The e-conveyancing standards groups PISCES and OSCRE Americas have completed their merger – and ahead of schedule. Retaining the name Open Standards Consortium For Real Estate (OSCRE), and their not for profit status, the organisation says it can now 'fully realise the vision of maximising value in the real estate industry through open interoperability among real estate information systems; an effort founded on common business interests and internationally accepted information technology standards'.
Drawing on the past experience of the PISCES and OSCRE Americas, OSCRE will be governed by a nine-person Board, supported by Strategic Advisory Groups led by principle Executive Members to align OSCRE to critical industry issues within and across real estate business domains. Over the next few weeks OSCRE will be making a series of announcements, including introducing a new Board of Directors, announcing re-aligned staff positions, priorities and 'exciting initiatives to support improved exchange of data for our industry'.
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Friday, November 20
PISCES and OSCRE complete merger
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 20 Nov 2009 09:41 GMT
Thursday, November 19
November Legal Technology Insider (digital edition) out now
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 19 Nov 2009 16:23 GMT
The November digital edition of the Legal Technology Insider newsletter (UK & EMEA edition) is hitting desktops just about now.
One story causing a lot of interest is the report on the Law Society of Scotland's recent 12 -week trial of speech recognition software using Dragon Naturally Speaking. The Society had previously rejected this technology but following the launch of the latest version of Dragon (v10), believed it was sufficiently advanced, along with required PC processing horse power, to revisit it and explore the potential applications. Gordon Brewster, director of central services at the Society, said “We identified five members of staff to participate following a successful live demo at the Society’s offices. The software and set up was installed by Paul Amery, of Database Design & Development. Amery highlighted the techniques and approaches to successful voice recognition noting only those key tools needed at the start as part of the one hour training session to ensure a sound start for those taking part.” The initial trial period has since led to a full pilot involving a further five staff who have all reported it as transforming their document production processes, with one commenting that the costs for her would be recovered in a month. All staff report that accuracy is excellent, with a key feature being the ability to review immediately what has been produced, offering users a streamlined approach that results in significantly shortened document turnaround times. The new system has been thoroughly tested in a range of situations, including using a portable Olympus digital device remotely to record dictation and then push that dictation through Dragon. This had excellent results at around 10 words per second. The system was also tested in various offices located around the Society in central Edinburgh, from shared offices – where the results were not so good – to those exposed to a lot of external traffic noise, while others are much quieter. Both worked very well. Brewster said “We have not used Dragon to replace our nFlow digital dictation solution. It is seen as complementary with staff using direct typing, digital dictation or voice recognition depending on the material to be produced, the timescale, and complexity. I am now persuaded this technology does have an application in a legal environment and a business case can be made for it.” Paul Amery can be contacted at paul.amery@ddd-3.co.uk
Microsoft launches Azure 'cloud' platform
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 19 Nov 2009 10:15 GMT
Microsoft has announced the availability of the Windows Azure platform at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC). In his opening keynote address, Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft, described Windows Azure and SQL Azure as core elements of the company’s cloud services strategy. The company also announced a set of new Windows Azure features, Windows Server capabilities, and marketplace offerings that will make it easier for developers to build profitable businesses from their Microsoft-based solutions.
“Customers want choice and flexibility in how they develop and deploy applications,” Ozzie said. “We’re moving into an era of solutions that are experienced by users across PCs, phones and the Web, and that are delivered from datacenters we refer to as private clouds and public clouds. Built specifically for this era of cloud computing, Windows Azure and SQL Azure will give developers what they need to build great applications and profitable businesses.” In his keynote address, Ozzie described the company’s three screens and a cloud vision, where software experiences are seamlessly delivered across PCs, phones and TVs, all connected by cloud-based services. Underscoring the IT industry’s shift toward a hybrid approach of online services combined with on-premises software, Ozzie described the programming model for a powerful new generation of applications for both businesses and consumers, enabled by new Microsoft development tools and technologies. Customers and partners can build and deploy cloud-based applications and services on the Windows Azure platform for free beginning now until 1st February 2010. Commenting on the announcement Lubor Ptacek, V-P of product marketing at Open Text said “With the exponentially rising amount of content volume and the reality of tight IT budgets, our customers are looking for cost-effective ways to store, archive and retain content. By utilizing our products with Windows Azure, our customers can now afford to run an enterprise-class electronic records management solution without the burden of an upfront capital