According to the results of research released by ZyLAB (www.zylab.co.uk) today, 88% of FTSE 100 companies are at risk of litigation due to their susceptibility to a number of risk factors, including a history of litigation, operating in litigation-heavy areas, and being directly consumer-facing, with almost a quarter (24%) found to be ‘high risk’ across industries including energy, travel and pharmaceutical.
The research assessed each FTSE 100 company’s vulnerability to ten key risk factors, a mix of industry and company-specific considerations previously known to heighten the chance of litigation, and then each company was given a score out of ten. (Companies that scored 1-3 were identified as ‘low risk’, 4-6 as ‘medium risk’ and 7-10 as ‘high risk’.) Key drivers for assessing this risk and preparing effectively include the ability to prevent legal and accounting fees which have cost companies like Siemens £850m (see report http://www.forbes.com/global/2010/0607/companies-payoffs-washington-extortion-mendelsohn-bribery-racket_2.html) in a bid to determine whether it had violated anti-corruption regulations.
Other key findings from the research include:
• Energy companies in the FTSE 100 scored the highest risk rating, averaging 7.75 out of 10, closely followed by travel (7.5) and pharmaceutical companies (7.5), partly driven by the heightened risk of providing consumer services and products and operating in an environmentally sensitive area, which was only recently demonstrated by BP being sued £3bn for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Finance companies also scored highly (7), which could be down to increased market volatility and heavy regulation, following the recent banking crisis.
• Almost two thirds (62%) of the FTSE 100 have previously been sued or initiated legal action, highlighting the increasingly litigious environment, and with 65% of the FTSE 100 having US offices and 88% global operations, this inclination to sue could get worse in line with the highly litigious nature of the US and complexities of international legal requirements.
• 92% of the FTSE 100 were found to have disparate information channels across the business eg twitter, email and paper, and with the growing use of non-searchable multimedia platforms like YouTube and technologies which move data outside the organisation, such as cloud computing, organisations could be storing up a huge problem if requested to provide information to meet legal requirements.
• Almost a quarter (21%) of FTSE 100 companies have a lower share price today than they did a year ago, indicating increased pressure from shareholders to improve the financial position of the company. In line with Fulbright’s 2009 Litigation Trends Report which revealed that “repercussions from the economic downturn are chief among the reasons for expecting more litigation”, increased financial pressure could imply these FTSE 100 companies are more inclined to take out legal action for cases that otherwise might be more easily resolved.
• Only 12% of FTSE 100 companies were judged to be ‘low risk’, with real estate and retail companies amongst the lucky few. With international budget cuts affecting revenue opportunities and diminishing consumer spending power, these organisations could however find themselves rapidly moving into higher risk categories.
|
|
||||
|
Tuesday, August 31
High levels of litigation risk reported
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 31 Aug 2010 09:06 BST
Thursday, August 26
Harper Macleod report success with Pilgrim auto-billing
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 26 Aug 2010 12:42 BST
Scottish commercial law firm Harper Macleod has recently overhauled its billing system by significantly increasing the use of Pilgrim LawSoft Auto Billing. Bills are now generated automatically by LawSoft, which provides a seamless, consistent and transparent process that allows clients to receive their documentation faster. By removing the manual steps in the billing process, the margin for human error is also removed, meaning communications with clients are always accurate.
Gary Sorley, Information Systems Director, comments “Harper Macleod has always been known as a law firm with a business mind and that’s why we’re continually investing in our technology and systems. LawSoft is another integral part of our vision to better serve our clients and improve efficiencies.” Nicola White, Harper Macleod’s Operations Director, adds “By introducing LawSoft Auto Billing, we’ve made substantial time savings. Less time spent on billing administration is more time spent serving our clients – which is the most important goal for us. It is suitably flexible to be applied to a range of different clients and different departments with confidence. We aim to achieve near 100% auto billing in the coming year.”
Farrer & Co reports on its Streamline implementation
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 26 Aug 2010 09:00 BST
LexisNexis today announced that London-based Farrer & Co LLP, has implemented its first bespoke international networking solution using the LexisNexis Streamline best-of-breed rapid application development platform. This new solution, developed to support the ‘Farrer International Lawyer Network’ programme, is improving Farrer & Co’s international networking ability by allowing the firm to actively develop relationships with lawyers across the globe for potential collaboration opportunities.
