We had an interesting phone interview with Neil Araujo, the new CEO of Autonomy iManage last week. Araujo was one of the original founders (and one of the original software authors) of iManage Inc back in 1995. Since then he has held a number of senior roles within both iManage and Interwoven – as well as taking time out to attend business school – before taking over the hot-seat as CEO on 2nd October this year.
Araujo says he believes one of the reasons why the acquisition by Autonomy has been so problem-free is that both Autonomy and iManage have "a similar culture, are both technology driven and share a common set of values". This, he says, has not only resulted in a smooth integration of the Autonomy/iManage products but also has been achieved without any slippage on the core iManage product development roadmap.
But what about iManage's competitors and the continuing background buzz that one day Microsoft Sharepoint will emerge as a real challenger to iManage Worksite in the DMS space?
According to Araujo, while competitors seem content to merely add "fresh bells and whistles" to their DMS platforms, the addition of the Autonomy dimension has been a game-changing development that allows iManage to concentrate on the management of content in its broadest sense. And by 'broadest sense' Araujo points to the fact that not only have volumes of data increased significantly since 1995 but the nature of this content has changed, with documents frequently comprising less than 20% of the total content under management.
One area the business is now looking at is harnessing the Autonomy IDOL engine to help "better understand the meaning of documents" so rules can be introduced to automate more aspects of the document management process, such as automatically filing emails against the appropriate client matters.
"It is important," says Araujo, "to recognise that IDOL is more than a search engine. It is actually an information processing platform – it has a potentially proactive role, a digital assistant that can drive productivity and efficiency to whole new frontiers. This takes iManage into the era of meaning based computing."
In addition to efficiency gains, Araujo says these new developments have huge potential for helping firms deal with compliance issues by automating rules such as encryption – which in turn provides the addition of a risk management function.
"The bottom line," says Araujo, "is we will see a more comprehensive approach to content management. There are greater volumes of data to deal with. There are new economic drivers. There is the whole risk management/e-discovery dimension. The market recognises we have this vision and are now moving the traditional DMS industry in a new direction."
As for Sharepoint? Araujo says that while a lot of iManage users run Sharepoint as a portal, it is basically a collaborative tool – like Lotus Notes – and, as such, contains an uncontrollable element that makes it inappropriate in an environment where corporate governance and document lifecycle management is now so important. "Sharepoint," says Araujo, "is like a Swiss Army Knife, it has a lot of useful tools in it but you wouldn't want to use it to cook a meal."
The head of the National Audit Office, the Comptroller and Auditor General, has today qualified the accounts of the Legal Services Commission for 2008-09 because of overpayments made by the Commission to solicitors, estimated at almost £25 million. The Legal Services Commission is responsible for the provision of legal aid in England and Wales through the Community Legal Service Fund (for civil cases) and the Criminal Defence Service (for criminal cases). The NAO, as part of its annual audit of the Legal Services Commission, identified an estimated total overpayment to solicitors of £24.7 million in 2008-09. Of this, £6.4 million were payments made to solicitors where legal aid had been provided to claimants where there was no evidence that they were eligible to receive it. The remaining £18.3 million of erroneous payments were made to solicitors working on cases which were eligible for legal aid, but in which solicitors over-claimed for the work they did. The highest level of financial error was in relation to solicitors working on Family and Immigration claims. Within this area, the NAO’s testing showed that 25 per cent of the claims examined were incorrect or unsupported. For many cases, the error resulted from solicitors claiming against an incorrect category of work or for an incorrect level of work carried out. For example, the NAO identified a number of instances where the solicitor had incorrectly claimed a fee for an asylum case instead of the correct, and lower, fee for immigration work. The LSC recognises there are a number of factors contributing to this level of error, including the complexity of the fee regime, the limited controls to validate the accuracy of the submitted claims, and the quality of the Commission’s post-payment internal assurance processes. In the NAO’s view, this, together with the absence of a strict sanctions regime to deter the submission of incorrect claims, creates a risk of solicitors exploiting the payment system. Mr Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said today: “A significant sum of taxpayers’ money is being paid to solicitors in error. The Legal Services Commission needs to build on its existing efforts to tighten its controls on payments to solicitors and on how it monitors the eligibility of cases supported by legal aid. Where appropriate, the Commission should also impose sanctions on solicitors found to be making incorrect claims.”
