Nicole Black

All you need to know.

Bio_pic3 My name is Nicole Black (@nikiblack on Twitter). You can contact me via phone--585.210.0815 or you can reach me via [email protected]

I'm passionate about four things: criminal defense, food and wine, writing and technology.

I'm a GigaOM Pro analyst, an attorney, a published author [Cloud Computing for Lawyers (2012); Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier (2010); Criminal Law in New York (1999)], a newspaper columnist, a legal technology consultant (lawtechTalk), and an avid blogger (Legal iPad, Sui Generis & Legal Antics). I have written for The Xemplar and write bi-weekly posts for the Small Firm Innovation Blog.

I frequently speak at legal conferences, technology conferences, law schools, universities, bar associations, and law firm retreats about the intersection of law and technology. Topics range from Internet-based technologies such as cloud computing and social media to mobile technologies. You can contact me here to discuss possible speaking opportunities.

I am 40 years old, have been married for 13 years and have 2 children. I have lived in Rochester, NY for most of my adult life. 

I graduated from Albany Law School in 1995 and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1996.

I interned in the Monroe County Public Defender's Office appeals bureau from 1995-1996. During that time, I accomplished one of the most significant wins of my legal career: I was successful in overturning a murder conviction in the matter of People v. Sierra, 231 A.D.2d 907, 647 N.Y.S.2d 891 (4th Dep't 1996).

Shortly after I argued that appeal, I was hired as an Assistant Public Defender and worked there for nearly 4 years, handling over 3000 criminal cases during that time frame. I conducted countless hearings and trials, including a number of jury trials.

In 1999 I left the Public Defender's Office and was hired as an associate at Trevett, Cristo, Salzer & Andolina. I continued to handle criminal defense matters. I handled  assigned counsel matters, my own retained criminal defense matters and worked with some of the partners at the firm--widely held to be some of the best criminal defense attorneys in town--on their cases. I also handled all types of civil litigation matters, ranging from personal injury litigation (plaintiff and defense), commercial litigation and built up my own employment discrimination book of practice. Currently I am of counsel to Fiandach & Fiandach.

I'm also a complete and total geek.

My love affair with computers began in the early 1980s with the TRS-80. I learned how to use the BASIC programming language and from that point on I was hooked.

My freshman year in college, I took a computer programming class and for my final project created the game "Mastermind" using the Pascal programming language. I was really proud of that project.

In 1995, the fabulous World Wide Web was revealed to me. Things have never been the same since.

After creating a home page using HTML, I spent a lot of time in the 3 or 4 public chat rooms available on the Web back then, eventually meeting the man I'm proud to call my husband.

In 2002 I designed a law firm's website using Microsoft Frontpage and, more recently, used iWeb to design my current professional website.

I began blogging in 2005 and currently publish 4 blogs.  I am a social media enthusiast and am addicted to discovering and exploring the latest online tools and mobile applications. 

I find the intersection of law and technology to be particularly fascinating and am doing all that I can to facilitate the fusion of these two seemingly reluctant soulmates.

 

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I communicate, therefore I am.

 

I am:

  • An American Bar Association Legal Rebel
  • Listed in the Fastcase 50, which honors the law's "smartest, most courageous, innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders"

I write:

  • Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier (American Bar Association)
  • Criminal Law in New York, 4th edition (West-Thomson)
  • My weekly Daily Record Column (Dolan Media)
  • Marketing Your Practice Today: How To Use Social Media To Network And Build Relationships (ABA Law Practice Today Magazine-May 2010)
  • Social Media: What It Is and Why It Matters (ABA Law Practice Today Magazine-January 2010)
  • Lawyers Should Not Be Wary of Cloud Computing (The Texas Bar Journal-October 2009)
  • Are You Too Busy to Prioritize? (Total Practice magazine-August/September 2009)
  • Virtual Law Practice: A Passing Trend or Wave of the Future?(ABA GP Solo Magazine-June 2009)
  • Are You Considering Twittering? Ways to Cut Through the Noise(ABA Law Practice Magazine-June 2009) 


I blog:

  • The Xemplar
  • Small Firm Innovation
  • Sui Generis-A New York Law Blog
  • Legal iPad
  • Firmex Blog
  • Legal Tweets
  • Practicing Law in the 21st Century
  • Legal Antics
  • The Epicurean Esquire
  • Women Lawyers-Back on Track
  • niki black
  • Contributing author at Lawyerist blog (my posts can be found here)


