Storage protection firm Iron Mountain will purchase Boston-based Accutrac Software to enhance its existing records management software. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Accutrac XE software will be assimilated to offer new automation tools such as file indexing and classification, location tracking, records delivery request automation, archive reporting and a new set of search and filtering tools.
Iron Mountain's best known facility resides in a former limestone mine near Butler, Pennsylvania. Iron Mountain also offers private shredding services for customers wanting to remove a paper trail. In May, Iron Mountain purchased its privately held rival ArchivesOne. The company has also purchased several small shredding and records management businesses in North America and the UK.
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Wednesday, June 27
Iron Mountain to buy Accutrac
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 27 Jun 2007 15:03 BST
Min of Justice select audio conferencing service
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 27 Jun 2007 00:43 BST
BT has been selected as an approved audio conferencing provider by the Ministry of Justice. The service – called BT Legal Hearings – is an easy-to-use, secure audio conferencing service that allows law firms to book audio conference court hearings
either by phone or by its new bespoke website booking service – visit www.conferencing.bt.com/legal Users can book, amend and update telephone hearing calls online in real time. Under the recently revised contained Civil Procedure Rules, telephone hearings will now become the default position unless otherwise ordered by the court for • Allocation & listing hearings • Interim applications, case management conferences & pre-trial reviews with a time estimate of less than one hour • Any other application with the consent of the court and all parties. Users of BT Legal Hearings receive instant confirmation emailed to them when they book their calls online. When the call is due to take place, an agent will phone all parties involved and then conference in the judge. Account set-up is free and can be managed online 24/7, users will be able to view their bills online and allow them to cross-reference calls to bill back to individual client accounts. Emma Rice, Procurement Manager, Ministry of Justice said: “BT’s Legal Hearing service will enable the Courts and legal profession to benefit from innovative technologies to use a secure, online, one stop shop service for those conducting legal telephone hearings which is now required for certain types of civil hearings. The service will allow users to book and manage all their legal hearings online which will help to increase efficiency, reduce associated travel cost and enable secure recording and costing transparency to all our members”. Friday, June 22
Like the undead, the willwriters come back to haunt Quill Computers
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 22 Jun 2007 18:31 BST
First a bit of ancient history... back in 1993 (before the Insider and Orange Rag were even a gleam in my eye - says Charles Christian) I wrote a piece for The Law Society Gazette about the fact the then Department of Trade & Industry had successfully applied to the High Court to have a company called Quill Wills wound up "in the public interest". Quill Wills were a will writing operation that had been selling franchises to unwitting punters and the DTi alleged the sales brochures used to promote the franchise opportunities were "false, misleading and deceptive". This was in fact the third Quill company to cease trading in a period of two years, the others being the Quill Will Bank and Quill Testamentary Services.
All this came as a great relief to Tony Landes, the founder and managing director of the legal software supplier Quill Computer Systems – a company that never had any connection whatsoever with either Quill Wills or will writing services generally. Fast forward 14 years and the Quill wills business seems to have risen from the dead and is now trading as an online entity, called the Quill Group (not a UK registered company) based in that well-known centre for testamentary practice – the island of Lanzarote (in the Canaries). Its principals are a Simon and Jenny Harris – who may or may not be related to the Nicolas and Jennifer Harris who were directors in the old Quill Wills business. The new Quill wills business says it is a member of both the Willwriters Association and the Association of Lawyers & Legal Advisors – the latter organisation claiming that its members are accredited to a similar degree as solicitors. No, we've never heard of them either – which is not surprising as both organisations appear to be run by a Simon Harris. And, just for the record, the official professional body for willwriters in the UK is the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) – which was actually set up to clean up the industry's act in the aftermath of the original Quill Wills debacle. Also, not surprisingly, Simon Harris is not a member of the IPW and an Orange Rag source said "he would probably be lynched if he ever turned up at an IPW meeting". All of which brings us back to Quill Computer Systems (and its legitimately UK registered holding company Quill Group Ltd) who would like to point out that just as they were not connected to the Quill Wills business in the 1990s, so they are still not related to them now. On a more serious note Tony Landes says "We have three main concerns: firstly, we are receiving irate telephone calls from clients of the other company, asking for their wills; secondly, we don't want our customers (who are solicitors) to think that we are in competition with them in offering will writing services; and thirdly, we don't want our reputation compromised by association."
Has he gone - did he jump or was he pushed ?
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 22 Jun 2007 17:30 BST
We're currently hearing reports that a well-known and senior director of a legal software supplier has just been given his marching orders and is currently clearing his desk and/or consulting his solicitors. As soon as we have independent corroboration for this story (we have to tread carefully here as the individual in question takes himself very seriously) we will post it on the blog however this may take a few days as the Insider is going to be in Las Vegas next week covering the Elite user group conference.
