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The Tech Savvy Lawyer

The Tech Savvy Lawyer

By: Michael D.J. Eisenberg
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 The Tech Savvy Lawyer interviews Judges, Lawyers, and other professionals discussing utilizing technology in the practice of law. It may springboard an idea and help you in your own pursuit of the business we call "practicing law". Please join us for interesting conversations enjoyable at any tech skill level!© ℗ 2020 Michael D.J. Eisenberg Politics & Government
Episodes
  • TSL.P Labs 🧪: Legal Tech Wars, Client Data, and Your Law License: An AI-Powered Ethics Deep Dive ⚖️🤖

    TSL.P Labs 🧪: Legal Tech Wars, Client Data, and Your Law License: An AI-Powered Ethics Deep Dive ⚖️🤖
    Feb 6 2026
    📌 To Busy to Read This Week's Editorial? Join us for an AI-powered deep dive into the ethical challenges facing legal professionals in the age of generative AI. 🤖 In this Tech-Savvy Lawyer Page Labs Initiative episode, AI co-hosts walk through how high‑profile "legal tech wars" between practice‑management vendors and AI research startups can push your client data into the litigation spotlight and create real ethics exposure under ABA Model Rules 1.1, 1.6, and 5.3. We'll explore what happens when core platforms face federal lawsuits, why discovery and forensic audits can put confidential matters in front of third parties, and how API lockdowns, stalled product roadmaps, and forced sales can grind your practice operations to a halt. More importantly, you'll get a clear five‑step action plan—inventorying your tech stack, confirming data‑export rights, mapping backup providers, documenting diligence, and communicating with clients—that works even if you consider yourself "moderately tech‑savvy" at best. Whether you're a solo, a small‑firm practitioner, in‑house, or simply AI‑curious, this conversation will help you evaluate whether you are the supervisor of your legal tech—or its hostage. 🔐 In our conversation, we cover the following 00:00:00 – Setting the stage: Legal tech wars, "Godzilla vs. Kong," and why vendor lawsuits are not just Silicon Valley drama for spectators.00:01:00 – Introducing the Tech-Savvy Lawyer Page Labs Initiative and the use of AI-generated discussions to stress-test legal tech ethics in real-world scenarios.00:02:00 – Who's fighting and why it matters: Clio as the "nervous system" of many firms versus Alexi as the "brainy intern" of AI legal research.00:03:00 – The client data crossfire: How disputes over data access and training AI tools turn your routine practice data into high-stakes litigation evidence.00:04:00 – Allegations in the Clio–Alexi dispute, from improper data access to claims of anti-competitive gatekeeping of legal industry data.00:05:00 – Visualizing risk: Client files as sandcastles on a shelled beach and why this reframes vendor fights as ethics issues, not IT gossip.00:06:00 – ABA Model Rule 1.1 (Competence): What "technology competence" really entails and why ignorance of vendor instability is no longer defensible.00:07:00 – Continuity planning as competence: Injunctions, frozen servers, vendor shutdowns, and how missed deadlines can become malpractice.00:08:00 – ABA Model Rule 1.6 (Confidentiality): The "danger zone" of treating the cloud like a bank vault and misunderstanding who really holds the key.00:09:00 – Discovery risk explained: Forensic audits, third‑party access, protective orders that fail, and the cascading impact on client secrets.00:10:00 – Data‑export rights as your "escape hatch": Why "usable formats" (CSV, PDF) matter more than bare contractual promises.00:11:00 – Practical homework: Testing whether you can actually export your case list today, not during a crisis.00:12:00 – ABA Model Rule 5.3 (Supervision): Treating software vendors like non‑lawyer assistants you actively supervise rather than passive utilities.00:13:00 – Asking better questions: Uptime, security posture, and whether your vendor is using your data in its own defense.00:14:00 – Operational friction: Rising subscription costs, API lockdowns, broken integrations, and the return of manual copy‑pasting.00:15:00 – Vaporware and stalled product roadmaps: How litigation diverts engineering resources away from features you are counting on.00:16:00 – Forced sales and 30‑day shutdown notices: Data‑migration nightmares under pressure and why waiting is the riskiest strategy.00:17:00 – The five‑step moderate‑tech action plan: Inventory dependencies, review contracts, map contingencies, document diligence, and communicate with nuance.00:18:00 – Turning risk management into a client‑facing strength and part of your value story in pitches and ongoing relationships.00:19:00 – Reframing legal tech tools as members of your legal team rather than invisible utilities.00:20:00 – "Supervisor or hostage?": The closing challenge to check your contracts, your data‑export rights, and your practical ability to "fire" a vendor. Resources Mentioned in the episode ABA Model Rule 1.1 – Competence (Technology Competence Comment) – https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_1_competence/ABA Model Rule 1.6 – Confidentiality of Information – https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_6_confidentiality_of_information/ABA Model Rule 5.3 – Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistance – https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_5_3_responsibilities_regarding_nonlawyer_assistance/...
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    21 mins
  • 🎙️ Ep. #130: Taming Client Data Security – Nick Martin's Proven Tech Strategies for Law Firms 🚀

