Most of us, at one time or another, have made a mistake when it comes to sending an email.
Perhaps you've made an error but pressed send too quickly, attached the wrong document, or emailed the wrong person entirely! The situation is usually more of an embarrassment than anything else, but the repercussions are more serious when confidential information is involved.
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Alterative fee arrangements (AFAs) seem to be consistently in the news. With clients demanding greater efficiencies and increasingly clamping down on legal fees, I'm often asked about technology's role in alternative fee arrangements. Clients want to know what the secret software or best technologies are to make AFAs a breeze. I'll let you in on a secret. There are none.
Some people are quite surprised when I won't champion technology as the total solution. Don't get me wrong, there are some great (and simple) technologies out there. But the best technology is a bad investment if you don't couple it with great processes and the right people. So what do I tell my clients when the technology/AFA subject arises?
A few weeks ago our VP of Engineering asked me, “What unites all of us at Firmex?”
All too often you see corporations craft syrupy and bland mission statements about their vision and values, print them on posters and slap them up around the office. While these statements are important in providing a holistic direction for the company, they don’t relate to the day to day reality of working life.
So, this got me thinking about what does make our employees want to come to work every day?
I surveyed a bunch of employees from different departments in our office and asked them, “What makes your job interesting or gratifying?” The response was a mix of both universal and divergent themes.
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Firmex is pleased to present the following 2-part series on Big Data. In this article (Part 1) we will define what Big Data is and the advantages it can offer your business. Part 2 will then provide some practical advice on how to adopt it into your business.
What is Big Data?
‘Big Data’ is the application of specialized techniques and technologies to process very large sets of data. These data sets are often so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools. Examples include web logs, call detail records, medical records, military surveillance, photography archives, video archives and large-scale e-commerce.
Kicktastic is a comprehensive online resource that offers a collection of tips for kickstarting your business and making it a success.
As part of their Company Profiles series, Kicktastic recently interviewed our very own Robert Wilder, Co-Founder and COO of Firmex.
Kicktastic’s Company Profiles series conducts interviews with the best business owners around to find out how they started and what they learned along the way. Rob shared the Firmex story.
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For the past few years, I've been working with a client on a very cutting edge software development effort. I have to say that the most complex part of the project has been ensuring that the interface and the overall user experience remains simple and intuitive.
The marching orders were simple - follow the Apple model - make it easy. And that extended to the commercial, off-the-shelf, legal software tools that were integrated or skinned.
So with all this user interface, user experience work, I've become somewhat obsessed with ease of use, and the intuitiveness of the software tools we use in our daily lives.
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We often highlight articles that would be interesting and relevant to the Firmex community. We hope you enjoy this in-depth article by Yuen Pau of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, on the impending CNOOC-Nexen deal in the oil and gas sector.
While the political and economic views expressed in this article don't necessarily reflect that of Firmex, we felt that it provided a succinct overview of major considerations at play in this deal, and should serve as a good starting point for those interested in exploring the topic further.
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Most firms acknowledge that there is risk associated with the exposure of their confidential information.
This can be in the form of legal risk, if it relates to personal information, or competitive risk, in the case of commercial information, like trade secrets and client lists.
Most firms maintain security policies and procedures to mitigate these data security risks. These can range from adding passwords on smart phones used outside the office, to signing complex NDA agreements with third parties when confidential information is shared, like in an M&A transaction or a licensing deal.
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I recently attended a 3 day M&A workshop in San Francisco hosted by the M&A Leadership Council. Also in attendance were the M&A post-merger integration professionals from thirty or so other companies, most of them serial acquirers, such as Intel, Symantec, McAffee, EMC, Halliburton and Best Buy.
One central theme that emerged during this workshop was the common disconnect between the M&A deal team, who conduct the due diligence, and the M&A integration team, who try and make the investment meet the assumptions that led to the deal in the first place.
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When it comes to sharing highly sensitive documents, you need more than just a secure login. A reliable document-sharing provider should enforce vigilant security measures that cover everything from the physical infrastructure hosting your data, to the protection of your users and documents.
As part of our latest product release, Firmex is pleased to announce new and improved security features that offer you even greater control over your data room.
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Download Security Breaches on the Rise: What Law Firms Need to Know