I speak:

 

  • January 30, 2012: "Global Trends in Law and Technology –an Analysis and Roundtable Discussion"--LegalTech New York
  • January 26, 2012: "Social Media for Lawyers"--Toronto, Canada law firm
  • October 27, 2011: "The Ethics of Social Media for Lawyers"--California Employment Lawyers Association
  • September 28, 2011--"Social Media IRL (In Real Life): A discussion about integrating social media into our online and offline business lives"--RIT Social Media and Communications Symposium
  • September 22, 2011--Keynote--"Legal Technology: Change is Good"-LexisNexis 2011 Practice Management Annual Conference
  • August 4-9, 2011--"Social Media for Lawyers"--American Bar Association's Annual Meeting--Toronto, Canada
  • July 22, 2011-- "Marketing Public Relations Tips to Generate More Clients"--Erie County Bar Association
  • May 19, 2011--"The Online Dimension: Leveraging Social Networking for Business Development" -- New Jersey State Bar Association's Annual Meeting--Atlantic City, New Jersey
  • April 1-2, 2011--“Smart, Ethical Use of Mobile, Tablet and Cloud Computing”, “Best Apps for Lawyers” & “Stump the Experts”--Florida State Bar Association Solo and Small Firm Conference--Weston, Florida
  • December 9, 2010--"Social Media for Lawyers" --Colorado Bar Association IP Section Luncheon--Denver, Colorado
  • October 21, 2010--"The Case for Social Media"--Keynote: MyLegal.com conference--Washington D.C.
  • August 12, 2010--"Social Media for Lawyers"--King & Spalding--Atlanta
  • May 7, 2010--"Social Media for Lawyers"--ABA RPTA Spring Symposia--Philadelphia
  • March 2010--Creating an Online Presence; Managing an Online Presence; Meet the Authors--ABA TechShow-Chicago
  • March 24, 2010--IgniteLaw--Chicago
  • January 28, 2010--Cloud Computing for Lawyers--NYSBA--Hot Topics in Legal Technology conference-NYC
  • January 20, 2010--Social media for legal professionals--Rochester Chapter of ALA--Rochester
  • December 9, 2009--Martindale-Hubbell Connected:
    Positioning Yourself for Tomorrows Social Media--Martindale Hubbell
  • November 13, 2009--Cloud Computing for Lawyers--Chicago Bar Association's Law Practice Management & Technology Committee
  • November 12, 2009--Pathways to Entrepreneurial Success--Growing Your Business through New Media and Social Networking--Rochester
  • November 11, 2009--Social Media Today...and Harvest Tomorrow--Rochester
  • October 16, 2009--ABA National Solo and Small Firm Conference--Social Media for Lawyers--Los Angeles
  • October 8, 2009--Social Media for Lawyers I--Gotham Media--NYC
  • October 16, 2009--ABA National Solo and Small Firm Conference--Social Media for Lawyers--Los Angeles
  • September 2009--Social Media--Risks and Rewards conference--Incisive Media, NYC
  • June 2009-Practicing Law in the 21st Century II-Monroe County Bar Association
  • October 2008-Social Networking and the Job Search-Rochester Institute of Technology
  • May 2008-Practicing Law in the 21st Century-Monroe County Bar Association
  • May 2008-Technology and the Practice of Law-Annual Meeting of Association of Law Libraries of Upstate New York
  • May 2007-Social Networking & Technologies-Annual Meeting of Association of Law Libraries of Upstate New York
  • May 2007-"Law Blogs-Wave of the Future"-Monroe County Bar Association
  • April 2007-Law Blog Seminar-ABA's Labor & Employment Law Section
  • LawTech videos
  • lawtechTalk videos