Law firms are increasingly embracing the internet as a way of
accessing a variety of popular legal applications says Dominic Cullis,
Chairman of the Legal Software Suppliers Association (LSSA).But what are the benefits – and drawbacks –
of this kind of technology?
The concept of
deploying software over the internet has grabbed the attention of the legal
sector.Increasingly, law firms
are adopting this internet-centric model to offload the burden of server
maintenance and data backup, whilst expanding access to their IT systems. While
some firms might remain sceptical of this new technology and question a
third-party's ability to safeguard client data, members of the Legal Software
Suppliers Association (LSSA) remain confident in their software's ability to
keep data safe, secure and accessible.
To understand what web-based software is, it's useful to see how it differs from traditional
software deployment models. Some firms may have heard web-based software
described as Software as a Service (SaaS) but there is still some confusion over
how these web-based models differ from a traditional IT system.
In fact, the
difference is clear.With
traditional off-the-shelf software packages, the software is
normally installed on a server, and then on each computer in the office. The
server hardware is located in the firm's own office and is accessed on the PCs
used by solicitors and their staff. Typically, the software is purchased up
front, although there may be an annual support fee to cover upgrades and
customer support services.With this model, each
application needs to be separately installed on each user's PC. Any upgrade to
the application would therefore also require an upgrade to the software on each
user workstation, adding to support costs and potentially harming productivity.
With the SaaS model,
however, data is typically secured at a central location, and then monitored by
IT staff that handle routine back-ups, upgrades, modifications, installations
and necessary maintenance. As such, the security and maintenance is often far
superior to what a law firm could implement in its own office. Not only that,
but using SaaS in this way also means that there is no need for the firm to buy
expensive server hardware.
Osprey.TM, the software
produced by LSSA member Pracctice, is a web-based software package
designedspecifically for law
firms.Pracctice originally released Osprey.TM
at the London Legal IT exhibition back in February 2004.As such, Osprey.TMwas the first full function, purely internet-based PMSto be released to the UK legal market."Without a doubt, web-based software can provide a low cost, future-proof tool for law firms that
will deliver huge returns on a small investment, andtherefore provide considerable savings," says Matthew
Lancaster, Marketing Director for Osprey.TM.With this model, the
firm will typically pay a monthly subscription fee to use the service, rather
than purchase the software up front.
"The traditional
advantages of web-based applications are geared around ease and consistency of
access, and negating the requirement for firms to have their own in-house IT
infrastructure," agrees Darren Gower, marketing manager at
LSSA member Eclipse Legal Systems.Eclipse Legal Systems has a SaaS offering which
provides the full functionality of its 'traditional' installed solution.Data can be hosted by the client, or by
Eclipse, whichever is preferable.
Pinpoint Interactive, from
LSSA member Quill, offers another example of legal software that can
be accessed from an ordinary web browser. Pinpoint provides a true web-browser based, hosted application to assist with practices' financial and
document management needs. In addition, and perhaps most importantly,
Quill also offers the legal cashier to drive it, which means that firms don’t
have to recruit, train or retain a legal cashier of their own.
"With Pinpoint
Interactive, we wanted to develop a totally mobile, zero deployment, zero cost
application and solution for our
clients," says Quill's Andrew Sherwin. Being “lean and mean”,
Pinpoint Interactive can be accessed from any web enabled PC, whether Windows,
Mac or Linux, using almost any internet browser from Microsoft Internet Explorer,
Firefox, Safari or Mozilla and now even Google Chrome."
With purely web-based software,
neither data nor the applications are kept on the actual PC, so solicitors
don't have to install anything to use it. As a result, there is no need to
worry about installation going wrong. At the same time, there can't be
incompatibilities between the application and the PC's operating system,
because the software doesn't actually run on the PC's operating system.
