Ride the Lightning

The Suffolk Flaherty Legal Technology Audit: Ready, Set, Go!

August 20, 2014

As the ABA Journal reported, the Suffolk Flaherty Legal Technology Audit has already started accepting sign-ups and administration of the LTA will commence on September 2nd.

Casey Flaherty developed the first version of the LTA when he became counsel at Kia Motors. That early version had dismal results for those who took it. What should have taken one hour took five, at an average rate of $270 per hour. This was a widely publicized disaster. Casey gained a partner in our friend Andy Perlman of Suffolk University Law School and a Board of Advisers who have been helping to bring the LTA online.

There is also a law school edition of the LTA – will the students be graded academically based on the test? So many questions for this new venture . . .

The fur should really fly on Halloween when the LTA will begin to fulfill free score requests submitted by in-house counsel. That is, in-house counsel will be able to see how their outside counsel performed (if outside counsel agree to release their scores).

Law firms and similar service providers will be charged $250 per user for a one year subscription. The LTA Tutorial is an additional $150 per user.

In-house counsel and government entities will be charged $25 per test taker for a one year subscription to the LTA.

The LTA will be free for the judiciary.

Score requests are free. But it looks to me as though anyone who registers you to take the test can then see your score. This could be a real knuckle-biter for those who are inept with technology. . .

Exciting times. It will be interesting to see reviews of the audit itself. I can't see most senior partners lining up to take the audit or many general counsels that would have the cojones to ask them to. But for the younger generation, this may become a bridge that must be crossed to obtain professional advancement, especially in larger firms and corporations.

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