WASHINGTON
—
The
Space
Force
announced
today
that
its
software-centric
program
for
managing,
processing
and
disseminating
space
monitoring
data,
the
Advanced
Tracking
and
Launch
Analysis
System
(ATLAS),
has
been
accepted
as
“operational.”
The
move
paves
the
way
for
the
service
to
finally
rid
itself
of
its
dysfunctional
1980s-era
computer
system
called
the
Space
Defense
Operations
Center
(SPADOC),
which
as
been
used
to
keep
tabs
on
satellites,
spacecraft
and
dangerous
space
junk
even
after
nearly
two
decades
of
failed
replacement
efforts.
Operational
acceptance
of
ATLAS
delivers
the
“the
key
capabilities
[needed]
to
not
be
reliant
on
the
SPADOC
system,”
Shannon
Pallone,
program
executive
officer
of
Battle
Management,
Command,
Control,
Communications,
and
Space
Intelligence
(BMC3I)
at
the
service’s
primary
acquisition
unit,
Space
Systems
Command,
told
Breaking
Defense
on
Sept.
16.
ATLAS’s
official
greenlight
comes
after
a
nearly
year-long
trial
period
for
the
software
at
Space
Operations
Command’s
Mission
Delta
2,
headquartered
at
Vandenberg
SFB,
Calif.
Pallone,
speaking
in
an
exclusive
interview
during
the
Advanced
Maui
Optical
and
Space
Surveillance
conference
in
Hawaii,
explained
that
since
the
trial
began
delta
operators
successfully
have
been
using
the
system
to
create
actual
tracking
data
for
space
objects.
“[O]n
the
ops
floor,
it’s
generating
a
catalog
—
it’s
publishing
data
to
Space-track.org
They’re
using
that
as
a
primary
system,”
she
said.
SPADOC
originally
came
online
in
the
1980s
and
was
by
2017
an
“old
clunker”
that
wasn’t
fit
for
space
warfighting
functions,
according
to
then-head
of
Air
Force
Space
Command
Gen.
Jay
Raymond,
who
went
on
to
lead
the
Space
Force.
The
ATLAS
project,
initiated
in
2018
and
contracted
to
L3Harris,
was
designed
as
part
of
a
larger
Space
Force
effort
to
replace
and
improve
upon
the
infamously
flawed Joint
Space
Operations
Center
(JSpOC)
Mission
System
(JMS).
The
JMS
program
began
in
2009
to
replace
SPADOC,
but
after
a
decade
of
effort
and
not
quite
$1
billion
in
spending
it
was
killed
in
2018.
The
Space
Force
originally
planned
for
ATLAS
to
become
operational
in
2022,
but
the
program
has
been
bedeviled
by
technical
issues
and
schedule
delays
—
to
the
point
where
then-Air
Force
Space
Acquisition
Executive
Frank
Calvelli
in
2023
dubbed
it
one
of
the
Space
Force’s
three
most
troubled
programs.
The
decommissioning
of
SPADOC,
Pallone
said,
will
be
a
game-changing
achievement.
“Maybe
that’s
when
I’m
just
like:
‘I
retire’,”
she
joked.
“It’ll
be
a
major
coup.”
A
Space
Operations
Command
spokesperson
told
Breaking
Defense
today
that
at
the
moment
there
isn’t
a
set
timeframe
for
SPADOC
to
be
shut
down.
Pallone
stressed
that
ATLAS’s
operational
acceptance
is
a
first
step
to
improving
the
Space
Force’s
ability
to
detect,
track,
and
characterize
objects
in
space
in
a
precise
enough
way
to
allow
persistent
“eyes”
on
adversary
satellites.
“That’s
really
just
the
start
of
getting
after
where
we
need
to
go
in
space
domain
awareness
as
a
mission,”
she
said.
“I’m
in
a
new
baseline,
and
now
I
can
start
to
do
some
really
exciting
things
with
that,
and
I
can
start
to
actually
get
after
gaps
instead
of
getting
after
modernizing.
