Technology and Other People-Driven Endeavors

The Task Force believes the primary challenge of technology in the coming years is to redesign the way we work so that technology is fully integrated into our work flow in an efficient and effective manner.

NYSBA Report of the Task Force on the Future of the Legal Profession.

The digital era of Facebook, LinkedIn, smartphones and cloud computing has completely transformed and 'redesigned' how we communicate in our personal lives. Social networking has evolved beyond its communication origins. It has become the primary means of sharing knowledge and information for increasing numbers of individuals and organizations. Traditionally, businesses ' and law firms especially ' have been more concerned with the potential risks of adopting social network models into their workflows than with the potential profit-impacting benefits on their organizations.

In December 2010, I became aware of a cloud platform, NeuLexa, which introduces technology for the law firm marketplace that provides for a very unique reimagining of legal workflow using the most potent features of social networking.

The Challenge: Small Firm Seeks Technology and Business Development

I knew from the outset that using technology effectively would be important for my day-to-day law practice. After I became partner at Sloan & Feller, I became involved with NYSBA's Electronic Communications Committee and subsequently was selected to be on the NYSBA Task Force for the Future of the Legal Profession. Part of our job on the task force was to map out how small firms could access and leverage knowledge management, expertise location and intelligence in the same manner as the large firms.

My first exposure to cloud computing for law firms was in 2008. I was looking for leading and emerging products to the market ' which at the time mostly meant practice management support.

Rocket Matter was in Beta testing, and after seeing a demonstration of the platform, the potential was obvious. One thing I loved about the platform was that I could access it anywhere because it was a SaaS model.

I also tested LexisNexis Total Practice Advantage because it had practice-specific research and content built into it ' and have been using the product since. The research and forms are very useful, though it has built-in features that are not intuitively tailored to small firms.

We solved most of our practice management issues with the adoption of LexisNexis Total Practice Advantage, so the next step for us was business development. One method I implemented to this end was creating groups on LinkedIn: The Elder Law Attorney Practice Group and The New York Lawyer Referral Group. These groups attracted a large number of attorneys. We decided to hold a networking event in Manhattan in December 2010, and that's where I met Chi Eng, a Manhattan-based IP attorney, prior engineer at Bell Labs, and developer of the product, NeuLexa.

Re-imagining Legal Workflow: Beyond'Practice Management

I consider legal work to be a people-driven endeavor. Data and content are part of it, but ultimately the success of any particular project is contingent on the quality of the professionals assigned to a task and how the professionals interact during the task's completion. The relationships matter. To that end, I was very intrigued by the idea of a technology that facilitated that kind of marketplace of ideas beyond practice management; beyond managing the linear tasks of calendaring, time and billing, and document sharing.

In order to survive in this increasingly complex environment, it is crucial that a firm build up a trusted network of experts on which it can rely for consultation and to serve as co-counsel. In fact, this network should include outside support staff so a matter can be handled in a cost-effective manner. These experts and support staff will most likely be located in geographically dispersed regions ' the next town, the next state, another country. This is true with my practice at Sloan & Feller, and one of the key hurdles NeuLexa was developed to solve by providing powerful, closed circuit social media features to develop legal teams and leverage their knowledge base.

When outsourcing legal and non-legal services, it is important that practitioners fully understand the ethics issues and relevant opinions for their respective jurisdictions. (See, e.g., ABA Formal Opinion 08-451, Aug. 5, 2008.) Issues concerning online storage and the cloud have been addressed by the NYSBA. (See, e.g., Opinion 842 (9/10/10).)

NeuLexa served that purpose beyond practice management and fulfilled something for which my LexisNexis Total Practice Advantage was not originally designed. Neulexa is a cloud-based project management and document collaboration platform. I could begin a project and send out RFPs managed through the RFP module and share documents with other members of my legal team as well as the clients ' all providing for secure permissions and accessibility. I could manage the lifecycle of the matter, develop a team of experts to collaborate on the project, share documents with my clients, and even insert project milestones and transactions. Because it's cloud-based, I could access my information from anywhere ' and would not have to manage or maintain the platform.

