of the first artificial intelligence eDiscovery platforms that uses new and innovative programming to make the discovery process easier for the human user. It simplifies the process with technology-assisted review, a cloud collection of documents, and by proactively identifying and alerting case teams of potential hot documents, helpful search terms, important dates, and likely “junk” documents[3]. When the user starts to review the documents identified by CaseAssist, the system’s artificial intelligence and algorithms work to present more documents and emails that are automatically identified as potentially relevant to the litigation or investigation3. The user can then either accept or reject CaseAssist’s results, which will help the program ‘learn’ what exactly the user wants.

Artificial intelligence’s influence on the legal practice has become a pressing, present issue. Whether it is eDiscovery, practice management, or review of contracts, today’s newest programming uses artificial intelligence and machine learning. Artificial intelligence is breaking ground with many start-ups like Casepoint with CaseAssist, and mature companies like IBM with Watson. Programs such as CaseAssist will become more popular as we move into the future. CaseAssist works with the lawyers to determine the best way to proceed with the case. These programs powered by artificial intelligence helps the lawyers satisfy their discovery duties and helps them to make better informed, strategic decisions in both litigation and investigation. In an era where the cost of meeting discovery requirements can exceed what it may cost to resolve a case, identifying relevant information quickly is crucial to the lawyer’s success.

Therefore, yes, robots may one day take over many functions of lawyer’s jobs, but great lawyers separate themselves from average ones by providing clients a certain amount of wisdom, compassion, insight and rational judgement that robots cannot provide right now. Yet technology helps lawyers to work more efficiently, effectively, and enjoyably, so that they have extra free time to spend doing other things. Advanced technology and artificial intelligence will greatly transform lawyer’s jobs.

So, Can AI & Lawyers Work Together?

Right now, artificial intelligence cannot replace a lawyer’s job. Lawyers will still make the final decision about how to proceed in each case or transaction. While many lawyers tend to believe that artificial intelligence as a potential threat to their careers, with the belief that a robot can do their job faster, better, and cheaper, the best proactive approach is to ask whether artificial intelligence can give the firm an advantage over others.  Yet if artificial intelligence can help lawyers to make better informed decisions, we should welcome it with open arms. We should think about the artificial intelligence in legal practice as a cognitive assistant to help us learn, search, retrieve, and analyze information[4]. It has the potential to make an attorney more efficient and “to the extent attorneys perceive a threat to their practice, it may be because there’s been an inefficiency there.”[5] Artificial intelligence has the potential to advance legal research to new heights by combining humans with computers, thus supporting their joint performance.

[1] “Deep Learning in Natural Language Processing.” The Stanford Natural Language Processing Group. Stanford University, n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.

[2] Olavsrud, Thor. “10 IBM Watson-Powered Apps That Are Changing Our World.” CIO. IDG, 06 Nov. 2014. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

[3] Dungarani, Amit. “Casepoint Announces the Release of CaseAssist, the First Artificial in.”PRWeb. PRWeb, 31 Jan. 2017. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.

[4] Garg, Rahul. “Combining Natural Language Classifier and Dialog to create engaging applications .” IBM Watson. IBM, 28 Sept. 2015. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.

[5] Sohn, Ed. “Alt.legal: Can Computers Beat Humans At Law?” Above the Law. Breaking Media Inc., 23 Mar. 2016. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.

Canadian Olympians Natalie Spooner and Hayley Wickenheiser, the two women in the back, have helped to grow the place of women in hockey. (Beth Bowers)

For the longest time, I have loved hockey. I grew up in Canada, so it was in my blood to love the sport. However, for the longest time women were not visible in the sport at all.

At the NHL All-Star Game at the end of January, the NHL and LA Kings, hosted a “Women in Sports Business Panel.” It brought together prominent women from a multitude of backgrounds. On the panel was:

Alyssa Milano, who created a line of clothing that was more flattering for female sports fans, but not pink;

Helene Elliott, a long-time sports writer who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as the first female journalist;

Susan Samueli, owner of the Anaheim Ducks;

Heidi Browning, the recently-hired Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer of the NHL, who said she is going to look at marketing sports specifically to woman by connecting with more personal stories but not “dumbing it down” as Milano added;

Angela Ruggiero, one of the best American hockey player as a 4-time Olympian and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame;

and Kathryn Tappen hosted the panel, works for NBC Sports as a host and reporter.

These women discussed their experiences as they broke into their respective industries. They all emphasized speaking out and just trying to pursue your dreams. Ruggiero, described learning how she had to deal in the “male-dominated world.” There were naysayers as she was trying to play hockey when she was child playing hockey on boys’ teams.

I liked how Ruggiero called it a

male-dominated world.

That is how I have always described. A lot of people don’t understand the difference between a “male-dominated world” and a “male-world.” I think it is important to help create less stigma and make it easier for women to be more involved in sports.

They also talked about how more women watch the Olympics in the United States than men. They suggested that more women watch because the Olympics broadcasts tend to tell more personal stories about the athletes than North American professional sports league broadcasts. It was unanimous by all of them, that there is still more room for growth in sports for women.

Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, said it at the beginning of the discussion:

There are opportunities. You have to work hard for them. You have to follow your dreams. You have to have a passion. But anything is possible.

You can watch the whole talk here.

corcoran-headshotGreat advice here on developing “pitches” vs. custom proposals.

Clients don’t like to be “pitched”.  Nobody does.

Instead, focus your time and energy on understanding their needs and preferences, and develop a custom proposal that offers valuable help.  Read Tim Corcoran’s blog post here.