…
I
want
to
get
out
of
modernization
into
closing
gaps,
and
this
is
going
to
let
us
do
that.”
HARARE
–
Police
have
launched
an
investigation
into
a
break-in
at
home
affairs
minister
Kazembe
Kazembe’s
offices,
which
occurred
at
the
weekend
where
several
documents
and
laptops
were
allegedly
stolen.
This
comes
after
similarly
alarming
incidents
last
year
at
deputy
tourism
and
hospitality
minister
Tongai
Mnangagwa’s
office
and
security
breaches
at
his
cousin
Kudakwashe
David
Mnangagwa’s
Borrowdale
home.
“I
can
confirm
that
the
Zimbabwe
Republic
Police
are
currently
investigating
the
break-in
at
the
minister
of
home
affairs
and
cultural
heritage
minister’s
office
that
occurred
over
the
weekend,”
national
police
spokesman
Commissioner
Paul
Nyathi
said.
The
intruders
“seemed
to
have
proper
knowledge
or
an
idea
of
the
offices’
layout,”
Nyathi
said,
according
to
The
Daily
News.
“At
this
moment,
I
can’t
disclose
what
was
stolen
as
investigations
are
ongoing.
However,
it
appears
that
the
intruder
or
intruders
had
familiarity
with
the
office
setup
and
entry
points.”
In
a
separate
incident,
Nyathi
confirmed
that
a
fire
engulfed
the
Elephant
Lodge,
owned
by
presidential
adviser
Paul
Tungwarara.
“Also
l
can
confirm
that
Elephant
Lodge
which
is
located
in
Murambinda,
Manicaland,
and
which
is
owned
by
special
adviser
to
the
president,
Paul
Tungwarara,
was
engulfed
in
fire
on
27
September.
“A
forensic
team
was
dispatched
and
investigation
revealed
that
the
fire
was
a
result
of
an
electrical
fault.”
BULAWAYO
–
A
39-year-old
man
from
Bulawayo’s
Matsheumhlope
suburb
has
been
jailed
for
unlawful
possession
of
crystal
methamphetamine
worth
US$6,000
following
a
months-long
police
investigation
into
his
drug
dealing
operations.
Pigors
Tyron
Siegfried
was
sentenced
to
eight
years
imprisonment
by
Bulawayo
magistrate
Sibonginkosi
Mnkandla
on
Tuesday.
The
court
conditionally
suspended
three
years
of
the
sentence,
leaving
him
to
serve
an
effective
five
years.
He
was
arrested
in
March
this
year
after
detectives
raided
his
home,
where
they
recovered
nearly
2kg
of
crystal
meth
hidden
in
a
Lobel’s
biscuit
box,
a
Puma
sneaker
box,
a
dictionary-shaped
safe,
and
a
large
blue
metal
trunk
in
his
bedroom.
Officers
also
seized
two
small
measuring
scales
used
to
package
the
drugs.
National
police
spokesperson
Commissioner
Paul
Nyathi
said
Siegfried
had
been
under
surveillance
since
February.
“Police
acted
on
information
they
received
about
the
suspect
dealing
in
drugs.
They
pounced
on
him
at
his
residence,
where
they
discovered
the
drugs
in
his
bedroom.
The
confiscated
substance
tested
positive
for
crystal
meth,”
Nyathi
said.
He
added
that
investigations
were
ongoing
to
identify
Siegfried’s
supply
network
and
possible
accomplices.
HARARE
–
Lawyers
representing
NetOne
Cellular
CEO
Raphael
Mushanawani,
who
is
facing
graft
charges,
have
written
to
the
Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption
Commission
(ZACC)
demanding
his
“urgent
and
unconditional
release,”
arguing
that
his
arrest
is
unlawful
and
based
on
false
allegations.
In
a
letter
dated
September
30,
2025,
the
law
firm
Rubaya
&
Chatambudza
accused
investigators
of
detaining
Mushanawani
without
cause.
