Matthew Curtiss, Esq

World's Worst Law Blogger nominated for LexisNexis Top Blog Award

I'm as surprised as anyone. 

I started this blog not as a passionate outlet for all my thoughts on the law but as a means to keep research skills taught, my writing fresh and non-legalese, and to have fun with technology. I certainly wasn't sure if I had the stamina to maintain a daily blog practice (or even monthly for that matter).

So when I received an email saying this blog was nominated as a candidate for the LexisNexis Top 25 Estate, Probate, and Elder Law Blogs of 2011, I was floored.  Was it a joke?  Was the email embedded with links to Russian pharmacies? 

So I guess this is my obligatory post to say how honored I am (which I am!) but also to suggest that people looking to promote my blog as a potential award winner to also look at the others in the Estate, Probate, and Elder Law category. 

 

Google Wave for Live Blogging

Last month we wrote a short post about using Google Wave for live blogging. Today, during Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook privacy press conference, we decided to put this theory into practice and live blogged the event with Wave. The reaction to our experiment was overwhelmingly positive, so we decided to share how we it up for our live blogging session today.

via www.readwriteweb.com

I love technology, and any tool which increases the ability for people to research, collaborate and discuss is something that I want to try out.

I've been on Google Wave since early on. Like many things before it, it suffered from hype overload. Once touted as the email killer, it has settled nicely into exactly what it is:  a simple and highly effective collaboration and communication tool.

I like to think of Wave as the old and trustworthy internet BBS/forum on steroids.  You can pare down your discussions to a handful of friends or spread them out into the wild.  You can add all types of widgets and tools to facilitate discussions (quizzes, polls, etc).  upload pictures and video. 

I haven't had too much of a use for Wave until I read this post on ReadWriteWeb on how liveblog using Wave.

I love liveblogging (or at least following one). I've followed Bill Simmons the Sports Guy's live chats and other live blogs that follow news events or broadcasts.  

I've tested out RWW's method on this blog and it seems to work flawlessly. I intend to host a liveblog at some point in the near future; if not for Congressional debate on the estate tax (get going Congress) or maybe the USA's soccer teams games during the World Cup. 

Stay tuned.

Facebook and Estate Administration

Sometimes an estate administration attorney's role is simply dictated by the probate court rules.  Nothing out of the ordinary. 

But in the modern age of social media, a decedent's information can exist long after death.  And that can provide for additional advice for the decedent's family and the fiduciary.

For example, on Facebook, members often get updates on a friend's birthday or if you haven't spoken with someone in a long time.  Well, what if that friend is deceased?  It can be awkward for some but downright jarring and emotional for others.

Facebook has made it relatively easy to "memorialize" a decedent's account.  You can still post to the wall, but no longer will awkward reminders get sent out to friends and family.

Ubuntu: Ready for the Law Office

Lots has already been written on Ubuntu, the free open-source operating system that is rising in popularity.  I won't go too in depth about the OS itself as there are tons of resources already out there.

I would like to continue the meme, so to speak, of Ubuntu in the law office.  In the last year or so, Law.com ran an article on "Lawbuntu" and whether Ubuntu was ready for the law office.  I can't link the original story as it requires a subscription, but essentially, it asked the question, and gave compelling answers why it was ready.

The subject then got much play over at Ubuntu Forums (original article posted here as well).  Some didn't like that someone wanted another "derivative" of Ubuntu (much like Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu CE, etc), but others liked the fact that efforts were being made towards getting Ubuntu ready for law applications.

Myself, I already used Ubuntu at home.  I love its speed, efficiency with computing resources, and the abundance of free applications readymade by the Ubuntu/linux community.  I also really like OpenOffice , which if you're in the market for a new productivity suite, you'd be insane not to give it a try.

I have started to rethink the "Lawbuntu" concept again as I will be involved in a new office setting soon.  While we won't be in the position to adopt Ubuntu as our office's OS of choice, I have come to realize that the ability to run Ubuntu is closer than most think, and my reasons are below: 

1) Web Based Apps:  Time and billing software invariably seems to be Windows-centric.  Quickbooks runs on Linux servers, but not as a desktop app.  Quickbooks TimeTracker, at the user level, is web-based.  Even with one windows accounting machine, the Ubuntu lawyer could still log time on files and work within the Windows office.   

2) Linux Apps are better if not equal:  OpenOffice, Scribus, Evolution, Thunderbird, Firefox.  All available on Ubuntu.  All just as good as the Windows apps they replace

3) Stability:  Lawyers love stability.  Ubuntu, in its current LTS (long term support- 3 years) format, can handle wifi, networking, video and other things that incarnations in the past would struggle with. 

Again, this is just a continuation on a meme.  I know that Ubuntu has some rough edges to work out.  I also know that lawyers as a group are creatures of habit and that adoption of a totally new system would be a tough sell.  But as the Ubuntu platform matures, I 'm sure that lawyers will begin to look to it as a viable option in the office.