2005 continues to be a banner year for the Technology Committee. Our membership numbers have maintained just above the 300 member threshold. We have had a steady flow of new members replacing those who have dropped off the committee. Although Technology does not have its own seminar, Steering Committee members worked hard in promoting and marketing the DRI Electronic Discovery seminar held in May in Washington, D.C. The seminar was well attended and received high reviews.

Imagine two scenarios. In both, you are defending a fact-intensive claim in which thousands of documents have been produced by all sides.

In the first scenario, you create a database to house images of select documents along with coding that captures basic information about the documents and your notes concerning their relevance to the case. It took you three years to construct, at a cost of over $50,000. One day, plaintiff files a motion to compel seeking the production of the database.

The rivalry between Windows and Macintosh-users is a long-standing one, and the claims of the “Mac-heads” seem to soar in inverse proportion to Apple’s market share. As a dedicated user and defender of Macintosh computers, I admit to enjoying the “analysis” (<http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/35130.html>) of computer message boards that concluded that “Mac users might not actually be smarter than PC users, but they certainly use better English and a larger vocabulary to express more complex thinking.”

The use of, and reliance upon, technology in a law office is a fact of law firm life. Among other things, it is an indispensable practice management tool that facilitates client service. Clients expect electronic accessibility and compatibility with their outside counsel. One might go so far as to say that under certain circumstance the implementation and use of technology is a criterion in the selection and retention of outside counsel. Lawyers, like any other business person, must meet the needs of their clients.

The Internet is an incredible resource of information, not only for trivia and entertainment, but also for serious purposes that can help the defense trial attorney to work better and smarter. The vastness of this resource also makes it seem daunting at times. These days most law firms put a computer with an Internet connection and web browser software on every employee’s desk. Yet we all have received the emails from colleagues which indicate that the availability of information is not fully known to many otherwise up-to-date practitioners. I recently received a newsletter from a national bar group, that took an entire long paragraph to spell out, step by step, how to navigate to the group’s website.

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