Farrer & Co has used the rapid developmental capabilities offered by the LexisNexis Streamline platform to customise its LexisNexis InterAction CRM, within which all the international lawyer network contacts reside. An early adopter of LexisNexis Streamline, Farrer & Co chose the solution for its unrestricted developmental capabilities, flexible workflow, document assembly and powerful systems integration ability. “LexisNexis Streamline is a good complement to our existing technology systems,” Neil Davison, Head of Information Technology, Farrer & Co LLP, commented. “It offers us the ability to easily enhance and extend the functionality of our existing applications. This platform also provides us with the capability to quickly and cost effectively develop new solutions in response to market demand, which is crucial in today’s rapidly evolving legal business environment. In the long run, we will maximise the return on our technology investments.” Utilising the standard ‘Development Frameworks’ offered by LexisNexis Streamline, which enables firms to extend the functionality of their existing best-of-breed applications, Farrer & Co has leveraged the LexisNexis InterAction Framework to broaden the ‘contact creation’ process of its CRM solution. The firm has redeveloped the LexisNexis InterAction ‘new contact wizard’, adding new information fields for data capture such as area of expertise of lawyers, the countries they reside in the specific legal networking groups they belong to and history of collaborative work undertaken by Farrer & Co’s lawyers with international lawyers and firms. This data, captured via a single web interface, is increasing the accuracy and enhancing the quality of information residing within LexisNexis InterAction. This information is also assisting the firm with new business development activities in other geographies. The wizard can be extended further, capturing more detailed information on expert witnesses and other specialised contacts. LexisNexis Streamline will play a crucial role in the firm’s long term IT strategy to bring together its core legal applications to reduce operational inefficiencies and deliver enhanced client service. The solution will create a seamless, integrated business environment by linking together the firm’s existing best-of-breed applications including Aderant practice management system, OpenText document management system and InterAction CRM system along with its Microsoft SharePoint intranet. “With the Legal Services Act 2007 opening up the UK legal market, firms have the opportunity to expand their businesses across borders. However, the current economic climate coupled with increasing regulation means that firms need to operate in a more competitive, enterprise-like manner. Underpinning business with flexible, future-proof technology can help firms to achieve operational efficiency and devise innovative ways of working to meet growth targets. As an early adopter of technology, Farrer & Co is well ahead of the curve,” Tim Cheadle, General Manager, LexisNexis UK Enterprise Solutions, added. Using the LexisNexis Streamline platform, Farrer & Co has already commenced work to rationalise and automate the firm’s client and matter inception process. This project will be followed by the creation of a fee earner portal for client and matter management, which will give fee earners access to all relevant, contextualised information across the firm’s business systems, from a single user interface. The portal will eliminate the need for fee earners to log into disparate systems, enhancing productivity and ultimately improving client service. Tuesday, August 24
FWBS claims 'designed for iPad' legal functionality first
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 24 Aug 2010 10:41 BST
FWBS claims it has taken a significant step beyond the current crop of legal apps-on-Citrix-on-iPad implementations with the new ‘designed for iPad’ version of the MatterSphere solution it launched earlier this year.
MatterSphere, which extends the FWBS MatterCentre’s focus to the cloud, providing law firms and legal departments with anywhere access to client and matter data, access via a rich graphical interface rather than HTML. The new iPad launch now means legal professionals can be provided with a rich user experience, utilising the latest in advanced touch screen technology to: • manage documents • time recording (both live and batch updating) • and firm wide search capabilities. Mark Craddock, FWBS sales & marketing director said “Utilising MatterCentre and MatterSphere technology through their iPad device will provide our customers with a competitive edge, and greater efficiency. The ability to remotely access firm wide client and matter data, time record, exchange and upload documents from external clients, and speed through their workloads, all through iPad’s innovative touch screen interface is set to provide greater scope for how legal professionals are able to work. “FWBS are delighted to be providing productivity gains to fee earners firm wide, with ease of adoption. The launch of MatterSphere, and its compatibility with the iPad devices, is the next step forward in MatterCentre’s continued development.” Monday, August 23
LexisNexis in document assembly deal with Business Integrity
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 23 Aug 2010 09:26 BST
LexisNexis UK and Business Integrity, a leading provider of document assembly solutions, today announced a strategic partnership to deliver complete document assembly services. Business Integrity’s ContractExpress document automation technology is to be used to power LexisNexis online services. This will allow LexisNexis customers to benefit from increased efficiencies in their document production processes, as well as protecting organisations from the risk of using out-of-date information.