Wednesday, June 20
June issue of Insider out now
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 20 Jun 2007 12:27 BST
The June issue (No.199) of Legal Technology Insider is out now – the digital version is already in over 4000 mailboxes while the hard copy version will be landing on 2000 desktops from Thursday this week. The latest issue is our biggest yet: 12 pages plus our special Insider Corporate Legal supplement for corporate legal departments.
Please note that although we can accept breaking news up to around 12:00 noon on the Monday before publication, because we usually have more stories than space, the sooner stories are submitted, the more chance they have of being published. Our next issue is out on 19th July so stories in during the week commencing Monday 9th July please. Monday, June 18
Research reveals high expectations inhouse counsel have of their external advisers
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 18 Jun 2007 13:36 BST
New research issued today by Grant Thornton's Forensic and Investigation Services practice has revealed the high expectations inhouse counsel have of their external dispute resolution lawyers aside from the outcome of their disputes. It has also revealed what it is that they really want from a client servicing perspective and how they judge their legal providers.
As expenditure on external dispute resolution has continued to sky rocket, management have sought to bring spiralling business costs under control. It is no surprise that managing costs was the most important factor cited by in-house counsel. However, inhouse counsel also want their law firms to understand their businesses' strategic objectives, recommend options, predict outcomes and manage their expectations – all of which supported by regular and clear communication. Toni Pincott, a partner in Grant Thornton's Forensic & Investigation Services practice, says "While this may appear to be an exhaustive list of criteria that law firms need to fulfil, inhouse counsel have high expectations which they believe should be met by their legal providers. It is essential that law firms understand they are being judged on more than just the outcome of the cases they work on or the size of their bills. It is also imperative that firms understand how they are performing in the eyes of their clients and that there is disparity between how they think they are performing and how well they are really doing." she continues. What inhouse counsel want The research highlighted that in-house counsel believe managing costs is the most important factor (outside of the result of a case) when assessing a law firm's performance. The inhouse counsel surveyed gave law firms a score of 55% when it came to managing their costs, whereas when asked to grade their own performance, lawyers gave themselves a score of 71%. "The majority of firms understand how important cost is to inhouse counsel and have begun to address this in recent years. However providing a service which delivers strong value for money is not a new concept and this disparity in results highlights the fact that firms are clearly not meeting inhouse counsel's wider needs and expectations. It also suggests that they don't understand how important the parameter of cost really is in terms of what the whole package needs to look like," says Pincott. "As the traditional litigation market continues to shrink, and inhouse legal teams continue to grow, law firms will have to compete more and more for their share of the work. Our research suggest that this will result in a situation whereby inhouse counsel will naturally gravitate towards firms that meet their needs and provide added value. In the future, those firms that manage to control their costs, and in the process satisfy their inhouse legal clients, will be the ones most likely to survive in the shrinking disputes resolution environment." Commerciality The second most important factor to inhouse counsel was law firms' ability to demonstrate they understood the strategic objectives of the business and that they acted in a commercial manner; in effect demonstrating that they want to get closer to their inhouse clients, which in turn will allow in-house counsel to get closer to the business managers. Inhouse counsel gave law firms a score of 79% for their strategic and commercial performance, and law firms thought they attained a mark of 81%. "This time, the results were very close, showing that law firms have made significant in-roads to address the issue of acting commercially, however, they still have some way to go to achieving that elusive score of 100%," says Pincott. "Going forward, the challenge will be for external dispute resolution lawyers to see the bigger picture – not just knowing the clients business, but also understanding the politics, sensitivities and the business landscape in which they operate." Alternative disputes resolution and early resolution Over the past few years, there has been a huge cultural shift in the UK, and law firms claim that they do their best to persuade their clients from going to court. However inhouse lawyers have a very different view of the situation, giving them a performance score of 70% when it came to suggesting the use of alternative dispute resolution. In terms of ranking their own performance, law firms thought they deserved a score of 89% – the biggest disparity the research highlighted. A similar pattern emerged when focusing on early resolution, inhouse counsel gave law firms a score of 69% and law firms gave themselves a performance score of 86%. "Inhouse counsel are suspicious that law firms are not financially motivated to recommend alternative dispute resolution, yet lawyers quote high percentages of early resolution cases they have worked on," continues Pincott. "At the end of the day law firms and inhouse counsel are always going to be a little bit 'chalk and cheese' however they need to learn to embrace their differences, and how to work together now and in the future. The 'Holy Grail' team would be one that includes a seamless team of in-house lawyers, the business itself and external lawyers." • The next issue of Insider Corporate Legal – Legal Technology Insider's regular supplement for inhouse legal departments and corporate counsel – will be published later this week. Saturday, June 16
MDA say no sell off plans
by
Charles Christian
on Sat 16 Jun 2007 09:20 BST
MDA (see yesterday's story) have stated that no discussions are underway regarding a divestiture of all or a portion of the company. However brokers Scotia Capital say "Our view is that this does not necessarily mean that discussions have not occurred in the past or preclude them from occurring in the future."