LSSA member IRIS is another
company that has embraced this vision of “your data anywhere, anytime”. IRIS
offers its clients two alternative delivery mechanisms: traditional software
installed within the practice or software hosted on IRIS' own servers. IRIS
recently signed its 1000th hosted customer, and offers hosted solutions for
both solicitors and barristers."Web-based software
has clear business benefits for firms: there is no need to worry about
maintaining local IT infrastructure and applying upgrades, so there are cost
savings in both staff time and materials costs," says Paul
Heritage-Redpath, Product Manager, IRIS."In addition, the new version of the Law Society’s Lexcel quality
standard mandates a business continuity plan, and web-based software has
obvious advantages if premises become inaccessible."
Disaster recovery plans are
important to all industries, but particularly the legal sector,and Web-based software caters for this
need very well. As all client data is stored “server side”, business continuity
and disaster recovery play a big part in making the software especially
attractive to law firms.
In addition, the ability to
update and maintain web-based applications without having to distribute and
install software on potentially thousands of individual PCs is yet another key
reason for their popularity.Likewise,
Web-based applications require little or no disk space on the user's own PC (or
the firm's server), and will often upgrade automatically when new features
become available.This added
flexibility has further knock-on benefits for law firms in terms of the
software's reliability, according to Matthew Lancaster.
"With web-based
applications, upgrades only have to be tested in the one environment
where they would run (in the data centres), and do not have to be
distributed," he explains."Upgrades are instantaneous, can be applied much more easily, and
are produced much more frequently as a result of the greatly reduced testing
period.We offer both hosted and
self-hosted services, yet 99.9% of our customers choose our hosted services."
So, is SaaS right for your
firm?The short answer is:it depends.
"Law firms are far
from homogenous, so it is difficult to generalise," says Heritage-Redpath. "There may be some firms with a cultural
aversion to having their data held outside their four walls, and for this
reason IRIS offer customers the choice.Having said that, we’ve worked very hard to make our software fast to
deploy and easy to use; offering it on a hosted platform just means there are
no physical hardware issues for start-up firms to tackle, so they can open
their doors for business almost immediately."
"When it comes to web-based
applications, there is a lot to consider," adds Darren Gower. "The security and longevity of your
provider, for a start:who is
actually hosting your data and is this ideal?Is there the potential for a conflict of interests?Also, making changes and amendments to
the system can be more difficult given the 'remote' nature of the source.Not only that, but if your Internet
connection drops, then the system will be totally unavailable."
While the SaaS model is very
compelling, there are several reasons why a firm might not want to implement a
SaaS system.
"The main disadvantage
with browser based applications is the look and feel can sometimes be a little
flat compared to the interface of traditional Windows applications," says
Andrew Sherwin. "However, technology is moving forward in
leaps and bounds at the moment, with applications such as Microsoft Silverlight
and Adobe Air giving suppliers the ability to develop much richer user
interfaces without compromising on the core benefits of web browser
applications."
Paul Heritage-Redpath qualifies that statement."Web-based
applications provide a very different user experience to that afforded by a
rich desktop client, and attempting to replicate the desktop experience could
lead to reliance on proprietary third party extensions with the obvious risks
to future stability that poses," he says."IRIS’ vision is to re-imagine the fee earner desktop
to take best advantage of the browser user interface, and ensure that our
software remains standards-based so that it can run on any platform or device
our clients choose."
The need for complex customisation
can also cause problems. Because web-based systems are typically designed to
serve numerous offices from a single, centralised location, there have
traditionally been fewer options for complex customisation.
Last but by no means least
is the issue of security. When it
comes to internet technology, concerns in this area are common. The Web
Application Security Consortium (WASC) has therefore been developed with the
intention of documenting how to avoid security problems in web applications,
and some software vendors will also use a web application security scanner,
which is specialised software for detecting security problems in web applications.
Likewise, as the UK industry body for legal systems
developers and vendors, the LSSA recently announced that it has revised its Code of Practice with regard to
the provision of hosted services, as well as the safety and integrity of
customers' data. In particular, where services are supplied by means
of a hosted service, the Code of Practice now states that all LSSA members must
take all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety and integrity of their
customers' data.
