Latest & Greatest – The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together

By Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell

Published by American Bar Association. Section of Law Practice Management.

KF 320 .A9 K 46 2018

Photo Credit: Helen Hartman

Using the tools discussed in their book, The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, authors Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell created a guide for making the most out of collaboration tools and this future of legal technology. Collaboration tools and technologies by their very terms refer to means and methods, in this case electronic, which allow people to work together in a joint or common effort. The authors separate these tools into two types: those used inside the office and those used outside the office. The tasks and/or processes are the same, but there are distinctions between the two because of the obvious fact that the people who are communicating outside the office are not necessarily in the same physical location.

Moving beyond the basic discussion of the use of collaboration generally, the authors get into some specifics related to collaborating on documents, e.g. creating a document online and working simultaneously on a document, and working together on cases, transactions, and projects using such means as scheduling tools, conference calls, and real-time meetings.

The next part of the book focuses on commonly used collaboration platforms, including email, SharePoint, Adobe Acrobat, and Slack. Specialized collaboration platforms also merit some discussion by the authors. These include some practice management programs and knowledge management software. The authors conclude with recommended choices for some law practice scenarios, such as solo lawyers, government law departments, and legal services organizations.

Written by an information technology lawyer and a technology consultant and former litigator, The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together is a must-read for lawyers, legal professionals, and anyone who wants to discover the vast array of collaboration technologies available and how they can be implemented. You can find it here at the Law Library in our Legal Tech Collection.

19th Amendment Centennial and Women's History Month

Happy Women’s History Month! This year, the commemoration takes on added significance as we mark the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. To celebrate 100 years of votes for women, the Harris County Law Library will host events focused on women’s suffrage and women in law and government.

Votes for Texas Women, the exhibition: March 17 - April 3, 2020

“100 Years after the 19th Amendment: Their Legacy, and Our Future”

a traveling exhibit from the American Bar Association and Law Library of Congress

Visit the Harris County Law Library beginning March 17 to view the traveling exhibit from the American Bar Association and Law Library of Congress about the progress of suffrage in the last 100 years. The Law Library is the only institution in the Texas Gulf Coast Region slated to host the exhibit and we are proud to make it available to all through April 3, 2020. 

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The Law Library will also display an exhibit featuring artifacts from our archives, including an original 1920 printing of the 19th Amendment, to provide insight into the journey of women’s suffrage from the signs of suffragettes through the Texas and U.S. Constitutions and Supreme Courts.

Register to Vote!

All eligible exhibit goers will have a chance to register to vote at the end of the exhibit. As a voter registration agency under Chapter 20 of the Texas Election Code, the Law Library will offer voter registration cards and accept completed applications.

Learn more on our 19th Amendment Centennial page.

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19th Amendment Centennial Symposium: April 2, 2020

Registration is now open for the Law Library’s 19th Amendment Centennial Symposium. Join us on the 103rd anniversary of the day Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to serve in the U.S House of Representatives, was sworn in at the Capitol as Mariann Sears, the first woman to serve as director of the Harris County Law Library, will welcome notable women from the legal community and government to discuss the importance of inclusion. The event is free and open to all, but registration is limited. Register today!

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Women’s History Month Exhibit and Digital Exhibit: March 1-31, 2020

Throughout the month, visitors to the Law Library can view an exhibit commemorating the achievements of Camille Elizabeth Stanford Openshaw, the first woman to serve on the board of directors for the Harris County Law Library. Visit the digital exhibit to learn more about Ms. Openshaw.

