West LegalEdcenter is unveiling the latest app from Thomson Reuters, Legal for the iPhone and iPod touch. It is CLE Mobile, a free download from the App Store for attorneys seeking a more mobile-friendly way to get their continuing legal education (CLE) credits.
CLE Mobile allows users to listen to more than 2,000 CLE courses. Audio programs available for download to the CLE Mobile app are identified as “Mobile Compatible” on westlegaledcenter.com. After purchasing available content online through a free West LegalEdcenter account, courses become available for download to an iPhone or iPod touch through the CLE Mobile app.
Users also have access to one free ethics CLE program when they download the app.
Lee Ann Enquist, vice president, West Professional Development and head of West LegalEdcenter, wrote about the app on the CLE Mobile blog and says it was developed remarkably quickly:
“…we were able to build a superior user experience – with all of the regulatory safeguards necessary – in just six months. This effort signifies our strategic commitment to shortening the development time for technology-driven tools that our customers demand. As we actively seek customer feedback, we will continue to compress our response and development time.”
More information is on the CLE Mobile Web page. And there’s a video on our YouTube channel that highlights the features as well:
CLE Mobile also allows users to submit completed courses for online state mandatory CLE credit. West LegalEdcenter has recreated its online experience. All of the regulatory safeguards that states require have been incorporated into the mobile environment. This allows users to earn credits as they would with an on-demand program at West LegalEdcenter, not just with a downloaded podcast for self-study credit. The app allows users to manage their westlegaledcenter.com profile, including licensing states and registration numbers.
In addition, CLE Mobile gives law firms the ability to make their own CLE and training content mobile with West LegalEdcenter’s in-house training.
CLE Mobile joins several other mobile applications launched this year by Thomson Reuters, including BARBRI Mobile and Black’s Law Dictionary. For more information on those applications, click here.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
Education | In Practice |
Comments (2) |
Share
Editor’s note: Phyllis Weiss Haserot is the author of The Rainmaking Machine and The Marketer’s Handbook of Tips and Checklists, published by West.
One trait thought to be essential for successful leaders - in law firms and elsewhere – today and in the future is “resilience,” defined as tough-mindedness and the ability to accept criticism.
A study (released in mid-2006) of more than 2,000 employees at the managerial and professional levels by PsMax Solutions, a human capital assessment firm, provides some intriguing findings. Ranked highest of all groups was the middle-managers’ resilience score. CEOs and company presidents ranked lowest in resiliency, followed by executives and professional employees. (more…)
Posted by Phyllis Weiss Haserot in:
Education | In Practice |
No Comments |
Share
Laura Gaze at the IP Solutions Blog has the details on a big step for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) – and Thomson Reuters.
WIPO and Queensland are partnering to offer a first of its kind program in the Asia-Pacific – a Master of Intellectual Property Law program in Australia.
You can read the full post here.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
Education | In Practice |
No Comments |
Share
What do you call a partnership with a global technology company, talented computer science students and a software consulting company? We call it the Maverick Program, and it’s a win-win-win.
Launched in 2006, the Maverick Program was a collaboration between Thomson Reuters, Maverick Software Consulting, and Minnesota State University–Mankato. Talented computer science students were put to work on software engineering projects for Thomson Reuters – on campus.
Facilitated by Maverick Software Consulting, students work testing features, writing code and developing Web enhancements.
“The students win because they’re getting real-world experience,” said Anna Grecco, senior director, Technology, at West, and the executive sponsor of the Maverick Program. “The schools win because their programs are able to be differentiated and their students can practically apply their academic learnings. Thomson Reuters wins because we have access to some of the brightest students. We are establishing a pipeline of experienced candidates to fill new graduate positions.”
Since 2007, three more universities have joined the Maverick Program. The University of Wisconsin–Madison, Iowa State University–Ames and the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities all have students participating in the program.
Martin Hebig, president of Maverick Software Consulting, has dedicated the firm to working with Thomson Reuters. He established offices at the specific universities and hired staff to supervise the students at each of the offices. Without Hebig’s dedication, Grecco is certain the program wouldn’t have been successful.
One hundred percent of the students that have graduated from the program are employed in industry positions. Twenty are employed at Thomson Reuters.
The partnership was recently highlighted in an article in the Mankato Free Press, Project Maverick benefitting students.