Deploying NeuLexa:'On Demand and White Label

Before adopting Neulexa's white label product in November 2012, my NeuLexa experience began with the On-Demand Platform. Because it is a cloud product, signing up and beginning work took minutes. I had a case on the business advisement side and I was expected to have a team working on that particular project that included paralegals and other professionals ' all of whom were to collaborate on literally thousands of documents. This was the first group of professionals I decided to bring into the NeuLexa environment.

This was the test. I was a small firm partner harnessing technology usually reserved for large firms. NeuLexa members created an accessible legal social network and a combination of relevant searches and member endorsements helped to bring my team together. I accepted bids from the interested professionals, chose my team, and the project began with a mass upload of documents. A paralegal utilizing Neulexa's Project Document capabilities organized these documents according to my specifications, and subordinate counsel then began document review on the platform, prepared memorandums and drafted documents while adhering to milestone dates. Internal messaging within the project space worked well and document permissions fulfilled my oversight requirements.

Working on the NeuLexa platform meant that I was not wasting time and resources cobbling together team members and workflow externally. In general, signing up for the platform was extremely easy for all the professionals involved; the core functionality and the dashboards are ready to go; and because NeuLexa is a cloud platform, it was actually tailored to my practice.

After success with the On Demand platform, I signed up for NeuLexa's white label product to help us manage our Medicaid cases, which are perfectly suited for NeuLexa's capabilities. Nursing Home Medicaid Applications require five years of financial records, as well as a complete record of personal information and resources. Obtaining this information can be time-consuming and haphazard ' a mix of e-mailed PDFs, faxes and photocopies.

Medicaid advocacy for these cases also requires social work components, health care evaluations, legal documents and planning, as well as agency hearings and document requests. An elder law attorney in 2013 needs clients, teams and technology to work together: NeuLexa is my unifying instrument. My staffing plans reflect my reliance on NeuLexa. Adding a social worker plus an assistant to work on Medicaid cases while allowing the attorneys to manage the project reflects my confidence in this technology.

The technology IQ of my clients' professionals (bankers, accountants, care managers) as well as the clients' caregivers and families is also increasing and the foundational concept of NeuLexa is not lost on those who regularly use Dropbox and Google Drive. The ability to keep all of my project documents with workflow in one place and being able to combine internal and external professionals so easily is tremendously helpful. Any firm faced with a case that requires additional resources can use Neulexa to complete the project work more efficiently.

The Takeaways

Break Away from the Herd and Lead with Technology

In evaluating my experience in the business advisement case and our new Medicaid project configuration, the NeuLexa platform supercharges my practice.

As a small firm owner, NeuLexa allows me to think more creatively about my business. The internal improvements are happening now. With NeuLexa in place, I am in a position to broaden my hiring practices for bringing people onto my other legal projects ' it widens the talent pool which is a huge benefit to a small firm. I can act like a larger firm in that way.

Finally, with NeuLexa, you're working with a company that will actually listen to you. The solutions that are in existence are really customized and set in place for you and your firm ' without the major financial investment. Control, documents, metrics: Neulexa has created that for me. My Administrator Controls are full-featured with oversight of my project teams, the data, messaging, the knowledge management and social networking.

My abiding interests in technology are what brought me to NeuLexa ' and now I see that NeuLexa can grow with me and my business in ways that are forward-thinking and apt for the new legal workflow. And best of all, Sloan & Feller will be in an improved position as a result of NeuLexa ' not only because we will be able to handle work remotely, but because of how we will work with our teams of professionals and clients. As I move forward with my firm, I envision it doing most of my legal projects with NeuLexa.

Alan Feller is partner in the law firm, Sloan & Feller, a multi-disciplinary practice specializing in elder law, estate planning and business advisement in New York City and surrounding regions.'

'[M]ost lawyers have a 'herd' mentality when it comes to such technology ' they neither want to lead nor be left behind.'

I am a partner in the law firm, Sloan & Feller, a multi-disciplinary practice specializing in elder law, estate planning and business advisement in New York. I work on cases that require assembling geographically dispersed teams of professionals from many disciplines and the collaboration of many persons on, sometimes, thousands of documents.

