We are thrilled to announce that our CEO, Bill Johnson, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award at the 2022 Legalweek Leaders in Tech Law Awards on March 10. In addition, TCDI’s Military Spouse Managed Review (MSMR) program was shortlisted as a finalist in the Litigation & Discovery category.
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes Bill for his thoughtful leadership over the past three decades, his contributions to the legal technology community, and his ability to guide TCDI through industry transformation and expand service offerings to include large-scale litigation case management, e-discovery, digital forensics, and cybersecurity services, always with enthusiasm for his people and the clients we support. Following his win, ALM asked Bill about his work over the past 33+ years, his penchant for innovation, and more. Here’s what Bill had to say.
Credit: Zach Warren, Legaltech News
The full article can also be read on Law.com here
Law.com: How has legal technology changed between when you entered the industry and now?
Bill Johnson: I actually don’t think the core technologies—search, review, processing, and production—have changed substantially over the last 34 years. These technologies have remained fundamentally the same, other than the adaptation to the evolution of electronic data, social media and the like.
What has changed, in a dramatic way, is the exponential growth of data volumes. In order to adjust to increases in scope, technology changes in hardware, as well as software architecture, have been critical to being able to “stay afloat” while keeping the technology responsive to business needs.
What does “innovation” in the law mean to you, and where do you think innovation is going from here?
It’s tempting to think there is some paradigm shifting technology under development that would fundamentally change how legal technology works, but the reality is that those things just do not happen, in any industry.
Instead, I look toward “useful” innovation where the technology does what technology does best—taking the human and providing tools to automate mundane tasks, improve the efficiency of tasks, and provide insight into large volumes of data. Ultimately, freeing the human mind to be creative and problem solve.
What’s one thing that you’re most proud of over your time in legal technology?
What I am most proud of at TCDI is our ability to invest in and develop human capital to solve our clients’ needs. Legal technology has always been, and will remain, about the people. It’s an exercise in how to use technology to make the people more efficient, precise, and creative. We have been able to bring together the best minds in software development with the best minds in project management, while remaining focused on finding the best way to capitalize on the knowledge and capabilities of the people in litigation support.
About TCDI
Technology Concepts & Design, Inc. (TCDI) is a leading provider of eDiscovery, litigation management, forensics, cybersecurity and document review services. TCDI combines “best of breed” technology with their staff of trusted advisors to create highly customizable software solutions that fit within the needs and budgets of law firms and corporate legal departments. TCDI provides a range of customer- and user-oriented solutions that include proprietary software (CV suite), specialized teams of cybersecurity experts, dedicated support teams and scalable document review teams, including its Military Spouse Managed Review (MSMR) program.