Snap Shot: Sally Gonzalez

VITALS: Undergrad: B.A. in Art History and Technical Theater, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, N.Y. 1972. Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University Executive Program, Management of Technology 1996.

CURRENT POST: Co-founder, with Stanley M. Wasylyk, of Michael Farrell Group Ltd., a technology management consulting group. We help law firm leaders align technology strategy and investments with business goals, especially in the areas of knowledge management and e-business.

RECENT JOBS: Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P.: Chief knowledge officer (2000) and chief information officer (1999). PricewaterhouseCoopers: Principal consultant, law firm/law department group, (1998-99). Covington & Burling: Director, information technology services (1996-98). Jones, Day, Reavis & Poque: Manager of practice systems (1993-96); manager of information systems, D.C. office, 1990-93 KEYNOTES: "Best Practices in Knowledge Management," LegalTech Atlanta 2000.

BAR ACTIVITIES: I am active in LawNet and have attended every conference since 1984. Mid-Atlantic regional vice president in the mid-'90s; conference track chair in 1997.

OFFICE TECHNOLOGY: Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop; Windows 98; ZoneAlarm firewall; Office 2000; Vizio 2000; Lotus Notes. Lexmark and HP deskjet printers; UMAX scanner.

FAVORITE GADGET: Headset for my cell phone, followed closely by headset for my desk phone.

HOME SYSTEM: Home? Work? Hotel? They're all the same. I live on my laptop, wherever I am.

ISP: AT&T Global Network

PAGER? Not if I can help it.

PDA: Palm Pilot Vx.

FAVORITE COMPUTER GAME: Freecell (I'm really not into computer games.)

FAVORITE PDA SOFTWARE: Time and expense tracking.

CELL PHONE: Nokia 8860.

FAVORITE NON-TECH MAGAZINES: People, Time and Newsweek for mind-junk-food, followed closely by CondeNast Traveler for fantasy.

LETTERMAN OR LENO? Leno, I'm ashamed to say.

FAVORITE TV SHOW: West Wing for drama, Frazier for laughs (or is it the other way?)

CAR: Honda Accord LX (my third one...)

LAST BOOK READ: The Trusted Advisor, by David Maister

WATCH: The one that matches my earrings today.

WHERE WOULD WE FIND YOU ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON? At the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia shopping for Saturday night's gourmet meal.

APPOINTMENT I NEVER MISS: The Philadelphia Flower Show.

MOST IMPORTANT LEGAL TECH TREND: Application of artificial intelligence tools to litigation support, knowledge management, and more.

MOST IMPORTANT TECH ACCOMPLISHMENT IN LAST 12 MONTHS: Building client-facing systems (i.e., Extranets) that linked lawyers with clients in true collaborative environments beyond document and information sharing.

FAVORITE SEARCH ENGINES: Google and Copernic.

LAST VACATION: Driving tour of the "Four Corners" region of the U.S. Arriving in Monument Valley at sunset after a brief shower to see a full double rainbow stretching horizon to horizon. Shopping for silver jewelry at a tiny roadside tent pitched by a Navajo family in the middle of nowhere, only to be handed a business card with a Web site on it, in case I wanted to order more later.

AIR MILES: Continental Platinum Elite for eight years straight.

QUOTE: "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."