Welcome to our new virtual Book Club. (Definitely, not your mother’s book club)  Have you read a book that is relevant to CodeX’s agenda? Share your views! Is it fabulous or a waste of time? Pick your “stars” and write away! And check out the Author Corner if you have just been published! Ping me at mbay@codex.stanford.edu and I’ll send you the guidelines!

Here’s our first review and author announcement:

JASON R. BARON

★★★★  The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information. Author: Frank Pasquale. Harvard University Press.

For anyone in the information governance/Big Data vineyards, this book is an eye-opening read.  All of us find ourselves increasingly in a world of algorithms and analytics, but for those charged with giving legal advice and counsel, it is important to have a fair grasp of how data is being crunched and compiled in the greater world of corporations and government.

In the words of the publisher, “hidden algorithms can make (or ruin) reputations, decide the destiny of entrepeneurs, or even devastate an entire economy,” even as they remain largely “shrouded in secrecy and complexity.”

The book, filled with anecdotes of how algorithms affect every corner of our lives, is ultimately a cry for better accountability on the part of Silicon Valley, Wall Street, as well as those in the halls of power inside the Washington Beltway.

Professor Pasquale teaches law at the University of Maryland, and also serves as an Affiliate Fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project. He has written an excellent book providing a window into the Big Data world we are living in now, for good or ill.

Jason R. Baron, of counsel, Drinker Biddle & Reath is based in Washington, D.C.

AUTHOR CORNER

Preventing Litigation: An Early Warnings System to Get Big Value Out of Big Data.

Authors: Nelson “Nick” Brestoff and William Inmon.
Publisher: Business Express Press.

> Description: Our book addresses using software to enable in-house counsel to identify emails and documents that pose a risk of future litigation before the damage is done. It shows that avoiding just three average commercial tort lawsuits will preserve more than $1 million in net profits, and achieve an enterprise Holy Grail: less litigation.

> Endorsements: Professor/author/speaker Richard Susskind: “As a lawyer or a client, if you prefer a fence at the top of the hill to an ambulance at the bottom, this insightful book is essential reading.” Professor Tom Barton, California Western School of Law called the book  “an enormous achievement.”

> Publication date:  August 28, 2015 (ebook); Sept. 11, 2015 (print).

 > Formats: e-book ($29.95) and print ($59.95).

 > How to buy: From the publisher or Amazon.

 Submitted by Nelson E. (Nick) Brestoff is the founder of Intraspexion, Inc. based in Seattle area.  Email:nick@intraspexion.com. Facebook.com/nickbrestoff