I pontificate

  • Lawyers USA--"The Ethical Pitfalls of Social Media" (November 2011)
  • Forbes blog--"Six Savvy Law & Technology Resources" (October 2011)
  • Legal Management (30 No. 5 Legal Mgmt. 40)--"Getting to the Cloud: The Administrator's Guide to Security, Accessibility and Staffing the SaaS Switch"--(September/October 2011)
  • Baltimore Sun--"Lawyers Turn to Social Media to Analyze Potential Jurors" (September 2011)
  • Metro NY--"Levi Aron’s defense attorney uses Facebook to defend rights" (September 2011)
  • Gonzaga Law Review--"Berchuis v. Thompkins: The Continued Erosion of Miranda's Protections" (46 Gonz. L. Rev. 189, 2010-11)
  • New York State Bar Journal--"The Law Office of the Near Future" (September 2011)
  • The Wall Street Journal--"Young Lawyers Building Buzz Tweet by Tweet" (July 2011)
  • The Wall Street Journal Law Blog--"Tweeting for Lawyers 101" (July 2011)
  • The Democrat & Chronicle--"Austin Chang sells social media startup to Google+" (July 2011)
  • The Democrat & Chronicle--"Social Media Leaders Find Time for Face Time" (July 2011)
  • The Lawyers Weekly--"How Facebook Helps Lawyers Achieve Their Goals" (July 2011)
  • Associated Press--"Senate examines privacy and cloud computing" (June 2011)
  • Legal Management Magazine--"iPractice or iReject" (May/June 2011)
  • ABA Journal--"Staking Your Reputation" (April 2011)
  • Lawyers PC--"Searching for Legal Apps-New Database Points to 850-plus Mobile Apps" (April 2011)
  • Diversity & the Bar Magazine--"Social Media: The Rules of Engagement"(March/April 2011)
  • The Lawyers Weekly--"Services for cloud computing booming" (April 2011)
  • The Lawyers Weekly--"Running a Legal Blog Takes Commitment" (March 2011)
  • New York State Bar Association Journal--"Social Media for Solos and Small Firms: What it is and Why it Matters" (February 2011)
  • Lawyers USA -- "Trial Strategy: Should Lawyers Monitor Jurors Online?" (December 2010)
  • Lawyers USA -- "Social Networking Offers Value for Women Lawyers" (December 2010)
  • Missouri Lawyers Weekly -- "How to Protect Your Online Reputation" -- (November 2010)
  • Missouri Lawyers Weekly -- "Apps of the Trade" -- (November 2010)
  • LawSchoolTechTalk podcast, Episode #5, on cloud computing
  • WorkCompCentral--" New York Opinions Shed Light on Use of Social Media" (October 2010)
  • Lawyer's PC -- "A Social Media Guide: Authors Elefant and Black Explain the Potential of Networks" (September 2010)
  • Law Technology News -- "The Next Frontier" (September 2010)
  • Partner's report -- "Blackberry Apps for Lawyers Save Time and Money" (September 2010)
  • Finance & Commerce--"Never be boring, and other law firm website rules" (September 2010)
  • LawyersUSA--"The ‘cocktail party’ of social media marketing" (August 2010)
  • Canadian Bar Association Magazine--"@firms: #what are your lawyers tweeting about?" (Summer 2010)
  • Law Library Journal -- "2010: The Year of the iPad?" (Summer 2010--102 Law Libr. J. 513)
  • South Carolina Law Review--"Are Smartphones Like Footlockers or Crumpled Cigarette Packages?" (Summer 2010--61 S.C. L. Rev. 843)
  • The Daily Record--The Big Law Office in the Cloud (June 2010)
  • TWIL 63 video (June 2010)
  • Mashable--How Lawyers Are Using Social Media for Real Results (June 2010)
  • Law Practice--"Marketing Resources" (June 2010-36 No. 3 Law Prac. 50)
  • Lawyer's PC--"Selected Reading" (June 2010-27 No. 17 Law. PC 15)
  • Impirus blog: "Nicole Black and Carolyn Elefant; Internet Pioneers" (June 2010)
  • Law Practice--"The New Marketing Game" (May/June 2010-36 No. 3 Law Prac. 4)
  • LawyersUSA--New Legal Pad (May 2010)
  • Akron Law Review--From Armbands to Douchebags-How Doninger v. Niehoff Shows the Supreme Court Needs to Address Student Speech in the Cyber Age (2010-43 Akron L. Rev. 247)
  • Lawyers PC--Twittering Madly--Lawyers Are Leveraging the Popular Networking Tool (May 2010-27 No. 15 Law. PC 1)
  • LawyersUSA--Lawyers audition the iPad in and out of court (April 2010)
  • Rochester Democrat & Chronicle--Tweeters OK With Ad Plan (April 2010)
  • The Minnesota Lawyer--Firms Waking Up to the Possibility of Cloud Computing (March 2010)
  • Law Practice--"Favorite Tips from ABA Techshow Pros" (March/April 2010-36 No. 2 Law Prac. 34)
  • New York Law Journal--N.Y. Bar-Beware the Pitfalls of Social Networking (January 2010)
  • ABA Journal--"The Virtual Escape" (February 2010-96-FEB A.B.A. J. 27)
  • Albany Law Review--"Ethics of Lawyer Social Networking" (2009-73 Alb. L. Rev. 113)
  • Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law--"Thank You Sarah Palin for Reminding Us: It's Not About the Clothes" (Fall 2009-17 Va. J. Soc. Pol'y & L. 144)
  • Nicole Black: Boss of Blogs (ABA Legal Rebels project, November 2009)
  • The Daily Record-- Legal Rebels Recognized by ABA (November 2009)
  • Democrat & Chronicle--Live coverage of trials popular in two local cases
     (October 2009)
  • Law.com--Rewards Trumps Risks at Social Media Event (September 2009)
  • Democrat & Chronicle--Tech-Savvy Lawyer is Connected (p. 2)(August 2009)
  • Democrat & Chronicle--Social Networkers Find Value In Meeting in Person (September 2009)
  • The Lawyer's PC--"Selected Reading" (August 2009-26 No. 21 Law. PC 15)
  • Interview at Law.com’s legal tech blog (July 2009)
  • The Lawyer's PC--"Selected Reading" (July 2009-26 No. 19 Law. PC 15)
  • The ABA Law Practice Magazine--"Guideposts for Changing Times" (April '09)
  • The Democrat and Chronicle--"Social-networking site has everyone tweeting" (April '09)
  • The Daily Record--"@Lawyers Networking Online" (March '09)
  • eCommerce Law and Strategy--"Advanced Online Strategies for Lawyers" (March 2009-25 No. 11 e-Commerce L. & Strategy 7)
  • Marketing the Law Firm--"Advanced Online Marketing Strategies for Lawyers" (February 2009-22 No. 10 Marketing L. Firm 2)
  • eCommerce Law and Strategy--"NETWORKING AND E-COMMERCE: GET TO IT AND STAY AT IT It's Essential, Especially for Niche-Practice Lawyers" (January 2009)
  • Internet Law Researcher--"The Blog Spot" (February 2008-13 No. 2 Internet L. Researcher 7)
  • Buffalo Law Journal--"Blawgs give lawyers space to vent, network, share tips"
  • The Daily Journal--"In Trying to Lure Gen Y, Firms Face Identity Crisis"
  • Times Herald Record--Article re: Cabrera NY Court of Appeals case
  • Memphis Daily News--"Court Dress Code Awaits Judicial Approval"
  • Lawyers Weekly USA--"Changes to Lawyer Ads Go Into Effect in N.Y."
  • Lawyers Weekly USA--"New York Weighs Tough New Advertising Rules"
  • Marketing the Law Firm--"Advanced Online Marketing Strategies for Lawyers"
  • Washington Internet Daily--"N.Y. Court System Rules Hit Lawyers’ Internet Practices"
  • IPLaw360--"Lawyers See Benefits to Online Networking"
  • Podcast Regarding Proposed NY Lawyer Advertising Rules
  • TWiL Podcast 16
  • LawTech videos