I start off with the above quote as I was one of the team members who helped prepare the report from which it came in 2011 for the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Task Force on the Future of the Legal Profession. The committee was a small group of people ranging from managing partners in Big Law, professors, corporate general counsel and various technology heads from law firms and law departments. I offer this quote as well as one of the conclusions reached by the Task Force and recorded in the Report I helped to author:

The Task Force believes the primary challenge of technology in the coming years is to redesign the way we work so that technology is fully integrated into our work flow in an efficient and effective manner.

NYSBA Report of the Task Force on the Future of the Legal Profession.

The digital era of Facebook, Linked In, smartphones and cloud computing has completely transformed and 'redesigned' how we communicate in our personal lives. Social networking has evolved beyond its communication origins. It has become the primary means of sharing knowledge and information for increasing numbers of individuals and organizations. Traditionally, businesses ' and law firms especially ' have been more concerned with the potential risks of adopting social network models into their workflows than with the potential profit-impacting benefits on their organizations.

In December 2010, I became aware of a cloud platform, NeuLexa, which introduces technology for the law firm marketplace that provides for a very unique reimagining of legal workflow using the most potent features of social networking.

The Challenge: Small Firm Seeks Technology and Business Development

I knew from the outset that using technology effectively would be important for my day-to-day law practice. After I became partner at Sloan & Feller, I became involved with NYSBA's Electronic Communications Committee and subsequently was selected to be on the NYSBA Task Force for the Future of the Legal Profession. Part of our job on the task force was to map out how small firms could access and leverage knowledge management, expertise location and intelligence in the same manner as the large firms.

My first exposure to cloud computing for law firms was in 2008. I was looking for leading and emerging products to the market ' which at the time mostly meant practice management support.

Rocket Matter was in Beta testing, and after seeing a demonstration of the platform, the potential was obvious. One thing I loved about the platform was that I could access it anywhere because it was a SaaS model.

I also tested LexisNexis Total Practice Advantage because it had practice-specific research and content built into it ' and have been using the product since. The research and forms are very useful, though it has built-in features that are not intuitively tailored to small firms.

We solved most of our practice management issues with the adoption of LexisNexis Total Practice Advantage, so the next step for us was business development. One method I implemented to this end was creating groups on LinkedIn: The Elder Law Attorney Practice Group and The New York Lawyer Referral Group. These groups attracted a large number of attorneys. We decided to hold a networking event in Manhattan in December 2010, and that's where I met Chi Eng, a Manhattan-based IP attorney, prior engineer at Bell Labs, and developer of the product, NeuLexa.

Re-imagining Legal Workflow: Beyond'Practice Management

I consider legal work to be a people-driven endeavor. Data and content are part of it, but ultimately the success of any particular project is contingent on the quality of the professionals assigned to a task and how the professionals interact during the task's completion. The relationships matter. To that end, I was very intrigued by the idea of a technology that facilitated that kind of marketplace of ideas beyond practice management; beyond managing the linear tasks of calendaring, time and billing, and document sharing.

In order to survive in this increasingly complex environment, it is crucial that a firm build up a trusted network of experts on which it can rely for consultation and to serve as co-counsel. In fact, this network should include outside support staff so a matter can be handled in a cost-effective manner. These experts and support staff will most likely be located in geographically dispersed regions ' the next town, the next state, another country. This is true with my practice at Sloan & Feller, and one of the key hurdles NeuLexa was developed to solve by providing powerful, closed circuit social media features to develop legal teams and leverage their knowledge base.

When outsourcing legal and non-legal services, it is important that practitioners fully understand the ethics issues and relevant opinions for their respective jurisdictions. (See, e.g., ABA Formal Opinion 08-451, Aug. 5, 2008.) Issues concerning online storage and the cloud have been addressed by the NYSBA. (See, e.g., Opinion 842 (9/10/10).)