"If using web-based software,
it's important for the client to understand how the data is transmitted to the
host server and back again to the PC, where the hosted data is, and what
shouldhappen in the event of the
hosted server being unavailable," says Quill's Andrew Sherwin."The minimum a client should
expect is Industry standard SSL 128bit encryption for data transfer. We
explain to our clients that Internet security and data transfershould be considered as a partnership
with the supplier and not simply a one way obligation from the supplier to the
practice. As such, we advise all our clients on what we describe as
'best practice' for data transmission using Internet technologies."
"Some clients still
have concerns about a third-party hosting their data, but the fact is that suppliers
are much better placed to ensure the security of clients' data," adds
Matthew Lancaster. "Due to the economies of scale in providing the service
for hundreds of firms, suppliers in this area have the considerable experience,
resource, expertise and funding to apply far higher levels of protection than
any individual law firm could achieve. All you need to do is consider the
amount of money spent by one law firm on its firewall, and compare that to a
supplier who is providing a hosted service for hundreds of firms."
Many would argue that security is
actually enhanced by the web-based model, in that sensitive data is not being
stored on a laptop or USB drive that can easily be lost or stolenLikewise, companies offering Web-based
applications will often be more diligent about backing up data, as they'll have
dedicated system administrators to manage the process.
"Security is probably
the primary concern when it comes to any kind of online services," says
IRIS' Paul Heritage-Redpath."It's important, though, to keep this in perspective – one need
only think of taking files to court, or putting them in the car to work on at
home to appreciate that the risk of data loss has always been with the
profession."
Despite such concerns, the concept
of Web-based software is proving to be compelling for many law firms. After
all, most solicitors have now become accustomed to having access to their email
regardless of where they are working. And if they can see their email, why not
their diary? If they can discuss a document with their colleagues, why can't
they make changes to it? As a result, many solicitors have begun to question
the logic ofhavingtheir data trapped on a stand-alone
computer somewhere.
"Our legal clients
like the fact that they can access the system from home, from court, or from
the office," says Andrew Sherwin from Quill. "Plus, they don’t have
to tell us if they buy a new PC or laptop in order to get the application
reinstalled.They can simply
access our software – and their data – from a new PC straight away."
As a result of this new way of
thinking, some industry experts are predicting that the whole idea of
"your computer" is disappearing, and being replaced with "your
data." You should be able to get at your data from any computer or other
device, whether that means a personal digital assistant (PDA) or your mobile
phone.
"We are totally
committed to this vision, and find ourselves in a position to be ableto offer established systems and
services to legal practices," Andrew Sherwin adds. "We firmly
believe that the way that practices interact with their suppliers, their
clients, and regulatory authorities will change in the future, and there is
little doubt in our minds the Internet will be the hub of this change."
Jersey law firm Le Gallais & Luce (believed to be one oldest law firms in the Channel Islands) has selected Eclipse’s Proclaim practice management software after an in-depth review of the market's offerings. As well as the core Proclaim Case Management system, the firm is implementing Proclaim Accounts to form a fully-integrated PMS. Eclipse will be tailoring the delivered system to take into account both the wide range of casetypes managed by Le Gallais & Luce and the unique elements of property law in Jersey, one of the firm's key offerings.
Microsoft Windows 7 – what's that all about eh? Seriously, we don't expect a mad rush among the legal sector to immediately upgrade from XP to Win7. For example, this is what the consultancy Ovum predicted earlier today... "Overall, the messaging of simplicity, choice and value seems to resonate, and it has the potential for Microsoft to rebuild some of the trust lost through Vista. Even with that legacy, expect enterprise uptake and migration programmes to start to appear during the first two quarters of 2010, with greater acceleration once budgets become released on the back of the greenshoots of recovery and when XP support is phased out by Microsoft’s channel partners."
Nevertheless here are some pointers from Brian Zeve, the managing director of Microsoft's Professional Services Industry division, on what law firms need to know about Windows 7 today...
