Michael Finkelstein, 2011

Moving back home this summer has renewed my passion for the city of New Orleans. Festivals, events, concerts, endless things to do and places to go have kept me constantly busy and entertained over the past month. I've already remembered how special of a place New Orleans is in the world, and 

First up after finals was Jazzfest, where I saw an amazing performance from The Eagles before kicking off my working summer. Later that week, after a short trip to the Gulf Coast, was a party with the LSU Med School students, Bayou Boogaloo music festival along Bayou St. John in mid-city, bike rides through City Park, an afternoon with Trombone Shorty for Wednesday at the Square, New Orleans Greek Fest, Sunday Runday in Audobon Park with the good folks from Claim Your Journey (http://claimyourjourney.com/), catching up with friends from Tulane, and a networking night with the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation of New Orleans.

All along the way have been good friends, family, and fun times. Up this weekend: Back to the Beach, my friend Jordan's wedding at famous St. Louis Cathedral, reception at Jax Brewery, the New Orleans Oyster Festival, Sunday softball league, Sunday Runday. Whew, so much going on, but loving every minute of it. 

Five thunderous claps startled me from my work as I ran out of my office to see if everything was alright down the hall. I thought someone had perhaps knocked over some bookcases in the library and I rushed to see if anyone was hurt. I quickly discovered the source of the troubling booms - our file clerk throwing away our collection of Federal Reporters. Part of my mind cringed with the thought of throwing these books away, and then I realized what a beautiful moment this actually was. 

Last week marked my second week at the New Orleans law firm of Usry, Weeks, & Matthews. With no functional website, the firm is a technological anomaly in today's legal industry. The recent national trend has been to increase access of information available online. In this age of information and technology, consumers are driving content more and more every day. With websites like LegalZoom.com and Avvo.com, lawyers are satisfying this desire, and the industry has undergone dramatic change in recent years. Yet, the traditional law firm model remains constant. The billable hour, the often-condemned unit of measurement between lawyers and clients, is still the measuring stick of firm validity.

Fundamentally, however, the legal industry is still in flux today. The recent downfall of 100+ year old "Legal Titan" Dewey Leboeuf (see http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2012/05/14/247383.htm) evidences the changing times in legal practice. 

One of those key changes has been in the area of access to legal information. The internet has fundamentally transformed our lives, the way we interact with people, and how we obtain information. Before the advent of computers, legal information, mostly in the form of cases, statutes, and secondary legal sources, were once only available in the form of books. These books were both voluminous and expensive. Very expensive. Assembling a working collection required to do significant research required the kind of capital only available to big law firms. At the minimum, this would have required purchasing hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of legal books.

As we've all heard, knowledge is power. No one knew this better than the big, power firms. Having amassed libraries of books, the firms cornered the market because they controlled the information. 

Today, these sources are all available online. With a Westlaw or Lexis subscription and the click of a mouse, small firms, even solo practitioners, have the same access to legal information that was once dominated by BIG LAW. In effect, technology has given the little guys a level playing field. Subscribers now have access to appellate briefs, pleadings and motions on a district court level, and unlimited cases from around the country.