Friday, June 15
More rumours - this time MDA and ALM
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 15 Jun 2007 07:47 BST
Another day and another set of rumours about takeovers and deals. First up its MDA (MacDonald Detwiller & Associates) which is best known in the UK legal market for its operations in the NLIS search, HIPs and property sectors. According to brokers Scotia Capital, there are reports that the company is about to sell of its ISG (Information Systems Group) for approx US$1 billion. This division operates in the defence and aerospace arenas, so likely bidders are Boeing, Lockheed and Raytheon. So, great for MDA and with such a large stash of cash, this can only strengthen their potential in the property market.
The next set of rumours relates to American Lawyer Media, which went up for sale earlier this year. According to the latest reports, at least four private equity firms are in the final round of bidding for the publisher of The American Lawyer, with a deal expected to exceed US$700 million. These include Avista Capital Partners and Elevation Partners, the media-focused buyout firm founded by U2 lead singer Bono. Other possible suitors are Investcorp and Incisive Media (best known in the UK legal world as the owners of Legal Week) which was acquired by the VC group Apax Partners last year. An announcement is expected over the next month or so but there is no truth that the keynote at next year's Legal Tech New York will be a short live set by U2. Thursday, June 14
Norwich Union to use Clear Technology for case management
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 14 Jun 2007 14:27 BST
Clear Technology has been chosen as strategic supplier to Norwich Union Insurance, the UK’s largest insurer. Under the terms of the agreement, Clear will help Norwich Union Insurance manage its Third Party Claims across multiple key business areas. The relationship is expected to reduce Norwich Union Insurance’s processing costs, improve processing capacity and enhance customer service levels.
“Norwich Union Insurance is dedicated to providing the very best in customer service and efficiency,” said Dominic Clayden, director of technical claims, Norwich Union Insurance. “Clear offers us an effective work management proposition that means we can focus our attention on the things we do best, giving the right level of compensation to the right customers at all times. What this system gives us is an enterprise view of data, which is essential for improving efficiency. With Clear, Norwich Union Insurance has a real opportunity to monitor processing performance and to use this information to drive shorter, more effective procedures when handling Personal Injury related claims.” Clear has published a white paper discussing the issues surrounding Third Party Claims Management. For a copy of this paper please contact Karen Bewick on +44 (0)207 300 6233 or go to www.clear-technology.co.uk/solutions_insurance_injury.php Wednesday, June 13
More MBOs and bids on the way
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 13 Jun 2007 09:37 BST
Hot on the heels of the latest CSG deal, we have two more announcements of changes (an MBO at MessageLabs) or at least potential changes (a bid for Civica) within the legal technology space.
The MessageLabs Group has announced that Star Technology Services one of the UK’s largest independent business-to-business Internet Services Providers (ISP), will separate from the Group by way of a sale to its management team led by Ben White, the business’s founder and Chief Executive Officer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Star Technology Services will now operate independently under the management team already in place. As well as CEO of the newly separated Star, Ben White will also retain his role as Chief Strategy Officer of MessageLabs and Vice Chairman of the Board. For its financial year ended July 2006 MessageLabs Group reported revenue of £91.2m ($173m) representing an increase of 23% over the previous year. This comprised of £45.8 million ($87 million) in revenue for Star and £49.7 million ($94.4 million) for MessageLabs. MessageLabs is now extending its profitability and has steadily increased its service offerings, global presence and leadership position; 2006 represented its fifth consecutive year of annual growth in excess of thirty-five percent. “MessageLabs Group’s decision to separate sister companies Star and MessageLabs will enable both companies to focus independently and more strategically on future growth. The sale of Star should also provide additional funding for MessageLabs continued expansion beyond email security,” said David Morrison, Chairman of MessageLabs Group. “I am confident that both MessageLabs and Star have very exciting futures ahead of them.” And Civica – at one time a major player in the legal PMS and case management systems arena through its Galaxy Legal range – has announced that it received an unsolicited preliminary approach from a private equity fund. Discussions are at an early stage and this approach may or may not lead to an offer being made for the Company. There can be no certainty that an offer will be made. A further announcement will be made in due course. Shareholders are advised to take no action at this stage. Civica has also published its trading figures for the 6 months to 31st March 2007. Turnover increased 11 per cent to £62.8 million. Operating profit before amortisation, exceptional items and Long Term Incentive Plan charges rose to £9.0 million, which represents an increase of 15 per cent over the same period for the previous year. The proportion of revenues derived from owned software related activities has continued to increase in line with group strategy. Turnover from these activities was up by 33 per cent during the period supporting a growth in gross margin percentage to 62.9 per cent (2006: 51.4 per cent) and an increase in operating profit margin to 14.3 per cent (2006: 13.8 per cent). Basic earnings per share grew to 9.6 pence. The statutory operating profit was £2.4 million (2006: operating loss £1.4 million). |
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