Clinton Charles Van Nocker - Technology

Technology
Technology is extremely important across today’s legal landscape. One of the goals of our law firm is to be able to practice law throughout the United States and the World. Our best case scenario would be able to practice law without the borders that currently hold us to certain jurisdictions.
One of the greatest barriers we will face will be the Court’s unwillingness to change its current culture and structure. Some members of the Court believe that by allowing participants to argue or testify in the comforts of their own office or home will deter pre-trial resolutions. Many matters are settled prior to trial simply because of the great amount of effort and time required to physically go to the Court and attend a hearing or pre-trial conference. By waiting for a matter to be heard the parties are almost always forced to consider the possibility of a compromise.
While we understand the concern of those opposed to our view, we are certain we can show the Court the streamlined effect of efficient operations. There will be substantial savings to the Court without the need to continually expand courthouses. For example, we have recently been involved in a case in Joliet, Illinois in Will County. The Will County Courthouse has vastly exceeded its ability to deal with District and Circuit Court matters efficiently. Each morning there are hundreds of people who line up outside the Court in order to resolve their issues before the Court. There is talk of building a new courthouse to ease the burden upon the court that is the result of a county that is rapidly growing. If these matters could be handled through the use of online video technology it would be unnecessary to build a new courthouse.
Many argue that technology would prohibit a matters resolution prior to trial. We would be able to demonstrate that by streamlining the operations of the matters there would be more resources available to have matters resolved by a trial. There will certainly be a slow transgression toward the Virtual Courthouse. We are pleased to see that currently most Courts utilize a video system for prisoners who are being arraigned. Electronic filing has become a standard in the US Federal Courts and is rapidly becoming available throughout US State Courts. We look forward to the utilization of video technology for motion hearings and pre-trial conferences.
While progression may be slow, we intend on keeping up with the latest technologies to ensure that our execution remains at the highest level through efficient operations. By doing this we hope to change the minds of those who oppose the change in their current culture and structure.

Employee Retention
Hiring and retaining the best possible employees and lawyers is fundamental to the continued success of our law firm. Employees today have more choices than ever before in the pursuit of their careers.
One of the greatest barriers we will face will be the inability to offer key employees the flexibility to work outside of the 8am to 5pm time frame. While we may be able to offer them employment outside of the office, technology has not reached its maximum potential. Those who work in the court system typically are only available to communicate with our office between the hours of 8:30am to 4:30pm. We know the culture is changing, but it is uncertain whether it will change enough to offer potential key office employees employment on nights and weekend. We will continually address the concerns and move toward our desire to operate in a


Employee Education
Continued education of employees is the key to continued success of a law firm. Not educating our firm’s lawyers and support personnel would greatly affect our ability to remain competitive in the future years to come.