Posted by Nicole Hansen in:
Company Current | Education | Technology and innovation |
Comments (2) |
Share
In July, I had a chance to meet Bob Berring, professor at Berkeley Law. I arranged our meeting to include him in a video that we debuted at the 2009 American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The video is titled “Salute to Law Librarians” and features Berring, West author and law professor Arthur Miller and law librarian consultant Linda Will.
As many of you know, law librarianship is at the heart of Berring’s impressive career. He’s a teacher, author and tremendous resource and leader in his profession.
Before I flew out to San Francisco to meet Berring, I went on Twitter to see if anyone who follows the @westlaw account that I manage had any burning questions for him. This post features Berring’s answer, on video, to a question from @montserratlj who asked about the skills a legal reference librarian needs to have:
Berring’s response includes this quote, that “great reference librarians are born, not made”:
@montserratlj also asked us to find out if Berring has any plans to retire anytime soon, and what other careers he could have pursued:
On the retirement talk, Berring said that it’s not going to happen anytime soon. He’s a full-time professor and says “there’s no better gig than that. I will teach until they drag me out with a cane,” Berring joked. “The great thing about tenure is you can get old and stupid and obnoxious and all that happens is fewer people take your classes!” Though, he added, “there’s no better high” than getting a class engaged in learning about the law.
As for alternate careers Berring said, growing up in Ohio, his aspirations were to be a high school teacher in Cleveland. But “one little corner of me wanted to be President of the United States.”
We’ll share more from our interview with Bob Berring in some upcoming posts here on Legal Current.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
Education | In Practice | Video |
Comments (2) |
Share
China is the focus of an upcoming live conference from West LegalEdcenter. The China Deal 2010 will help lawyers and other professionals understand the latest trends and intricacies in China-related M&A, venture capital, private equity, and similar business transactions.
The one-day program is being offered live in San Francisco on Oct. 6 (Get full conference details here). The China Deal 2010 will feature panels and discussions on the major changes in China’s economic and regulatory landscape. Topics include:
*The role of foreign direct investment in China’s future
*Inbound and outbound China M&A
*Venture capital and private equity investment in China
*Protecting intellectual property in China
Former United States Senator and U.S. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen will be the keynote speaker. Again, the full conference information and registration information for The China Deal 2010 is here.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
Education | In Practice |
No Comments |
Share
United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito is teaching a seminar this week at Duke University Law School, examining controversial issues like gun rights and the rights of the Guantanamo Bay detainees that have arisen in recent Supreme Court rulings.
(Photo courtesy: Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States, Photographer: Steve Petteway)
Alito is using landmark cases, including last year’s rulings that individuals have the right to own guns and that struck down the death penalty for child rape, as a way to consider broader questions on constitutional interpretation.
The week-long seminar will cover issues that include the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel and trial by jury, the Eighth Amendment right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment and the right of foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to petition for a writ of habeas corpus in U.S. court.
Alito, who was nominated in 2005 by then-President George W. Bush, has served on the Supreme Court since early in 2006. The seminar, entitled, “Current Issues in Constitutional Interpretation,” is limited to 15 upper-year students.
“I thought back over the cases that the court has heard during my time on the court and tried to identify some cases that would be interesting in themselves and involve interesting substantive issues and some broader questions like stare decisis and how you go about interpreting the Constitution when there is not a great body of precedent on the question,” Alito said.
In an interview with the Duke Law Office of Communications, Alito said his teaching style is to ask questions, rather than to deliver lectures, that he tries to keep his personal views out of the classroom and that he does not mind if students disagree with the position he took in a particular case.
Alito previously taught law school classes when he was a federal appeals court judge based in New Jersey.
“I think sometimes in the past they’ve been a little reluctant to say, ‘Well, I think you were completely wrong’,” he said, referring to his students. “But after a little bit, if I sense that’s going on, I’ll try to highlight the arguments against the position I took.”
Many of the Supreme Court’s members teach similar courses during the recess that begins at the end of June and lasts through early October. The court’s new term begins on Oct. 5.
James Vicini
Justice and Supreme Court Correspondent
Thomson Reuters
Editor’s note: Duke Law posted a news release about Alito’s seminar.
Posted by James Vicini in:
Education | In Practice |
No Comments |
Share
The September issue of Peer to Peer magazine from the International Legal Technology Association features an article from Lee Ann Enquist, vice president, Professional Development at West.
Lee Ann focuses on the need for law firms and attorneys to spend their time – and their learning and professional development dollars – wisely, especially when it comes to online opportunities like the topical programs and continuing legal education courses offered by West LegalEdcenter.
