OK, sharpen your knives, dip your pens in bile, Informa has just sent out some details on its plans for the 2009 Islington Legal IT show. We'd be interested in hearing from any suppliers who have decided not to attend this year. And re the keynote speaker – 'yes' we weren't aware that Gerald Ratner was a legal IT vendor either. Here is the announcement in full...
New elements ensure that Legal IT 2009 will be the biggest and best show to date
When the Legal IT Show 2009 opens its doors from 4th to 5th February 2009 at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London, visitors and delegates will be benefiting from the biggest and most market driven event to date. Several new elements such as a highly informative conference, round table sessions and keynote speaker sessions, have been added to the programme to make this year’s event the can’t-miss show for IT and software decision-makers within the legal profession.
Given the current economic climate, the legal profession is under more pressure than ever to provide a better service whilst also cutting costs; employing new technology is a vital step in achieving this. The Legal IT Show is the only event dedicated to legal IT in Europe and the exhibition offers a great snapshot of the latest developments in the fast moving legal IT sector.
The popular exhibition will offer firms of all sizes the opportunity to meet the industry's leading providers under one roof and understand their new offerings, saving valuable time. For those who like their statements short and sweet, the exciting New Product Launch Pad will give exhibitors the opportunity to showcase new products and services at Speakers’ Corner.
Created and run by a highly skilled conference specialist team at ICBI, the new Legal IT Show Conference will offer delegates first hand insight from the profession's major figures to help them tackle IT and law firm management issues. Practitioner-led case studies and panel discussions will look at topics such as using technology within an aggressive growth strategy, and innovative ways to use existing technology to cut costs and streamline business processes. The conference will take place in separate, fully serviced conference rooms at the Business Design Centre and delegates will hear from law firm IT Directors and practising lawyers on how they are using technology to respond to today’s business challenges.
In the meantime, the exhibition floor will be a buzz with several exciting new features, such as the Roundtable sessions, which will be open to all visitors. These sessions will also be focusing on the very latest issues impacting law firms, held as an informal discussion, each with an expert host.
All visitors can also attend the new Keynote Speaker Sessions at Speakers’ Corner. Amongst others, visitors can learn how Gerald Ratner managed to claw his way back to the top after several ups and downs in his business career. Not to be missed.
The event has always offered a fantastic networking platform, but with all the added features this year, it promises to be even more of a hub for meeting, discussing business and swapping ideas with the industry’s leading peers, suppliers and potential business partners.
For more information or to register for either a visitor’s pass or for the conference, please log onto www.legalitshow.com Those interested in further information on exhibiting can contact Matthew Robinson at ICBI on 020 7017 5755 or email matthew.robinson@informa.com
|
||||
      Recent Comments
Who's there?
Search
Month Archive
Google Ads
|
Wednesday, October 29
Plans for 2009 Legal IT show unveiled
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 29 Oct 2008 11:40 GMT
Monday, October 27
Independent help wanted
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 27 Oct 2008 09:11 GMT
We've just received a request for help from a smaller UK law firm (based in the Home Counties west of London) who are looking for an independent consultant to help them in a dispute with a PMS supplier. Any suggestions welcomed – you can email us at help@legaltechnology.com
"We are having terrible problems with an upgrade to Citrix version of (name of supplier – we're not identifying the supplier save to say they are listed in the English Law Society's 2008 guide and they are NOT part of the IRIS group) which was intended to cure the problems with had with the previous version. "(Name of supplier) are not recognising the problems and I want to contact an independent assessor to inspect the program and do a report for both sides to identify the source of the issues and suggest a way forward. (Name of supplier) are now threatening to remove our licences (I hear from my staff not from them!) and I am refusing to pay as the performance is so inadequate in my view. "Are you able to suggest anyone?" Thursday, October 23
Latest Asia-Pacific news round-up
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 23 Oct 2008 15:59 BST
• CRM deals
