Andrew Popper, a professor at American University, Washington College of Law, is well-known for authoring titles on law, but his fiction writing also is gaining more attention.
The professor was recently interviewed for an article now featured on Gazette.Net about his novel Rediscovering Lone Pine, published by Thomson Reuters.
In the article, Popper talks about how he got the idea for the story, its first person narrative style and the setting for the book. He also discusses his thoughts on writing and turning an idea or story into something useful and memorable:
He described the writing process as: “a wonderful, blissful obsession” that he is sad to leave behind when a book is complete.
“It’s not a matter of routine,” he says. “It’s a matter of every waking moment.”
Rediscovering Lone Pine was the first work of fiction published by West (which Popper talked about with us on a Westcast podcast last year).
(Photo courtesy: American University, Washington College of Law)
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The latest development from Thomson Reuters is its iPad App for WestlawNext. The app transforms the iPad into a powerful tool for the legal research profession, and is available at the iTunes App Store free of charge to all current subscribers of WestlawNext.
The WestlawNext development team set out from the beginning to design the new platform so that it contained the features and tools that could be optimized for easy mobile use. The iPad offers significant capabilities for the lawyer on the go – greater portability than a laptop and a large, high resolution Multi-Touch display that makes it far more functional for legal research than a smartphone.
According to James Jarvis, senior director of Westlaw Product Design, attorneys with the WestlawNext iPad app “can tap into their research from anywhere and all of their research is synchronized across Web-enabled devices.”
The WestlawNext iPad app is the only app for legal research that synchronizes with a customer’s desktop and smartphone. Just like WestlawNext and WestlawNext Mobile, the WestlawNext iPad app makes it easy to navigate the comprehensive content and use the most advanced legal research features.
“When we talk with lawyers, most say they wouldn’t do more than five minutes of research on their smartphone,” said Andy Martens, senior vice president of New Product Development. “The iPad is a device where we can see attorneys comfortably doing an hour or more of comprehensive research.”
The iPad allows users to perform a range of easier tasks such as finding, viewing and sending documents, as well as complex tasks that have been built into WestlawNext, such as organizing research into folders and conducting advanced searches.
In an Outsell Insights article,There’s a Mobile-Optimized Web Site For That, lead analyst David Curle remarks on WestlawNext’s larger effort to synchronize across all Web-enabled devices:
“Whether a lawyer signs on to WestlawNext using an iPad app, the web-optimized web site, or through a laptop at home, the same saved searches, document folders, and all the other customized aspects of his or her Westlaw account will be available . . . This idea of synchronization from multiple devices may be the real value in professional mobile applications, not necessarily the “mobile” part of it. It’s about accessing one’s work environment from any device located anyplace one might be.”
You can read the full Insights article from Outsell here.
Also, check out what others on the Web are saying about the WestlawNext iPad app:
The WestlawNext App for the iPad Redefines Legal Research for the Mobile Lawyer – Law On My Phone
WestlawNext – now on the iPad –The Orange Rag
Lawyers Get iPad Assistance – App Scout
IPad App for WestlawNext – Info&Insights
Thomson Reuters launches iPad app for WestlawNext – Businessweek
Thomson Reuters Introduces Its iPad App for WestlawNext – Forbes
Thomson Reuters Introduces Its IPad App For WestlawNext – The Street
iPhone Apps Update – MacNN News
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New Zealand-based Brookers, part of Thomson Reuters, Legal, is celebrating its centenary. In 1910 the company’s founder, John Friend, started the business by pioneering the legal annotations service.
Annotating hardbound legislation ensures that the book will continue to be a reliable source of the country’s laws. Historically, when amendments were made by New Zealand parliament, annotations for hardbound legislation were done at the editorial phase of publishing. Friend’s service made life easier for customers by sending annotators into their offices to cut and paste annotations into their books.
Although still true to its roots, Brookers branched into legal commentary and law report publishing in the 1980s and was acquired by Thomson in 1994. Today the company also focuses on tax, accounting, human resources, and workplace health and safety industries.
Even though Brookers offers modern multimedia services, annotators are still tirelessly pasting annotations into legislation – proving that the legal annotations service is just as essential now as it was 100 years ago.
In this video clip Brookers employees explain the history of its annotations business:
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Today, technology has become more and more synonymous with productivity. Lawyers are turning to technology to not only get things done quicker, but also make their professional lives easier.
An article (registration is required) written by Lee Ann Enquist, vice president of Professional Development at West LegalEdcenter, addresses the emerging relationship between lawyers and the iPhone.
In Lawyers Enjoy New Level of Productivity with iPhone Technology, several attorneys shared their views on how the iPhone impact their professional lives. All believed that the iPhone allowed them to keep up-to-date with important information when they were on the go, but they also felt the CLE Mobile app was one of the most valuable assets of having their phones. (more…)
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A post on the Hildebrandt Baker Robbins LawVision blog explores the trepid relationship between law firm leaders and innovation.
In “The Innovation Paradox,” Lisa Rohrer explains that law firm leaders are apprehensive about innovation because of potential risks, despite their belief that innovation is extremely important to a firm’s strategic goals.
