Some end-of-the-year news from the US...
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Ulmer & Berne LLP has deployed Aderant Expert File Opening workflow across its four Midwestern offices, becoming one of the early adopters of the new workflow engine. Expert File Opening gives Ulmer & Berne a shared platform for all stages of the file opening process so that approvals and research can be done in parallel. The simultaneous approval and document sharing capabilities greatly improved automation, making it possible to qualify and accept clients and matters in a fraction of the time.
Additionally, the firm reports a marked increase in the enforcement of accounting standards and policies since implementing Expert File Opening. With a digital system in place, it is impossible for the file opening process to be completed without adherence to the prerequisite accounting policies. The policies and standards that the firm deems integral to success are written directly into the file opening formula, and are thus ensured to have been completed correctly upon file opening. "So far we are seeing the amount of time it takes to open new business go from four days or more to within 24 hours," said Lee Ann Gilgen, Controller for Ulmer & Berne. "We will also realize a reduction in paper costs, along with more accurate data since it will not have to be reentered at each step."
• Business intelligence specialist Iridium Technology has organized and sponsored Operation Sam’s Club which resulted in over 100 large care packages being sent to deployed US Marines in Afghanistan – over one ton of supplies! Iridium worked with the local Sam’s Club and organized a team of community volunteers to solicit donations for the Marines from shoppers at the local Sam’s Club. “The response from the community was amazing,” said Iridium president Tom Jones, “75% of the shoppers that we approached were glad to purchase something extra for the Marines. We are able to fill two pickup trucks to overflowing, and eventually compressed the donations down into 104 large care packages that were shipped to deployed Marines in time to arrive before Christmas.
"There were three major goals for the campaign” said Jones, “Firstly to provide direct support to our deployed Marines, secondly to thank our Marines for their service and to remind them that they have strong support from the American people, and lastly to encourage people to go to www.adoptahero.us/adoptamarine.htm to learn more about the Adopt-a-Marine program and to sponsor a deployed US Marine in Afghanistan.”
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Monday, December 20
Thursday, December 16
US gets a cloud computing association
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 16 Dec 2010 19:27 GMT
The Legal Cloud Computing Association (LCCA) has just been formed in the US to promote the benefits of cloud computing technology to the legal sector, while simultaneously addressing such issues as professional standards and ethical compliance. The LCCA also announced the publication of its response to the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 Working Group with respect to the Commission’s September 10, 2010 call for comments on Client Confidentiality and the Use of Technology.
The group, consisting of Clio (Themis Solutions Inc), DirectLaw Inc, Rocket Matter LLC and Total Attorneys LLC will cooperate with Bar Associations and other policy-forming bodies to release guidelines, standards, best practices and educational resources relating to the use of cloud computing in the legal profession. An informational website for the group at www.legalcloudcomputingassociation.org links to members and their response to the ABA Ethics questions. "This is a promising development for the profession," said lawyer and blogger Niki Black (and author of the ABA’s upcoming book on cloud computing). "As technology evolves and continually provides us with better ways to manage our practices and serve our clients, it's important that lawyers have workable – and practical – guidelines to follow on issues like security and ethical concerns. The formation of the LCCA is a step in the right direction. It opens up a dialogue between legal cloud computing providers and ensures that they're on the same page on these issues." Comment: This seems a good idea although we suspect that for it to have any clout, the LCCA is going to have bring in some of the larger vendors and players within the legal cloud computing sector. Maybe that will come. In the meantime, maybe the UK's Legal Software Suppliers Association (LSSA) should consider a similar initiative in the UK? Tuesday, December 7
Survey results: lawyers are early adopters AND more concerned about risk
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 07 Dec 2010 11:04 GMT
Two new sets of survey results to report today: one of ebooks and digital technology, the other on law firms' attitudes towards risk...