Sources of Emergency Info in Harris County

Map of areas in Houston under boil water notice on Feb. 28, 2020. Click to visit the information Page from ReadyHarris.org

Last week, a 96-inch-diameter water pipe was damaged on the East side of Houston causing water pressure to drop throughout the nation’s fourth most-populous city. Without water pressure, restrooms and fire sprinklers in many public buildings were compromised, and a boil notice was issued for Houston and surrounding municipalities. It was an acute example of a time when access to government information becomes critical for the health and safety of millions of people in a very short period of time, which makes now a good time to provide a list of sources of local government information in times of emergency:

Offices of Emergency Management

Both Harris County and the City of Houston have offices of emergency management that disseminate information online about incidents, road and service closures, and cleanup assistance programs:

• Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management

  • ReadyHarris.org

  • Twitter: @ReadyHarris

• Houston Office of Emergency Management

  • HoustonOEM.org

  • Twitter: @HoustonOEM

Emergency Alerts

You can receive alerts via text, email, and phone from Harris County and the City of Houston. Sign up and management alert settings at:

• Harris County Emergency Alerts: ReadyHarris.org

• Houston Emergency Alerts: houstonemergency.org/alerts/

Traffic and Road Hazard Information

Information about hazardous driving conditions and road closures are available from Houston Transtar at https://www.houstontranstar.org/

Court and Related Office Closures

There are several types of courts in Harris County, which post closure information to different websites depending on court type. Additionally, the appellate, district, and county courts have clerks’ offices that post court closure information. Find useful resources here:

• 1st and 14th Texas Courts of Appeals: Twitter: @TxCourts

• Harris County District Courts (including civil, family, juvenile, and criminal-felony): https://www.justex.net/

  • Harris County District Clerk: https://www.hcdistrictclerk.com

• Harris County Courts (including Civil and Criminal Courts at Law and Probate Courts): http://ccl.hctx.net/

  • Harris County Clerk: https://www.cclerk.hctx.net/

• Harris County Justice of the Peace Courts: jp.hctx.net

• City of Houston Municipal Courts: https://www.houstontx.gov/courts/

From Picture Books to Board Books – Bridging the Justice Gap

Like most law libraries, Harris County Law Library is dedicated to bridging the justice gap and providing its patrons with access to the legal resources and materials they need to navigate the legal justice system. In a previous post, “How Children’s Books Promote Access to Justice,” we highlighted how the Law Library’s partnership with Harris County Public Library fostered access to justice by including children’s books in the Law Library’s collection. We were thrilled to learn that our friends at the Hamilton County Law Library in Cincinnati, Ohio, have followed our lead by partnering with the Public Library of Cincinnati to provide visitors with age-appropriate reading material, including children’s picture books as well as fiction and nonfiction offerings for adults.

Now, we’ve taken it one step further by adding board books to our collection. For those of you who may not know, board books are children’s books that are printed, not on regular paper, but on much thicker paperboard or cardboard. They are perfect for small children, typically for those up to age 3. They are designed to withstand the less than gentle touch and handling of toddlers. We have a large array of picture books for children between the ages of 4 and 8, but we were seeing more and more people coming to the library with toddlers. We knew we needed something more appropriate to keep these little ones busy while their moms, dads, or caregiver managed their legal business.

National African American History Month: Justice Thurgood Marshall

National African American History Month traces its roots to efforts made by historian and founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Dr. Carter G. Woodson. In 1926, Dr. Woodson instituted the first Negro History Week in February 1926, a week that coincided with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. More than 50 years later, it was expanded to Black History Month or African American History Month.

In honor of National African American History Month, the Harris County Law Library created a digital exhibit celebrating the life and legacy of Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the country’s highest court. The exhibit highlights his career as a civil rights attorney, as Solicitor General, and as Supreme Court Justice. For those of you who are fortunate to visit our library, you can view an exhibit commemorating Justice Marshall’s extraordinary life in the Law Library lobby.

If you are interested in learning more about African American history and the notable life of Justice Thurgood Marshall, please see these digital resources:

United States Courts (“Justice Thurgood Marshall Profile – Brown v. Board of Education Reenactment”)

Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage

Constitution Daily (“Thurgood Marshall’s Unique Supreme Court Legacy”)

National Museum of African American History & Culture

Library of Congress Exhibitions