With so much change and so many unanswered questions, there’s never been a better time to stand out through your thought leadership.  Writing and publishing content often feels like tossing a needle into the internet haystack. That’s challenging enough. But if all you’re doing is recycling the same old ideas, and trying to make them relevant to the biggest audience possible, then it’s not even a needle. It’s just more hay. The way to stand out is to create content that is more client-focused — that is, content created for a very specific, often small, audience. You don’t need to reach everyone, just the cohort of individuals and businesses that requires the type of contextualized insight only you can offer. By showing up over and over for your audience, you’ll generate awareness, and people will come to trust you. Awareness and trust are the building blocks of business development. From the client’s perspective, deciding who the right lawyer is for the job will become obvious. After all, why would a client choose an unknown commodity when there’s someone consistently showing up in their inbox and social feeds with solutions to the very problems they face? Lawyer Thought Leadership: Narrow Your Focus When you set out to become a thought leader, you need to approach it with the mindset that you must write for someone, not everyone. You must narrow your focus. Businesses and individuals succeed when they focus on less, not more. Across all categories of service offerings, there are continuums of premium brands and commodity ones. Those in the premium category narrow their positioning — the articulation of what they do and for whom they do it — to the point that there are few, if any, available alternatives to what they offer. They solve discrete problems for distinct

Hobonichi Techo planners have stolen my heart. As a verified card-carrying analog weirdo, my relationship with paper is multivalent and perhaps ever so slightly unhealthy. I nerd out over really great sticky notes. I write thank-you cards like it’s 1845. I go through pencils the way other people go through something they go through. Yet, though I gush over Leuchtturm 1917 pads and Moleskines and (oh, baby) Baron Fig notebooks, my daily planner is a crappy yellow legal pad and has been for a long damn time. Or it was. I Will Spend 2022 Using a Hobonchi Techo Planner There’s no good reason for this. I mean, there are a lot of good reasons for me not to do this. I tend to work in weeks, not days. My job is not terrifically demanding. I don’t have a long to-do list. It’s more of a to-do spectrum. Dated pages are not my style. I’m writing this article on a Monday morning and the to-do list I’m working from was laid down in tragically illegible script on my crappy legal pad last Thursday. I’ve only finished one item on that list. An organized planner like the Hobonichi Techo might be a huge waste of paper.  But I Can’t Help It: The Hobonichi Techo Is So Good Everything about this planner is something that works. It’s like they get me: I love ultra-luxurious practicality. And so, below, please find my deep dive into the Hobonichi Techo 2022 planner. I cover every qualitative aspect that makes this planner great. Just look at how beautiful it is! The Paper: Tomoe River Paper Is the Gold Standard for Notebooks Notebook nerds all over the planet go crazy for Tomoe River paper. So do fountain pen freaks. Tomoe River papers are considered world-class because they are luxurious,

The Apex Court, with respect to the Right to Education, made an observation that the underprivileged students’ need of receiving online education ought to be protected in order to ensure that the “Right to Education”, which is protected under Article 21A, soon becomes a reality. The instant petition had been filed by Action Committee Unaided Recognized Private Schools against the judgment passed by Delhi High Court, wherein it directed the school management to provide free gadget and internet connection to students belonging to Economically Weaker Sections and Disadvantaged Groups, and Delhi Government to reimburse the costs to private schools. The bench issued a notice and directed the Delhi Government to come up with plans and ideas to achieve the ultimate objective of Right to Education Act. It further added that even the Government of India should take steps and engage State Governments as well to carry out its concurrent responsibility of providing funds under the Act. The bench in its order noted that the students belonging to EWSs and DGs should have the necessary wherewithal to ensure that they’re at the same platform like other schools across the country who had been able to continue their education through online mode. Earlier, the Delhi HC had directed the Delhi Government to reimburse the private schools, however, the latter challenged the order before Supreme Court and the Delhi HC’s order had been stayed. The instant Special Leave Petition (SLP) has thus been preferred by the applicant. It also had been noted by the bench the aforesaid issue needs to be resolved as early as possible as there would be reopening of schools. Until then, computer-based learning would prevail and the accessibility of the same to the students belonging to EWSs and DGs of utmost importance. Lastly, the bench clarified that the instant

Whether counseling your client or in your opening statement, to call these people “lucky” shows a lack of empathy and risks insulting them. “You’re lucky the collision wasn’t worse.” “He was lucky the cops got there so fast.” “You’re lucky you were able to get out of the house before your husband could hurt you again.” Tone-deaf As attorneys, we often meet people who have suffered calamities. There is nothing lucky about needing major surgery. The business chief who uncovers intellectual property theft is not lucky. Whether counseling your client or addressing someone in your mediation opening statement, to call these people “lucky” risks insulting them. Yet, we misuse this phrase regularly. We tell the victim of a random criminal beating how lucky he is to only have his facial bones broken and bruised eyes swollen shut. We use the demeaning phrase “at least.” At least you weren’t killed. At least you didn’t lose your vision. As soon as you tell someone they should be thankful they aren’t worse off than they are, you have alienated that person. Empathy Neither is misfortune a contest. “Well, when I had my accident, the doctors said I would recover in a couple of weeks.” “Somebody else I know suffered this same trauma, and the injuries were much worse.” Any statement trivializing another’s suffering is a misstep. In evaluating cases, lawyers sometimes make the mistake of assuming everyone will have the same response to similar events. Because one person is able to carry on after a disaster doesn’t mean everyone has the physical stamina, mental strength, and family and work support system to do that. Some people suffer depression or a version of PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, all while appearing able to cope. Others become helpless to carry on their daily activities even in

Whether you’re just now jumping on the digital signature wagon or you’re looking to consolidate your subscriptions, Adobe Sign may be the answer. Adobe Sign is included with all Adobe Acrobat Pro DC subscriptions, saving you money and reducing the number of products you need to get the job done. Learn more tips like this in Affinity Consulting Group’s “Adobe Acrobat for Legal Professionals.” What Adobe Sign Does Adobe Sign lets you digitally sign documents and collect digital signatures from others — most often your clients. You can track whether documents are signed and send reminders to people who haven’t yet signed them. Documents can be signed from any device with an internet connection. Depending on your license type, you can have up to 25 signers, 100 pages and 10 MB per transaction. Most licenses include 150 transactions per year. Business and enterprise-license customers can purchase more transactions per year. Read more about the transaction limits here. Requesting Digital Signatures You can request signatures either from the Acrobat desktop interface or https://documentcloud.adobe.com. Either way, once you get into the Adobe Sign interface, they both work the same way. From the desktop interface: Open the PDF to be digitally signed.Open the Fill & Sign tool. You can open it from the Tools window, or you can open it from the File or E-Sign menus by clicking on Request Signatures. If you open Fill & Sign from the Tools window, you’ll need to click on Request Signatures in the tool. From the web interface: Under Sign, click on Request Digital Signatures. Once the Adobe Sign dialog is open: Enter the email addresses of everyone who will digitally sign the document. Everyone added here will receive an email with a link to digitally sign the document.Check the subject line. The email’s subject line

What Is Shadow IT? The first problem with cautioning lawyers about the dangers of “shadow IT” is that most of them have no earthly idea what it is. So let’s start there. Leading research company Gartner defines shadow IT as IT devices, software and services (including cloud services) outside the ownership or control of the IT department of a business. Once lawyers understand the definition, they generally say that everything is within the control of their IT department. Most of the time, that answer would be wrong, though many don’t know it. Just the Facts, Please Studies by Gartner have revealed that shadow IT constitutes an amazing 30% to 40% of IT spending in big enterprises. Advisory firm CEB estimates that the percentage is 40%. Everest Group research states that it makes up 50% or more of the spending. No need to split hairs — all three numbers are big. Small law firms are not immune to this trend. How many law firm services are in the cloud, especially today? And are they all under the control and direction of the IT department? The likely answer is no. re They All Renegades? Absolutely not. In fact, shadow IT is sometimes implicitly permitted or even encouraged. Many would argue that shadow IT makes businesses more competitive and allows for enhanced collaboration and innovation. In their view, users discover applications or services that allow them to do their jobs better or more easily, and IT can subsequently go in and secure the applications or services. In our experience, this is not a useful way to approach risky behavior by employees, the consequences of which can be dire. Why do employees go outside the firm’s IT folks? Sometimes, an IT department moves slower than the average tortoise or routinely raises objections to what

The Apex Court took suo motu cognizance and registered a case on the issue of long pendency of criminal appeals filed before Allahabad High Court. The court is looking forward to frame guidelines for granting bail to those convicts who’ve been forced to undergo long years of sentence due to the uninterrupted delay in hearing of their appeals. The division bench of Supreme Court took this step after finding that the suggestions given by Allahabad HC are cumbersome. Also, several convicts had approached the apex court and sought for suspension of sentence as their criminal appeals had not been listed before Allahabad HC. The bench in its order noted that in case appeal is pending before High Court and the convict has already undergone 8 years of imprisonment, then the convict ought to be released on bail, in most cases, though the matter has not been taken up by the court. With respect to this, the bench has asked the High Court to look into each case and determine whether they satisfy the above criteria to be released on bail. Furthermore, the bench highlighted the helplessness of a convict who might not have been able to request access of legal aid for moving in a bail application. Moreover, in cases where the accused approaches the court, there should be mechanism that such cases be heard promptly. The bench has directed the Allahabad HC to explore the cases and come up with a policy in this regard within 4 weeks, and consider grant of bail for those convicts who’ve been sentenced to life imprisonment and have already undergone half of it. The Supreme Court has addressed this issue through its suo motu cognizance in order to grant relief to convicts whose criminal appeals are not being taken up the Allahabad High

DELHI SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, INSTITUTION OF EMINENCE , UNIVERSITY OF DELHI in collaboration with NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY AND JUDICIAL ACADEMY ASSAM and BHARTIYA SHIKSHAN MANDAL and NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OPEN SCHOOLING, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA is organising Online Faculty Development Program on MOOCS AND E-Learning in context of National Education Policy[OCT 18-24, 2021] bout the Programme Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are gaining momentum all across the world in the recent times ensuring access to quality education over web.  Considering the importance of MOOCs, this Faculty Development Program aims to be a forum for the stakeholders to discuss and deliberate on potential of MOOCs and its optimum utilisation in the field of education policy. It will witness engaging sessions from various experts in stakeholders not only for sensitization but also for its effective implementation. “Uninterrupted Education, Anytime Anywhere”, should be the motto of our education policy BOUT DSPP&G (IOE) The Delhi School of Public Policy and Governance (DSPP&G) at the University of Delhi has been established under the Institute of Eminence (IOE) of the University. BOUT NLUJA, ASSAM NLUJA, Asaam is endowed with state of the art world-class infrastructure. It is a member in the family of the 22 National Law Universities established across the country BOUT BHARTIYA SHIKSHAN MANDAL Bhartiya Shikshan Mandal was founded in the year 1969 is working with the objective of national resurgence in the field of education BOUT NIOS, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA NIOS is the largest Open Schooling system in the world with cumulative enrolment of 4.13 million (during last 5 years) Programme Schedule The Faculty Development Program will be one week programme (seven days) from October 18, 2021 to October 24, 2021 in the afternoon (2 p.m. to 5 p.m.). The Faculty Development Program shall have well-renowned speakers from India and abroad. Vice-chancellors,

I’ve written several columns that featured one of my favorite people in marketing, my friend Joe Pulizzi. His work has been instrumental in my marketing plans. Joe has released a second edition of his bestseller “Content, Inc.,” which is full of practical tactics that any entrepreneur can apply to their business. He graciously agreed to be interviewed about how his recommendations apply to the legal industry. In “Content Inc.” you recommend that content entrepreneurs should create content first, and then once they develop an audience, create products and services that fit their needs. Does this advice hold true for lawyers who want to start their own practice? Should they do this instead of opening it the traditional way? Joe Pulizzi: I honestly believe this is a great strategy for any business in any industry. Now, it does take some courage to launch a business without products …but what I’ve found by building an audience first is that group of people is so much more receptive to buying anything from you. Why? Because they already know, like and trust you. Of course, someone could just start a regular practice and be successful: use word-of-mouth, spot advertising and what not. But I believe the growth prospects of that business are limited. If you want to be regular, do it the old-fashioned way. If you want to change the world, build an audience first in an industry niche where you can be the leading informational expert in the world. Some parts of the law are formulaic, such as what to do if you’re in a car accident. Should we avoid how-to content in these areas because they’ve been covered by so many other practitioners? JP: It all depends on what your content tilt is. That is, what is your hook? Your area of

Case Analysis: Saregama India Limited v. Next Radio Limited & Ors. Keywords: Judicial Review, Constitutionality of Law, Re-modification of Laws, etc. FACTS There were multiple Petitions which were filed at Madras High Court. These Petitions were filed under Article 226 of the Constitution. These Petitions challenged the validity of Rule 29(4) of The Copyright Rules 2013 (hereinafter referred as Rule). Now the Division Bench of the Madras High Court passed an interim order on 2nd August 2021. The said order was appealed before the Supreme Court of India What did the Division bench directed; which was appealed? To not broadcast the copyrighted work without issuing a prior notice under Rule 29;Information like duration, time slots and the like; including the quantum of Royalty payable maybe furnished within 15 days of the broadcast;Compliance be affected with a modified regime of post facto, as opposed to prior compliance mandated by Rule 29(4).The Statutory mandate of a 24-hour prior notice shall be substituted by a provision for compliance within 15 days after the broadcast; andThe said interim order has limited scope toward the Petitioners approaching this High Court and 2nd-3rd Respondents. ISSUES High Court Whether the Rule 29(4) of the Rule violates Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution?Whether the Rule 29(4) of the Rule ultra vires Section 31D of the Act? Supreme Court Whether the interim order of the High Court can be sustained? CONTENTIONS OF PARTIES Appellant: The interim order of the High Court has the effect of re-writing Rule 29(4) of the Rules which was framed w.r.t Section 31D and 78(2)(cD) of the Copyright Act 1957 (hereinafter referred as “Act”) There was no challenge to the validity of Section 31D of the Act and still the Rule 29 was reframed keeping Section 31D as the point of perspective. The scope of the