The first product from this partnership will be the addition of the Lexis Smart automated precedents capability to Lexis PSL, the practical guidance solution providing legal intelligence to lawyers across all UK practices. Commenting on the announcement, Josh Bottomley, Managing Director of LexisNexis UK said: “This marks an exciting development for lawyers throughout the UK, and the next step in the delivery of our Legal Intelligence vision. Lexis PSL customers can now access LexisNexis expert content with the ease and simplicity of best-in-class document assembly. This will save them time and effort drafting documents and enable them to cover more issues, in more depth, adding more value to their end clients.” Richard Newton, VP Europe at Business Integrity added, “We are delighted to work with LexisNexis, and share their vision for the future of legal services. The combination of first-rate content and automated document creation offers lawyers a compelling solution to better meet their clients’ needs.” Available from September 2010 onwards, the new Lexis Smart capability will automate over 130 frequently-used precedents across nine practice areas, within the Lexis PSL practical guidance service. Using Q&A-style drafting, context-sensitive guidance and drop-down menus speeds up the process of document creation and also enables junior staff to handle more work, helping firms to increase their efficiency and profitability. Wednesday, August 18
Guest article: is social networking in the workplace a ticking bomb?
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 18 Aug 2010 09:33 BST
by Alistair Purdy, senior partner, Purdy FitzGerald Solicitors
As social networking and collaboration tools that started out in the home start to become more acceptable in the workplace it appears that the business environment as we know it is gradually changing. One thing is certain; a major change in business culture brings new risks. As social data is shared between increasing numbers of sites the question of ownership becomes almost impossible to track. Early signs indicate that employers and employees alike are convinced that they own their social data. Perhaps it is time to ask some pertinent questions. For example, does social networking at work carry hidden legal challenges for both individuals and companies with potential for conflict? Are advances in technology once again outpacing the legal system? And if so, to what extent may companies be sitting on a ticking legal time bomb? The more business embraces social networking techniques to spread their messages and build their brands the more the dividing lines between personal and company data are becoming blurred. It is not unusual for a piece of information originating from one employee in one company to pass through various social networking sites becoming retouched as it does so. The legal position is at a very early stage of development. To date legal cases involving disputes between employees and employers over who owns that data have tended to favour the employer. In an early case involved the UK arm of a US business to business media publishing group (PennWell Publishing v Ornstein) it was ruled that the employer owned the Outlook contacts of a former journalist employee even though this list contained both work and personal contacts some of which had been brought to the company by the employee. This blurring between work and personal data has since spread far and wide. In another case (involving a former Hays employee) a recruitment consultant moved confidential contact information to his LinkedIn account. The court reported that the consultant had planned to set up his own company in direct competition using the contact database concerned. He had thought that once the contacts had been invited to connect to him and they had accepted on LinkedIn, their contact information ceased to be confidential because it had been seen by all his other contacts. This decision was one of the first to highlight the tension between businesses encouraging employees to use social networking websites for work but then claiming that the contacts and content remain confidential information at the end of their employment. It is a sign of things to come. Sooner or later firms face the very real danger that employees or former employees will routinely contest data ownership issues in the courts. An audit of 200 SMBs worldwide by the Internet filtering software company SpamTitan Technologies earlier this year revealed significant gaps in the measures firms are taking to protect themselves. Almost every company in the survey allowed Internet access and some social networking applications in the workplace. But while 76.4 percent said Web filtering, which helps companies define and manage policies for Web browsing at work, was important around half (49 per cent) of all respondents admitted not using one. At least 50 per cent of those without filtering said they were taking positive steps to secure themselves against the possibility of either attack or employee misunderstanding in respect of social networking applications. A further 16 per cent who had not yet done anything were intending to do something about it in the next 12 months. This still leaves a significant proportion doing nothing at all. Developments taking place in the US and the EU could soon provide a greater legal imperative for companies adopt formal social media policies. One such initiative is 2015.eu which calls for a charter of individuals’ Internet rights and aims to entitle Internet users to demand their information is removed from company systems even if it was collected with their consent. Elsewhere the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently warned that even positive statements by employees in social media postings may constitute endorsements or testimonials and create liability for companies. With so much information being posted online and shared the boundaries will continue to become increasingly vague. Companies need to introduce policies and procedures and deploy technology to help them manage every employee’s Internet usage at the individual level. We are in a new era and it is incumbent on every company to include a corporate social media policy alongside their social networking strategy. Without such clear social media policies many employees will be unaware of their rights and employers risk being drawn into costly legal wrangles with their employees over data ownership disputes. It is important to take steps well in advance to protect yourself or company. Failure to do so will potentially leave firms with significant data ownership-related legal wrangles. To date legal cases involving disputes between employees and employers over who owns that data have tended to favour the employer, but as we have seen all that could be about to change. Companies need to get to a point where they have sufficient measures in place for managing employee behaviour at the individual level. Tuesday, August 17
New white paper from Lexis
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 17 Aug 2010 13:43 BST
The LawyerLocator division of LexisNexis UK has just published a white paper exploring the potential impact of the Legal Services Act 2007. The paper is called The Future of Small Law Firms - Jeopardy or Opportunity? Although the white paper pulls no punches in terms of the threats to the long-term survival of High Street firms, the overall tone is actually optimistic albeit with the warning that small firms will have to gt their proverbial finger out if they are to survive. See attached PDF for the text of the white paper.