“Our
client
is
at
a
loss
as
to
why
he
finds
himself
languishing
in
police
custody
over
an
issue
which
exposes
your
officers’
lack
of
understanding
of
IT
Systems,”
the
lawyers
wrote.
Mushanawani
was
arrested
on
Monday
on
allegations
that
he
irregularly
engaged
Lunartech
Solutions
to
upgrade
NetOne’s
Enterprise
Resource
Planning
(ERP)
system
from
Sage
1000
to
Sage
L200
at
a
cost
of
US$257,600.
Investigators
also
allege
he
entered
additional
addendums
worth
up
to
US$1.2
million.
But
his
lawyers
dismissed
the
claims
as
“brazen
falsehoods,”
insisting
that
no
such
payments
were
ever
made.
“You
are
challenged
to
provide
such
evidence,”
said
Admire
Rubaya
adding
that
the
only
payments
processed
amounted
to
US$184,800
and
US$88,002.57.
Rubaya
also
argued
that
the
ERP
upgrade
was
above
board
and
approved
by
the
NetOne
board
as
part
of
the
company’s
2025
Strategic
Plan.
“It
should
have
been
clear
to
your
officers
that
the
SAP
Enterprise
Resource
Planning
System,
which
NetOne
contracted
Farevic
Systems
to
supply,
is
totally
different
from
the
Sage
1000
or
Sage
L200,”
the
letter
reads.
“The
upgrading
of
the
Sage
ERP
to
Sage
L200
was
imperative
as
it
was
a
viable
alternative
wherein
Sage
South
Africa
would
provide
vendor
maintenance
and
support.”
He
further
denied
allegations
of
an
unapproved
US$79,467
consultancy
contract
with
Diztech,
saying:
“For
the
record,
there
is
no
contract
that
was
signed
…
neither
has
there
been
any
payment
of
even
a
dime.”
Beyond
the
technical
disputes,
the
lawyers
suggested
Mushanawani
is
the
victim
of
a
political
and
corporate
power
play.
“It
is
very
clear
that
our
client
is
just
but
a
victim
in
a
well-orchestrated
ploy
to
extirpate
him
from
the
helm
of
NetOne,”
the
firm
charged.
“If
anything,
our
client
is
being
victimised
for
doing
things
right,
for
acting
in
the
best
interests
of
his
principal.”
Rubaya
urged
ZACC
not
to
“give
in
or
yield
to
baseless
and
animated
allegations,”
warning
that
Mushanawani
would
pursue
legal
remedies
if
not
released
immediately.
HARARE
–
A
13-year-old
schoolgirl
was
killed
by
three
vicious
dogs
in
Nyabira,
Mashonaland
West,
this
week,
prompting
police
to
launch
an
investigation
and
arrest
the
animals’
owner.
The
victim,
identified
as
Caroline
Chari,
was
attacked
on
September
29
while
walking
home
from
school
with
four
friends
at
St
Mannocks
Farm.
According
to
police,
the
group
of
children
scattered
when
the
dogs
charged
at
them,
but
the
animals
caught
up
with
Chari
and
fatally
mauled
her.
Police
spokesman
Commissioner
Paul
Nyathi
confirmed
the
arrest
of
the
dogs’
owner,
50-year-old
Gift
Jambaya.
Investigations
revealed
that
the
dogs
were
last
vaccinated
in
2024
and
were
not
part
of
the
Department
of
Veterinary
Services’
2025
rabies
vaccination
programme.
“The
Zimbabwe
Republic
Police
is
disturbed
by
the
increasing
trend
of
vicious
dogs
being
allowed
to
roam
freely
without
leashes
or
proper
supervision.
It
is
the
responsibility
of
dog
owners
to
ensure
public
safety,”
Nyathi
said
in
a
statement.
Authorities
say
joint
operations
with
the
Society
for
the
Prevention
of
Cruelty
to
Animals,
local
authorities,
and
the
Ministry
of
Health
have
been
stepped
up
to
impound
stray
dogs
and
enforce
compliance
with
safety
regulations.