Rohrer asserts that this caution is quite common in law firms, due to the fundamental nature of the profession:
“I hear all the time from our law firm clients: ‘We do not tolerate mistakes.’ And that’s probably the right attitude when it comes to client work. Add to this that lawyers are trained to minimize legal risks and it’s understandable that law firms are more risk averse.”
She also considers whether the solution to apprehension is embracing mistakes:
“People trying new approaches to solving difficult problems are going to make mistakes. If they’re not making some mistakes, they’re probably either not being honest with themselves or they’re not trying hard enough. The prevailing view there is that you learn a lot more from failure than you do from success.”
Lisa Rohrer leads research on the changing management models and structures in law firms as Hildebrandt Baker Robbins’ director of research and is based in Washington, D.C.
You can read her full post on the LawVision blog.
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Are you an attorney, looking for a job?
Consider an alternative legal career in state or local government.
An article on AttorneyJobs.com titled “State and Local Government Careers for Attorneys,” written by Nancy Carver, discusses the many options of working as an attorney in state or local government, a career path that perhaps many have not thought of before. (more…)
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We wanted to highlight the latest Lawyer2Lawyer podcast, hosted by Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams on the Legal Talk Network, as it marks its 5th year, making it the longest continually running legal podcast.
Congratulations on the milestone, Bob and Craig.
They’ve got a good discussion in their latest episode, where they interviewed renowned criminal defense lawyer F. Lee Bailey – known for his defense in cases such as O.J. Simpson, Patti Hearst and the Boston Strangler.
Bailey, along with New York Times reporter Michael S. Schmidt, gave some perspective on the case of former major league baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, who was recently indicted on charges for allegedly lying to Congress in 2008 when he testified he never used steroids. (more…)
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It seems like the ideal job; roll out of bed around noon, write about your day, sleep, repeat. But there is more to being a professional blogger than sharing anecdotes in your pajamas.
First, let’s get past the stereotype that bloggers and p.j.’s go hand-in-hand.
Professional blogging is a career, whether it’s done at home or in an office.
Heather Armstrong, author of dooce.com, understands the amount of work that is necessary for making a blog a business. She has become one of the most well-known professional bloggers, with more than 1.5 million followers on Twitter (@dooce) and her blog, and she’s been named as one of the 30 most influential women in the media by Forbes magazine. She and her husband work full-time on the blog, as well as raise two children.
At the 2010 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, we caught up with Armstrong before her presentation at the WestlawNext-sponsored CLE, “Legal Issues Resulting from the Social Media Explosion,” which you can read more about here. She told us about why she became a professional blogger and the obstacles that come with living under public scrutiny as a blogger in the first clip, and what a “typical” day in her life is actually like in the second clip below.
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An interesting and insightful CLE session sponsored by WestlawNext at the ABA Annual Meeting explored the legal issues associated with social media and the blogosphere.
Heather Armstrong, one of the most well-known professional bloggers, presented at the CLE, and discussed her experiences dealing with unauthorized use of blog material, defamation, cyber stalking and loss of employment for blog content. (We had a chance to talk with the “mommy blogger” after the session, which you can read more about here.)
From the counsel perspective, Marylee Abrams from Abrams and Schmidt LLC., and Kenneth Kunkle from Kunkle Law PLC, two social media experts, demonstrated how to efficiently obtain legal and factual information necessary for advising clients on issues such as employment law, social media policies, intellectual property and the FTC policy on blog disclosure.
Abrams, a lawyer who represents employers with labor relations and employment law issues, talked with us about the necessity of social media policies in this video clip:
We also talked with Kunkle, a lawyer who advises creative-based clients on matters of copyright, trademark and other general business issues, who told us in this short video clip about the importance of understanding social media.
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At the ABA Annual Meeting, a forward-looking CLE about the impact of technology and globalization on ethics for the 21st century lawyer featured a panel discussion moderated by Judith A. Miller, which you can read more about here. One of the panelists, Stephanie Kimbro, presented on the emergence of virtual law practices and the ethical issues inherent with the technology.
Kimbro practices law online from her home in North Carolina through her Web-based virtual law office Kimbro Legal Services. She is also the co-founder of Virtual Law Office Technology, LLC, which creates and supports virtual law practices for solo and small practitioners.
Kimbro predicts that firms will need some form of virtualization to remain competitive in the next five to 10 years, as it ultimately benefits clients. In this video clip, she talks about running a virtual law practice and how they are convenient for clients.
Of course, Web security and client confidentiality are issues that arise from hosting a virtual law practice. In this short video clip, Kimbro talks about these issues and the ethics of virtual law practice.
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The U.S. Constitution is one of the most powerful and impactful documents in existence. It literally touches every American’s life, and has since its creation in 1787. Recently, I had the opportunity to view the document first-hand as part of a new exhibit, “We the People: The First Official Printing of the U.S. Constitution,” sponsored [...]
Earlier this week, we released our 2011 Annual Report in an interactive format available online at thomsonreuters.com. Along with information on the company’s financial performance as well as business unit overviews, this year’s annual report contains a variety of dynamic content including interviews with our new business leaders as well as stories of how we [...]
We’ve got a great episode for you this month, kicking off with our “Chaos in the Courts” segment that, believe it or not, is yet another story about the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas. Since our March podcast, another person has fallen victim to the establishment’s trademark bypass burger.
Then in our “On the Blawgs” [...]