investment in storage hardware.” Ozzie also unveiled the next evolution of Microsoft Pinpoint, an online marketplace for Microsoft partners to market and sell their applications. The company introduced a new information service, Microsoft Codename “Dallas,” also available through Pinpoint and built completely on the Windows Azure platform, that enables developers and users to access premium commercial and reference datasets and content on any platform. Bob Muglia, president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft, detailed the company’s strategy and road map for extending the Windows developer platform to the cloud, which is the next-generation application model, according to Muglia. “Microsoft is converging on a common developer platform for both servers and services,” Muglia said. “Through this convergence, Microsoft will enable developers to continue using familiar .NET Framework and Visual Studio tools and technologies, as well as third-party tools such as Eclipse, to create and monetize applications that run on the server and as services in the cloud.” Muglia described Microsoft’s key investments to enable developers to move applications to the private, hosted and public clouds, enhance them with additional services, and transform them to take full advantage of capabilities unique to cloud computing. As part of these key investment areas, Microsoft is delivering Windows Server AppFabric Beta 1, a set of integrated, high-level application services that enable developers to more easily deploy and manage applications spanning both server and cloud. The AppFabric technology combines hosting and caching technologies (formerly known as Microsoft code-named “Dublin” and Microsoft code-named “Velocity”) with the Windows Azure platform AppFabric Service Bus and AppFabric Access Control (formerly referred to as .NET Services). Together, these technologies deliver a consistent set of application services to enhance both Windows Server and Windows Azure with a common, scalable foundation for running .NET applications. Windows Server AppFabric Beta 1 is available for download today at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/appfabric with final availability in 2010. Additional CTPs of Windows Azure platform AppFabric technologies will be made available in 2010. Muglia also announced the company’s plan to offer Windows Server virtual machine support on Windows Azure, enabling customers to more easily support virtualized infrastructure across the continuum of on-premises and cloud computing, and the release to manufacturing of Windows Identity Foundation, helping developers to provide more secure, simplified user access to both cloud and on-premises applications with open, identity-based claims. In addition, Muglia announced the new release of ASP.NET MVC2 beta, a free, fully supported framework that enables developers to rapidly build standards-based Web applications through rich asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) integration and enhanced extensibility. ASP.NET MVC2 beta is available today at http://www.asp.net/mvc Wednesday, November 18
Capsoft buys HotDocs business from LexisNexis
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 18 Nov 2009 11:00 GMT
Capsoft, the Edinburgh-based provider of document automation software and services, and LexisNexis have announced the sale of the HotDocs software business to Capsoft. Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed. Through retention of its Automated Forms group, LexisNexis will continue to provide HotDocs-enabled forms and precedents with solutions such as LexisPSL, LexisONE, lexis.com, LexisLibrary, LexisNexis Total Practice Advantage, and other LexisNexis Automated Forms sets.
Over the past 13 years, Capsoft has been distributing and implementing HotDocs software in some of the largest law firms and financial institutions in the UK, Europe, Australia, and the Pacific Rim. (Capsoft began its relationship with HotDocs back in the days when it was still an independent company, before its acquisition by LexisNexis.) Russell Shepherd, CEO of Capsoft, said, “For Capsoft, this is a natural progression and one I am very excited about. As an established distributor of HotDocs, we know the product inside and out and are extremely well placed to invest in the continuous development of both the software and the support offered to new and existing customers across the world. I look forward to enhancing our longstanding relationship with LexisNexis through the ongoing provision of HotDocs software.” “As LexisNexis continues to transform its portfolio of offerings, we believe that Capsoft – as the largest distributor of HotDocs software globally – is singularly equipped to maintain and enhance HotDocs software and support for that product’s customer base,” said Alison Manchester, vice president of content management services at LexisNexis. Comment: This is an interesting development as we've been hearing mutterings for some time that many more law firms would invest in document assembly/automation systems if they could get hold of HotDocs and be confidant the product was going somewhere – as distinct from merely languishing at the bottom of the LexisNexis software toy cupboard. With Capsoft now owning the IP and responsible for ongoing development, it looks like HotDocs may now benefit from the TLC it deserves – which is bad news for all the other document assembly/automation systems players in the market. And, is does once again raise the question of whether legal publishers really are the best people to run software businesses. www.capsoft.co.uk
Tesco law draws closer - HMG issues consultation paper
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 18 Nov 2009 08:00 GMT
The Legal Services Board (LSB) is today (18 November) published detailed proposals for reforming the delivery of legal services in England and Wales. The publication is described as 'a major milestone in the process of reforming legal services regulation that began with the Legal Services Act 2007'.