Big
Money
Over
At
Brithem
LLP!:
They
expect
to
have
at
least
20
attorneys
by
2026.
MMMaking
America
Great
Again:
Republican-appointed
judge
compares
Trump
tactics
to
the
Klan.
Global
Office
Attendance
Update:
DLA
Piper
plans
to
bumps
up
their
in-person
requirements.
Trump’s
Harvard
Strong-Arming
Could
Be
Over
Soon:
He
claims
a
$500M
settlement
is
in
the
future.
Democracy
Forward
Is
Putting
The
Work
In:
They
have
more
than
100
actions
against
the
administration.
America’s
official
Spirit
Halloween
pop-up
has
taken
over
the
Department
of
Justice,
and
the
most
popular
costume
is
“fake
U.S.
Attorney.”
It’s
another
day,
so
we
have
another
Trump
DOJ
appointee
found
illegally
cosplaying
as
a
U.S.
Attorney.
This
time
it’s
Sigal
Chattah,
the
District
of
Nevada’s
interim
top
federal
prosecutor,
who
follows
in
Alina
Habba’s
ignominious
footsteps
by
overstaying
the
120-day
limit
on
her
interim
appointment
and
forcing
a
federal
judge
to
explain
“that’s
not
how
any
of
this
works.”
Just
like
Habba’s
debacle
in
New
Jersey,
the
administration
tried
to
get
around
the
expiration
of
Chattah’s
appointment
by
naming
her
simultaneously
as
her
own
first
assistant
and
claiming
the
Federal
Vacancies
Reform
Act
then
allowed
her
to
automatically
ascend
to
the
acting
U.S.
Attorney
role
when
her
own
job
ended
by
force
of
law.
Make
sense?
“The
Court
cannot
accept
the
government’s
assertion
that
the
Attorney
General
has
power
to
designate
anyone
she
chooses
as
first
assistant
and
have
that
person
become
the
acting
U.S.
Attorney,”
the
judge
wrote
in
a
32-page
ruling.
“The
[Federal
Vacancies
Reform
Act]
was
enacted
to
put
an
end
to
precisely
such
Executive
actions.”
Chattah
earned
her
temporary
position
as
the
top
prosecutor
in
Nevada
the
same
way
most
Trump
appointees
did:
by
being
a
shameless
loyalist
with
few
qualifications.
Before
her
appointment,
Chattah
made
a
name
for
herself
in
MAGAhead
circles
for
challenging
public
health
mandates
during
COVID
and
flirting
with
election
denialism.
With
support
from
such
unimpeachable
supporters
as
Matt
Gaetz,
Chattah
got
herself
on
the
Republican
National
Committee
and
then
appointed
to
the
interim
U.S.
Attorney
job
despite
a
lack
of
prosecutorial
experience.
Alas,
these
jobs
still
require
Senate
approval
to
become
permanent
and
the
Senate
still,
for
now,
respects
the
blue
slip
process
for
these
jobs.
Neither
Nevada
senator
had
any
interest
in
supporting
Chattah’s
confirmation.
In
part
because
of
Chattah’s
past
text
messages
saying
Nevada
Attorney
General,
Aaron
Ford,
“should
be
hanging
from
a
fucking
crane.”
Which
is
weird
because
we’ve
spent
the
last
few
weeks
hearing
all
about
how
political
violence
is
exclusively
a
Democrat
problem,
so
it’s
just
crazy
to
think
a
Trump
appointee
would
casually
joke
about
lynching
a
Black
man.
Could
that
have
just
been
a
disingenuous
lie
spread
by
an
administration
attempting
to
stir
up
its
own
personal
Reichstag
fire?
Next
thing
you’re
going
to
tell
me
Portland
isn’t
really
a
war-torn
hellhole!
Those
texts
about
Ford
became
public
in
2022,
by
the
way.
So
she
got
this
job
after
everyone
knew
about
that.
