October
sees the launch of a new Bob Dylan anthology and as part of the
promotional push, the record company has added a message generator to
the cue-card scene from D.A. Pennebaker's 1967 documentary Don't Look Back so you can post your own messages on Bob's cards.
For the record, the track is Subterranean Homesick Blues, the movie was shot in an alley behind The Savoy Hotel in London.
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Saturday, September 29
Bob Dylan says "read The Orange Rag" - probably
by
Charles Christian
on Sat 29 Sep 2007 20:38 BST
Friday, September 28
Mark Woodward says goodbye to Visualfiles
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 28 Sep 2007 16:10 BST
Mark Woodward who, along with Neil Ewin, was one of the key architects of the Solicitec/Visualfiles case management software success story, has left the company, departing this August just over a year after Visualfiles was acquired by LexisNexis.
A spokesperson at LexisNexis Visualfiles said that having spent the past 12 months working on the integration of the Visualfiles business within the LexisNexis group, Woodward (under the terms of his earn-out deal with Lexis) had the opportunity to leave the company this summer and decided to do so, so he could spend more time with his family, which includes a young son. Woodward is however still retained by Visualfiles on a consultancy basis. Tuesday, September 25
Irwin Mitchell drops Axxia for Elite 3E
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 25 Sep 2007 16:50 BST
Irwin Mitchell – the 4th largest firm in the UK by staff numbers (it recently merged with Golds in Glasgow and acquired niche PI practice Alexander Harris) – has chosen Thomson Elite's 3E as its next-generation financial and practice management system. The firm previously ran an Axxia PMS.
Ian Fowles, Head of IT Business Systems at Irwin Mitchell, said "We were motivated to search for a new solution because of the high cost of running the existing mix of systems that constituted the firm's back office system, as well as the inflexibility of this legacy mix of applications to adopt new working practices. "We chose Thomson Elite because they were able to demonstrate significant forward thinking around solutions for practices at the top end of the legal sector. Most importantly, the 3E solution has a unique openness which enables it to connect with other essential systems to improve compliance and efficiency. "The system will undoubtedly be welcomed by our fee-earners and partners, as a lack of access to high quality financial data has been a growing frustration. Elite 3E will allow partners to quickly analyse performance data and make more informed decisions, particularly around the pricing of legal services. "We anticipate that cash flow will also be increased through improved financial management such as efficient billing and cash collection. The process tool kit will be developed to ensure disbursement capture is consistent and effective." Kaye Sycamore, the recently appointed Vice President International at Thomson Elite, said "The rate at which leading law firms worldwide are adopting 3E illustrates that they are becoming aware of how advanced technology can give them an unmistakable advantage over their competitors. Elite 3E has quickly established itself as the next-generation practice management solution of choice for innovative law firms, from magic circle to the smaller end of the market." Nearly 50 firms worldwide have chosen to adopt Elite 3E in the last year, including Allen & Overy, DWF, HLBBshaw, Nabarro, Ozannes, and Semple Fraser in the UK. Irwin Mitchell plans to implement 3E across the firm in late 2008/early 2009. Monday, September 24
Latest issue of the Insider Colour Supplement out now
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 24 Sep 2007 15:38 BST
The September issue of the Insider Colour Supplement is out now. You can find the supplement at www.theinsidermag.net/ The stories include
• the results of the latest ILTA survey on North American law firm IT spending trends • the Trek China charity hike raises £100k • are you ready for Instant Messaging • a new portable printer for road warriors • what is meant by EPE - the electronic presentation of evidence • Stuart Holden of Axxia on why a modern PMS can meet all your needs • Speech recognition 10 years on • Bindmans go with Sharepoint portal Enjoy - the next issue will be published on 22nd October Thursday, September 20
IRIS/CSG wins English Law Society order
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 20 Sep 2007 08:55 BST
It has just been announced that the English Law Society is to overhaul its membership management and associated business processes by replacing its existing, disparate databases with IRIS Group’s (formerly CS Group) Integra CRM and membership management software package.
Following a selection exercise including an in-depth analysis of the short-listed systems' functional and technical fit, the IRIS Integra package was identified as having the strongest overall fit to the Law Society’s requirements, including non-functional requirements such as the ability to implement it in the UK. To complete the selection process, 20 gap analysis workshops were run and a six week proof of concept exercise was undertaken prior to signing contracts in late July 2007. • The Scottish Law Society also runs an IRIS Group software application – a LawMaster system from GB Systems (who were acquired by Mountain Software).
Ashurst going public on new intranet at workshop
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 20 Sep 2007 08:13 BST
Here's a story that came in too late for the Insider but fits in nicely with the Delia Venables Web 2.0 story we blogged earlier this week...
