Kenneth Hirsh | Durham Real Estate Lawyer

Following graduation from law school, Ken Hirsh worked as a paralegal specialist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Washington D.C. There he brought civil penalty proceedings for violation of the Endangered Species Act and other federal wildlife protection laws. Ken created the federal regulatory scheme for protecting manatees from boat collisions and other injurious activity in Florida.

Ken returned to Florida to head the senior citizens unit of the Daytona Beach office of what was then Central Florida Legal Services. Ken worked with two other firms before opening his own solo practice in Melbourne, which he ran from 1984 – 1988. During that time he represented clients in estate planning and administration, bankruptcy, and real estate transactions. Ken also represented a group of fired air traffic controllers following their 1981 labor dispute with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Sensing that he wanted to move into another area of legal work and to enable his wife to pursue her educational goals, Ken enrolled in the School of Library and Information Studies at Florida State University and earned his Master of Science. He went on to a nineteen-year stay at Duke University School of Law, beginning as a reference librarian and then developing and managing its computing services department, one of the first at an American law school in 1992. In that role he helped to launch the school’s website, expand its computer network to all faculty and staff, integrated legal research services with Internet access, and with Wayne Miller, co-developed a law practice technology course that was first offered in 2007.

in 2009, Ken moved on to the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where he served as Director of the Law Library and Information Technology from 2009 to 2016 and Director of the Law Library until 2019. He brought the law practice technology course with him and co-taught it with Shannon Kemen. While at Cincinnati, Ken implemented several improvements in technology and customer service and built out a top notch staff. He retired from the university in 2019. Ken sat for the North Carolina Bar Exam that summer and was admitted to practice in October.

Throughout his time as a law librarian and legal technologist, Ken shared his time and talents with several organizations. He was active on more than twenty committees of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) and served on its executive board, as well as on the board of directors of the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI). His leadership roles also included serving as president of the Southeastern Chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries (SEAALL) and as chair of AALL’s Computing Services Special Interest Section. CALI recognized Ken with a CALI Excellence in Service Award in 2000. The Computing Services SIS named its Distinguished Service Award for Ken, its inaugural recipient, and in 2019 The American Association of Law Libraries bestowed on him its highest honor, the Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award. Ken received a 2013 Fastcase 50 Award, “Honoring the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.”

Ken applies the lessons he taught in the technology course to his law office. Although clients may communicate with him using email and SMS text, Ken recommends using a more secure channel to preserve confidentiality. Clients have a dedicated portal for viewing documents and sending/reading secure messages. Telephone and video-call sessions are available. Clients can schedule consultation appointments online. Ken invites to you set an appointment to discuss you legal issue.