Technology

Using Electronic Mailing Lists
to Discuss Legal Technology

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Unfortunately, Simon, who is subscribed to several legal-specific email discussion lists, forgets to unsubscribe to all the listserves to which he belongs before setting his autoresponder. So, every time he gets a message from a listserve, his autoresponder replies to everyone on the listserve. This causes an endless loop: Simon's email sends an autoresponse to the listserve, which goes out to everyone, including Simon. When Simon receives the email from the listserve, his email autoresponder function kicks in and sends another autoresponse, which goes to everyone on the list, including Simon, causing Simon's email autoresponse ... well, you get the picture. The proper netiquette dictates that Simon temporarily should have unsubscribed to all his listserves to avoid this problem.

Popular Legal Technology Listserves

There are five primary email lists for lawyers eager for serious tech-talk.

1) Network 2d. This is my personal favorite and one of the busiest of the legal technology lists. Network 2d is a companion list to the ABA Law Practice Management Section's flagship "Network 2d" newsletter. One of the older legal technology listserves, it has about 700 subscribers, many of whom are regular participants. Well-known legal technology experts abound here including Bruce Dorner, David Hirsch (a cocolumnist of "In Re Technology" in the ABA Journal), Dan Coolidge (coauthor of A Survival Guide for Road Warriors), Jerry Lawson (author of the new ABA Law Practice Management book, The Lawyer's Complete Guide to the Internet), and even occasionally Burgess Allison (of the original The Lawyer's Guide to the Internet).

The list is unmoderated, and conversation is sometimes on the frivolous side, but the list denizens are particularly good at policing themselves. Messages per day can vary dramatically. On busy days, there can be 10-20 messages.

Perhaps the greatest attraction to Network 2d is the feeling of shared camaraderie and community among its members. This undercurrent seems to promote familial conversation, enhances the communication, and is just plain fun.

Visit Network 2d, follow the instructions, scroll down to the listing for the Network2d list, click on subscribe, and fill in the information. Alternatively, you can subscribe via email, which is faster but doesn't expose you to all the various lists available through the ABA, an interesting "read" in itself.

To subscribe via email, send an email message; with body text as follows: subscribe network2d Your Name.

2) LawTech. This is another ABA list, sponsored and managed by the ABA's Legal Technology Resource Center (LTRC). Similar in tone to the Network 2d list, the volume of LawTech messages is somewhat lighter, typically averaging 10-20 per day. Lively discussion, sometimes rising to the level of being heated - as did a recent fracas regarding everyone's favorite legal billing "TABS v. Timeslips" - makes LawTech a must-read.

To subscribe via email, send a message, with body text as: subscribe lawtech. Or visit the ABA Web site and follow the instructions.

This list has roughly 900 subscribers and is semi-moderated, meaning that if the discussion gets too heated, the list manager will referee the combatants.

3) Netlawyers. The largest of the legal technology lists, this is run by legal technology/Internet folk hero Lew Rose, a lawyer at Washington, D.C. megafirm, Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn. Netlawyers is generally focused on issues related to law, technology, and the Internet, but topical coverage tends to be a bit broader in practice.

There are reportedly well over 2,000 subscribers to this busy list. Message traffic is sporadic, likely due to the fact that this list is completely moderated by Lew Rose. He reviews all messages sent to the email list and determines those that should be posted to the group. The messages seem to come in spurts - some days very few, other days 20-30 or more appear.

The tone of this group is more no-nonsense. For those wanting to cut to the chase, this is an interesting list to monitor. For those looking for an equal mix of fun, collegiality, and technology, the former two lists may be more to your liking. To subscribe, go online and follow the instructions.

4) Technolawyer. This is a private list with more than 2,000 subscribers run by New York lawyer and netrepreneur Neil Squillante. While unmoderated, there are specific topics for discussion that are posted and approved for each week. This tends to keep the discussion very substantive and informative. Interesting tidbits include Neil's TechnoPosts (awards for best postings), TechnoFeatures (articles submitted), and TechnoReleases (press releases from legal technology vendors), which are especially useful and innovative. To subscribe, go online.

Ross L. Kodner is chair of the ABA Law Practice Management Section Computer & Technology Division, a member of the ABA TechShow 2000 board, and secretary of the State Bar of Wisconsin Law Practice Section. He is a Milwaukee attorney and founder of Legal Technology Consultancy MicroLaw Inc.

5) Solosez. This is another great ABA list. Focused on the solo and small firm lawyer, this group has become one of the most interesting virtual legal communities around. While topics include plenty of substantive and procedural threads, technology topics are always floating about (this list isn't solely technology-oriented in focus). Message volume is fairly high at about 50-80 messages per day. The tone is fun and friendly, and members are most helpful. Some well-known Law Practice Management and General Practice/Solo-Small section people like Jennifer Rose (the list manager), Bruce Dorner, Reid Trautz, Sheryn Bruehl, and Ed Poll participate.

To subscribe, visit the ABA Web site and follow the instructions, or send an email message that says in the body: subscribe solosez FirstName LastName.

Conclusion

Email lists are great places to get quick answers from real people out in the trenches of average law practice. The experience is far more pleasant, and typically more enlightening, than the all-too-typical "permahold" one can experience on software and hardware makers' technical support lines. So remember, paraphrasing Ed McMahon, you can't win if you don't subscribe!