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Thursday, December 23
We wish you all a Green & Sustainable Merry Christmas
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 23 Dec 2010 09:58 GMT
Our thanks to one of the Orange Rag's elves – Joanna Goodman – for locating this video clip from www.ClimateTalks.co.uk on how to have a greener and more ecologically sustainable Christmas. Mmmm... the smell of Tofurky (tofu ersatz turkey) – not sure about No.6's "amazing vintage things" though and we suspect No.11's hope to travel at Christmas by train may be the triumph of hope over experience...
Tuesday, December 21
New white paper on social media - surprisingly good
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 21 Dec 2010 12:24 GMT
We're getting a little cynical about the number of 'social media' experts out there whose main advice appears to be Tweet, tweet, use my consultancy services please – so we were more than a little pleased to receive this new white paper The use of social media in relationship development in the professions (lawyers, accountants & surveyors) by Kim Tasso and Peter Abraham.
The white paper is attached so you can read it yourselves but the key point is this is an objective overview of where professional services are at the moment in their use social media and how they could use it to greater advantage in the future. Given that the regulations governing marketing activities by the professions were liberated a quarter of a century, the chart reveals just how few firms regard themselves as being at the cutting edge in terms of selling and marketing. And as for social media, the vast number still see themselves as absolute beginners. Section 2 of the white paper – Best practice - defining and aligning social media best practice in professional selling – is the idea starting point/check-list/bluffers guide to take into marketing meetings and impress your colleagues. Seriously, it may help you put your organisation's social media strategy back on track, as distinct from the half-arsed attempts most law firms make of it. Section 5 – Eleven Key Lessons – is another must-read section and there is also a useful resources and reading list section at the end. All in all, well worth reading. In fact, if you don't read anything else about social media, read this. Incidentally, Kim Tasso says "As we are keen to hear comments and questions and continue the research but want to avoid convoluted email exchanges we have set up two LinkedIn groups. The second one is just for the professions and the first is for the topic in the broader markets – but you need to join both: Here's the main group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=2079375&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr Here's the sub group for the professions: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3717399&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr  1 AttachmentsMonday, December 20
One quarter of staff fiddle their expenses - who knew?
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 20 Dec 2010 11:42 GMT
GlobalExpense, who specialise in providing expenses management services to, among others, major law firms, has just published the results of a survey which suggests one quarter of expense-claiming employees exaggerate their claims. Who'd have thought it! GlobalExpense say that while this year saw 25% of employees admitting to exaggerating their expenses, last year (2009) the figure was only 15% – so either expense fiddling is on the increase or expense fiddlers are now more open about their activities?
Almost half (47%) of those that admit to having exaggerated expenses claims, inflate claims by up to £10 per month; 13% boost claims by between £11 and £20; 10% enlarge claims by between £21 and £50; and 4% magnify claims by between £51 and £100 per month. Mileage claims are the most likely to be exaggerated (22%) by those who have ever claimed expenses, followed by meals and drinks whilst away from home for work (12%); taxi fares (5%, accommodation (4%) and entertainment claims (3%). “Not only is the number of people exaggerating their expenses on the increase, but the general public’s acceptance of exaggerating expenses claims is creeping back-up to pre-MPs’ expenses scandal levels, too,” says David Vine, CEO of GlobalExpense. According to the GlobalExpense survey, nearly one quarter (22%t) of people think it is acceptable for employees to exaggerate their work expenses when claiming them back from their employer some or all of the time. Immediately after the MPs’ expenses scandal in 2009 this figure was 14%: a significant drop on pre-scandal figures of 30% in 2008 and 34% in 2007. Exaggerating expenses claims by up to 10% is considered fair by 22%t of the general public; 5% think up to 20% is acceptable, and three percent tolerate the exaggeration of claims by 21 to 50% of value. Circumstances in which people think it is acceptable to exaggerate claims include: • When the mileage rate paid by the employer doesn’t cover the actual car and fuel costs (34%) • When an employee doesn’t feel they are fully reimbursed for all the costs they have incurred (27 %) • When an employee works long hours but isn’t paid any overtime (23%) • When an employee is not paid a fair salary (16%) • When the employee’s boss claims for luxurious expenses or expenses which aren’t work related (15%) • When an employee has not had a pay rise in line with inflation (11%) GlobalExpense say that of all the people that had ever claimed expenses in the survey, only 16% had had their expense claims queried by their employer for being against the company policy and only 6% had ever had an expenses claim rejected. Other findings of the survey include: • Almost one third of bosses (30%) definitely or probably exaggerate their expenses according to respondents. • Seeing reports in the newspapers about directors that exaggerate their expenses makes 14% of people more inclined to exaggerate their own expenses claims. • 10% of people believe that an employer can afford the addition of a couple of pounds to a mileage claim and that it won’t hurt the company. • Less than a third (29%) of people believe that exaggerating expenses claims should be a sackable offence. • Young workers aged between 18 to 24 have laxest morals when it comes to exaggerating expenses claims: 33% say it is ever acceptable compared with 17% of those aged 55+. The attached PDF contains more details about the survey. 1 AttachmentsThursday, 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?
DMS round-up - revised
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 16 Dec 2010 19:13 GMT
Quick round-up on document management systems news...