I tweet:

  • Listed as one of "SIx Savvy Law & Technology Resources" (Forbes blog)

     

  • Winner of the 2008 Shorty Award in #law

  • Listed as on of the top technology list curators on Twitter: "Top 10 Twitter Lists for Techies"
  • Listed as #3 (out of 736) on the JD Supra Blog: “Lawyers to Follow on Twitter” 
  • Listed as #5 on Online Classes Blog: "Top 100 Twitterers in the legal world"
  •  Listed as #40 : “Top 100 Twitter Feeds for Law Students” OnlineBestColleges.com 

  • Listed as one of the “Top 50 Twitter Feeds for Paralegals" Practical Paralegalism
  • Listed as one of the "Must-Follow Twitterers on Twitter | Knowledge Management"
  • Listed as one of the "50 Lawyers and Legal Professionals You Should Follow"
  • Listed as one of the "Top Legal Professionals to Follow on Twitter"
  • Listed as one of "15 Must Follow Law Related Twitter Feeds"
  • Listed as one of "Top 50 Lawyers to Follow on Twitter"
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Connect with me.

Contact me here.

LinkedIn: Nicole Black

Facebook-Nicole Black

Twitter-nikiblack | LegalTweets | lawtechTalk

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phone-585.310-0815

IM-gchat-ilysiana