    🎙️ Ep. #130: Taming Client Data Security – Nick Martin's Proven Tech Strategies for Law Firms 🚀
    Feb 3 2026
    Our next guest is Nick Martin, CEO of FileScience. He shares expert insights on stabilizing law firm operations with smart backups and automation. Join us to discover practical, easy-to-implement ways to protect your data from outages and errors, so your clients' information stays safe, secure, and accessible when you need it most. Listen in with Nick Martin and me as we discuss the following three questions and more! 💡 When a firm is drowning in document chaos, what are the first three specific workflows to digitize or automate to stabilize operations?Beyond just losing documents, what are the three specific silent killers of document hygiene that lawyers ignore?How do lawyers solve the top three friction points of digital collaboration: version conflicts, insecure sharing methods, and the loss of institutional knowledge buried inside files? In our conversation, we cover the following 📊 00:00 – Guest intro and Nick's tech setup (MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone 15, Bang & Olufsen speaker) 🔊00:30 – Q1: Digitizing workflows – unification of memory, forever undo button, retention 🛡️04:00 – Backups for iManage, NetDocuments, Clio, FileVine; air-gapped copies 📁06:00 – Microsoft 365 outage resilience with FileScience ☁️08:00 – Retention periods (5-7 years by state/practice); NY lawful order policy ⚖️10:00 – Q2: Silent killers – file degradation, wrong versions, insider threats 🕵️13:00 – Q3: Solving friction – immutable timelines, encryption (Purview, CBC), institutional knowledge preservation 🔒15:00 – End-to-end encryption details; where to find Nick Resources 🔗 Connect with Nick Martin 🤝 FileScience website: https://filescience.ioNick Martin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasmmartinFileScience LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/filescienceFileScience Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/filescience Mentioned in the episode 📚 Microsoft 365 outage (recent North America impact): https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2026/01/22/microsoft-outage-service-down/88305485007/ Hardware mentioned in the conversation 💻 Bang & Olufsen Beosound Balance (360° omnidirectional speaker): https://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/us/speakers/beosound-balanceiPad: https://www.apple.com/ipadiPhone 15: https://www.apple.com/iphoneMacBook Pro 16-inch: https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro Software & Cloud Services mentioned in the conversation ☁️ AWS, Azure, Google Cloud (underlying providers): https://aws.amazon.com, https://azure.microsoft.com, https://cloud.google.comClio: https://www.clio.comFileVine: https://www.filevine.comGoogle Workspace: https://workspace.google.comiManage: https://www.imanage.comMicrosoft 365 (Outlook, Purview encryption, CBC): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365NetDocuments: https://www.netdocuments.com[filescience]Parallels (VMs): https://www.parallels.com
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    17 mins
  • 🎙️ TSL.P Labs Bonus: Google AI Discussion: Everyday Tech, Extraordinary Evidence: Smartphones, Dash Cams, and Wearables as Silent Witnesses in Your Cases ⚖️📱

