Can you hear yourself think?

I had an interesting piece of work kindly passed on to me recently, following a shout out I posted on LinkedIn. I was asking for people to provide me with any links to articles on the potential dangers/disadvantages of social media use in the workplace for my dissertation topic. I had some excellent responses but one of the most thought provoking was sent to me by Adrian (Mac) Mackay, managing partner of Duncan Alexander & Wilmshurst. 

He was discussing the potential problems of "permanent partial attention" within organisations. This is the phenomena whereby information is passed backwards and forwards between individuals at such a rate that nothing ever gets dealt with in a single-minded and focused manner. We all know the scenario where one employee e-mails another and copies in two or three other members of staff. They then respond, also copying in two or three members of staff who may or may not be relevant to the issue being discussed. This basically sets off a cascade of e-mail traffic which serves to accomplish little other that clogging up everyone's inbox.

The increase in the use of social media, if not managed correctly can also contribute to this "information overload" effect. Communications and networking utilities such as e-mail and Twitter have the power to transform our lives for the better if used correctly and with a certain level of discipline. I feel, however, that used incorrectly they threaten to overwhelm us in a sea of spam, jokes, motivational sound-bites and social media updates. Just think, when you get in to the office in the morning how long does it take you, once you have switched your computer on, to actually start work on anything productive? By the time you have opened all your e-mails, checked Twitter, LinkedIn and any blogs you follow is it time for your mid-morning coffee? As the influence of these media in our lives grows we need to learn new disciplines to control the rate at which we process all this new information. Next time you send that e-mail just think again before you copy in your boss, your secretary, your solicitor, your social media consultant,etc. Do they really need to see this piece of information or am I just adding to the digital cacophony?

For more information and assistance with using social media in a productive manner you could do worse than contact ‘Mac’ at Duncan Alexander and Wilmshurst, Management and Marketing Consultants – www.daw.co.uk

Help the homeless, just do it somewhere else please

On a topic completely unrelated to either law or IT, (not bad, only 3 posts in and already off-topic),  I couldn't help but make a small comment on yesterday's news that The Conservative Westminster Council have decided that "soup runs" actually contribute to the plight of the homeless and have decided to ban them. 


At first glance the argument that free hand-outs of hot food somehow exacerbate the already desperate plight of the homeless, might seem to some people to contain a form of anti-intuitive logic. The argument goes that the soup runs somehow prevent those in need from seeking help through official channels that might more effectively lead to them getting off the streets.


Call me cynical but I feel that the truth of the matter can be seen a bit more clearly when one examines closely exactly what has been said. Daniel Astaire, cabinet member for society, families and adult services, said: "soup runs on the streets in Westminster actually encourage people to sleep rough in central London, with all the dangers that entails." 


So let's get this straight, what you are saying is soup runs cause increased levels of homelessness. To me that's a bit like saying "more people turn to smack because they know they can get free needles from the needle-exchange". Perhaps if we were to read Mr Astaire's statement a bit more like this? "soup runs in Westminster actually encourage people to sleep rough in Central London (ie Westminster). Does that make things a bit clearer? 


More than 250,000 people find themselves homeless every year and the reasons behind this number are varied, complicated and tragic. The way Mr Astaire refers to the soup runs as "encouraging" people to sleep rough makes homelessness sound like some sort of undesirable lifestyle choice like smoking or binge drinking. The fact is that more than 3,600 people slept on the streets of London during 2008 and the vast majority of these people did so because they, through fear or desperation, had no choice. To try and ban the lifeline of a hot meal to these people because it might attract more of them strikes me as the most cold-hearted form of nimbyism I have heard in a long time.

I can't see it taking off! Cloud Computing for law firms.

Recently there has been a buzz word going around legal circles, everyone is talking about "The Cloud". What exactly is the "The Cloud" and is it something that legal professionals should be concerning themselves with at the moment? Is it something that has tangible benefits for practicing solicitors in the present or just another promising technology?

Well let's get something straight to begin with - "cloud" computing isn't a new technology, it's just been re-branded. Anyone who routinely accesses information via an on-line platform is already using it. If you have a hotmail account, use social media sites to share information or regularly tweet you are already familiar with the principle. Basically it means that the information you are accessing is held somewhere out there in the digital universe rather than on your own storage facility or hard-drive. All it really means is that some people more familiar with the internet and software have worked out how this principle might be used to save companies time and money and (more importantly), charge them for the pleasure.

What this means in practice is that rather than hosting large amounts of data on your firm's server you can now rent storage space within a cloud facility, which can also include access to practice/case management software. For the mobile lawyer this means no more logging into your internal network in order to access files. You can work in exactly the same way whether you are in the office, at home or anywhere else that has an internet connection. It also means reduced outlay in terms of hardware and expensive servers as well as having an environmental advantage. You only pay for the storage you are using rather than paying for banks of expensive, hot servers and an IT professional to look after them.

With a new technology such as this there are of course worries. The main concern for law firms regarding "The Cloud" is information security. At least when you hold information on your own servers you can have a firewall and encryption in place to help keep the sensitive client information you hold secure. When you beam a file off into the ether how can you be sure where it will end up? The DPA requires that certain information needs to be kept within the borders and this intrinsically goes against the very nature of cloud computing. In fact it may be that data protection legislation needs to be revised before the full potential of "The Cloud" can be realised. These are genuine areas of concern and it is clear that these issues will need to be properly addressed by those offering cloud computing to law firms. Most lawyers will probably hold back a bit from adopting this "new" technology until they have seen it tried and tested and these potential security issues have been dealt with by others. I feel, however, that, (once the risks have been properly assessed), the potential cost advantages of cloud computing are too great for any firm to ignore. Imagine the advantages for those who wish to start new, solicitor's "chambers" style firms, where lawyers have a space where they can hot-desk and hold meetings but will spend most of their time at home or on the move. In our highly competitive legal environment, where every potential area of saving is scrutinised in the name of profit and loss, can I really see cloud computing taking off?

Welcome

This is the first post of my new law and information technology blog. My intention is that this will grow and become something that people want to drop into from time to time, if I happen to be commenting on something of interest.

I'm not going to be able to post every day due to the constraints  imposed upon my time by the daily pressures of full-time work, a young family and a part-time degree course. I hope, however that I will be able to update on a fairly regular basis, particularly when current events take a turn that I feel warrants my attention and opinion.

Please bear in mind that at this stage I am purely a student of the law and my opinion and commentary may not be worth a damn. I may be naive in my legal opinion and infuriating to read for those of greater learning and experience. My hope is that, as I grow as lawyer and a commentator, the quality of my entries will improve and my progress will be obvious to any regular readers I might pick up.