{"id":1162,"date":"2017-06-21T16:16:41","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T20:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/?p=468216"},"modified":"2017-06-21T16:16:41","modified_gmt":"2017-06-21T20:16:41","slug":"are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Midsize Firms Innovating? A Conversation With Planet Data CEO Howard Reissner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-468218 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/06\/planet_data_logo-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/>You would think that midsize firms would be an ideal testing ground for innovative technology and services, especially if you&#8217;re bullish on legal tech. Midsize firms don&#8217;t have the big IT department or the unstructured web of decision makers to keep new things out, and theoretically, legal technology should allow medium-size firms to &#8220;level the playing field&#8221; with the big firms. Who needs a team of junior associates for diligence if you can simply use\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/kirasystems.com\/\">Kira<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>But things are playing out a little differently.<\/p>\n<p>My experience is that many companies aren&#8217;t able to focus on (or crack the nut of how to sell to) medium-sized firms; the exceptions are outliers. &#8220;We tried,&#8221; one startup exec told me recently. But after discovering that there was no appetite, that company moved on to in-house counsel. And as Steve Nelson of the McCormick group\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/klawblog.com\/2017\/05\/midsize-firms-are-touting-efficiency.html?m=1\">recently wrote<\/a>, even when it comes to improving process, it is the big firms, not the midsize firms, that are investing in change.<\/p>\n<p>I never worked at a midsize firm and, as result, have no real experience with the culture or the pain points. So when I saw my friend Howard Reissner&#8217;s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.legaltechnews.com\/id=1202790534084\/Overcoming-the-Ediscovery-Shot-Clock-Challenge\">post yesterday in Legaltech News<\/a>\u00a0on just this issue, I took it as a small sign to begin to explore this part of the ecosystem. Howard is a former practicing lawyer and the founder and president of tech-enabled eDiscovery service provider\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/planetdata.com\/\">Planet Data<\/a>, developers of the Exego platform, and a company that, among other things, has been delivering a combination of technology married with services to both Biglaw and midsize law firms for over 16 years. I&#8217;m kicking off a conversation with Howard today &#8212; follow along, and if you&#8217;ve got fresh angles on midsize firms, reach out to me by email.<\/p>\n<div class='replyall-widget' style='margin: 0 auto;'><iframe id='rab2da007' src='https:\/\/www.replyall.me\/embed\/C-1tp\/?header=0&follow=1' frameBorder='0' style='overflow:auto;height:700px;width:100%;' height='700' width='100%'><\/iframe><\/div><script type='text\/javascript'>\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\nwindow[window.addEventListener ? 'addEventListener' : 'attachEvent'](window.addEventListener ? 'message' : 'onmessage', function(e) {var x=document.getElementById('rab2da007'); x.height=event.data; x.style.height=event.data+'px'; }, false);\n\/* ]]> *\/\n <\/script>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong><em>Zach Abramowitz is a former Biglaw associate and currently CEO and co-founder of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.replyall.me\/\">ReplyAll<\/a>. You can follow Zach on Twitter (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ZachAbramowitz\">@zachabramowitz<\/a>) or reach him by email at <a href=\"mailto:zach@replyall.me\">zach@replyall.me<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"summary\">What are the pain points faced by midsize law firms?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":634,"featured_media":468218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[998,11],"tags":[996,997,635,183,7,184],"class_list":["post-1162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-midsize-firms-regional-firms","category-technology","tag-howard-reissner","tag-midsize-firms-regional-firms","tag-planet-data","tag-replyall","tag-technology","tag-zach-abramowitz"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Are Midsize Firms Innovating? A Conversation With Planet Data CEO Howard Reissner - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Midsize Firms Innovating? A Conversation With Planet Data CEO Howard Reissner - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What are the pain points faced by midsize law firms?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-21T20:16:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zach Abramowitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zach Abramowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/\",\"name\":\"Are Midsize Firms Innovating? A Conversation With Planet Data CEO Howard Reissner - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-21T20:16:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-21T20:16:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/0bf441e5d3c0575a6093e80ef508db8e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Are Midsize Firms Innovating? A Conversation With Planet Data CEO Howard Reissner\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/\",\"name\":\"Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event\",\"description\":\"A Legal Tech Adoption Guide For Perplexed Lawyers\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/0bf441e5d3c0575a6093e80ef508db8e\",\"name\":\"Zach Abramowitz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1af75d50c59d6c9ce66b2ca2c574ce9bab1bcd45830d96130f8725c7d2809f93?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1af75d50c59d6c9ce66b2ca2c574ce9bab1bcd45830d96130f8725c7d2809f93?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Zach Abramowitz\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/author\/zachabramowitz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are Midsize Firms Innovating? A Conversation With Planet Data CEO Howard Reissner - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are Midsize Firms Innovating? A Conversation With Planet Data CEO Howard Reissner - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event","og_description":"What are the pain points faced by midsize law firms?","og_url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/","og_site_name":"Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event","article_published_time":"2017-06-21T20:16:41+00:00","author":"Zach Abramowitz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zach Abramowitz","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/","url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/","name":"Are Midsize Firms Innovating? A Conversation With Planet Data CEO Howard Reissner - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2017-06-21T20:16:41+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-21T20:16:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/0bf441e5d3c0575a6093e80ef508db8e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2017\/06\/21\/are-midsize-firms-innovating-a-conversation-with-planet-data-ceo-howard-reissner\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are Midsize Firms Innovating? A Conversation With Planet Data CEO Howard Reissner"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/","name":"Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event","description":"A Legal Tech Adoption Guide For Perplexed Lawyers","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/0bf441e5d3c0575a6093e80ef508db8e","name":"Zach Abramowitz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1af75d50c59d6c9ce66b2ca2c574ce9bab1bcd45830d96130f8725c7d2809f93?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1af75d50c59d6c9ce66b2ca2c574ce9bab1bcd45830d96130f8725c7d2809f93?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Zach Abramowitz"},"url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/author\/zachabramowitz\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}