What is new with Windows 7? With Windows 7, Microsoft is building on the substantial investments made in Windows Vista by: • Improving security, reliability and performance • Enhancing PC management with a focus on compatibility and battery life • Introducing compelling new experiences for users
Microsoft is on track to deliver a great experience that will enable law professionals to spend more time doing what they need to do each day: profitably serve their clients. Windows 7 will deliver an operating system that is more nimble and reliable, maximizes utilization of today’s powerful hardware, and easily connects with all the devices that law professionals rely on today.
What changes did Microsoft make in designing Windows 7? Windows 7 reflects an evolved approach to engineering the operating system that learns from the lessons of Windows Vista and previous versions of the operating system. It weaves customer feedback more closely into the development process while enabling the delivery of innovative new features in a way that preserves compatibility and performance. Microsoft’s investments in Windows 7 are shaped by the evolving needs of end users and IT professionals in the enterprise. Users are becoming more computer-savvy, and expect more from the technology that they use at work. They expect to be able to work from home, from branch offices, and on-the-road-with the same level of productivity. As user needs have changed, the demands on IT professionals have increased. Today, IT professionals must provide greater capabilities and flexibility for users while continuing to minimize cost and security risks. Microsoft has designed Windows 7 to address these requirements. What are the key Windows 7 advancements from Windows Vista? Windows 7 introduces several advancements and fresh capabilities. We’ve bulleted the ones that will deliver solid benefits to legal professionals and the firm’s IT department. These include: • Enhances enterprise search capabilities so users can query a SharePoint site on a firm’s intranet right from Windows, as well as files on a user's PC. • Enables mobile workers to be productive anywhere by providing them with seamless, secure access to the firm’s corporate networks without the need to VPN. • Decreases the time that a law firm’s branch offices must spend waiting to download files across the network. • Helps to protect sensitive data on PCs and removable drives, with manageability to enforce encryption and backup of recovery keys so that data is accessible. • Limits the risk of malicious software by enabling IT to specify which software is allowed to run on each user's PC through centrally managed, but flexible, Group Policies. • Enables legal professionals to work the way that they want by organizing and accessing multiple documents and applications quicker and more easily than ever before. • Streamlines everyday tasks with its intuitive design providing immediate access to the applications and files that professionals frequently use through Jumplists. • Improves PC management including desktops, laptops and virtual environments with advanced image management and deployment tools that use less network bandwidth and reduce costs. • Takes handwriting recognition a giant step forward with greater accuracy and speed in pen input, ability to create personalized custom dictionaries for handwriting recognition, and the support of new languages. Can you provide more details around the Windows 7 features that law firms will be able to utilize? Building upon our previous response, the following presents a more detailed overview of five exciting new applications that will be available in Windows 7 for Enterprises:
1. Enterprise Search: Helps legal professionals to find the information that they need faster and easier. Legal professionals need to access information on matters from a variety of sources in their daily tasks. With Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced advanced desktop search technology, enabling users to instantly find information on their computers. With Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the Enterprise Search family of products, Microsoft delivered highly secure, manageable, server-based search. Windows 7 brings these experiences together and provides users with an improved and seamless search experience across local and networked corporate data directly within Windows Explorer. Users will benefit from these new functions: • Utilize a more intuitive approach to finding and organizing information with advancements to the Windows 7 user interface (UI) and recommendations based on recent searches. • Gain a new way of accessing documents, presentations, or any type of file that might be located in different folders, on different hard drives, or even on different computers—in a single view “Library.” • Search multiple locations such as electronic document repositories, SharePoint sites, and Web applications as easily as they search their desktops from a single interface with “Search Federation” or OpenSearch. • Make content on intranet portals more discoverable and accessible with Enterprise Search Scopes in Windows 7 simplifying access to the most appropriate, complete, authoritative data sources on the firm’s network. 2. DirectAccess: Enhances productivity for mobile workers, improves security and manageability for IT Working outside the office is about to become a lot simpler and secure for legal professionals. DirectAccess in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 enhances the productivity of mobile workers by connecting them seamlessly and more securely to their corporate network any time they have Internet access—without the need to VPN. When IT enables DirectAccess, the whole corporate network file shares, intranet Web sites, and line-of-business applications can remain accessible wherever they have an Internet connection.
