Stephen Abram on Innovation
Stephen Abram recently spoke at the Librarians Without Borders Unconference and posted his slide show on his blog. The slideshow dovetails with one goal of the Summit, to create a forward-looking discussion of library services. What makes an innovator? What do innovators do? Take a look at the slides, they are sure to give you plenty to think about! Mr. Abrams will be one of the Summit panelists discussing a 20/20 Vision for Library Services.
Jesse Katz will be speaking at one of the afternoon tracks at the PLL Summit on “Releasing your Inner Writer.” Track coordinator, Holly Riccio, asked Mr. Katz to respond to a series of questions on writers and writing.
• When and how did you know you wanted to be a writer?
As an undergraduate at Bennington College in the early ’80s, I was fortunate enough to study with Joe McGinniss, then famous for having written The Selling of the President (and now infamous for The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin). He turned me on to a whole catalog of fabulously perceptive writers, from Joan Didion and Truman Capote to Gay Talese and Hunter S. Thompson—the New Journalists, as they were called. I loved the idea that nonfiction didn’t have to come in a dry, genteel package; it could be as inventive and spellbinding and irreverent as fiction, just true.
• What was the impetus for writing your memoir, The Opposite Field?
When I volunteered to become commissioner of my son’s youth baseball league a decade ago, I never imagined it would lead to a book. Like the world really needed another nostalgic yarn about freshly mowed ball fields and misty-eyed dads. But the more I immersed myself in our kooky mom-and-pop organization, and the more I invested myself in the peculiar slice of immigrant suburbia that had become my L.A. home, the more those next four years began to seem like the defining experience of my adult life. I was tested in unimaginable ways: as a father, a leader, a judge of character, a man. I did not pass all the tests.
• Tell us a little bit about taking on your current position as an Editor in the Litigation department at O’Melveny & Myers?
For the first 124½ years of its history, O’Melveny somehow managed to get by without an editor. Did pretty good in that time, too. Then a forward-thinking partner named Rich Goetz came to the realization that law firms are essentially publishing houses, that most of what we do is generate reams of written material—and for one very important reader, the judge. Just as The New Yorker would never print an article without kneading and tweaking and buffing the language until it met the magazine’s rigorous standards, why would a firm of O’Melveny’s stature not want its briefs to be as cogent and concise as possible? By “editing,” we’re not talking about correcting the writing. My job is to enhance the message, to pare the clutter and extract more meaning.
• What do you think the three most common misconceptions are about writing?
How about one? That it gets easier with experience. I love the Thomas Mann quote: “A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” Most folks look at that and go, huh? How can that be? I suppose it’s like any activity or field of study—the more you know, the more you realize how much you don’t know. When my son was eight and learning to pitch, the goal was just to get the ball to reach the plate. By the time he was headed for high school, he had graduated to breaking balls and pickoff moves, stuff that I could no longer help him with. After three decades as a journalist, I have a good sense of how to string sentences together. But the stakes keep getting higher. If I’m trying to blow one by Albert Pujols, I’m going to labor over that turn of phrase.
Silvia Coulter, LawVision Group, on Owning New Technologies
In addition to our Keynote speaker and panels, the PLL Summit will host a series of tracks in the afternoon focusing on current issues of importance to law librarians.
Silvia Coulter, LawVision Group, will lead the Technology Track, Owning New Technologies, 3:30-4:15 p.m. Silvia Coulter is well versed in law firm dynamics, having been a former CMO at two AmLaw50 firms. Prior to co-Founding LawVision Group, where she presently leads the firm’s Client Development and Strategic Growth Practice business, Silvia chaired the Client Development Practice at Hildebrandt International.
Silvia understands law firm inter-department relationships and how they are an important main stay for a firm to be competitive in this global economy. Please join us as Silvia addresses how do the new technologies fit in with today’s law librarian’s responsibilities, and how do we communicate to the rest of the firm why it is so vital that the research department “own,” evolving applications?
Libraries still provide traditional services. Although the medium has changed, the message is the same. At the end of the day, our responsibility is to provide the most cost efficient services to our clients (attorneys), so that they are empowered to provide the same to their clients; the revenue source for the firm.
20/20 Vision for Library Services Panel
We hope you will join us for the PLL Summit on Saturday, July 21, 2012, just prior to the AALL Annual Meeting. If you do, here is one of the exciting panels to help you prepare for a leadership role within your organization.
Panel #1: 20/20 Vision for Library Services
Coordinator: Janice E. Henderson
What will library services be like in 2020? How will your administration view library services? And what could administration think library services will be in 2020? What can librarians do now to plan for these services? How can librarians get the support of administration for implementing new services in this new economy? What technology will libraries have to plan for? These and more questions will be answered during this extremely informative session.
Panelists:
Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLA, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Markets, Gale Cengage Learning
Sandra Campbell, Library Director, North American Region, Baker & McKenzie LLP
Steven D. Wingert, Executive Director, Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP, ALA President-Elect (2011-2012)
Jordan Furlong, Partner at Edge International and the Keynote speaker at the 2012 PLL Summit, posted a provocative blog post today about the future of legal employment. Our profession needs to be monitoring these trends so that we are prepared to adapt as the legal profession changes in the “new normal.”
Want to hear more, plan to attend the PLL Summit. Click on the link below to register.
Cha-Cha-Changes, an interview with Greg Castanias
The April issue of AALL Spectrum contains an inteview with Greg Castanias, one of our panel speakers at the July 21, 2012, PLL Summit. At the Summit, Greg Castanias and two other Library Partners will discuss the value proposition librarians bring to the table and how they see our roles evolving at firms. Read this article, written by Linda Will, to see some of the ways Mr. Castanias believes that librarians can add value to their law firms.
PLL Summit Luncheon speaker announced
The Summit Luncheon speaker will be Congressman Billy Long, a freshman legislator from Missouri. Congressman Long recently wowed the crowd at the Washington Press Club Foundation dinner. He will speak on How a Bill Becomes Law – In Real Life! Watch for details later.
We would like to extend a special thanks to Thomson Reuters for sponsoring the PLL Summit Luncheon and speaker.
PLL Summit Keynote speaker: Jordan Furlong
PLL is pleased to announce that Jordan Furlong, Partner at Edge International, will be our PLL Summit Keynote speaker. He will talk to us about:
- The legal market upheaval
- How law firms can respond
- Opportunities for law librarians and knowledge professional to respond and thrive
Jordan Furlong is a lawyer and consultant to law firms on strategic and tactical issues. An award-winning blogger, he has been writing since January 2008 at Law21: Dispatches From a Legal Profession on the Brink , where he chronicles the extraordinary changes underway in the legal profession.
We would like to extend a special thank you to Wolters Kluwer Law & Business for sponsoring this session.
Announcing the third annual PLL Summit!
The third annual PLL Summit will be held Saturday, July 12, 2012 just prior to the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting.
The PLL Summit continues to address issues critical to the future of law librarians and law firms. As change agents, we must ask the questions which will help us understand the fundamental changes in the business and practice of law. What will information services look like in 2020 and what should we be doing now to advance that vision? How do we empower ourselves to drive information strategies, ensuring our own viability as information professionals?
Watch for details on the PLL Summit 2012 page.