On Wednesday 26th September, at their offices in Maidenhead, Ektron, a web content management software provider, is holding free workshop to help webmasters and business heads in law firms get an understanding of the latest social networking technologies. Ektron will be demonstrating an example law firm website with built in blogs, forums, wikis, case collaboration and more. Presenting at the Workshop will be Carl Clement from the Ektron Development Partner, Eurisko. Also present will be Eddie Beaumont-Thomas from City law firm Ashurst who will be talking about their Ektron based intranet development. Ektron describe their product as having "out of the box Web 2.0 functionality" To register to attend the Web 2.0 workshop call Lorna Wells on 01628 509 429 or visit www.ektron.com/uploaded_files/090407-ektron-uk-legal-final.htm Wednesday, September 19
September issue of Legal Tech Insider out now
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 19 Sep 2007 11:38 BST
The latest issue (No: 201 - September 2007) of Legal Technology Insider has been published. The digital edition should be landing in in-boxes anytime about now and the print edition should be arrving on Thursday.
The top story is whether Interwoven has now created a killer app with the latest additions to the Worksite DMS suite, including its 'send & file' email management and 'universal search' facilities. So who needs to develop a Sharepoint DMS - or invest in 3rd party search engines and KM systems when the functionalty is all there in the DMS? Other stories include: - Is Microsoft Dynamics heading for critical mass? - Bighand gets foot in Magic Circle - Record results from Tikit and Eclipse - Government admits to SDLT problems There is also a round-up of all the latest practice management system deals plus an opinion piece by Lisa Burton of Legal Inc on why litigation support services should really be viewed as litigation management. Monday, September 17
The Rise and Rise of Web 2.0 - and Law 2.0
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 17 Sep 2007 09:42 BST
Legal internet experts Nick Holmes and Delia Venables are so convinced of the importance of "Law 2.0" (Web 2.0 for lawyers), that they are changing the name of their bi-monthly newsletter to Internet Newsletter for Lawyers & Law 2.0. "Web 2.0 is not new," says Nick Holmes, "but many lawyers have yet to recognise its potential and its implications for the Law. However, many others have grasped the nettle and Law 2.0 is in full flow."
• There are more than 130 UK law blogs by firms and individual solicitors, barristers, academics, legal IT experts, trainees, pupils and students. • There are many examples of in-house wiki projects for knowledge sharing and document creation, one of the best publicised being at Allen & Overy. • Serious attempts are being made to fulfill Richard Susskind's public law wiki dream with the creation of law wikis in specific areas of law such as WikiCrimeLine, Wiki Mental Health and the prospective IP law wiki. • Social networking on Facebook and other networks is seen as a time waster by many firms, yet others are encouraging its use by establishing workplace networks, including Linklaters (with 895 members), Allen & Overy (846), Baker & McKenzie (669) and DLA Piper (623). • Virtual worlds are places to do real business and real legal problems will arise. Field Fisher Waterhouse established the first virtual UK law firm on Second Life earlier this year. • DivorceOnline recently became the first firm to market its services with an advert placed on the video sharing website YouTube. These are just some of the Law 2.0 developments already described and discussed in the newsletter, which is both a traditional print publication and an online site. Delia Venables believes the need for the newsletter is as strong as ever: "Initially, people subscribed to the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers because they wanted to know more about the workings of the internet and in particular what email and the web could do for them. Everyone now accepts that these are part of normal practice and perhaps some people now think that they have 'done' the internet. Yet the pace of change is as fast as ever and Law 2.0 is already transforming legal practice. The newsletter seeks to explain these developments and the surrounding issues to readers so that they can stay with, and move ahead of, the game." • The Internet Newsletter for Lawyers & Law 2.0 costs £45+VAT pa for six bi-monthly print issues plus full online access. See the newsletter website at www.infolaw.co.uk/newsletter Tuesday, September 11
Tikit publishes its results for the first six months
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 11 Sep 2007 17:51 BST
The AIM-listed Tikit Group plc today published its Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2007 – the figures are another record high. Highlights from the Chairman's report include...