Additional key benefits that DirectAccess delivers include: • Empowers IT administrators to manage mobile computers by updating Group Policy settings and distributing software updates any time the mobile computer has Internet connectivity, even if the user is not logged on to a VPN or physically in the office. This flexibility gives the firm’s IT team the opportunity to service remote machines on a regular basis and ensures that even when mobile, attorneys can stay up-to-date with company policies. • Enhances security and access control by authenticating the computer and the user, and supports multifactor authentication, such as a smart card. IT administrators can configure which intranet resources specific attorneys and support staff can access using DirectAccess. • Keeps data safer as it travels through public networks by using IPv6-over-IPsec to encrypt communications transmitted across the Internet. • Reduces unnecessary traffic on the firm’s corporate network by sending only traffic destined for the network through the DirectAccess server (running Windows Server 2008 R2), or the administrator can choose to send all traffic through the corporate network. 3. BranchCache: Improves application responsiveness and increase branch office productivity For law firms with several locations, BranchCache in Windows 7 can help increase network responsiveness of applications, providing users in remote offices an experience more like working in the head office. When accessing content stored on Windows Server 2008 R2, professionals working in a branch office won't need to wait as long to download files from headquarters. When IT enables BranchCache, a copy of data accessed from an intranet web site or a file server is cached locally within the branch office. When another professional on the same network requests the file, the user gets access to the content almost immediately as it is downloaded from the local cache rather than over a limited bandwidth connection back to headquarters.
Additional functions that BranchCache delivers include: • Ensures that content is served to users who have the right permissions and always checks to make sure it is delivering the latest version of the file. • Decreases bandwidth utilization between headquarters and the branch since BranchCache only caches read requests. It will never interfere with a user saving a file. • Works seamlessly with network security technologies, including SSL, SMB Signing, and IPsec to improve application performance even if the content is encrypted. 4. AppLocker: Helps to prevent unauthorized software from running for better control of user desktops It’s what every law firm strives to avoid: the download of unauthorized software. It can cause a higher incidence of malware infections, generate more help desk calls and undermine efforts to standardize the firm’s desktops. With the vast number of applications available on the Web, IT professionals need sophisticated tools to ensure that the firm’s professional users work with only approved, licensed software. Windows 7 offers new application control policies with AppLocker, a flexible, easy-to-use mechanism that enables IT professionals to specify exactly what is allowed to run on user desktops.
Additional key benefits that AppLocker delivers include: • Restricts unauthorized software while allowing applications, installation programs, and scripts that users’ need so that IT professionals can realize the security, operational, and compliance benefits of application standardization. • Provides simple, rule-based structures for specifying which applications can run that are centrally managed using Group Policy. It introduces "publisher rules" that are based on an application's digital signature, making it possible to build strong rules that account for application updates. • Supports the creation and execution of correctly structured rules enabling IT professionals to safely deploy updates to allowed applications without having to build a new rule for each version update. 5. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: Supports the deployment of virtual desktops more efficiently and with an improved user experience. Delivering desktop functionality using virtual machines hosted on servers—a solution known as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)—is an emerging model at law firms for desktop deployment. The benefit of this fast evolving technology is that it enables users to access their desktops remotely, thereby centralizing data, applications, and operating systems. Windows 7 delivers the latest enhancements for VDI to provide a richer user experience and easier management for IT.
Additional functions supported include: • Provides users with an experience that is closer to a local PC experience. It supports the Windows Aero interface, video viewing in Windows Media Player 11, and multiple-monitor configurations. New microphone support enables remote desktops running Windows 7 Enterprise to provide voice over IP (VoIP) and speech recognition functionality. And, the new Easy Print technology enables users to print to local printers without the need to install printer drivers on the server. • Provides common tools for physical and virtual images so that IT professionals can use the same Windows image management tools and processes to manage both native WIM-based system images and Windows 7-based virtual machine images (VHDs). This enables offline servicing of VHD files to add, remove and enumerate patches, language packs, drivers and other components of the operating system image.