Chairman of the Legal Services Board David Edmonds said: "This is the next stage of a process to make legal services more accessible. Many lawyers are already delivering their services in increasingly innovative ways. But they are operating in ways which mean that they do not have the organisational freedom available to other businesses. "When in place, the new proposals will enshrine and reinforce the essential protections that consumers - and citizens - require. Access to justice and the protection that society as whole has through the maintenance of the rule of law must not be put at risk. The provision of legal services in England and Wales must meet the legitimate demands of the society it serves. "We are proposing the introduction of a common and consistent licensing framework for those lawyers and firms – and those who would like to invest in legal service provision – which should promote wider choice and variety and which has robust consumer protection at its heart. "The new proposals give lawyers – and new business partners - much greater flexibility in how they organise and collaborate with each other and also other professionals. We want to encourage new entrants into the legal services market to bring new ways of working and new competitive pressures. These will increase choice for consumers, whilst offering better-tailored and better value packages of professional services. |So this is not the end of the process – we shall work closely with consumer bodies and the regulatory and representative arms of the profession to get the details right. The job of the LSB is to create a market with proper protections, not to prescribe the detailed rules. That is why this set of proposals is both a challenge and an opportunity to all those who want to innovate, to diversify and to offer consumers more choice." Summary of the paper The paper proposes removing restrictions that have, until now, prevented non-lawyers from owning legal service businesses. The new rules will mean that lawyers will have new freedoms to provide their services alongside services from non-lawyers, and for existing legal practices to attract new external investment. A robust framework of consumer protection, professional competence and commercial integrity is at the heart of proposals. The LSB is currently consulting on guidance to govern the licensing of these new models of service delivery. There are three key protections: • a test to ensure that non-lawyer owners and managers of new forms of legal practice are fit and proper; • the introduction of two new roles in every new firm: the Head of Legal Practice and Head of Finance and Administration who will ensure compliance with licence requirements; • a widening of the complaints handling system to deal with complaints about firms that do not deliver legal services in isolation but instead offer these alongside other services (for example, financial services) whilst ensuring access to the Office for Legal Complaints. The new framework aims to ensure that lawyers and non-lawyers alike have the commercial freedom to provide legal services to consumers in ways that harness commercial creativity, maximise business efficiencies, embed professional ethics and meet consumer demand. It has the potential to allow consumers to access their legal services in a variety of new different ways, for example as a part of a 'one stop shop' with other professional services such as insurance, tax advice and accountancy, or through existing legal practices diversifying and developing with the benefit of external investment. The guidance announced today sets out principles that new ‘licensing authorities’ will be expected to regulate in accordance with, anticipating that the first licences will be issued by mid 2011. The responsibility for ensuring the removal of current restrictions on individual lawyers preventing them from developing new forms of practice lies with the eight Approved Regulators overseen by the LSB. Click on the link for the ful consultation document...  1 AttachmentsTuesday, November 17
ACS swap out Cognito for SOS
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 17 Nov 2009 15:02 GMT
ACS Solicitors, a relatively new start-up in the Wirral, has selected SOS Connect for practice management and accounting, on the recommendation of their accountants. ACS solicitors was formed in 2006 to offer a friendly conveyancing, wills and probate service on the high street in Bromborough. Despite last year’s recession particularly in conveyancing, the firm is now experiencing record levels of business. This led to the need to replace the existing Cognito system with a solution that can grow with the business and handle both practice and case management. Vicky Smith, practice manager of ACS said "Our accountants based their recommendation of SOS on word of mouth comments from the many other law firms that they deal with."
Mad science. Techies the most unhealthy people in the UK? Drink driving is safe?
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 17 Nov 2009 10:04 GMT
As we know how much our readers like to hear about self-seeking surveys and research that end up producing findings that merely support whatever it is the sponsor hopes to plug, here's one on health and techies...
