Judge Xavier Rodriguez of San Antonio received the 2021 Samuel Pessarra Outstanding Jurist Award from the Texas Bar Foundation. The award was established in 1995, when the Foundation received a bequest to the endowment from the estate of Mrs. Samuel Pessarra in honor of her late husband Samuel Pessarra for the purpose of funding the Outstanding Jurist Award. Samuel Pessarra, a native of Quintana, attended Baylor University and Baylor University School of Law. Mr. Pessarra was a member of the Brazoria County Bar Association, where he served as president, director and secretary. The Pessarra Outstanding Jurist Award honors an active Federal or State Judge (including retired judges or judges of senior status who continue to sit) who exhibits an exceptionally outstanding reputation for competency, efficiency and integrity.
Judge Rodriguez is a former Texas Supreme Court Justice and currently sits on the bench as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a master’s degree from the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Texas Law School. Prior to assuming the bench, he was a partner in the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski (now known as Norton Rose Fulbright). Judge Rodriguez is a frequent speaker on continuing legal education seminars and has authored numerous articles regarding employment law, discovery and arbitration issues. He is the editor of Essentials of E-Discovery (TexasBarBooks 2014). He is a member of The Sedona Conference Judicial Advisory Board, the Georgetown Advanced E-Discovery Institute Advisory Board, and serves as the Distinguished Visiting Jurist-in-Residence and adjunct professor of law at the St. Mary’s University School of Law. He was elected to membership in the American Law Institute and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Texas Bar Foundation.
In 2011 he was awarded the Rosewood Gavel Award for outstanding judicial service from the St. Mary’s University School of Law. In 2017, he received the State Bar of Texas Gene Cavin Award for Excellence in CLE, recognizing his long-term contributions to continuing legal education. He is an appointed judicial member of the Computer and Technology Section, Chair of the State Bar of Texas Litigation Section, Past Chair of the State Bar of Texas Labor and Employment Law Section, and Past Chair of the State Bar of Texas Continuing Legal Education Committee. He is currently enrolled in the Duke University, Bolch Judicial Institute’s LLM Program in Judicial Studies.
Judge Rodriguez will be publicly recognized at the Texas Bar Foundation Annual Dinner held on June 18, 2021 at the Omni Hotel in Fort Worth. The University of Texas School of Law will receive a $1,000 scholarship donation in honor of Judge Xavier Rodriguez.
So you want to be a cat? We have the steps to get you there – and to get you back before your next hearing.
First, to quote Judge Ferguson, the judge presiding over the now famous zoom hearing: “These fun moments are a by-product of the legal profession’s dedication to ensuring that the justice system continues to function in these tough times. Everyone involved handled it with dignity, and the filtered lawyer showed incredible grace. True professionalism all around!”
We laughed with you Mr. Ponton, but as lawyers we honor your willingness to move forward for your client– whiskers and all.
For all of those looking to apply (or remove) the effect, it is actually a camera setting rather than a filter. To make it happen, try these steps:
Download the free Snap Camera app (we are not endorsing the app and have not read the T&C. Read for yourself!). To use the filter, you must grant it permission to use your camera and microphone.
Open the app to find “lenses” or filters – like the famous kitty. Search for one that matches your mood and apply the filter.
Open the Zoom app and go to Settings > Video > Camera. Select Snap Camera from the menu. When you start your next zoom hearing – you will be a cat.
Now a tip for Rod – to turn the filters off before your next hearing, just go back to Settings > Video > Camera, and choose your usual camera again.
Enjoy filters when appropriate. We all need a little laugh!
The Council of the Computer & Technology Section has released some of the older versions of its Circuits eJournal to the public. You no longer need a password to enjoy issues of Circuits. Links to some of the previous versions are below:
Mark I. Unger, Former Chair of the Computer & Technology Section
William D. Smith, Council Member of the Computer & Technology Section
From the Attendee’s Perspective
William: Thursday, February 27, 2019
I was very excited to attend my first ABA Techshow- enough to brave Chicago in February!
For a lawyer or IT
professional with any responsibility for security and data privacy in their
organization, these conferences are always a tremendous source of learning, in
terms of best practices, new tools, and assuaging that am-I-the-crazy-one?
feeling by learning that many others deal with the same challenges you do.
