Student Kevin Crews won the Florida Law Student Essay Contest

Third-year law student Kevin Crews recently won the 2013 Florida Law Student Essay Contest. Crews won a cash award and complimentary registration at the Seventh Annual Solo & Small Firm Conference, and his essay on the topic of maintaining confidentiality with technology was published in the June Florida Bar Journal.

Stetson Law student Kevin Crews.

Stetson Law student Kevin Crews.

Crews’ essay outlined how Florida lawyers can develop best practices to protect client confidentiality when working with e-documents. He outlined potential risks to client confidentiality that might be encountered over the Internet and offered some solutions. He explained how using public Wi-Fi and email, for example, might put client confidentiality at risk.

“Technology has the potential for destroying confidentiality, particularly if lawyers do not know the risks. Lawyers must use technology smartly; being moderately ‘tech-savvy’ is a de facto job requirement for today’s lawyers,” wrote Crews. “The best way to use technology properly is to understand it, which will allow lawyers to create thoughtful — and effective — policies and operating procedures to manage electronic files and messages.”

Crews said that he learned of the essay contest and became interested in the topic in Stetson adjunct professor Jim Martin’s class on Law Practice Management. He said clerking at the Spinks Law Firm in Tampa sparked his interest in the topic of technology use in everyday legal practice.

Editor’s Update: Crews also won the Florida Law Student Essay contest again in 2014.