According to today's Times newspaper, the Land Registry will today announce a further 1500 job cuts (this is in addition to the 1000 voluntary redundancies and transfers to other department effected earlier this year) plus the closure of at least a quarter of its regional offices, in preparation for a possible sale to the private sector next year, as part of the UK government's planned 'car boot-sale' disposal of public assets. There will also be a 12 week consultation period, ending in January, plus possible further cuts as the agency out-sources non-core functions.
The Land Registry reported a £130 million loss last year although its chief executive received a pay rise of 13% to circa £175-£180,000. Along with the decline in revenues from property transactions, The Times says the failure of the Land Registry's 'multi-million pound' Chain Matrix e-conveyancing system also contributed to its financial problems.
Readers will recall that it seems like only a year ago – hang about it was only a year ago – that the Land Registry was entering into competition with private sector suppliers of SDLT services and outlining plans for an expansion of the Chain Matrix to encompass the entire conveyancing process. So, who will buy it? Apart from the usual suspects (LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters) the only other name that springs to mind is MDA (MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates) who are already a major player in the UK property search and NLIS hub/channels sector.
A key finding in the Third Annual ESI Trends Report, an
independent study commissioned by Kroll Ontrack, highlights a
serious risk and a false sense of security that the existence of a
document retention policy is adequate to protect organisations when
litigation or other events requiring ESI strikes. So, although a strong majority in the UK and USA (80% in the UK and 87% in the US) have a document retention policy but a much smaller number (41% in the UK and 46% in the US) claim to have an ESI (electronically stored information) discovery readiness strategy.
This year’s survey also reveals only 14% of UK and 28% of US companies strongly agree their ESI discovery policy or strategy is repeatable and defensible. And, only 39% of UK and 57%t of US companies have a mechanism to preserve potentially relevant data when litigation or a regulatory investigation occurs. Without an identified means to suspend the expulsion of potentially responsive data, many companies are not positioned to execute proper preservation protocol or claim their ESI discovery readiness policy is effective. “The economic downturn forced corporations to determine how to effectively and adequately defend organisational assets with fewer resources,” said Kristin Nimsger, president of Kroll Ontrack. “The best way for corporations to ‘do more with less’ is to implement sensible ESI preparedness strategies. Planning will not only prevent an ESI discovery misstep, but also serve as a corporation’s best discovery cost savings strategy. Furthermore, having a sound document retention policy is an important step, but without a reliable mechanism to ensure that the policy is properly implemented and, more importantly, may be suspended in response to litigation, companies are still at risk. Testing the defensibility of practices and policies before they are challenged in a legal proceeding is also highly advisable.”
The survey also shows that 54% of UK and 63% of US companies believe the need to produce ESI for litigation and or an investigation has increased in the past 12 months. Despite this, less than half of companies in the UK and US have updated their ESI discovery policies to include newly utilised corporate technologies and channels such as virtualization and social networking sites. Moreover, UK and US. businesses report experiencing an average of at least one data breach annually, proving effective ESI risk management is further complicated by security considerations.
“Policies are only effective when they are kept up-to-date to include the tools, devices and communications their organisations are utilizing,” said Martin Carey, managing director for Kroll Ontrack UK “Sound planning does not stop with document retention and discovery readiness policies. In today’s environment, data security risks must be taken into account and addressed in a company’s document retention and ESI discovery readiness policies and strategies.”
Despite shortcomings, the survey does reveal a continued evolution with respect to ESI discovery readiness strategy creation and enforcement ownership. Companies both in the UK and US are looking to IT and legal to co-own this task, a drastic change from the inaugural report, when in-house counsel owned this function. Moreover, three quarters of businesses in the UK and US claim IT and legal teams are effectively working together to respond to ESI discovery requests. This relationship is not without its challenges. IT are feeling the brunt of the work following the implementation of ESI discovery readiness policies, and time restraints, differences in day-to-day priorities as well as technical and legal expertise discrepancies were cited as the top collaboration challenges amongst both IT and legal.
