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Thursday, October 29
Work now started on November American Insider.
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 29 Oct 2009 13:00 GMT
Work
has now started on the November edition of American Legal Technology
Insider – out on this blog next Thursday 5th. The closing date for
editorial submissions (aka press releases) is 6:00pm (EST) on Tuesday 3 November.
Monday, October 12
Jeff Hodge joins Baker Robins
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 12 Oct 2009 19:15 BST
Thomson Reuters' legal IT consultancy division Baker Robins & Co has just announced that Jeff Hodge, former V-P & senior director at DataCert, has joined the consultancy. He will be working on legal spend management and e-billing projects in a team that includes Jane Bennitt, president of the LEDES Oversight Committee, and Keith Brown, a former director of product management at CT TyMetrix. According to BRCO director Rebecca Thorkildsen "We have the world’s leading experts on global legal e-billing ready to assist our clients.”
Thursday, October 8
October issue of American Insider out now
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 08 Oct 2009 19:30 BST
The October issue (No.15) of the American Legal Technology Insider
newsletter is out now. The next issue will be published on 5th November.
Among other items, this month's issue carries a report on a survey 3BView is conducting into how mobile devices are being used by attorneys in their day-to-day practice. 3BView founder and V-P Cathy Brode said with mobile devices now used to access internal systems and business applications, as well as enable the review, edit and forwarding of documents, “we need to ensure attorneys are not putting their data or their practices at risk.” The survey can be accessed until October 23, 2009 at www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229PNSVQD9C • All participants will be entered into a draw to win an upgraded phone, either a Blackberry Storm 9530 or an iPhone 3GS 32GB. The survey results will be available on request to all participants. Click on the link below to download your free copy as a PDF. To have a copy sent direct to you in-box to send your email address to altisubs@legaltechnology.com  1 AttachmentsWednesday, October 7
US state Bar recognises attorney internet advertising is different
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 07 Oct 2009 17:58 BST
Strange story here on the attempts by US state Bar authorities to reconcile ethics rules with the internet...
US-based Total Attorneys Inc, a managed-services provider that helps small law firms and solo practitioners, has announced its first victory in defending its internet advertising model against allegations made by Zenas Zelotes, a bankruptcy lawyer in Norwich, Connecticut. Alleging improper referrals are being made through internet sites managed by Total Attorneys, Zelotes filed hundreds of ethics complaints against its president, Kevin Chern, and attorneys who use the service. The first to rule on the complaint, Hawaii’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel completed a full inquiry and determined that there is no basis upon which to take any action in the case. Hawaii also stated in its letter that the complaint raised serious First Amendment free commercial speech and other legal issues. “The ruling in Hawaii affirms our belief that the advertising model used by Total Attorneys is within the bounds of ethical and professional conduct,” said Chern. “In Connecticut, as in most states, the Rules of Professional Conduct do not expressly address modern technology. That said, the Hawaii finding demonstrates that reasonable attorney regulators can certainly apply antiquated Rules to contemporary technology in a way that fulfills their mission to protect consumers and that retains the spirit of those Rules.” Further undermining the Zelotes allegations, the Virginia State Bar’s Standing Committee on Legal Ethics has officially withdrawn the draft ethics opinion on attorney internet advertising upon which Zelotes has relied heavily. By widely distributing Draft Legal Ethics Opinion 1851 to attorney regulators across the country in support of his allegations, Mr Zelotes made the opinion the centerpiece of his campaign despite the fact it had never been adopted. In response to the Committee’s invitation for public comment, Chern and his legal team, along with other independent third parties, submitted comments drawing the Committee’s attention to the First Amendment and other constitutional implications of regulating internet advertising. “By the withdrawal of the Virginia opinion, it is clear that the issue of internet advertising is not settled,” said Chern. “We applaud the efforts of bar regulators to address these issues and we appreciate that the task of updating the ethics rules to catch up with today’s technology is no small feat.” At least one federal court has recently recognized the unique nature of internet attorney advertising. In its August 3, 2009 order in Public Citizen Inc -v- Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (No. 08-4451) the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana stated that “This Court is persuaded that internet advertising differs significantly from advertising in traditional media.” The Court held that the Louisiana rule which required