Judge
David
Campbell,
a
fellow
Republican
appointee,
but
one
who
was
actually
capable
of
being
confirmed
by
the
Senate
because
the
W.
Bush
administration
is
somehow
a
halcyon
era
of
lawfulness,
put
a
stop
to
Chattah’s
attempt
to
seize
the
job
through
adverse
possession.
In
a
challenge
brought
by
criminal
defendants
challenging
their
indictments
on
the
grounds
that
Chattah,
you
know,
isn’t
really
the
U.S.
Attorney,
Judge
Campbell
ruled
that
Chattah
cannot
legally
oversee
their
cases.
More
or
less
exactly
how
the
Habba
case
went
down.
Judge
Campbell
did
keep
the
indictments
intact,
which
speaks
to
the
judiciary’s
unwillingness
to
let
go
anyone
that
a
grand
jury
has
already
decided
very
well
could
be
criminals.
Unfortunately,
that
just
emboldens
the
administration
to
keep
their
fake
U.S.
Attorneys
on
the
job
and
just
let
Todd
Blanche
or
someone
else
in
D.C.
absent-mindedly
co-sign
their
decisions.
But
if
the
calls
are
coming
from
people
without
the
legal
authority
to
pursue
those
cases,
they
are
tainted
—
full
stop.
This
nonsense
is
going
to
continue
until
a
judge
is
willing
to
let
a
drug
kingpin
loose
over
this.
This
week,
I’m
at
the
Filevine
User
LEX
Summit
in
Salt
Lake
City.
Two
announcements
were
particularly
significant
for
the
legal
tech
landscape.
These
announcements
reflect
the
desire
of
customers
to
have
seamless
AI
tools
for
a
number
of
uses
within
a
single
platform,
and
separately,
address
some
key
pain
points.
(I’ll
provide
my
overall
impressions
of
the
conference
and
cover
other
announcements
in
a
separate
piece.)
I
had
a
chance
to
talk
to
Alex
McLaughlin,
Filevine’s
VP
of
Product,
and
Keegan
Chapman,
Filevine’s
Chief
Marketing
Officer,
at
some
length
about
both
of
these
tools.
Legal
Research
Yes,
you
read
that
subheading
correctly:
Filevine
is
entering
the
highly
competitive
legal
research
provider
field
along
with
Thomson
Reuters,
LexisNexis,
and
vLex.
The
new
tool
is
housed
within
Filevine’s
Chat
with
My
Case
platform.
This
platform
generally
enables
users
to
ask
questions
of
all
the
internal
materials
and
documents
housed
in
a
law
firm’s
Filevine
system.
But
the
legal
research
end
of
this
goes
further.
According
to
McLaughlin,
the
platform
bundles
the
information
contained
in
the
internal
case
files
of
a
firm
with
the
legal
research
inquiry.
This
enables
the
prompt
response
to
be
better
tailored
to
the
actual
facts
of
the
case,
according
to
McLaughlin.
That
sounds
pretty
interesting
and
reflects
the
needs
of
law
firms
to
be
able
to
effectively
use
the
mass
of
information
contained
in
their
files
with
publicly
available
materials.
I
have
written
about
this
need
before.
Those
bundled
inquiries
then
go
to
public
LLMs
and
data
sources
to
obtain
final
responses.
According
to
McLaughlin,
the
tools
will
be
able
to
search
though
statutes,
regulations,
and
federal
and
state
case
law
to
come
up
with
an
answer.
It
will
also
handle
things
like
social
media
searches
without
leaving
the
platform.
Filevine
hopes
to
make
this
tool
available
later
this
year.
Some
Questions
Of
course,
a
couple
of
issues
immediately
come
to
mind.
First
is
the
data
source.
McLaughlin
told
me
that
Filevine
is
working
on
partnering
with
a
combination
of
sources
for
the
data
base.
This
ability
to
leverage
multiple
data
sources,
McLaughlin
argues,
will
make
for
more
effective
answers,
which
also
makes
sense.