 1 AttachmentsMonday, August 16
Firm turns to Pilgrim to help with volcanic ash trail
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 16 Aug 2010 13:08 BST
City based aerospace and commercial firm Gates & Partners has purchased the pioneering LawSoft graphical Rapid Application Development (RAD) module to develop a specialist tool for claims related to the Iceland volcano ash cloud phenomenon.
Partner Paul Freeman comments “In due course this tool will have a much broader application across the firm but initially it is being designed to assist us with the significant flow of claims we have been dealing with in relation to the Ash Cloud. LawSoft’s workflow application will enable us to process these claims quickly and efficiently, making substantial time savings for both the firm and our clients.” Pilgrim’s COO Colin Kennedy added “Gates & Partners’ innovative use of LawSoft’s RAD capabilities is an excellent illustration of the flexibility of our software. The graphical nature of this module allows firms to quickly map out and deploy workflow orientated applications to users.” Wednesday, August 11
The man for IRIS - the users say 'yes'
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 11 Aug 2010 11:39 BST
Just over one month ago, Doug Hargrove moved into the hot seat as the managing director of IRIS Software's Legal Services division. Since then we've been getting reports from user firms that have met him – and the feedback is all positive.
Perhaps surprisingly, his track record in retail is seen as a benefit as he is used to managing large companies that have been created by the acquisition of multiple software platforms and which now need consolidation and a clear longer term strategy. Likewise, his retail background is also seen as giving him a clear perspective on the use of IT as a means of delivering value, benefits and services to user firms and their clients – as distinct from merely being a back office administrative overhead. As the head of administration at one firm, currently on the tipping point of defecting, put it "On the strength of our meeting with Doug Hargrove, we are now prepared to include IRIS on our next ITT whereas previously we would not have even considered them." Tuesday, August 10
STEP calls for cowboy will-writers to be ridden out of town
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 10 Aug 2010 12:00 BST
Interim results from a survey published today by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), reveal the scale of the threat posed to the consumer from cowboys in the will writing market. The survey found that 75% of STEP members have encountered cases of “incompetence or dishonesty in the will writing market in the last 12 months” and prompted STEP to again call for better consumer protection.
Two thirds of respondents reported coming across hidden fees which were not outlined in the stated price for a will, and 63% had direct experience of cases where will writing companies had gone out of business and disappeared with their clients’ wills. Just over one third had encountered cases where incompetence had led to significant additional tax bills. Chief Executive David Harvey said: “This research shows how widespread cowboy will writers have become and it is clear those who charge a fee for writing a will should now be regulated. They must have an appropriate qualification, and they must have proper indemnity insurance. Soon the consumer will be protected by new regulation in Scotland and this benefit needs to be extended to cover the rest of the UK." Examples of malpractice included a company which approached young mothers in shopping malls, telling them their children would be taken into care after they died if they failed to make a will. One consumer was charged £12,000 up-front for executor services only for their family to find the firm involved had gone out of business not long after, disappearing with their wills and money. In June the Legal Services Board launched a review of the threat posed to consumers in England & Wales by unprofessional will writers and is currently seeking evidence of consumer harm. The Scottish Parliament is currently going through the process of regulating non-lawyer will writers through the Legal Services (Scotland) Bill. |
RSS Newsfeeds
Main Page RSS
UK & EMEA Legal IT News RSS
Links
Powered by BlogHarbor
 |
|||