The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/480238
PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA 26 Show Your Passion: A Recent Rise to Management by Kate Boeckman of Thomson Reuters I was a gamer when girls did not game. My path — college, law school, Westlaw reference staff attorney, principal attorney editor — was laced with technology interests. As a reference attorney, I helped develop the first email and instant message process for quick q/a response. As an editor, I suggested an iPad approach to eliminate a cumbersome paper trail while increasing efficiency and productivity. I also volunteered to beta test ProView, a global e-book platform. So it was not surprising to people when I wanted to try Google Glass when it was announced. When I learned I was one of the 8,000 lucky individuals who "won the golden ticket," I attended the New York Google orientation and then volunteered to head a wearable technology work stream, determining possible business use cases. "Kate is the model where an individual's passion for technology helped her self-identify as a candidate for technology management," Bob Schukai said. What's my advice to those wanting to move into management? Talk to and meet as many people you can in your area of technology interest. People must know about your passion, and you need to grow your knowledge. Seek management that wants to develop and support your goals. Don't wait for projects to be handed to you. If you are interested in moving from staff to management, show your strengths, present your interests, build up your weaknesses and make it happen. Spotlight on Strategic Relationships ILTA's Strategic Relationship Program recognizes the importance of key relationships and creates opportunities for meaningful dialogs to support educational programming, to provide member feedback that informs future product/service development and to ensure ILTA's involvement in standard-setting initiatives. Catherine Monte, ILTA's Strategic Relationship Liaison for Thomson Reuters, chatted with Lance Odegard, Director of National Technology at Thomson Reuters. In this discussion, they reflect on the ILTA-Thomson Reuters Practice of Law (TRPOL) partnership and how they will continue to expand and improve ILTA member services and benefits through this strong relationship. Catherine: What TRPOL products are most applicable to ILTA members? Lance: ILTA members have found client development and competitive intelligence tools, business and practice management capabilities, and greater efficiency and productivity through several Thomson Reuters products: WestlawNext for legal research; West km and Practical Law for knowledge management and "know how" solutions; Drafting Assistant for improved document creation; Case Notebook and Case Logistix to organize, analyze and collaborate during discovery and trial preparation; Monitor Suite for in-depth competitive analysis; Thomson Reuters Intelligence Center for client development insights; and Serengeti for a host of law department efficiencies. Catherine: What can we expect from TRPOL this year? Lance: We look to expand our litigation and transactional products and services and advance our customers' data analytics initiatives through new products and improved access to our underpinning technologies. We'll also continue to enhance our customers' mobile productivity. Catherine: Tell us one or two facts that are most important for ILTA members to know about TRPOL. Lance: Thomson Reuters provides research and productivity solutions throughout the legal industry, serving legal professionals in law firms, law departments, government institutions and academia. Our products are becoming increasingly interoperable, facilitating improved flow across the legal work stream. Catherine: How does TRPOL partner with ILTA to help us meet members' growing needs? Lance: We value the opportunity to gain insight from ILTA members through direct interaction at live events and from coordinated opportunities to gather and analyze member insights and other data through ILTA publications. This candid feedback helps us shape our current tools and services to better meet ILTA members' business and practice needs. Through these insights we have developed various information- sharing opportunities for ILTA members including: the Managing Partner Series, a free service providing topical news and a monthly managing partner podcast; webinars and roadshows, like the highly successful "Efficient and Effective Case Management: Manage Litigation Workflow from Production to Trial;" our sponsorship of ILTA's "Legal Technology Future Horizons" report; and articles on key issues to ILTA membership, such as "Knowledge Management: Mining for Gold in Big Data."