    🎙️ TSL.P Labs Bonus: Google AI Discussion: Everyday Tech, Extraordinary Evidence: Smartphones, Dash Cams, and Wearables as Silent Witnesses in Your Cases ⚖️📱
    Jan 30 2026
    Join us for an AI-powered deep dive into the ethical challenges facing legal professionals in the age of generative AI. 🤖 In this Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page Labs episode, our Google AI hosts unpack our January 26, 2026, editorial and discuss how everyday devices—smartphones, dash cams, wearables, and connected cars—are becoming "silent witnesses" that can make or break your next case, while walking carefully through ABA Model Rules on competence, candor, privacy, and preservation of digital evidence. In our conversation, we cover the following: 00:00 – Welcome to The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page Labs Initiative and this week's "Everyday Tech, Extraordinary Evidence" AI roundtable 🧪00:30 – Why classic "surprise witness" courtroom drama is giving way to always-on digital witnesses 🎭01:15 – Introducing the concept of smartphones, dash cams, and wearables as objective "silent witnesses" in litigation 📱02:00 – Overview of Michael D.J. Eisenberg's editorial "Everyday Tech, Extraordinary Evidence" and his mission to bridge tech and courtroom practice 📰[03:00 – Case study setup: the Alex Preddy shooting in Minneapolis and the clash between official reports and digital evidence ⚖️04:00 – How bystander smartphone video reframed the legal narrative in the Preddy matter and dismantled "brandished a weapon" claims 🎥05:00 – From "pressing play" to full video synchronization: building a unified timeline from multiple cameras to audit police reports 🧩06:00 – Using frame-by-frame analysis to test loaded terms like "lunging," "aggressive resistance," and "brandishing" against what the pixels actually show 🔍07:00 – Moving beyond what we see: introducing "quiet evidence" such as GPS logs, telemetry, and sensor data as litigation tools 📡08:00 – GPS data for location, duration, and speed: turning "he was charging" into a measurable movement profile in protest and road-rage cases 🚶‍♂️🚗09:00 – Layering GPS from phones with vehicle telematics to create a multi-source reconstruction that is hard to impeach in court 📊10:00 – Dash cams as 360-degree witnesses: solving blind spots of human perception and single-angle video 🛞11:00 – Why exterior audio from dash cams—shouts, commands, crowd noise—can be crucial to proving state of mind and mens rea 🔊12:00 – Wearables as a body-wide sensor network: heart rate, sleep, and step count as quantitative proof of pain, fear, and trauma ⌚13:00 – Using longitudinal wearable data to support claims of emotional distress or sleep disruption in personal injury and civil-rights litigation 😴14:00 – Heart-rate spikes and movement logs at the moment of an encounter as corroboration of fear or immobility in use-of-force matters15:00 – Why none of this evidence exists in your case file unless you know to ask for it at intake 🗂️16:00 – Updating intake: adding questions about smartwatches, location services, doorbell cameras, dash cams, and connected cars to your client questionnaires 📝17:00 – Data preservation as an emergency task: deletion cycles, cloud overwrites, and using TROs to stop digital spoliation 🚨18:00 – Turning raw logs into compelling visuals: maps, synced clips, and timelines that juries can understand without sacrificing accuracy 🗺️19:00 – Ethics spotlight: ABA Model Rule 1.1 competence and Comment 8—why "I'm not a tech person" is now an ethical problem, not an excuse 📚20:00 – Candor to the tribunal and the line between strong advocacy and fraud when editing or excerpting digital evidence ⚠️21:00 – Respecting third-party privacy under Rule 4.4: when you must blur faces, redact audio, or limit collateral exposure of bystanders 🧩22:00 – Advising clients not to delete texts, videos, or logs and explaining spoliation risks under Rule 3.4 ⚖️23:00 – The uranium analogy: digital tools as powerful but dangerous if used without adequate ethical "containment" ☢️24:00 – Philosophical closing: will juries someday trust heart-rate logs more than tears on the witness stand, and what does that mean for human testimony? 🤔25:00 – Closing remarks and invitation to explore the full editorial, show notes, and resources on The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page 🌐 If you enjoyed this episode, please like, comment, subscribe, and share!
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    18 mins
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