Solo and Small Firm
The Practitioner Summer 2015, Volume 21, Issue 2
Content
- 21st Century Online Collaboration Tools for Lawyers
- Coach's Corner What is the Secret Ingredient for Success?
- Letter From the Chair
- Letter From the Editor
- Moving to the Cloud to Improve Security, Reduce Risk, and Expand Your Practice
- Solo & Small Firm Spotlight: Kristen G. Roberts
- Structuring Attorney Fees
- Table of Contents
- Today's Medical Records Retrieval Solutions for Solos and Small Firms
- It's Time To Get Onto the Cloud
It’s Time To Get Onto the Cloud
By Marc Jenkins
Marc Jenkins is Associate General Counsel & Executive Vice President-Knowledge Strategy for cicayda, a litigation support software and services company based in Nashville and Adjunct Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University where he teaches courses on Electronic Discovery & Information Governance and Technology in Legal Practice. He is a member of the Sedona Conference Working Group on Electronic Document Retention and Production, a member of the American Bar Association’s Solo, Small Firm & General Practice, Science & Technology, and Litigation Sections and a member of the Compliance Governance & Oversight Council. Prior to joining cicayda and Vanderbilt, he was the founder and managing partner of Hubbard & Jenkins Information Risk Management, and a partner with Hubbard, Berry & Harris, PLLC.
Fifty years ago this fall, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote "Get Off of My Cloud" as a reaction to the increasing demands of record companies and a bombardment of requests from the world around them.1 The information overload that their new-found stardom created in the Sixties likely pales in comparison to the demands of our information age on their latest announced North American tour. Similarly, lawyers are bombarded with information from increased globalization, connectivity, and the regulatory state in modern times. Fortunately, the fast-paced world that created some of this mess is also our salvation. While The Rolling Stones rocking of arenas and stadiums has remained a constant, the "cloud" has an entirely different meaning and is no longer merely in the sky. Cloud computing provides limitless computing power. The combination of cloud computing with the democratization of information providing infinite data or information sources and continuous connectivity with a global reach has empowered incredible advancements across all industries. This cloud allows lawyers in all practice settings to scale and augment their client service abilities. Therefore, it is a cloud on which you must get, not only to survive, but to thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace.