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January 13th, 2011 by Gwynne Monahan

2010: Year of the Cloud in Review

It’s week two of 2011, and we’re feeling nostalgic so we thought we’d share some highlights from 2010. It was quite a year, thanks to you, our readers and users, and your continued support.

We rolled out some new features, including an enhanced calendar, and email integration. We launched a new support site, our Facebook Page created by JDSupra, our first Apple in Law Firms Survey and our Clio Certified Consultant program, just to name a few. And who could forget the ClioPad, our best selling product?

Continuing education was a big part of 2010, through webinars, conference presentations and the formation of Legal Cloud Computing Association. We also got to know more of you, in person, through meetups at a number of places, including Austin, Denver, Scottsdale and conferences like the ABA TechShow and MILOfest. Needless to say, we’re looking forward to meetups in 2011.

2010 also brought about a noticeable shift in attitude towards cloud-computing. Indeed, towards the use of technology in law in general. We wrote quite a bit about “the cloud,” starting with a post, 2010: The Year of the Cloud, that was more a summary of recent articles (at the time) on cloud computing than a prediction. As 2010 progressed, however, it was exciting and quite interesting to see “the cloud” get a tremendous amount of attention.

Some Bar Associations also turned their focus to ethical-, security-, and privacy-related aspects of the cloud. The North Carolina Bar Association proposed ethics opinion on cloud computing was issued. The ABA took an active interest as well with its Commission on Ethics 20/20. It asked for comments on issue papers it published about Internet-based client development (think social media) and client confidentiality and lawyers’ use of technology (think cloud computing). Carolyn Elefant posted an excellent summary of the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 on MyShingle.

Speaking of which, the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 just announced it is holding a public hearing on February 11, 2011 from 9am to 12noon, in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of its MidYear meeting. You must send notice by January 31, 2011 if you want to participate. Specific details on what information to send, and to whom, are available from its hearing notice (PDF).

Attention was also brought to practical examples of cloud computing use, like a role it can play in business continuity and disaster plans, something that isn’t always discussed until it is too late.

So what will 2011 bring? Further adoption and acceptance of cloud computing? Mobile platform take-over? Changes to law school education? Anything is possible, as they say. And we’d like to point you to Ten Solos and Small Firm Law Trends 2011 over on MyShingle. It offers some interesting predictions and observations worth keeping in mind.