Technology helps us exceed client expectations while still balancing work/life and other priorities. It makes us mobile -- we can do our work anywhere, office or home. And it keeps us together as one firm. Whichever of our fourteen offices you choose for your practice, you'll have colleagues and friends all over the West. Virtually . . . next door.

A lot of firms talk technology but few do more than talk the talk. E-mail, networking, an intranet, paperless practice systems, data-driven extranet applications, the ability to access all of your work from home, your client's office. . .a café in Paris? Animations, electric trial presentations, client-driven extranet workflow systems? Now you're talking.

Technology became a key part of our firm vision years ago when we made our former partner, John Tredennick, the first law firm CIO ever. Tredennick's mission, as a full-time litigation partner, was to see technology through lawyers' eyes. . .to turn technology into a strategic weapon for the firm, not just fancy typewriters or adding machines. Along with that responsibility came the authority to accomplish the mission. John joined our Financial Partner as one of the two top management positions, reporting directly to the firm's Managing Partner. Other firms, having seen the wisdom of that move, have since created their own CIO position. But few have carried it off like we do.

Almost immediately, we pioneered the use of new technologies like intranets and extranets, the adoption of the Microsoft Office suite (back in 1995) and an integrated networking system with T-3 access to the Internet (on every desk in the firm, no silly restrictions), and Internet-based connectivity between each office in our regional network. In 1996, we developed our own image-based litigation support system tying the now standard Microsoft database products with Adobe Acrobat imaging technology. Not only could you find that smoking gun, you could see it (and search it) as well.

Not surprisingly, our reputation grew as the top technology firm in the country (actually anywhere). Back in 1995, Microsoft featured us on their own home page and filmed a video for international distribution on our use of technology. Several other network producers did as well. In 1997, we were one of only a handful of law firms to appear on PC Week's FastTrack 500, a list of the top 500 technology innovators among businesses nationwide. In 1999, we were inducted into the permanent "Information Innovators" archives at the Smithsonian Institute for our work in integrating Adobe's unique imaging technology with litigation support database systems. That same year we won one of the three finalists designations in the International Windows World Open for our creation of EZ Access, a litigation imaging database.

It doesn't stop there. We were the first firm in the country to have an in-house jury consultant back in the mid-1980s. Why? Because we try cases and wanted to be the best at what we do. We added an in-house graphics center in 1990 (yes 1990, that is not a typo) and it grew to as many as 8 full-time graphics professionals, creating diagrams, charts, illustrations, virtual reality exhibits and movie-quality animations. Check out Persuasion Strategies to learn more about the cool things we create on a daily basis.