HUMAN LAW MEDIATION

Jon Lang writes A Practical Guide to Mediation in Intellectual Property, Technology & Related Disputes

Jon Lang is an independent commercial mediator. In May 2005, after almost 20 years in private practice, the last 6 years as a partner in the disputes group of White & Case in London.

Jon set up his own mediation practice and has acted regularly as a mediator for a number of years and is recommended by both the Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 guides to the legal profession. He has mediated a wide variety of general commercial matters including boardroom, shareholder, joint venture and partnership disputes; a broad range of IP, IT and technology disputes; banking and insolvency disputes; regulatory disputes; professional negligence claims; defamation actions and a number of disputes arising in sectors such as public procurement and media.

In particular, why am I writing this profile?

Last Friday at the Academy of Experts Chairman's lunch in London I met Jon.

By merry confidence, the day before, I agreed to do a book review of Jon's book,  A Practical Guide To Mediation in Intellectual Property, Technology & Related Disputes.

I am looking forward to reviewing this book particularly as Jon's profile demonstrates that he is a leading player in this field.

9 ideas for IT Managers considering Enterprise 2.0

Consider this article by Dion Hinchcliffe and here are some extracts.

With respect to internal implementation.....

"As a recent Internet list rightly proclaimed, "EASY is the most important feature of any website, web app, or program."  Blogs, wikis, and other Enterprise 2.0 apps have to be the easiest thing to use.  Preferably much easier than the tools users have now or they won't start using them.  While many people use the office productivity software they have now because they have no choice, the fact is, they are quite familiar with them and they're too busy to learn new tools even if they work better.  So if you want adoption, you're very limited in the learning tax you can impose. And hopefully your selected Enterprise 2.0 platform will encourage the right behavior (extremely easy and obvious ways to tag, link, etc.)  Just remember that every good Web application on the Internet requires essentially zero training, if it didn't do this users would just go to the next easiest tool.  That means spare, clean application that aren't encrusted with features, gizmos, and links.  And make sure the software makes the right things easy to do and the wrong things hard"

And external issues on the PR side.....

"But the corporate skin will just have to get thicker too, like it does on the Internet where all Wikipedia entries are said to be "edited mercilessly" clearly on each editing screen.  Intervene only when absolutely necessary and be ready to play the master diplomat with senior management.  Yes, letting things "hang out" more than before will take some getting used to but the premise is that it's worth it. "

The Court of PR has more importance than the Court of Law Part 2

Carolyn Elefant has alerted me to this post of hers on her Legal Blog Watch gig .

It is such a good post of hers I have decided to quote it in its entirety.

"Used to be that lawsuits against firms for discrimination were a hushed affair, filed and pursued under cloak of secrecy. Law firms kept suits quiet, fearing damage to their reputation that might place them at a recruiting disadvantage. At the same time, most lawyers suing their firms kept quiet as well, fearing that a complaint would label them as a whiner and end their career.

So in this context I'm not sure if the lawsuit filed against Sullivan and Cromwell by Aaron Charney, an apparently still-employed associate at firm, for discrimination based on sexual orientation is simply an unexplained aberration or a new trend towards duking out claims not just in the court but in the court of Internet-driven public opinion.

As reported in Gay Associate Sues Firm For Discrimination (NY Law Journal 1/17/07), Aaron Charney filed a pro se suit against his employer, Sullivan and Cromwell, alleging that several partners discriminated against him because he is gay. From the article:

Aaron B. Charney accuses several of the firm's top partners of discriminating against him because he is gay. He also claims the firm initiated a retaliatory campaign after he filed an internal complaint, culminating in the issuance of a fabricated performance review.

In a statement e-mailed yesterday to all Sullivan & Cromwell lawyers, chairman H. Rodgin Cohen said the firm categorically denied Mr. Charney's allegations. He said the associate had made similar claims in May 2006, at which time he engaged a lawyer to demand a multi-million-dollar payment from the firm. The firm had investigated Mr. Charney's claims then, said Mr. Cohen, and rejected the demand for payment.

But that's hardly the end of the story. Over at Above the Law, David Lat has been providing extensive coverage, including a copy of the complaint, an interview with Charney, a memo attached to Charney's complaint about allegations of the firm overbilling clients and commentary from a sympathetic S&C former summer associate. (Full coverage accessible here.)