A study of 1734 working Brits by UK weight loss personal training agency, FatFreeFitness.co.uk has found that people who worked in IT in jobs such as website design; development and technical support exercised the least out of all the professions nationwide, with fewer than 1 in 5 agreeing that they met government activity guidelines of half an hour of moderate exercise, five times a week. The study found that 63% of Brits are failing to meet the set activity guidelines. The average person in the UK is active for just 1 hour 30 minutes a week. Receptionists are the second most inactive group of professionals in the country, followed closely by sales people, with just 26% and 28% respectively admitting to hitting recommended activity targets. With regards to the unhealthiest diets in the UK, people who work in IT again feature highly. Just 14% claim to eat five instances of fruit and vegetables throughout the day, whilst their caffeine intake is the highest nationwide – on average, IT workers admitted to drinking the caffeine equivalent of 10 cups of coffee a day, 2 cups more than the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of 800mg. Half of the IT workers who responded to the study claimed to drink energy drinks every single day. Office workers are most likely to snack in between meals, with just fewer than 3 in 4, 73%, of people who work on a computer all working day admitting that they regularly pick at sugary food at their desk. The most inactive professions in the UK by % reaching government activity targets: 1. IT workers – 19% 2. Receptionists – 26% 3. Salespeople – 28% 4. Checkout operators – 31% 5. Marketing – 33% 6. Customer services – 37% 7. Administrative workers – 38% 8. Taxi drivers – 41% 9. Retail workers – 45% 10. Shop assistants – 47% Amongst the most active professions in the UK are manual workers such as bricklayers where 78% agreed to meeting government activity targets and construction workers, 84% of whom exercise for more than 2 and a half hours a week. 9 in 10 fitness professionals agreed to being active in accordance with guidelines. Weight loss expert Rich Leigh, personal trainer and founder of weight loss agency Fat Free Fitness, had the following to say: “There is clearly a correlation between sitting at a desk or wheel all day and how active you’re likely to be.” As they say on Amazon, if you liked that, then you'll also like this little bit of statistical analysis – suggested by one of our readers – Lisa Oldfield – in Australia... "Apparently a third of road accidents are caused by people who have been drinking too much and one quarter by people driving too quickly. Ergo, two thirds are caused by people who have not had enough to drink, and three quarters by people who drive too slowly – so people who drive quickly whilst over the limit are twelve times safer than those who are sober and obey the speed limit." Monday, November 16
Mundays outsources IT to Datashare
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 16 Nov 2009 17:08 GMT
Cobham (Surrey) based solicitors Mundays LLP have just announced that they have awarded Datashare Solutions a contract to provide outsourced IT and network infrastructure services. The transition of responsibility will be effective from 1st December 2009. Under the contract, Datashare will take over the management of IT infrastructure, inhouse applications and the strategic management of all aspects of IT for the firm. In October 2007, Legal Technology Insider reported that Mundays had ordered the DNA system from LexisNexis Axxia (as it now is).
Mundays managing partner Valerie Toon said "Our decision to outsource was driven by two key objectives. We want to increase the efficiency and flexibility of our IT infrastructure and thereby gain competitive advantage through the use of IT."
English Law Soc warn about employment law risks associated with social networking
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 16 Nov 2009 12:21 GMT
The Law Society of England & Wales has warned that employers should avoid using social networking sites including Facebook and Myspace to vet job candidates as it could leave them vulnerable to discrimination claims.
John Morris, chair of the Society’s Employment Law Committee says “Using these sites to canvass more information about an employee or an interview candidate is potentially risky for an employer. For example, it is possible to obtain information about a person’s sexual orientation or religious beliefs that can impact or is perceived to impact on the decision made to recruit or not recruit that person – this can lead to discrimination claims.” The Employment Practices Data Protection Code states that an employer should only use vetting where there are particular and significant risks involved to the employer, clients, customers or others, such as working with children or vulnerable people. However employers should not place reliance on information collected from social networking sites as it is potentially unreliable. Employees should also be aware of potential problems from ‘befriending’ their employers on these sites and should choose to have their webpage on a privacy setting where possible. “The dismissal of employees for comments made about employers on social networking sites can also lead to unfair dismissal claims,” adds Morris. “However, an employer may be able to defend themselves against such a claim if they can show the dismissal was a reasonable response to the conduct of the employee.” Earlier this year a British woman was sacked from her job after she posted an expletive-filled tirade against her boss on Facebook. Previously, thirteen cabin crew from a major British airline faced disciplinary action after calling passengers ‘chavs’ on a social networking site. Recently, a sixteen year old in a new job posted messages about how “dull” and “boring” it was, while a young man who, having posted details of his previous night’s activities, went on to explain that he was today “pulling a sickie” from work. Both were dismissed. Friday, November 13
LexisNexis and Kestrel in Streamline partnership
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 13 Nov 2009 14:57 GMT
LexisNexis
and Kestrel Business Solutions today announced a strategic partnership between the two
organisations to implement, deliver and add value to LexisNexis Streamline in
the large law segment of the legal market. LexisNexis Streamline (which grew out of the Visualfiles Mailla project) is an
innovative next generation business process management platform, tailored
specifically to the needs of the legal industry. Alex Young, Client Liaison Director at Kestrel Business Solutions, said
“LexisNexis Streamline is the first of its kind and a market challenger. Over
the years, the mid to large sized law firms have invested heavily in
best-of-breed applications and now in the current economic climate in
particular are looking to further exploit those technologies to maximise tangible
business benefits, especially in the front office. Up until now there have been
limited tools available that genuinely allow firms to cost-effectively and
easily build on their existing systems, and leverage the modern
Microsoft-centric architecture and skills that already exist within their
organisations.” |
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