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Attorney
By
Attorney
Career Profiles of the Profession
Who?
John Tredennick
Partner
jtredennick@caseshare.com
What?
Primary Practice Area & Subspecialty Fields:
I am a partner and former CIO of Holland & Hart, LLP, the
largest law firm in the Rockies. For more than 20 years, I was
a trial lawyer, handling high-dollar complex commercial litigation.
At the same time, I led the firm's Smithsonian Award-Winning Technology
efforts, both as CIO and as director of Trial Partners, a unique
service group at the firm offering high tech graphics, jury/persuasion
counseling, litigation support, and video and trial presentation
services.
I chucked all that (except the partner part) to create and become
CEO of CaseShare Systems, LLC, an Internet company spun out by
my firm about two years ago. In a nutshell, we build extranet
systems (i.e. private websites) to help legal and business teams
manage people, paper and work processes. We offer a series of
customizable products that allow users to search and share documents
and other information as well as collaborate as team members on
projects using a simple but powerful web interface. All users
need is a browser and an Internet connection. Our products can
be used for a wide variety of collaborative applications. For
example, we built a system for Albertson's to help them manage
their labor cases. We built a system for Sears to help manage
its Advertising review process and to keep track of consent decrees.
Unocal uses one of our systems to make pipeline documents available
to employees spread around the country. And, we have a number
of legal extranets running connecting as many as 340 clients and
their counsel together on some very large cases.
When?
Years in Practice Area:
Since 1981. CaseShare CEO since 2000.
Years in the Legal Profession:
Since 1979.
Where?
Employer:
Holland & Hart, LLP and CaseShare Systems, LLC
www.caseshare.com
City/State:
Denver, CO
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Law School:
University of Virginia
Undergraduate School/Degree:
University of Virginia, Degrees in Speech and Economics
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Why?
Pluses/Challenges of Practice Area:
Managing teams, building on a vision, delivering complex systems
to clients, and finding time for my family.
Core Skills/Key Knowledge Needed in Your Practice Area:
How to link Internet technology to legal practices and how to
reengineer workflow using the web.
Advice to Lawyers and Law Students Interested in Your Practice
Area:
First learn to practice law, then learn technology. If you have
an aptitude for both, act on it.
How?
Career Path to Current Position:
Started a clerkship after law school, one-year trip around the
world with a backpack, twenty years of (mostly) fun at Holland
& Hart and then a giant leap into the unknown.
Influences and Mentors:
Several of my partners (Brooke Jackson, Bob Benson, Warren Tomlinson
and Ed Flitton to name a few), several members of the Law Practice
Management Section including Jim Eidelman, Burgess Allison, Shelby
Rogers and many more, my wife and family.
Suggested Reading About Your Practice Area:
InfoWorld, ComputerWorld, Law Practice Management Magazine, and
any trial book you can get your hands on.
Job Search Techniques Used in Finding Your Position(s):
Not being satisfied with a Wall Street Practice (after a couple
summer clerkships there with the big firms), I got a clerkship
at the last minute and came to Denver. The rest has followed naturally.
Bar Affiliations and Activities:
I am a member of the state and local bars, but my efforts have
been with the Law Practice Management Section of the ABA
Related Publications:
Four books and numerous magazine articles on law and technology.
Recent book was The Lawyer's Guide to Spreadsheets, (Glasser
Legalworks 2000). My wife warned me that my next book would be with
my next wife. So far I have taken her seriously. Related Presentations:
I have spoken or keynoted at almost every major legal
conference there is from Rio to London, and across North America.
In May, I will be speaking in Scotland at a small conference of
leading U.S. and U.K. legal technologists.
Memorable Career Moment:
Wiping out my (MBA to be) wife's hard drive shortly after
our honeymoon and actually collecting on a $19 million judgment
for a client.
Intriguing Interests:
Competitive show jumping at equestrian events across the
country on my jumper Wilber. (That is intriguing except when I fall.)
My wife and daughter also compete, and my daughter is currently
#1 in the country on her pony jumper. Risking our necks (my wife's
and my own) for a week of helicopter skiing every January in Blue
River, Canada, and helping at my wife's professional cooking school
are also intriguing. Other than that, things are pretty normal.
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