If Charney hopes to gain public sympathy, he has -- at least as evidenced by a poll put out by Lat, which shows that 64 percent of readers side with Charney. And with disclosures about S&L billing and other alleged practices, the firm isn't looking good (though again, that's just one side of the story).

Is Charney's public lawsuit something we can expect to see more of in the future? After all, with big-law reputations what they are, firms can suffer some serious damage in the court of public opinion (recall the surge that came to the support of popular blogger Denise Howell when she announced that she'd been terminated by her firm, Reed Smith). At the same time, law firms can use public opinion to their advantage as well. A law firm sued for discrimination might argue that it terminated an associate for incompetence and circulate inferior work product to back up its claims. 

By apparently resorting to what David Giacalone calls e-shaming, Aaron Charney may have opened up a huge can of worms. I admire Charney's conviction and his courage in speaking out, but at the same time, I hope for his sake (and other associates who've been treated unlawfully by law firms and are considering legal action) that all of this doesn't come back around and damage his career."

My observations - I totally endorse Carolyn's conclusion at the end.....There is a danger that the courageous Mr Charney will damage his career by taking such a stance. 

The nerds are right

Richard Susskind has come up with a bit of gem in his Times Law column: "As internet users teeter on the edge of another new era, will the legal fraternity, technology-wise, step up to the plate in 2007? The new era is being described as that of mass collaboration and peer production.....Users are becoming providers. Recipients are now participants. We are finding radically new ways to communicate, to produce information and to interact with one another. And once again, lawyers are faced with the task of assessing what a bamboozling array of innovations may mean for the law. The Luddites will say it is all irrelevant. The nerds will claim it is transformational. The nerds are right."

Hat tip - The excellent Lo-fi Librarian

Karen Jones editor of Citytech and Citywealth

Recently I had the opportunity to meet Karen Jones Managing Director of JPC on two occasions.

First of all at the Law Society Gazette It Forum last November and then at her offices in London last week.

Karen started JPC in about October 2005 in is editor of Citytech which is a publishing company dedicated to the global technology industry with a main focus on professional practice within US and UK. She also edits Citywealth which focuses on wealth management.

With respect to the meeting last week, Karen and I discussed a number of issues including blogging.

She was kind enough to do a detailed piece on my work and blogging which is featured in the current edition of Citytech. The file can be downloaded below.

Her lively personality belies someone with an enquiring and bright mind. By way of example she grasped concepts such as social bookmarking with ease.

Download citytech_boredom_blogs_bpm_edition_481.pdf

"Traditional old-style information system departments do not stand a cat in cyber-hell’s chance of winning"

Consider this article in Computing Business and look at this extract:

"IT directors have a choice: tap into the energy and ideas coming from this revolution, or stick their heads in the sand and pretend it will not happen. It is a face-off battle, and traditional old-style information system departments do not stand a cat in cyber-hell’s chance of winning.

The underlying cause of the generational mismatch is what analyst Gartner calls the consumerisation of IT, as technologies with origins in the consumer world infiltrate the enterprise. Instant messaging (IM), Skype and free applications – such as desktop search and the internet – are just the tip of a consumer-driven iceberg.

‘I absolutely believe the trend of consumerisation of IT is one of the big change areas in how IT will be delivered over the next 10 years,’ says Reuters CIO David Lister. Reuters is making a huge effort to spot and adopt new ways of working using consumer-led technology.

Consumer applications of technology are succeeding where traditional IT has failed. Peter Cochrane, co-founder of ConceptLabs, and formerly chief technologist at BT says Wiki technology, for example, is now being used for knowledge management. ‘We’ve had people talking about knowledge management in the enterprise for decades and out pops Wikipedia.’"

I am doing some blogging for E-Consultancy

There will be a decline in the number of of posts over the next few days as I am doing some blogging for E-Consultancy. Please click here to see what I am writing.

Human Law readers can have a 20% discount on a top social media conference

On Wednesday 21st & Thursday 22nd February, Unicom are organising a top conference in London on social media .

The speakers attending include Lee Bryant of Headshift, Phil Bradley, Suw Charman, Ruth Ward of Allen & Overy and myself.

