"A growing stable of private sector companies are beginning to compete with the judicial system for “customers” and are also changing the face of traditional Alternate Dispute Resolution". News menu
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2010 eDiscovery horizon
| 13 April 2010
With the explosion of electronically stored information (ESI) over the last year, there is no question that organisations will continue to grapple with the concept of information risk throughout 2010. The UK’s increasingly stringent regulatory environment has already picked up steam during Q1 following the ongoing recall issues faced by Toyota, and with the FSA’s latest insider trading investigation gathering momentum it’s clear that the situation is only set to intensify. Add to this concern the increased adoption of new technologies such as Web 2.0 tools, cloud computing, unified communications and virtualisation within the organisation and the eDiscovery landscape faces a unique set of challenges that will undoubtedly keep legal professionals working at full capacity for the foreseeable future.
Serving up Video for Law Firms
| 23 February 2010
Cloud Computing, where you do not own the physical IT infrastructure and avoid capital expenditure by renting usage from a third-party provider, is a hot topic under consideration by many Managing Partners and IT Directors. Cloud services include such things as data storage, computer servers and software as a service (SaaS).
Software as a Service (SaaS) has been gaining a lot of ground in the last year or so and I am encountering many start up firms that have decided that this is by far the best source of applications for them. Established firms are pencilling into their diaries a review of resources with a view to moving to SaaS as their existing provision and support contracts wind down.
| 24 September 2009
Setting an agenda for mid-market law firms
I attended the Alternative Legal IT Conference last week, which created a fairly unique forum for IT managers and other senior managers in mid-market law firms to share openly their experience, plans, concerns and solutions on IT. It was good to see delegates from legal, management and IT backgrounds confirm that - in many firms - close collaboration between IT and the management of the practice is making a big difference in adding value on management of the firm and of relationships with clients to improve overall performance of the practice. This was tangible in some of the real life case studies presented by managers viewing the business from different angles and from the facilitated discussions during the day.
2009: The Year of the Wait
| 23 September 2009
I’m declaring 2009 to be “The Year of the Wait”. Oh, sure, 2009 might not be over yet, but most of us are in the throes of 2010 budget season, so I’m willing to call it. Although my firm has been able to do some major projects, almost every colleague I talk to says that they’re waiting for one thing or another (Office 2007 being the primary project that was planned for 2009 and has been pushed off). Even vendors who cold-call me ask, “Are you going to be purchasing <insert product/service> or are you waiting?”
Overall, 2009 has sounded like a Beckett play:
Effective Use of IT in law firms
| 21 August 2009
Bill Kirby: "Getting to grips with IT and its support in the business is one reason why I am supporting the Alternative Legal IT Conference"
The recession continues and aided and abetted by the impact of the Legal Services Act is having a major impact on the performance and morale of many lawyers and managers within law firms. This dramatically affects the operation of the business in key areas and harnessing IT to support the business is probably even more critical at this time.
At last I think it is fair to say that the majority of lawyers are beginning to believe that IT is not an overhead for the business but it is an essential support tool for the successful running of the business. It is also a great facilitator of communication with and performance for clients.
Document Lifecycle Management - Beyond Matter-Centricity
| 16 July 2009
The worlds of Document Management, Records Management, and Knowledge Management are merging in the minds of IT thought-leaders faster than most software vendors seem to be able to grasp the concept. Several years ago, our firm took a close look at our document and records management systems and realized that we needed a more matter-centric approach that would allow lawyers and staff to seamlessly manage documents, whether electronically or on paper. From a document’s creation, to collaborative editing, to utilization within the life of the matter, to recycling and mining of precedent, to retention and destruction of records, our lawyers and legal staff need to be able to work with documents in a friendly interface that can slice-and-dice the content depending on their needs at that moment.
Exclusive report on June's Legal Week Strategic Technology Forum
| 23 June 2009
The Legal Week Strategic Technology Forum (website) has been going for a couple of years and has commanded a reputation as the must visit conference on the circuit. As this was my first visit, I was looking forward to an interesting experience. The fact that I was also presenting with a couple of other people on ‘helping the firm win business’ added an extra edge for me.
I have no experience of previous conferences so I don’t know how well attended they were but this event had about 80 people. There did seem to be nearly as many suppliers as delegates. To be fair, the suppliers did have something to say and did contribute constructively to the debate so maybe that was not a bad thing. The lack of law firm representatives was maybe a result of the economy. I was expecting a slightly different balance with more people representing the producing side of the business, but they were mainly missing (apart from on video). There were some client representatives and they were very good value. There was also a splattering of Finance, business development and HR people around to liven up the mix.
It’s 2009. Are you still litigating like it’s 1999?
| 06 April 2009
I’m sure you’ve noticed how much the Internet has changed the way we live over the last ten years. You watch your favorite television programs on-line instead of on your television. You e-mail or instant message family and friends instead of picking up the phone. You love the power and convenience of the Internet, and you can’t imagine how you ever got along without it. That is, until you step into your office and start practicing law.
For many litigators, your practice hasn’t changed much since 1999, or for that matter, 1989. Of course, technology has brought some big advances – on-line legal research and e-filing of court papers to name two – but in one major area for most litigators – defending and taking depositions – anachronistic practice remains the norm.
Two companies, New Media Legal Publishing (www.newmedialegal.com) and Thomson Reuters (www.thomsonreuters.com) are changing that with cutting edge products designed to propel deposition practice into the 21st century.