Client Profiles reports that within the last two months, CRM4Legal has been selected by two New Zealand law firms, operating in both Auckland and Wellington, totalling 370 seats. Sales, implementation consulting and support services in New Zealand are provided by Altair Computer Systems, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. • Events Like London buses, there is never a legal IT event when you want one and then along come two of them. Two diary dates in December to look out for – the Insider is the media partner with both of them... Legal Technology Asia Summit 09 & 10.12.08, Hotel New Otani Chang Fu Gong, Beijing, China The speaker panel includes Tim Hyman of Taylor Wessing, Janet Day of Berwin Leighton Paisner, Martin Telfer of Baker McKenzie, Marcel Henri of Salans and David Bennett of Linklaters. www.globaleaders.com Legal Technology 16 & 17.12.08, Grand Millennium Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia With the increasingly challenging global environment, the legal service industry is certainly set to grow in this region. Legal professionals, whatever judges or lawyers are facing the dilemma of low efficiency and expensive cost due to the increasing volume of the complex litigation and non-litigation cases. These 2-day sessions are designed to help people at various skills levels learn to make the most effective use of technology in their setting. For details contact Ms Puvanes at puvanes@abf-asia.com or click on the link to download a PDF of the event brochure www.abf-asia.com/project/9519MC_LTI.pdf
Time to talk about the 'R' word - recession
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 23 Oct 2008 11:11 BST
As we all dither around whether or not Western economies are in recession or merely suffering a downturn, the US-based law firm management consultancy Hildebrandt has just published a report looking at the impact of the current financial crisis/credit crunch/whatever could have on law firms and makes some suggestions as to how firms should be reacting. (Albeit with a strong slant on the US legal market.) The full report is attached below however here are a couple of extracts...
"The current downturn has brought to an abrupt end the six-year period of unprecedented revenue and profit growth that law firms have enjoyed since 2001. Far from the annual double-digit growth in profits per equity partner that law firms experienced (and came to expect) over the past half decade, we believe that, across the profession, profits per partner in 2008 will on average be flat to a minus 10 percent, as compared to profit levels in 2007. For firms with significant capital markets practices, we expect the decline will be more significant – on average from minus 5 to 15 percent, with a few firms seeing even steeper declines. These results will put a severe strain on many firms and will require steady and level-headed management to calm the inevitable anxieties of partners and others." "take a close look at the expense side of your firm’s income statement. In the present environment, you need to look at your expense structure to be sure excess expenses are trimmed, while being careful to preserve items that are strategically important. Firms that take a “slash and burn” approach to expenses will be seriously disadvantaged when the economic recovery occurs (and remember that recovery in the legal market typically leads recovery in the general economy). You should also review your firm’s procurement process, as well as your relationships with existing vendors, to make certain that you are getting the best prices for the goods and services that you purchase. The consultants in our strategic sourcing practice tell us that, in most firms, such a review can result in cost savings in the neighborhood of 25 or 30 percent with little or no adverse impact on operations."  1 AttachmentsTuesday, October 21
It's Aderant - the Thorpedo has arrived
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 21 Oct 2008 09:40 BST
After the speculation of the past few days, it has now been confirmed that David Thorpe has joined Aderant, where he is taking up the newly created role of General Manager, EMEA. In fact if you are an Aderant user in the UK, you could be meeting him (along with senior V-P for sales & marketing Don Howren) as early as this morning. As a senior executive, Thorpe will be responsible for managing Aderant’s operations throughout the UK and Continental Europe, supporting sales, and interfacing with law firms and other professional services organisations.
Thorpe is one of a number senior appointments/lateral hires that Aderant has made in recent weeks. Monday, October 20
Upcoming CRM webinar
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 20 Oct 2008 08:18 BST
Reed Smith Richards Butler in conjunction with Client Profiles are holding a webinar next week (Tuesday, October 28th at 11:30 Eastern Time/4:30pm UK time) on the topic of Strategies for the Selection, Implementation and Adoption of a Firmwide CRM System. The lead presenter will be Victoria Gregory, the CRM Systems Manager at Reed Smith LLP. Gregory joined Reed Smith in 2007 to select and implement a global CRM System for the firm and is in the process of implementing Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Client Profiles’ CRM4Legal. She has over 6 years experience in working with CRM systems and has previously worked for Herbert Smith and Lovells in the UK.