The
deal
(or
deals)
are
not
yet
done,
however.
Filevine
hopes
to
announce
the
agreements
in
the
near
future.
Secondly,
because
the
queries
are
bundling
internal
data
which
could
very
well
include
client
confidences
and
work
product,
there
are
confidentiality
concerns.
But
McLaughlin
counters
that
by
saying
Filevine’s
scale
has
enabled
it
to
negotiate
agreements
with
leading
LLM
providers
to
ensure
that
the
inquiries
are
not
used
for
training
and
will
not
be
retained
or
stored.
Any
confidential
data,
says
McLaughlin,
will
only
be
used
in
processing,
so
no
worries.
I
hope
that’s
the
case
although
I
haven’t
reviewed
the
actual
contracts,
of
course.
I
asked
about
hallucinations
and
inaccuracies.
McLaughlin
told
me
that
the
tool
will
cross
check
the
LLM
responses
against
the
data
bases
of
legal
materials
to
catch
any
variance
from
the
actual
data.
Conceptually
that
sounds
good,
but
time
will
tell
how
robust
the
tool
will
really
be.
This
is
a
significant
development
since
it
enables
firms
to
marry
their
internal
case
data
with
publicly
available
AI
processing
to
get
results.
It
will
eliminate
the
need
to
recreate
internal
information
for
use
with
the
sophisticated
LLM
tools.
It
will
eliminate
the
need
to
purchase
one
AI
system
for
internal
data
and
one
system
for
legal
research
needs.
And
it
will
enable
access
to
that
important
internal
data.
That’s
big.
It
should
make
other
legal
research
companies
that
don’t
have
the
capacity
to
access
and
mine
that
internal
data
take
note.
Depositions
by
Filevine
The
second
set
of
announcements
centers
around
Filevine’s
deposition
tool.
Last
year
when
I
attended
this
conference,
Filevine
announced
CoPilot,
a
tool
that
sits
on
an
attorney’s
laptop
and
could
suggest
questions
based
on
predetermined
goals.
It
also
identifies
inconsistencies
in
testimony,
flags
vague
or
unresponsive
answers,
suggests
follow-up
questions
and
even
lets
you
know
if
your
questions
need
clarifying.
All
in
real
time
while
the
deposition
is
being
taken.
In
many
respects,
it’s
like
having
a
very
capable
second-chair
person
in
the
deposition
that
can
listen
and
help
the
questioner
out.
(Without
getting
tired
or
being
inattentive.)
I
wrote
about
it
at
the
time
and
felt
it
was
a
significant
advance
in
the
use
of
AI
in
litigation.
I
also
interviewed
McLaughlin
on
my
podcast
late
last
year.
Filevine
has
renamed
this
tool
as
Depositions
by
Filevine
and
added
some
additional
features.
At
first
glance,
these
features
don’t
seem
all
that
significant.
But
their
significance
lies
in
the
fact
that
Filevine
took
a
hard
look
at
individually
minor
pain
points
and
addressed
them
in
what
appear
to
be
good
ways.
The
first
is
a
deposition
scheduling
tool.
This
tool
automates
noticing
the
deposition,
getting
the
court
reporter,
and
calendaring
the
deposition
for
all
involved.
You
merely
input
the
time,
date,
and
involved
parties,
and
the
tool
automatically
does
the
rest.
It
even
contacts
the
other
side
and
automates
the
process
of
agreeing
on
a
date.
I
know
from
experience
that
all
these
things
if
done
manually
take
time
for
someone,
either
a
lawyer
or
legal
professional,
to
do.
It’s
irritating
and
frustrating
work
to
have
to
call
a
court
reporter,
then
the
other
side,
then
wait
for
the
return
calls,
etc.
McLaughlin
told
me
another
new
feature
is
the
ability
to
create
a
live
transcript
within
approximately
90
minutes
of
the
deposition
that
can
be
immediately
searched
and
analyzed.
