In this edition of the Priori Digest, we look at how boutique firms are embracing innovative technology, why startup founders might be smart to add a legally-trained employee early on and the coming rise of alternative legal service providers for more complicated work. Enjoy!
What we’re reading
- Why some think that lawyers make great early-stage startup hires (We happen to agree! #GoTeam)
- In October, officials from Washington and Brussels will will sit down to review the state of the US-EU Privacy Shield, a data-sharing pact between the US and the European Union that underpins more than $260 billion of annual digital trade between the two regions
- Shifting more complicated workstreams to alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) may be the next large-scale shift in the legal market (Again, agree)
- Due to their size and entrepreneurial spirit, boutique law firms are able to enhance their service by embracing innovative technology
- This piece in the ABA Journal explores how to build a successful niche law practice
- With companies wanting and gaining access to more and more of your personal data, the notion of “uninformed consent” is becoming an increasingly important issue, as most consumers are either unaware of the personal information they share online or, quite understandably, unable to determine the cost of sharing it — if not both
What in the weird
- A BigLaw associate sues ex-fiance over $100,000 engagement ring, claiming it was a conditional gift that must be returned if the marriage doesn’t occur
- In October, Christie’s in New York is selling a painting created by an algorithm to look like a Rembrandt
By the numbers
- 4: Tips for building a successful marketplace (Thanks to Stacklist for hosting me on their marketplace panel last week!)
- 54: By 2022, 54 percent of all workers will have a “significant” need to boost their skills to deal with advancing technology, according to a new World Economic Forum survey, with over a third requiring additional training of up to six months. Governments around the world are grappling with how to prepare their workforces for the jobs of the future
- 75: The percentage of VC money in the United States that goes to companies in California, New York or Massachusetts
- 33: NYC entrepreneurs under 33 (I was thrilled to be included in the legal category)