• Following our report last time about OpenText announcing Microsoft Office 2010 integration, we've had a couple of legal IT directors and vendors get in touch to say "Actually Autonomy iManage did beat OpenText to Office integration". However OpenText say "No, we were first" and also check out this link – www.advdoc.com/blog/archives/140#comment-1266 – which seems to suggest that Worksite 8.5 SP2 doesn't help much in practice WorkSite 8.5 SP2 was released in mid-October, and in theory supports Office 2010. But a simple install with Office 2010 gave me no integration at all – it behaved just like WorkSite 8.5 (no SP) in terms of errors and lack of integration. • Also, for Sharepoint fans, when have more news on the Clifford Chance Sharepoint DMS project. Latest reports suggest Microsoft has contributed considerably more than £1million to the project. AND the Sword/Lewis Silkin Sharepoint DM presentation on Thursday 13th January in London will also now include a brief session by Tony DeCerce on the potential of Microsoft SharePoint 2010 as a document management system.
December issue of Legal Technology Insider newsletter out now
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 16 Dec 2010 17:00 GMT
The December issue of the Legal Technology Insider newsletter is out now – the digital editions have already landed, while the print edition is in the post. Top stories include:
• Document production the next battlefield – Workshare versus DocsCorp • Coming soon: Vinasty the sequel? • All December's wins, deals & rollouts • Fresh on the radar: 5 new products & vendors to contend with • and... John Hemming, the legal IT vendor, turned Lib-Dem MP, turned wannabe love rat of the year is our Ghost of Christmas past We also ask: Have website designers become the plumbers & white-van men of the 21st century? They don't understand other people's timescales and deadline, they charge extortionate rates – and they usually vanish before they have properly completed the job. Finally, Dilbert says what we always wondered about Christmas charities...  The next issue of the American Insider is out on the 13th January and the next UK/EMEA issue is out on 27th January.
Goodman Derrick go with Tikit for outsourcing
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 16 Dec 2010 12:27 GMT
Tikit has just announced a contract with Goodman Derrick LLP to provide all of their IT support and strategic consultation as part of a fully managed service. Tikit provides Goodman Derrick LLP with support for Tikit document production software, including Autonomy iManage and Workshare software coupled with both network infrastructure support and call handling. From Monday 20th December, Tikit will be providing a comprehensive managed service which will combine 1st, 2nd and 3rd line IT support with overall consultancy and strategic management of IT for the firm.
Commenting on the deal, John Raimbach (Director of Finance at Goodman Derrick LLP) said "We needed a single, reliable supplier that could be trusted to provide our growing organisation with a robust IT Service. This was the missing element of service which now completes our IT outsourcing strategy. After evaluating the market, we selected Tikit as our IT partner as the company has a proven track record for delivery and a strong customer service ethic." Tikit managing director David Lumsden adds "Encouragingly, Tikit has seen a major change in firms’ appetites to embrace managed services." Wednesday, December 15
Farleys in DDS swapout
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 15 Dec 2010 11:32 GMT
Manchester-based Farleys Solicitors has selected Bighand to replace its incumbent digital dictation system. The firm has deployed the DDS to 120 users across 6 sites via Terminal Services. Many fee-earners are also using the Bighand Blackberry app for mobile working. Although the announcement does not give the details, the Insider 250 Chart reveals that Farleys’ legacy DDS was a Winscribe system.
Commenting on the reasons for the switch, the firm’s IT manager Steve Garbett said “We had been using our previous DDS for a number of years but the upgrade to the latest version didn’t go smoothly. We encountered numerous technical issues which were exacerbated by us having to communicate via a reseller rather than directly with the software developer. Our reseller didn’t have access to the code required to resolve the issues, they were totally dependent on the developers, who are based on the other side of the world. This intermediary step created even greater delays and we found their lack of influence very frustrating.” • The word on the grapevine is another Winscribe site – Farrer & Co – will shortly be announcing its defection to Bighand. Tuesday, December 14
OpenText now supports Office 2010 - beats iManage
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 14 Dec 2010 06:24 GMT
OpenText has just released eDOCS DM 5.3. There are a whole raft of enhancements in the latest version of the OpenText DMS however probably the most important one is support for Microsoft Office 2010, whereas Autonomy iManage is not expected to deliver Office 2010 support until next year.
OpenText say the integration between eDOCS DM and Microsoft Office has been enhanced to give users the ability to customize their DMS experience by creating their own Microsoft Office Ribbons. This new functionality allows users to create custom Ribbons and include DM actions in them or add DM actions to their Quick Access Toolbar using standard Microsoft Office configuration options. In addition, support has been added for the new Microsoft Backstage interface to help users work with their documents. The Microsoft Word compare and merge integration has also been enhanced to allow users the ability to select from the default Comparison settings. There are more details available on the attached PowerPoint deck. 1 AttachmentsThursday, December 9
Another Eclipse case management deal
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 09 Dec 2010 13:17 GMT
Personal injury practice United Solicitors has chosen Eclipse's Proclaim case management solution for practice-wide rollout. The Manchester-based practice specialises in the full range of accident and injury claims work, including road traffic accidents, MIB (Motor Insurers’ Bureau) claims, employer liability and public liability.
The practice is taking Proclaim Personal Injury to cater for each of these specialised claim types, and is also implementing Proclaim Accounts. As part of the implementation, Eclipse is converting data from the practice’s incumbent accounts system. To assist in process automation, United Solicitors is taking Proclaim’s ATM (Automated Task Manager) tool to provide MI reporting and enable features such as workflow-led SMS text messaging. The firm is also implementing Eclipse’s Proclaim A2A module to facilitate the processing of road traffic accident claims within the Ministry of Justice’s RTA Portal framework. Mohammad Shahid, partner at United Solicitors said "There is a very strong chance that all low-value injury claims will, in future, have to be processed via the MoJ’s Portal. Eclipse is the leader in this type of development and we have the confidence that Proclaim will be up to speed with whatever legislative changes are thrown at us!" * United Solicitors are no relation to Unity Law, another recent Eclipse deal. |
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