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Kennedy’s 2005 legal technology predictions exciting for marketers

By Kevin O’Keefe
January 24, 2005

Fail to read and follow Dennis Kennedy’s 2005 legal technology predictions at your own peril. Kennedy has been around legal technology and the Internet for a long time. His predictions of the legal community’s use of the Internet for marketing and that blogs would play a big role in this have been right on the money.

I get goose bumps reading some of Kennedy’s predictions knowing the role of LexBlog in legal technology’s future. Most notably, Kennedy’s prediction about the role of blogs in getting the reputation of the legal profession back.

The legal bloggers have done a great job of changing others’ perceptions of lawyers for the better, at least on the Internet. Watch for innovation and more generation of goodwill from the world of legal bloggers.

Selected Kennedy big picture predictions

  • IT means business. Too many lawyers buy technology they don?t understand for reasons they don’t understand. Going forward, though, the business practices found in other industries will find their way into law firms. Expect to hear terms like “alignment with business goals,” “return on investment,” “benchmarking” and even “portfolio management.” Firms of all sizes will increasingly use IT audits, IT planning and other common business practices.
  • LexBlog is finding this to be the case all to well. Lawyers have been sold Internet marketing solutions that did not work and offered little return. They did so without understanding how the technology worked fearing they would be left behind. LexBlog is all about educating lawyers to be informed buyers of Internet marketing solutions, both via this blog and our down to earth sales practices.
  • It’s too much. Technology takes an increasing amount of effort and expense at many law firms. Watch for the debate about whether handling technology internally should be part of a firm’s core business. In addition, there’s too much to learn for a practicing lawyer. We?ll see a movement to third-party providers, services and consultants as a response to this state of affairs. The magical resource for lawyers will be state bar practice management advisors.
    • LexBlog’s turnkey solution is based on its belief that lawyers are simply unable to stay up with the latest in Internet marketing. And why should they. In addition LexBlog has found law firm IT people to be great at what they do, which is not marketing the law firm. Why not find a trusted marketing partner selling a reasonably priced solution and outsource the work to them?
  • Return of the Internet. The Internet has rather quietly become a powerful platform for a variety of innovative services and practical applications – from making phone calls to generating information feeds to facilitating online collaboration. These services are accessible, affordable (or even free) and easy to use effectively. Plus, the legal blogging phenomenon is forever changing the way lawyers will use Web pages.
    • My oh my is Dennis right about this one. The Internet has allowed LexBlog to not only put a face on lawyers for prospective clients, but also allowed lawyers to operate an easy to use Internet publishing platform in a Web based environment that does not require the downloading of software nor any programming experience on the part of the lawyer.
  • Lawyers first. Technology-savvy lawyers will increasingly demand the tools they need, purchase the tools themselves, or simply leave (often because they have to purchase the tools themselves). In bigger firms, the priorities of the staffs and IT departments too often take precedence over the needs of lawyers. This results in “least common denominator” decisions that ultimately satisfy few, if any, lawyers. Those in small firms too often make decisions solely to accommodate secretaries and other staff. Lawyers now will begin to choose the best tools for their own needs.
    • LexBlog is all about empowering the American lawyer to take control of marketing their legal services. For years, good lawyers have marketed themselves by writing, speaking and being interviewed. In recent years, such marketing as meant a lot of work producing content and working through editors and program coordinators, often for overworked legal marketing professionals. LexBlog gives lawyers, with some support, their own publishing platform and broadcasting station.

    Further specifics from Kennedy focused on third-party services and client-driven technology, things LexBlog is all about. Best of all Kennedy included in his concluding paragraph that blogs and RSS feeds will become the leading vehicles for providing clients with the information they want.

    Make these predictions come true like you have in the past, Dennis, and the folks here at LexBlog will give you a big hug.

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