However, there’s also an element of masochism as you learn of new threats and
vulnerabilities which you hadn’t known you needed to be worried about. (I’m
reminded of my high school biology teacher, who subscribed to Infectious
Diseases Quarterly, a perpetual source of existential terror for him. That’s
probably why he chose to live in the country outside of Weatherford and commute
to work, notwithstanding the threat of squirrels and other wild animals.)
Privacy concerns presented themselves immediately upon my arrival
at the ABA Techshow- literally! At the registration table I was greeted by a
box full of these friendly little guys:
In
case you’re as puzzled as me and the woman next to me in the registration line
were, those are laptop camera covers. A useful reminder that sometimes the most
effective security measures are the simplest, low-tech ones. (Though there’s a
certain irony to having eyes on the thing.)
Of course, the inverse is also true- simple human laziness or
ignorance can defeat the most sophisticated infrastructure. This theme was
repeated throughout the information security related sessions I attended today.
Remember the Hawaii nuclear attack false alarm? Turns out that the vulnerability
arose when an employee of the emergency notifications center posted a picture
of himself online that included his password on a Post-it note attached to his
monitor in the background.
Craig Bayer (Optiable) and Stanley Louissaint (Fluid Designs) shared
how Mobile Device Management (MDM) software can at least put some guardrails
around what mistakes users are able to make. Many organizations face the
challenge of enforcing appropriate security configurations in a Bring Your Own
Device environment. Mobile Application Management software can be a really
helpful tool here- it enables you to create a secure container within an
employee’s smartphone that it controlled by the organization. This not only
helps to secure firm or company information, but also addresses employee
concerns about granting total access to everything on their personal device.
Sherri Davidoff (LMG
Security) and David Ries (Clark Hill) delivered a session, “Security Practices
That Won’t Bust Your Budget” that focused on the importance of the less
technical side of cybersecurity- being aware of what data you have, where
you’re keeping it, and when you’re getting rid of it, and having and following
security processes- as well as some important technical tools like multi-factor
authentication and password managers. Sherri said that she likes to think of
data like hazardous waste- the more of it you keep around, the more likely it
is that something harmful (a breach) will happen. David and Sherri also
illustrated just how vibrant the dark web market for stolen data is now.
“Fullz”, or full personal details including SSN, DoB, and account info, can be
had for anywhere from $1-$60 per individual- and group discounts are available!
Mark tells me vendors
are always a big part of the Techshow, and not just because they underwrite the
happy hours. The vendor Expo hall certainly has several interesting booths this
year. One company, Omega Secure, originally came out of the retail industry
where they developed a device to ringfence systems processing payment card
information from the rest of the IT environment (pictured below).
hey’ve now adapted this device to allow users to put any kind ofsensitive system behind it. OmegaSecure also offers network monitoring andother organizational security services. Their representative Ash Swamy made the interesting point that law isactually the least regulated industry they have worked in, relative to retailpayment processing, healthcare, and others. Of course, even though securitybest practices are not prescribed for lawyers in terms of what specific stepsto take, the consequences of failing to do it properly can be just as severe.
Lawclerk is another very interesting vendor, though not
specifically related to security or privacy issues. They offer a platform where
attorneys (and only attorneys) can find and engage freelance lawyers. This can
be done for specific tasks, via a project post, or users can build a team of
freelance lawyers with particular skillsets who are ready to utilize when the
needs arise. For solo practitioners, this could be a great way of handling an
overload of work, by getting assistance with drafting a particular document or
doing a piece of research. Mike Graner with Lawclerk told me that they have a
number of customers who are “the lawyer” in a small town, and Lawclerk enables
them to handle a broader range of matters and accept more business. For
in-house lawyers like me, Lawclerk could be a handy way to get subject matter
expertise on a niche topic or jurisdiction where the business has some needs
but engaging a specialist or local firm isn’t yet justified.
Techshow is off to a
great start and I’m looking forward to updating the Section on what tomorrow
brings!
William: Friday,
February 28, 2019
One of the most exciting things about technology is that it can enable you to save time, money, and stress by doing things differently, and hopefully better. But to do differently you have to think differently first, and so it was great to see so many lawyers engaging with Techshow sessions today oriented around taking new approaches to old problems.
Checklists aren’t the
most attention-grabbing topic, but “Ready for Process Automation? Start by
Developing Checklists and Maps” was one of the most well-attended modules I saw
at Techshow. Mary Vandenack (Vandenack Weaver LLC) and Micah Ascano
(Polsinelli) shared an approach for documenting repeatable and predictable
processes in checklists that will immediately result in more efficiency and
fewer mistakes, and in the longer term enable you to actually start to
partially or completely automate those processes. They showed a detailed
process map for patent prosecution, which includes client inputs and action
steps as well as internal ones. Impressively, Mary also walked through an
automated entity formation workflow. While automation is talked about a lot in
general terms in legal tech circles, it was really cool to see the presenters
break down the nuts and bolts of how to get there in a practical, real-world
way. Much of the audience seemed to feel the same way, judging by how many
questions were asked. I think we will see more and more lawyers engaging in
these process mapping and eventually automation exercises, as clients demand more
cost-effective services and more efficient delivery models. There’s also a
natural alignment between mapping, defining and automating routine parts of
work and the alternative fee arrangements that are increasingly appealing to
clients.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to use process
mapping and checklists to reduce the time and effort you spend doing repetitive
tasks, you can check out the book “Checklists for Lawyers” by Dan Siegel, and
also the software tools Vizio and Hotdocs.
Dan Lear (Right Brain Law) and Susan Letterman White’s (Mass
LOMAP) “Design Thinking for Law Firms” session was explicitly about getting
lawyers to use a different approach to problem solving.
“Design thinking” is a very common method of
problem solving in the tech and product development world, but not one
typically employed by lawyers. The basic steps are to:
Frame thechallenge (“how might we”) in a group discussion
Reframe the challenge and its context – get in the “field” to collect data
Make sense of the data and prioritize. Generate possible solutions
Experiment with a prototype
Dan used to work for Avvo, which may count as a strike against for
many readers, but he made the good point that at Avvo they wanted to change the
discussion about the practice of law to put the “consumer” back in the center
of the discussion. Since “human centered design” is another term for design
thinking, that principle of being user/customer/client centered is a key part
of this approach. What’s most unique about design thinking relative to other
problem solving techniques is that it is highly visual, group based, and
emphasizes experimentation. The hope is that this approach will allow you to
consider options that would not have occurred to you otherwise. That’s where
the “framing the challenge” component is really powerful- an audience member
shared the metaphor of someone presenting you with a bike that has a flat, and
asking you to fix the tire. But asking some thoughtful questions would elicit
the fact that the real problem is that the person needs to get to the other
side of town by 6pm. Once you know that, a whole world of solutions beyond
fixing the bike opens up.
“Experimentation” is easier to do in many parts of the tech world
where design thinking is widely practiced, because the impact of mistakes is
often minor and corrections can be easily made. To their credit, Susan and Dan
acknowledged that this isn’t the case in legal practice, and emphasized that
resiliency in the face of failed experiments was key, as well as a focus on
learning from those failures. I asked a question to press on this a bit in the
contracts and transactions context, where a mistake often has a hard dollar
cost. Another member of the audience provided the really helpful suggestion of
working with your leadership (or yourself) to create a “failure budget”. This
enables you to be honest about the possible costs of experimentation, while
also building the business case for why those short-term costs are worth the
long-term benefits. If
you’re interested in learning more about design thinking, you can check out
“Law by Design” by Margaret Hagan or “A Whole New Mind” by Dan Pink.
Another session thattook place had a demonstration of visual notetaking along with it, which seems to me philosophically aligned with this design thinking technique. I was in a different session on security when this module was presented, but the illustration that resulted was posted in the hall for everybody to check out, and I think it’s quite cool.
William D. Smith
William is Assistant General Counsel of
Business Talent Group, the leading marketplace for independent strategy and
operations consulting professionals. He is on the Council of the Computer and
Technology Section of the State Bar of Texas.