A survey commissioned by LexisNexis UK reveals that lawyers are quick to embrace new technology which is seen as essential to their everyday working lives. Almost half of the respondents (47%) regard themselves as either ‘early adopters’ or ‘at the cutting edge’ when it comes to embracing new technologies. The survey Are Lawyers Early Adopters? canvassed the views of 100 lawyers – from sole practitioners to magic circle partners – to learn about their adoption of the latest breed of technology (such as smartphones, mobile applications and ebooks) and how they view these technological tools with regard to accessing information and advice for themselves and their clients. The report uncovered several additional findings including: • More than three-quarters of respondents (77%) favour online or digital resources to ‘traditional paper-based law libraries’ • More than one in ten respondents (11%) have already purchased an Apple iPad, while a similar proportion (10%) had an ebook reader, such as Kindle, specifically to help them do legal work. • Nearly nine in ten respondents (87%) retrieve information from digital sources other than email (such as via smart phones or by downloading eBooks) on a daily basis. • The majority of the profession have embraced the use of smart phone technology and, as an example, two-thirds of respondents (66%) utilise a BlackBerry handset. • Almost three-quarters of respondents (73%) either ‘constantly’ or ‘at least once an hour’ pick-up their email when out of the office. • Eight out of ten respondents (81%) indicated advances in technology speed up legal research and almost three-quarters (73%) identified not having to carry paper work as beneficial. Manwhile IntApp Inc has announced the publication of the 2010 Law Firm Risk Survey Report, an industry study presenting findings collected from 80 law firms. Sponsored by IntApp, the survey was produced by the Risk Roundtable Initiative, an industry association that organizes events and programmes for law firm risk stakeholders to foster dialogue, education and the advancement of best practices. Risk professionals from the 250 largest US-based and the 30 largest Canadian-based law firms were invited to participate. The Law Firm Risk Survey focuses on firm risk management policies, practices and priorities. It examines specific issues including new business intake, attorney lateral hiring and departures, ethical walls management, confidentiality enforcement, internal education, and compliance tracking and verification. The published survey report provides quantitative summaries of overall group response data, as well as samplings of individual responses to questions seeking free-form comments. A selection of key findings include: • Top law firm risk concerns include business intake, records management and confidentiality protection. • Clients continue to raise concerns about the steps firms take to ensure the confidentiality of sensitive business information. • Nearly 90% of firms have been asked by clients to restrict and track internal firm access to sensitive information via ethical walls and other confidentiality controls. • 70% of firms report taking on matters subject to confidentiality controls mandated by external regulations; firms identified the HITECH Act for personal health information, and state and international personal data privacy laws as regulations of greatest concern. • Nearly half of all firms have been audited or received requests for proof of compliance from a client or external agency. • In response to an expanding set of risk management challenges, organizations are increasing the number of internal stakeholders tasked with risk response and compliance. • Supporting this trend, more firms have designated formal budgets earmarked for risk management. More information about the 2010 Law Firm Risk Management Survey is available at www.riskroundtable.com Comment: We think the LexisNexis survey would have carried a little more weight if it had taken a wider sample and had not been conducted by an offshoot of Byfield, one of the PR consultancies for LexisNexis. It would have also been interesting to hear what respondents thought were the main deterrents to the take up of ebooks etc as we suspect one of the reasons (particularly for smaller firms) has been the fact that over the last 20 years legal publishers have traditionally charged more for digital content than for hard-copy editions of the same material. As we've said before – and will no doubt continue saying – the phrase 'dynamic legal publisher' is an oxymoron. Thursday, December 2
December issue of American Legal Technology Insider newsletter out now
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 02 Dec 2010 18:44 GMT
The December issue (No.29) of the American Legal Technology Insider newsletter is out now. (The next issue will be published on 13th January 2011)
Top stories include... • Game over for traditional document management systems? • Bryan Cave select Frayman Compliguard Flow • Exterro & Clearwell make their ediscovery predictions for 2011 Click on the link below to download your free copy as a PDF. To have a copy sent direct to you in-box just send your email address to altisubs@legaltechnology.com Alternatively, if you like Flash page-turning software, read it here...  1 AttachmentsWednesday, December 1
Bighand rises to the ACC value challenge
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 01 Dec 2010 14:44 GMT
Last year the US-based Association of Corporate Counsel launched its ACC Value Challenge (see attached PDF for more details) which aims to help inhouse lawyers get a better deal from the external law firms they use. The scheme also includes a value index that lets counsel rate firms of a scale of 1-to-5 on a range of legal and business skills (the latter including such factors as efficiency & process management, predictable cost/budget skills and responsiveness/communication).
So far we've only encountered one vendor embracing this concept, namely Bighand North America where CEO Steve Butterworth had this to say "The ACC Value Challenge is another indicator that the legal marketplace is changing. Corporate legal departments are looking for more value for their business from outside counsel and, as a result, firms are having to get more done, in less time and at lower costs. Technology plays a key role in the ACC Value Challenge, with corporate counsel asking law firms to use technology to their mutual benefit. "Technologies like BigHand are being seen as instrumental in achieving greater efficiencies and facilitating cost reductions, both key objectives in remaining profitable in today’s market and meeting the ACC Value Challenge. McAngus Goudelock & Courie LLC, based in Columbia, SC, is a good example of a firm putting this into action having added 35 new timekeepers and only 2 additional support staff since rolling out BigHand last year, resulting in a dramatic improvement in ratios and a significant reduction in overhead costs for the firm." 1 Attachments |
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