The Kennedy-Mighell Report

What if your smartphone or tablet could serve as your personal assistant? Considering the capabilities of Siri and Google Now, like making a restaurant reservation, scheduling a meeting, sending an email, it’s an option to consider. On this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the digital versions of personal assistants, their current capabilities and what the future might hold for the Apple and Google tools, and whether a digital-virtual-personal assistant is the next big thing. On the second half of the show, your hosts will cover Blackberry’s recent announcement that they are looking for a buyer, and what might be the death of a much-utilized tool in the legal industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many years, lawyers have chased after the holy grail of the paperless office. While the basic techniques and strategies have largely stayed the same and the technology and tools have gotten better, most lawyers and firms have not attained the elusive goal of a “paperless” office. Is the goal simply unachievable or is it just too hard to execute on what it takes to achieve the goal? In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the history and current state of paperless office efforts, approaches that might (or might not) work for you, and whether the end of paper is within sight. The second half of the episode will cover Georgetown University's new "Iron Tech" Contest where students create a new application, platform, or system to improve access to justice and/or legal representation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Casey Flaherty, corporate counsel at Kia Motors America, has gotten a lot of attention recently with a basic technology competency audit he administers to outside law firms and the failing grades lawyers at those firms have received. There has always been an ongoing conversation of what basic technology skills lawyers need. The ABA’s Ethics 2020 recommendation that a basic knowledge of common software techniques be a part of the definition of “competence,” has also shined the spotlight on this issue. In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss Flaherty’s technology audit approach, the responses it has prompted, and how this may or may not change the ways lawyers deal with technology skills. The second half of the episode will cover Apple’s much-rumored “iWatch” and the future of watch technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After much anticipation, Google Reader has left the webosphere. Users have until July 15th to grab their data from the app and find a replacement. So, what’s next? On this edition of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell will discuss news-reader app options and the future of RSS feeds. In the second half of the episode your hosts ask whether Google Search is still the best search engine. Dare they suggest that users divert from the Google conglomerate? Tune in to find out. Thanks to our sponsor, Transporter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this edition of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss encryption. The recent news coverage of the NSA surveillance has everyone talking about who can access their data, and this is especially relevant to practicing attorneys, who have to consider both their own data as well as that of their clients. According to your hosts, 30% of lawyers are using encryption to secure files and only 24% are using it to send email. This poses the question: Has the time for lawyers using encryption arrived? The second segment of the show will talk about Tom’s switch from the iPhone to the Android smartphone. Learn how and why he made the decision to make the change and his review, so far. Special thanks to our sponsor, Transporter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What started as a way to backup our hard drives is moving to how we access, what feels like, everything on our computers. On this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell will discuss the new trend of software by subscription. Instead of paying for an updated version of a new software product, companies are offering a monthly subscription which will immediately grant users access to the newest version via the cloud. Adobe and Microsoft are just two of the recent examples of vendors switching to this model. With so many lawyers and law firms using old versions of standard software, how will they react to this new system? The second portion of the show will cover the new service Google Takeout, which provides an easy way to extract your data from online-Google apps like Google Reader, Google Circles, and more. Whether you know it or not, seems like everything is stored online nowadays. Tune in to The Kennedy Mighell Report to keep up with Internet technology and the cloud. Special thanks to our sponsor, Transporter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer and vacation seasons are approaching. Some prefer to completely disconnect on vacation, while others like to stay connected. Work aside, those who choose to stay connected can use technology to make their trips more manageable and stress free with travel apps, adapters, and travel-friendly cameras. In this episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report, Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the intersection of technology and vacation, whether to connect or disconnect while traveling, and some of their favorite vacation and travel tech tips. In the second half of the show, your hosts will cover the accelerated speed of cloud-based interface updates and how to keep up. Special thanks to our sponsor, Transporter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell enter the realm of apps and plug-ins. Also known as web extensions, browser apps, add-ons, and bookmarklets, these additions to web browsers are made to make your Internet browser experience more efficient. Learn your hosts’ favorite web extensions when browsing for leisure and for work, and how to manage your apps and plug-ins so they don’t slow down your browser speed. The second half of the episode turns toward Internet communication, more specifically, how Twitter users are creating hashtags to express their moods in posts and how this changes the meaning and use of the hashtag. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Kennedy Mighell Report has reached a milestone: Episode 100! As part of the celebration your hosts will bring you today’s legal technology issues in the format of one of their favorite shows: ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption. Hear how technology can make your business more efficient, highlights from the ABA Tech Show, the future of technology for lawyers, and more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosts Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell are exploring a new social media outlet called Vine where users create videos, constricted to six-seconds in length. This inspired the discussion of nourishing creativity with a length constraint. Twitter limits users to 140 characters, Instagram allows only one photo per post, and Snapchat limits users to sending a photo for 10 seconds or less before it disappears from both the sender and the recipient’s device. On this episode of Kennedy Mighell report, your hosts will discuss how technology constraints can produce surprising results for lawyers, whether they participate in social media or not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices