Finnegan CIO Says Cloud Is The Next Email

John Kuttler, chief information officer at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, said that years ago, around the dawn of the Internet, he was told to never to send an email to a client — out of fear that the information would not be secure.

“We’ve come a long way since then,” Kuttler said, adding that many of the new fears about emerging technology such as the cloud will likely dissolve over time. The cloud can make law firms more secure, he said.

In a wide-ranging interview with Big Law Business, Kuttler spoke about the role of technology at a firm focused on intellectual property and patent law, and his views on collaborative software and cloud-based technology.

Interview Excerpts

We’ve been looking at what other law firms do, and some are using “huddle rooms,” conference rooms where attorneys can bring their laptops in and take turns presenting.

I think there will come a day when some of the software law firms want to run will only be in the cloud.

I have a memo from the early days of email that says, “Under no circumstances should you send an email message to a client.” We’ve come a long way since then.

Just this month, we purchased Acano, a type of video bridge. It will join our traditional room-based videoconference system with Lync.

Below is an edited transcript of the conversation.

[caption id="attachment_2101" align="alignleft” width="222"][Image “Courtesy of Finnegan Henderson” (src=https://bol.bna.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Kuttler-John.jpg)]Courtesy of Finnegan Henderson[/caption]

Big Law Business: Your firm is focused on IP and patent law. Does that make your job different from those of your peers at other law firms?

Kuttler: I think it does make a difference. IP law interests me, so it’s a great job to have if you’re interested. IP lawyers tend to be very technical. Seventy of the lawyers at the firm have PhDs, and a couple have medical degrees. It’s an educated bunch. They keep me on my toes. By having one practice area, I can focus on it, as opposed to being at a general-practice firm and being an inch deep and a mile wide.

Big Law Business: Describe your main responsibilities. Is there a typical day?

Kuttler: I have a good team, so most of my responsibilities involve project work that different members of my team are working on. Right now, we’re opening an office in Seoul, so there’s a lot of activity with planning and getting the phones, computers and technology for the new office installed. We renewed the lease for our DC office, so we’re doing a major renovation while we’re in place, working with the architects on upgrading it. Every year starts out with a list of projects, and we’re working on those.

Big Law Business: What trends are you seeing in IP technology? What are the associated challenges?

Kuttler: I don’t know if it’s unique to IP, but I see trends in collaboration. We’re implementing Lync 2013 (Skype for Business) for Microsoft, and some firms have implemented Cisco Jabber. Lawyers working in teams use collaborative software. We’ve been looking at what other law firms do, and some are using “huddle rooms,” conference rooms where attorneys can bring their laptops in and take turns presenting. There are multiple screens in the room so you can videoconference. That is what Lync can do – kind of a new way of working. I won’t say it’s universally embraced yet, but about 150 out of our 850 total employees are using it, and I’m hoping that number will grow.

Big Law Business: What are some of the most important tools for your attorneys?

Kuttler: Lync is one of the tools. OneNote is an often-overlooked member of the Microsoft Office suite. Attorneys are good at taking notes, and more attorneys are using OneNote. It turns out the cloud, or in our case, Office 365, gives you an ideal place to store your OneNote file so you can get to it from all your devices. The surprising thing is, not just having one personal OneNote file, but I see attorneys creating OneNote files for [numerous] matters, so the matter team is sharing a OneNote file. One of the trends with the cloud is, this stuff’s becoming easier to do.

Big Law Business: Are there security concerns with increased sharing?

Kuttler: I think the concern is more of an education concern. Some people hear “cloud” and run in the opposite direction. It takes some convincing, but it’s a clear trend, and I think law firms won’t be able to avoid it. I think there will come a day when some of the software law firms [that] want to run will only be in the cloud.

A clear challenge is cybersecurity. Cybersecurity in law firms tends to get a lot of attention. We don’t have the resources of a giant company. I think these cloud organizations actually have the potential to bolster the security. Microsoft is spending tens of millions of dollars on security, and that’s more than any law firm would spend. Arguably, using those services would make them more secure.

The same document someone would have reluctance posting to the cloud service that is secure, they don’t give a second thought to sending by e-mail. I have a memo from the early days of e-mail that says, “Under no circumstances should you send an e-mail message to a client.” We’ve come a long way since then. Now, someone might say, “Don’t post client work service to the cloud.” Years later we may look back on that the way I look back on that e-mail memo.

Big Law Business: What do you see as your greatest accomplishment at the firm?

Kuttler: I’ve been at the firm since 1998. Obviously I enjoy it. In 1998, extranets were very new, where clients log in and access data. As an IP law firm, one of the key pieces of information we track is the docket; if you’re filing patent and trademark applications, you’re tracking dates. Obviously, we were sending really lengthy reports to clients. I introduced delivering that information through a secure extranet so clients could log in any time of day. It’s information our docketing staff is maintaining just as part of doing their work. The thinking was, we’re developing this data anyway; let’s make it available to clients. It’s very popular.

That’s the thing I’m the most proud of, because it’s client-facing. When you’re working in IT, you don’t always get that exposure to the client.

Big Law Business: What’s your favorite piece of personal technology?

Kuttler: I’m pretty partial to the iPhone 6. It really integrates all the systems we use at the firm, like Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft is developing Office apps for iOS, and they work pretty well.

Just this month, we purchased Acano, a type of video bridge. It will join our traditional room-based videoconference system with Lync. Now you can have participants in videoconferences who might be traveling, or have access through a browser, or audio only. It just takes the pain out of bridging these collaborative systems. We just got it, so we’re still installing it, but it has promise.