Court video online raises call for blanket cellphone policy
Another recent incident of video streamed online that could compromise criminal courts has led judges in Marion County to consider a blanket policy restricting cellphone use in courtrooms.
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Southern District testing inclusion of links in documents
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana announced this week that it is beginning a pilot program that will let the court and attorneys include active hyperlinks within e-filed and court-issued documents.
Start Page: Tips for catching up after snow days
We’re already over a month in to 2014. So far, the weather has wreaked havoc on school and work schedules. If you are like me, the list of things to accomplish has only gotten longer as a result. The solution? Use your technology tools more efficiently. Here are three concepts and related tips to help you (and me) dig out and catch up.
Attorneys finding more link rot online
Just a few days after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in his case, attorney Brian Paul searched for the website the court had cited and discovered not everything on the Internet is permanent.
Courts warn of email scam using phony court cases
The United States Courts cautioned attorneys this week about an email scam in which the emails purporting to come from federal and state courts are infecting recipients with computer viruses.
Start Page: Is your data in the cloud really out of (your) control?
In today’s rapidly changing technology environment, programmers update software frequently. Your choice: accept the changes or move on. When was the last time you went more than a day without an update request from your smartphone?
Judge finds Google’s book project ‘transformative’
Attorneys differ on whether the recent ruling benefits society or opens the door for infringement.
Indiana shares in Google cookie settlement
Indiana is one of 28 states that will share in a $17 million settlement agreement with Google Inc. over its unauthorized placement of cookies on computers using Apple’s Safari Web browsers in 2011 and 2012.
Finney: Is trial technology a reasonable and necessary expense?
A recent decision from the Nevada District Court, Clark County, demonstrated that technology at trial is a valued component and not merely a dog-and-pony show. The dispute at hand centered upon unpaid expenses for trial technology that had been deemed as not a “reasonable and necessary” expense.
Technology levels the legal playing field
Attorneys find hardware and software make them more effective and efficient.
Indy attorney ID card fee to increase, but so should perks
The fee lawyers pay for identification allowing them to avoid security checkpoint lines at the City-County Building in Indianapolis will increase, but so will the functionality of the cards, according to a proposal adopted Friday.
Commemorating Constitution Day? There’s an app for that
Just in time for Constitution Day, there is now an app for constitutional case law.
JTAC oversight committee sets initial meeting
The first meeting of the committee created by the Legislature to oversee the Indiana Supreme Court’s technology initiatives – chief among them continued implementation of the Odyssey case management system – will take place Tuesday morning.
Professor outlines how technology is changing the practice of law
As robots and computers entered factories, manufacturing became “advanced manufacturing,” bringing increased production at a lower cost. That upheaval, the result of innovations in technology, is now being felt within the legal profession. William Henderson, professor of law and director of the Center on the Global Legal Profession at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, explained that the growing legal services industry, populated largely by nonlawyers, is mechanizing and automating the work attorneys do, creating products that can be sold for a relatively cheap price.
South Bend mayor: City leads ‘open-data’ effort
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said there were plenty of reasons the city decided to embrace an open-data policy, putting as many public records as possible online with a pioneering city website, Open Data South Bend.
More attorneys are turning to online programming to get CLE credit
Since 2006, Indiana attorneys have been allowed to count CLE classes offered over the Internet toward their total required continuing education hours. The popularity of online programs has been growing among lawyers primarily because of the convenience. Lawyers do not have to budget travel time into their schedules to attend a seminar.
Indiana applicants can use laptops to take bar exam
While the state Board of Law Examiners considers making substantive changes to the Indiana Bar Exam, technology has already ushered in a change to how the test is taken. February 2012 applicants were the first allowed to use their laptops on the first day of the exam. They could type their essays as opposed to handwriting their thoughts in the traditional blue book.
Finney: The OneNote tool you actually need
In this on-demand era of instant gratification, we expect that information should always be at our fingertips. Our time is precious and we all want others to respect that fact; in return doesn’t that mean we should all be respectful of the time that others give to us?
Start Page: Fighting interruption addiction, continued
In my last column, I confessed I was addicted to interruptions: email, voice mail, texts, phone calls, Twitter feeds, etc. Studies have shown multitasking lowers IQ.
Social media sleuths find evidence, but admissibility requires authentication
What happens on Facebook stays on Facebook – forever – and attorneys conceivably run into risk if they fail to investigate pertinent posts, a judge suggested during a presentation about social media evidence.