It really looks like a great event and you are entitled to a 20% discount if you mention that you are reader of this blog if you want to book.

I am also doing a post conference blog workshop after the event.

To clarify, I have no financial stake if you book or not.   

Are big consultancy firms going to embrace social media?

Quite a good post which I located via Headshift. It is written by Gautom Ghosh who is based in Hyderabad, India.

He writes " A pretty good measure to judge whether a trend is really a trend or a fad is to see if advisory firms start practices around it. Seems so, if one goes by the article by Michael Rudnick, national intranet and portal leader, Watson Wyatt. Published in Strategic HR Review, Volume 6, Issue 2. (via the Melcrum HR newsletter).

Well what Rudnick lists down are some common points to us social media enthusiasts but with the article going to high level decision makers, what it has done is raised awareness of social media.

1. Embrace the "new normal"
The core tenet of social media is user-generated content. While the prospect of giving employees unvetted ability to publish content seems too risky to many HR practitioners, attempting to limit such activity is futile. There's plenty of content that HR must control for compliance purposes but look for opportunities in areas of the business that don't require constant surveillance.

2. Make collaboration easy

Provide best practices and off-line communities where interested employees can learn about how they can participate. According to research by Watson Wyatt, nearly 50% of the employee population will soon prefer – and expect – collaborative and interactive methods of communication with their employers.

3. Encourage content communities
Employees want best practices and core direction without overbearing policy regulation. User communities should get the ball rolling. They provide content creators with a means to learn, share and explore new ideas and opportunities. Examples include deciding which health-care plan is right for your organization or increasing the engagement of Generation Y employees.

4. Think big, start small
Don't take too long planning, start introducing social-media tools using a small group of employees whose profile fits the Web 2.0 criteria. Then gradually introduce social-media tools to other employees and functions across the business.

5. Drive effective change
If your population is skewed to a younger audience, or a large number of knowledge workers, user-generated content can be a valuable option to use in conjunction with existing vehicles and channels, such as your intranet. Leverage its appeal to your younger employees, and over time, others with more traditional views will embrace it as well. Watson Wyatt's research found that during the last three years there's been a 400% increase in social media behavior."

The Court of PR has more importance than the Court of Law

Chapter 6 of my wiki book deals with the Court of PR obtaining more importance than the court of law.

With this in mind, consider the Apple/Cisco dispute over the iPhone trademark which is being extensively covered on the blogosphere. 

Kevin O'Keefe writes:

"Mark Chandler, Cisco's SVP and General Counsel, is making wise use of Cisco's blog to respond to questions regarding Cisco's suit with Apple over Cisco's iPhone trademark. Chandler responds in a down to earth transparent fashion that's likely to influence bloggers, mass media, and the financial community who are covering the suit.

Robert Scoble says he's never seen blogging like this. Neither have I.

What takes me back is Scoble picking up on this unique use of a lawyer's blog while the legal blogosphere has been silent on Chandler's use of a blog."

Look at some of the wording from Cisco's Mark Chandler:

"So, I was surprised and disappointed when Apple decided to go ahead and announce their new product with our trademarked name without reaching an agreement. It was essentially the equivalent of “we’re too busy.” Despite being very close to an agreement, we had no substantive communication from Apple after 8pm Monday, including after their launch, when we made clear we expected closure. What were the issues at the table that kept us from an agreement? Was it money? No. Was it a royalty on every Apple phone? No. Was it an exchange for Cisco products or services? No.

Fundamentally we wanted an open approach. We hoped our products could interoperate in the future. In our view, the network provides the basis to make this happen—it provides the foundation of innovation that allows converged devices to deliver the services that consumers want. Our goal was to take that to the next level by facilitating collaboration with Apple. And we wanted to make sure to differentiate the brands in a way that could work for both companies and not confuse people, since our products combine both web access and voice telephony. That’s it. Openness and clarity. "

Some observations:

1 It takes a strong knowledge of blogging to have the confidence to use a blog in litigation.

2 The language is clear, open and avoids legal lease. Most lawyers would struggle with that.

3 Some negative comments have been made on the Cisco blog...To be expected but with the power of search engines and ease of publication, better to have speak on your blog than elsewhere. Overall the feedback is positive.

4 Could the blog influence perception of the litigation? Yes if enough bloggers support Cisco.