To register for the event visit www.clientprofiles.com/crmevent.asp Friday, October 17
TGi Friday - Midgely Corner
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 17 Oct 2008 16:05 BST
The good news is Insider readers need never again be pestered by phantom emailings of the December 07 & January 08 issues of the Insider.
The bad news is this is because our local ISP has gone bust – as of 11:00am today (Friday) altho we did not learn of this until 11:01am. The net result is that normal service may be conducted at a bit of a gimp until we can get an alternative service – which looks as if it will have to be a satellite link as BT can only guarantee a max broadband speed of 512k – installed. In the meantime we are limping on with Blackberrys and a Vodafone dongle (altho that only gives a 2G service in our location). The fax & the landline still work. And if a man called Mark Allen from Branstalk Broadband ever asks you for a job – don't ask me for a reference.
The Thorpedo is on the move again
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 17 Oct 2008 09:34 BST
Pilgrim Systems plc this morning announced that David Thorpe is leaving the company in order to pursue other interests in the legal IT sector.
Pilgrim’s Chairman & CEO, Jim Cummings explained “it's been a pleasure working with David over the past two and a half years. Between us we shared a very clear vision of things we wanted to achieve within the term of 2-3 years. We very successfully met our joint objectives and I have pleasure in thanking David for his tremendous input to our Board, and we all wish him the very best in the future” Thorpe commented “Its been great fun working with Jim and his board at Pilgrim, and I now look forward to my next major challenge, having helped take Pilgrim to a very strong market position, which I can see them occupying for many years to come.” • Thorpe is best known in the UK legal market as the man who put Elite on the map. After leaving Elite, he was with Tikit for a short period before joining Pilgrim. Where next? Current betting is on Chrome River Technologies. Thursday, October 16
Midgely Corner: Excel spreadsheet madness
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 16 Oct 2008 11:22 BST
Here's a nice little story – with a topical recession/banking crisis theme – that's just been reported on Finextra. It also tends to suggest that when it comes to technology, lawyers are still about as safe as monkeys with razor blades...
Apparently an error in the formatting of an Excel spreadsheet left Barclays Capital with contracts involving collapsed investment bank Lehman Brothers than it never meant to acquire. Working to a tight deadline, a junior associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP converted an Excel file into a PDF format document. The document was to be posted on a bankruptcy court's website before a midnight purchase offer deadline on 18 September, just four hours after Barclays sent the spreadsheet to the lawyers. The Excel file contained 1000 rows of data and 24,000 cells. Some of these details on various trading contracts were marked as hidden because they were not intended to form part of Barclays' proposed deal. However, this "hidden" distinction was ignored during the reformatting process so that Barclays ended up offering to take on an additional 179 contracts as part of its bankruptcy buyout deal. The error was discovered on 1 October, after US Bankruptcy Judge James Peck approved the deal. Barclays has now filed a motion to amend the deal, excluding the scores of contracts it states were mistakenly included in the agreement. The motion is due to be heard on 5 November.
Another Australian firm goes live with 3E
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 16 Oct 2008 08:45 BST
Australian law firm TressCox Lawyers has gone live on Elite 3E. TressCox selected Elite 3E to replace its ageing legacy financial management system* which CFO Adam James said was no longer fit for purpose, particularly in the area of financial reporting. “We chose 3E as a platform to reduce our financial and administrative burden. Prior to its implementation we had to undertake time-consuming manual workarounds to produce the reports we wanted from our legacy system.”
TressCox, a 50-partner law firm which has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, undertook a thorough selection process and James says that 3E’s web-based technology was a key factor in their final decision. “Other systems we assessed did not appear as tightly integrated or as uniformly intuitive as the Elite 3E offering, which is built on web-based technology.” With phase-one of the implementation process now complete, the firm will continue to develop the product over the coming 12 months, using 3E’s improved workflow capabilities to streamline a number of front and back-office functions. * According to Insider sources, the firm's legacy system was Locus – now part of the LexisNexis group. |
      Recent Articles
RSS Newsfeeds
Main Page RSS
Categories
Twitter Updates Login
 |
||