attorneys to file copies of their advertising with the bar regulators was unconstitutional as applied to internet advertising due to the unique considerations inherent in internet advertising. According to Chern, “this is the first time a federal court has recognized that the rules which were written for traditional forms of advertising cannot be automatically or even constitutionally applied to advertising on the internet. Consumers need and deserve access to affordable legal services and group attorney advertising models such as ours meet that need.” Lawyers who use Total Attorneys’ services pay the same fee every time a contact is generated, regardless of whether that consumer retains the lawyer, and in the absence of any recommendation by Total Attorneys of the attorney. The Complainant argues that this practice amounts to paying for a referral and should be considered unethical by state disciplinary bodies. Total Attorneys argues that their programs are akin to Google AdWords and other performance-based pricing models ubiquitous on the internet. www.totalattorneys.com
New US research into cost control in management of litigated claims
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 07 Oct 2009 14:57 BST
CT TyMetrix has announced the results and availability of its Cost Control in the Management of Litigated Claims research report. In today's down economy and competitive business environment, insurance companies are facing new levels of pressure to control costs – especially in terms of litigated claims expenses. CT TyMetrix commissioned research to better understand and analyze the impact of these cost-control measures and to identify directional benchmarks and best practices to help insurance companies assess and streamline their operations.
As insurance companies see the number of claims going to litigation continue to rise, the management of these claims costs is becoming increasingly critical. According to the survey, 87% of respondents said they were experiencing significant or moderate cost control pressure on their claims departments. Additionally, most expected claims volume to increase in the next 12 months. The CT TyMetrix report looks into these trends, including the likelihood of litigation by line of business, successful outcomes in litigation claims by line of business and a 12-month forecast of litigated claims frequency and cost. Survey responses include: • Product liability and construction defect were the types of claims most likely to be litigated; personal and commercial auto, workers compensation and subrogation were the least likely. • Areas of litigated claims most likely to achieve successful outcomes included breach of contract, subrogation and personal auto; product liability and workers compensation were the least likely. • Employment, construction defect, commercial auto and breach of contract expected claims volume to increase in the next 12 months; workers compensation, construction defect and personal auto expected it to decrease. CT TyMetrix also surveyed respondents on different strategies and technologies for claims organizations to adopt to better manage and cope with rising cost-control pressures for claims. They included: • Deploying Predictive Analytics Solutions: 57% of respondents said using predictive analytics for assigning resources and controlling costs had a significant impact on their organizations. Predictive analytics empower claims organizations to decide on the cases that are best for litigation and the ones that are best for settlement, improving the rate of successful overall outcomes. • Forecasting Future Litigated Claims Expenses: Three in four respondents (75%) cited the ability to forecast future litigated claims as an area of focus for their organizations in the next 12 months. • Implementing Alternative or Fixed-Fee Arrangements: Only one in four respondents (25%) said that alternative or fixed-fee arrangements -would be of significant value in the next 12 months. Most said they are not likely to become immediate tools to control litigated claims costs. • Improving Workflow Processes with Outside Counsel: While most respondents were highly satisfied with their workflow processes with outside counsel, three in four respondents (75%) said there was a significant desire to continuously improve these processes moving forward. The survey was conducted between May 2009 and June 2009 and reached 98 respondents representing 90 separate insurance organizations. You can request a copy of the entire report by going to www.cttymetrix.com and clicking on the research report's link at the bottom of the home page. Tuesday, October 6
Christmas - sheesh...
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 06 Oct 2009 16:39 BST
It's a depressing thought but Christmas is less than 12 weeks away – if you are thinking of some legal-themed cards (particularly if you are in the US) check out The Billable Hour Company at www.TheBillableHourCardStore.com
 Thursday, October 1
Work now starting on October American Insider
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 01 Oct 2009 13:00 BST
Work
has now started on the October edition of American Legal Technology
Insider – out on this blog next Thursday 8th. The closing date for
editorial submissions (aka press releases) is 6:00pm (EST) on Tuesday 6 October.
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