“While IT and legal have joined forces and taken steps in the right direction, there is still work to be done,” added Carey. “Collaborating to create policies is one thing, but sound implementation, enforcement and management requires regular communication, cooperation and a lot of patience.”
• The survey was conducted by Research Plus on behalf of Kroll Ontrack. A
total of 461 online interviews were conducted amongst IT and inhouse
counsel within commercial businesses, 231 of which were in the USA and
230 of which were in the UK. Interviews were completed between June and
August 2009. To see the results in entirety, visit www.krollontrack.com/library/esitrends3_krollontrack2009uk.pdf
• In the UK, the recent case of Timothy Duncan Earles -v- Barclays Bank Plc – and the decision to penalise Barclays – is a sharp reminder of the need for companies to have thorough and effective disclosure readiness strategies in place. Judges now expect companies to have clear policies to justify their actions and if documents are missing and there is no plausible explanation the court can draw adverse inferences and impose severe penalties. With the threat of litigation likely to increase over the coming months companies need to ensure that they have a document retention policy in place and are ESI discovery readiness.
Integreon, a provider of knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and legal process outsourcing (LPO), today announced that international law firm Simmons & Simmons has signed a 12 month agreement with Integreon to provide offshore legal support services, including document review, due diligence, document production, and research services. Integreon has appointed an initial team of five dedicated lawyers for Simmons & Simmons but the agreement provides for additional lawyers to join the team as needed to provide flexible capacity and accommodate growth.
Simmons & Simmons will outsource research and document review work, in turn freeing the firm’s associates to focus on higher level legal efforts and provide greater value service for its clients. Integreon will support the firm from its secure, 24/7 Mumbai (India) facilities, resulting in cost savings in the region of 50 percent for the firm. The firm will pilot the project from its London office, and then roll it out as needed to other offices.
“This decision by Simmons & Simmons reflects a general trend of the unbundling of legal services by law firms and their acceptance and growing adoption of the LPO model,” said John Croft, president of global sales and marketing at Integreon. “By outsourcing lower end work to Integreon, Simmons & Simmons will be able to focus more on their core legal business, serving their clients with the same level of quality they have come to expect over the years, but now at a significantly lower cost to their clients. We are also able to give them the flexibility to scale up and down as needed.”
“It is an explicit commitment in our strategy to be a firm that is embracing different ways of working, so that we can deliver greater value to our clients. The LPO project is one step on that road. It will be piloted from London but rolled out to other offices where there is a demand,” said Mark Dawkins, managing partner, Simmons & Simmons. “Our clients will appreciate the fact that we have taken measures to cut costs, but at the same time, continue to provide them with efficient and high quality services that can be adapted to their needs. We are a firm driven by client relationships.”
International law firm Fulbright & Jaworski LLP has published the results of its 6th Annual Litigation Trends Survey. The report includes responses from over 400 corporate counsel – with a good mix of US and UK responses – and looks at how has the economic crisis changed the way corporate counsel approach litigation budgeting, cost management and alternative fee arrangements, as well as considering whether historical trends changing in labor and employment litigation, class actions and e-discovery practices? Other topics included questions looking at bribery, corruption and 'whistle-blower' issues.
Among the results that caught our eye were...
• the fact that the two areas of litigation practice where corporate counsel and inhouse legal departments are least satisfied with the services provided outside counsel/law firms were budget forecast and cost management. Clearly some law firms still don't realise the market has changed.
• and, when it came to e-discovery and securing corporate information, this was the response of organisations to blocking their own internal network users from accessing the following social networking/Web 2.0 services:
Generally, insurance and financial services are the most active blockers. One-third of financial service companies have no restrictions, about the same as the energy and health care sectors. The most liberal sector for social networking is technology/communications with more than half reporting no restrictions.
Fulbright & Jaworski is also holding a one-hour global webinar on Tuesday 3rd November to discuss the findings of the survey – the start times range from 10:00am PDT to 6:00pm GMT. To register email Jessica Schwartz at jnschwartz@fulbright.com Please include your name, title, company, phone number and email address. There is no charge for the webinar and log-in information will be emailed to a day prior to the conference.