It
beats
waiting
two
weeks
to
get
a
transcript
that
you
then
often
have
to
convert
to
a
different
format
to
use.
It
also
automates
the
ability
to
request
a
certified
transcript
that
can
be
obtained
within
a
week
or
so.
Certified
transcripts
can
be
expensive
and
are
often
not
needed
unless
a
case
goes
to
trial.
Automating
the
request
for
one
means
you
can
wait
until
you
are
sure
a
matter
is
going
to
trial
before
you
spend
the
money.
The
tool
automatically
places
all
the
depositions
in
a
matter
in
a
central
library
that
can
be
accessed
with
natural
language
inquires.
Filevine
also
announced
a
video
clipping
tool
that
makes
that
process
so
much
easier.
And
one
final
and
not
insignificant
point:
Law
firms
can
purchase
the
Depositions
by
Filevine
tool
as
a
stand-alone
product.
They
don’t
have
to
buy
the
whole
Filevine
suite
of
products.
It
allows
firms
to
use
a
Filevine
product
without
a
full
commitment.
That
shows
confidence.
These
deposition
tools
target
genuine
friction
points
in
litigation
practice.
None
of
them
involve
skills
for
which
these
folks
have
been
trained.
Many
of
these
involve
activities
and
time
for
which
clients
are
increasingly
unwilling
to
pay.
Why
These
Particular
Announcements
Are
Significant
I
can’t
speak
to
how
well
both
the
legal
research
and
deposition
tools
will
actually
work.
But
they
reflect
a
recognition
by
Filevine
of
some
important
marketing
opportunities
that
are
often
overlooked
by
other
vendors.
First,
lawyers
and
law
firms
want
tools
that
work
entirely
within
one
vendor’s
platform.
No
one
likes
moving
from
one
vendor
to
another
to
get
work
done.
Secondly,
it’s
a
classic
example
of
looking
for
and
addressing
pain
points
even
when
those
pain
points
don’t
initially
appear
to
look
significant.
By
doing
so,
it
builds
trust.
And
finally,
offering
a
standalone
tool
that
addresses
real
needs
is
golden.
Law
firms
can
put
their
toe
in
the
water
with
a
tool,
see
how
well
it
works,
and
whether
it
addresses
a
real
need
they
have.
When
it
comes
time
to
look
at
tech
tools
for
other
needs
now
or
in
the
future,
where
are
they
going
to
look?
At
unknown
providers?
Or
at
a
provider
that
gave
them
something
good
even
if
for
a
limited
need?
Again,
I
can’t
talk
about
implementation
and
execution.
But
I
do
applaud
the
thinking
and
approach.
I
only
wish
more
vendors
would
do
the
same.
Stephen
Embry
is
a
lawyer,
speaker,
blogger,
and
writer.
He
publishes TechLaw
Crossroads,
a
blog
devoted
to
the
examination
of
the
tension
between
technology,
the
law,
and
the
practice
of
law.
A
swing
justice
— that
makes
it
sound
like
you
sort
of
are
swinging
back
and
forth,
and
you
can’t
make
up
your
mind.
And
that
is
not
my
approach
to
judging.
People
might
agree
or
disagree
with
either
the
philosophy
or
the
result
that
I
reach
in
applying
that
philosophy
in
an
individual
case,
but
I
don’t
think
of
myself
as
a
swing
justice.
—
Justice
Amy
Coney
Barrett,
in
comments
given
during
the
inaugural
SCOTUSBlog Summit,
concerning
the
times
she
has
made
decisions
that
go
against
the
Trump
administration’s
wishes.
This
has
sparked
harsh
criticism,
of
which
the
justice
said,
“I’ve
had
to
just
learn
to
tune
it
out
because
it’s
the
job
of
a
judge
to
ignore
that
and
not
be
influenced
by
public
opinion.”
Staci
Zaretsky is
the
managing
editor
of
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
comments,
or
critiques.
You
can
follow
her
on Bluesky, X/Twitter,
and Threads, or
connect
with
her
on LinkedIn.