Image 1-3-17 at 10.27 AMThe legal profession, marketing technology, and clients’ buying habits are changing dramatically. Lawyers need to think differently about marketing, lead generation, big data, project delivery and leadership. Here are 10 things that should be on your radar, starting now.

1. Data-driven business development. At the 2016 Legal Marketing Association Technology Conference, JD Supra’s Adrian Lurssen demonstrated how they are using readership data to help law firms identify highly engaged prospects and pursue them with a specific value proposition. No longer is content just a branding play. Using data analytics, firms can nimbly figure out what topics clients are engaged with and create business development strategies to pursue highly qualified prospects about a specific issue or opportunity.

2. Business development automation (or marketing automation 2.0). Many law firm marketers are using online tools to design, draft, schedule and send boatloads of email newsletters, webinar announcements and event invitations. Tools like Constant Contact and MailChimp make emailing easy. How you track and use data is the key to business development automation. Some firms are using engagement scoring (points for opening a newsletter, more points for passing it along, attending a webinar and so on) to identify and rank highly engaged prospects for one-on-one contact or to offer a specific value proposition. Mass-marketing activities, in this way, identify possible qualified buyers or referral sources that could be contacted to identify opportunities.

3. Experience data. Legal procurement professionals say that experience with a specific type of problem, matter and industry are the most important criteria for getting their attention. Law firms that inundate clients with hundreds of examples, however, don’t make the point that they have the specific experience to solve a specific issue. Look into an experience data solution, which helps you zero in on specific examples to share with potential clients. By the way, a strong experience database also helps people in the firm understand other people’s experience and capabilities, bridging the cross-marketing gap.  Look for new killer apps in this space in early 2017.

4. Pricing. The Legal Marketing Association’s P3 Conference turns five years old next year, but value pricing science is still new to law firms. Pricing professionals need to be closely linked to both the finance and business development teams. Clients are expecting more data from law firms in terms of cost and value metrics, and the business development/pricing team needs to deliver.

5. Delivery design. As we change how we price legal services, we also need to (re)design their delivery to win in an increasingly competitive market and meet client’s expectations for value and process improvement. Understanding the levers of legal process design, design thinking and how to integrate technology into legal process delivery needs to be on the entrepreneurial lawyers’ radar. Good design starts with a clear understanding of the client’s needs and situation.

6. Project management. It seems that in nearly every conversation I have with a legal procurement professional or in-house counsel, the topic of project management comes up. CMOs, business development professionals, pricing professionals and attorneys need to understand how much time and money can be saved by applying basic project management principals and including the client in the process.

7. Client intimacy. Client satisfaction interviews and key account management are not new, but also not yet widespread tactics. For client interviews, Wicker Park Group’s Nat Slavin says, “one size fits one, not all.” What can your firm do to keep and grow your most important clients? How vulnerable are they to lawyer succession and lower-cost, higher-value competitors? Could your firm develop a strategic advantage of intimacy?

8. Leadership capacity and adaptability. Management guru John Kotter said, “The rate of change is not going to slow down anytime soon. If anything, competition in most industries will probably speed up even more in the next few decades.” Does your team have the leadership skills to adapt to and lead change in your firm? Do team members have the resiliency to withstand the pressures of initiating and sustaining change? Do you have the vision and influence to lead your firm as it changes to meet the dynamic needs of its clients and future clients?

9. Sales effectiveness. In times of increased competition, many companies look for ways to make their sales force more effective. What is your firm doing to increase the business development effectiveness of attorneys and business development (sales) professionals? Some firms are hiring business development professionals to take an active role in the process, from lead generation and nurturing to opportunity identification. Should you devote some attorneys to a relationship-building role (sales attorneys) rather than providing legal services? You may want to provide high-level business development training and coaching for partners focusing on relationship-building techniques and working on soft skills such as likeability, issue spotting and problem solving.

10. Sustainability. Law firm leaders are facing significant management challenges, including, for example: managing Millennials, the expectation to be “on” 24/7/365, and navigating a global work environment where team members work across time zones, cultures and technologies. Creating a sustainable work environment — one that provides a safe, challenging and engaging workplace — is a significant leadership challenge. Leaders need to create a sense of purpose and mission, a place of belonging and community for their team. Leaders also need to spend more time investing in their team members, building bridges to other teams and looking for opportunities for collaboration with other departments and groups of lawyers. We need to make law firms a great place to work again.

What are you doing to lead your team, instead of simply manage things?

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(originally published by attorneyatwork.com, “one really good idea every day” https://www.attorneyatwork.com/10-things-that-should-be-on-law-firms-radar-in-2017)

Mark Beese is President of Leadership for Lawyers, a consultancy dedicated to making lawyers stronger leaders and business developers. He is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and a recipient of the Legal Marketing Association Hall of Fame Award. He is a frequent speaker, trainer and coach to law firms and other professional service firms. Follow him @mbeese and on LinkedIn.

Gallery_12Workshop_BusDev1Welcome to iMarketLaw!

My name is Mark Beese and I teach Strategic Marketing and Business Development at the University of Denver Sturm School of Law.  

J.D. and M.S.L.A Students learn about law firm strategy, marketing, business development, client service, innovation and social media throughout the semester.

Thanks to LexBlog, this year we are offering hands-on training on blogging and the use of social media to grow a legal practice.  LexBlog President Kevin O’Keefe will join the class to talk about social media strategies.  Each student will have an opportunity to create their own law blog, courtesy of LexBlog.  Why blog?  Consider these insights.

So, while I hope to make this a valuable blog focused on marketing, business development, management and leadership topics in the context of a dynamic industry, the blog will also serve as an example to students on how to create, maintain and leverage social media for thought leadership and establishing a reputation as an expert.