NeuLexa served that purpose beyond practice management and fulfilled something for which my LexisNexis Total Practice Advantage was not originally designed. Neulexa is a cloud-based project management and document collaboration platform. I could begin a project and send out RFPs managed through the RFP module and share documents with other members of my legal team as well as the clients ' all providing for secure permissions and accessibility. I could manage the lifecycle of the matter, develop a team of experts to collaborate on the project, share documents with my clients, and even insert project milestones and transactions. Because it's cloud-based, I could access my information from anywhere ' and would not have to manage or maintain the platform.

Deploying NeuLexa:'On Demand and White Label

Before adopting Neulexa's white label product in November 2012, my NeuLexa experience began with the On-Demand Platform. Because it is a cloud product, signing up and beginning work took minutes. I had a case on the business advisement side and I was expected to have a team working on that particular project that included paralegals and other professionals ' all of whom were to collaborate on literally thousands of documents. This was the first group of professionals I decided to bring into the NeuLexa environment.

This was the test. I was a small firm partner harnessing technology usually reserved for large firms. NeuLexa members created an accessible legal social network and a combination of relevant searches and member endorsements helped to bring my team together. I accepted bids from the interested professionals, chose my team, and the project began with a mass upload of documents. A paralegal utilizing Neulexa's Project Document capabilities organized these documents according to my specifications, and subordinate counsel then began document review on the platform, prepared memorandums and drafted documents while adhering to milestone dates. Internal messaging within the project space worked well and document permissions fulfilled my oversight requirements.

Working on the NeuLexa platform meant that I was not wasting time and resources cobbling together team members and workflow externally. In general, signing up for the platform was extremely easy for all the professionals involved; the core functionality and the dashboards are ready to go; and because NeuLexa is a cloud platform, it was actually tailored to my practice.

After success with the On Demand platform, I signed up for NeuLexa's white label product to help us manage our Medicaid cases, which are perfectly suited for NeuLexa's capabilities. Nursing Home Medicaid Applications require five years of financial records, as well as a complete record of personal information and resources. Obtaining this information can be time-consuming and haphazard ' a mix of e-mailed PDFs, faxes and photocopies.

Medicaid advocacy for these cases also requires social work components, health care evaluations, legal documents and planning, as well as agency hearings and document requests. An elder law attorney in 2013 needs clients, teams and technology to work together: NeuLexa is my unifying instrument. My staffing plans reflect my reliance on NeuLexa. Adding a social worker plus an assistant to work on Medicaid cases while allowing the attorneys to manage the project reflects my confidence in this technology.

The technology IQ of my clients' professionals (bankers, accountants, care managers) as well as the clients' caregivers and families is also increasing and the foundational concept of NeuLexa is not lost on those who regularly use Dropbox and Google Drive. The ability to keep all of my project documents with workflow in one place and being able to combine internal and external professionals so easily is tremendously helpful. Any firm faced with a case that requires additional resources can use Neulexa to complete the project work more efficiently.

The Takeaways

Break Away from the Herd and Lead with Technology

In evaluating my experience in the business advisement case and our new Medicaid project configuration, the NeuLexa platform supercharges my practice.

As a small firm owner, NeuLexa allows me to think more creatively about my business. The internal improvements are happening now. With NeuLexa in place, I am in a position to broaden my hiring practices for bringing people onto my other legal projects ' it widens the talent pool which is a huge benefit to a small firm. I can act like a larger firm in that way.

Finally, with NeuLexa, you're working with a company that will actually listen to you. The solutions that are in existence are really customized and set in place for you and your firm ' without the major financial investment. Control, documents, metrics: Neulexa has created that for me. My Administrator Controls are full-featured with oversight of my project teams, the data, messaging, the knowledge management and social networking.

My abiding interests in technology are what brought me to NeuLexa ' and now I see that NeuLexa can grow with me and my business in ways that are forward-thinking and apt for the new legal workflow. And best of all, Sloan & Feller will be in an improved position as a result of NeuLexa ' not only because we will be able to handle work remotely, but because of how we will work with our teams of professionals and clients. As I move forward with my firm, I envision it doing most of my legal projects with NeuLexa.

Alan Feller is partner in the law firm, Sloan & Feller, a multi-disciplinary practice specializing in elder law, estate planning and business advisement in New York City and surrounding regions.'