"This is the first set of results announced under IFRS with comparisons against re-stated 2006 interim results. The company is pleased to report that the performance in the first half has produced results in line with the Directors’ expectations. Good organic growth in revenues combined with our continued focus on improving margins has resulted in the planned profit growth over the same period in 2006. "Total Group revenues of £13.2 million in the first half of 2007 represent organic growth of 16% compared with the first half of 2006. The group has again increased its operating margins, achieving 12.1% in the first half (2006: 11.7%), primarily as a result of better management of overheads. Despite lower utilisation than planned in our consultancy operations during the first half of 2007, the Directors believe that there is scope for further improvement in overall margins as utilisation levels improve. "Good progress has been made in many areas of the business, with continued solid growth in recurring, contracted support revenues. In addition, customer response to the release of new Tikit-developed software, particularly the enhanced version of Tikit e-marketing suite and the Tikit Template Manager System for Microsoft Word (TMS), indicate potentially higher sales of these products in the second half. Our European subsidiaries based in France and Spain had a good first half with new customer wins and increased market share. "Turnover for the period was £13.19 million (2006: £11.41 million), representing a 16% increase on the same period last year. Our services businesses, in total, increased by 11% to £8.78 million (2006: £7.92 million), with contracted recurring revenues showing strong growth of 15% to £4.94 million (2006: £4.29 million) contributing 37% of total group revenues. Operating margins continue to improve towards our target of 12.5%, achieving 12.1% in the first half (2006: 11.7%). "The profit before taxation and share option charges was £1.62 million, an increase of 19% over the first half of 2006 (£1.36 million). The provision for share option charges, as required by IFRS, was £118,000. This is a non-cash charge to profits based upon the fair value of the options assessed at the date of grant, and subject to vesting criteria being met. In order to eliminate the potential dilution effect of share options and to meet the anticipated future liabilities associated with share options, the Group has purchased 200,000 Tikit Group shares and hold them in treasury. The average price paid for these shares was 245 pence per share. "The profit before taxation was £1.51 million (2006: £1.29 million), an increase of 17% over the prior year period. Earnings per share before the charge for share based charges were 9.3p (2006: 8.2p), an increase of 12% over the prior year, reflecting the increased tax charge relative to the prior year. "Cash generated from operations was £0.95 million. In the first half, £1.27m of the Group’s cash resources were used to satisfy final earn-out payments due to LecSoft, our Paris-based subsidiary, under the terms of their earn-out agreement and £0.26m was used to purchase 100,000 shares into treasury, resulting in net cash of £2.81 million at 30 June 2007 (2006: £3.06m). "Continuing our successful strategy of providing the highest level consultancy and products into the large law firms and accountancy practices we have made further inroads into our target market with more new wins of our leading CRM and DM products – LexisNexis Interaction and Interwoven WorkSite. In addition, we have also secured new clients for our Redwood Business Intelligence and Metastorm eWorks workflow applications. Both the Redwood and Metastorm products require significant business consultancy and this has further established Tikit’s reputation as a true business consulting partner to law firms looking to exploit their investment in information technology. "Whilst our technical consultancy utilisation and revenues were slightly lower than we had planned for in the first half this was compensated for by the increase in recurring revenues from our contracted onsite support operations. The reason for the lower consultancy was partly down to the reduced number of new sales of Interaction and WorkSite in the mid tier firms although we expect this to change in the second half with the introduction of our fixed price cost of ownership offering for these applications to customers. "Two new Tikit written and owned software products were launched in the first half of the year to provide an out of the box workflow solution for client matter inception process and a more efficient interface to manage Microsoft Office templates. Both of these products have been well received. Our operations in France and Spain continue to progress and there have been significant new business wins further increasing our presence in these markets. "Our overall operations continue to show good progress with good pipeline of new opportunities and high consultancy visibility for the first part of the second half of the year. We expect that our continued investment in the managed support operation will mean that we continue to experience high retention of existing clients whilst adding new clients over the remainder of the year. "The second half of the financial year for the Group has traditionally been stronger than the first half. With a healthy backlog of consultancy and support, combined with a number of opportunities to secure major projects with some of our larger clients, we believe we are in a good position to continue this profile in 2007. "Whilst business activity levels remain high and there are currently no indications that the current uncertainty in the financial and M&A markets is resulting in lower confidence levels amongst our clients, we will be somewhat more cautious about our expectations for 2008 and beyond with regards to organic growth opportunities and manage our cost base accordingly. Our experience is that any tightening of project spend by our clients will lead to greater managed services opportunities for Tikit..." Monday, September 10
Lexis research says CRM users must collaborate more
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 10 Sep 2007 15:09 BST
Research published earlier today by LexisNexis InterAction highlights the importance of collaboration across all job functions within law firms when capturing, storing and analysing contact information. Using a series of group discussions, interviews and surveys of 68 business development, marketing and IT professionals within UK law firms, LexisNexis InterAction found that the main concerns of using a CRM (client relationship management) system were the same regardless of the functional role or size of an organisation.
According to indepedent consultant John Rogers, of Tandem Management: "The challenge is to gain the active cooperation of fee-earners, and that will only happen if they see a direct benefit to themselves. This means that the CRM system must actually be easier to use than their current method of recording information about their contacts. Appeals to lawyers' good nature are doomed to failure; anything which makes their lives easier is likely to be a success." The following statements were made during the course of the research which highlights this need for a working collaboration between all levels of staff within an organisation: • “CRM records that don’t get updated regularly have low credibility within the organisation” • “Fee-earners don’t recognise the value of putting information into the CRM system that might be of use to someone else in the organisation.” • “CRM software has to be a seamless part of the user’s normal working practice.” • “Fee-Earners will not use a CRM system which is not easy to use.” • “We don’t have the involvement we need from fee-earners to ensure the successful implementation of our CRM system.” • “Fee earners in my firm don’t update the CRM system.” Daniel Von Weihe, Sales & Operations Director for LexisNexis InterAction commented: “Whilst the technology and demand is clearly there to support the client development of today’s businesses, we must ensure that stakeholders from all areas of the business are trained not just how to use CRM software but on how the technology is to be used in order to achieve their business objectives. “The use of CRM in the legal sector is becoming more prevalent, but buy-in throughout the organisation is required to ensure every client interaction becomes an opportunity to meet the short-term tactical needs and further the long-term strategic outlook of an organisation. We have plans to transform the end-user experience by investing in further development of the product and introducing more unique features that will fit into the day-to-day workflows and process of lawyers.” |
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