The article includes insight from lawyers like Dawn Kahn, who says online learning makes sense when you consider the convenience.
“Time is my most valuable resource,” said Kahn. “What’s great about (online learning) is that I could choose to do CLE programs at times of the day when clients aren’t calling, the phone’s not ringing and e-mails aren’t flying in with ‘immediate response’ requested.”
Again, the article from Lee Ann Enquist is in ILTA’s September edition of Peer to Peer.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
Education | In Practice |
No Comments |
Share
Is age diversity causing a disconnect between you or your colleagues and your clients? In tough times firms scrutinize many significant aspects of practice they (unfortunately) overlook in better times. The impact of generational differences should be prominently on that list of items.
Firms have felt tensions among the different generations in the workplace for a while – and typically have done little to achieve better harmony beyond sending HR, professional development, and marketing professionals to seminars and conferences to learn about the differences. But when it affects client relationships, then it gets attention!
In this time of urgent need to hold on to all profitable clients, waiting for complaints in not an option. That’s too late and a competitor will win them away. The savvier and safer route is to anticipate potential problems and develop strategies and training to avoid problematic situations from arising.
What, generationally speaking, do firms and individual lawyers need to look at in order to develop and maintain the best client/counsel relationships? Here are a few things to consider:
• Are your client teams multi-generational, and is there an effort to make sure relationships are built at every level of seniority?
• Have tensions or difficulties arisen that could be traced to generational differences and world views? For example, are communication styles and media used causing friction between counsel and client? Are there different views on accessibility and flexibility? On the level of formality the client is comfortable with?
• How and how often is reporting done and feedback given?
• Do younger attorney understand the importance of interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence to client confidence, loyalty and trust?
• Are older attorneys making an effort to stretch their comfort level with younger clients’ use of technology as an extension of themselves? Are they using social networking tools with their clients?
Age diversity is a key component of the diversity puzzle. Understanding how to capitalize on it rather than be encumbered with negative energy from generational differences that can fairly easily be resolved will give a boost and competitive edge to your practice.
Phyllis Weiss Haserot
Editor’s note: Phyllis Weiss Haserot will lead a webcast titled Communicating and Working with Clients of a Different Generation on Thursday, July 30 at 12:30 p.m. EDT on West LegalEdCenter.
She is the president of Practice Development Counsel, consulting and coaching, an inter-generational relations expert and West Key Author of The Rainmaking Machine and The Marketer’s Handbook of Tips and Checklists. For more information, visit her website, pdcounsel.com, or her blog, Next Generation, Next Destination.
Posted by Phyllis Weiss Haserot in:
Education | In Practice |
No Comments |
Share
There are many places to turn for compelling, fictional stories that have the law or legal issues at the core. Movies, television and books bring these tales to life.
Many of them challenge our thinking. Many of them provide legal lessons for real life. I had a chance recently to learn more about the story behind a work of fiction that does that – published by West.
Yes, fiction.
Rediscovering Lone Pine is from Andrew F. Popper, a professor at American University, Washington College of Law. West just published the award-winning novel (it won a 2005 Maryland Writers’ Association Prize for Mainstream Fiction).
For Popper, his novel is central to what he says every law student and lawyer needs to develop – the ability to tell a story.
“We all, in the end, are storytellers and we have to decide how to do that succinctly and how we capture our audience and figure out and adjust for the interests of people we represent,” Popper told me. “I think it is the challenge of every lawyer, in fact everybody involved generally in the legal system, to figure out how one goes about telling an effective story.”
So what is Rediscovering Lone Pine about? Well, it tracks childhood friends through their youth, teenage years, law school and into their first years in practice.
The themes involve providing counsel to a close friend and the struggle to maintain independent, professional legal judgment; the competency of a defendant and the Vietnam War veteran experience; and the impact of troubled family situations on children.
But it all begins with the disappearance of a boy in the deep woods of New York.
Are you hooked? (more…)
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
Audio | Education | In Practice |
No Comments |
Share
Thomson Reuters, Legal, President & CEO Peter Warwick offered his perspective on the company’s approach to the current economic reality in a panel discussion, “Adapting and Thriving in a Challenging Economy”, at the Minnesota Venture & Finance Conference.
The launch of WestlawNext brings a significant advancement in the way professional legal research is done.
Andrew F. Popper, a professor at American University, Washington College of Law, talks about his award-winning novel “Rediscovering Lone Pine.”
