|
||||
          Recent Comments
Who's there?
Search
Month Archive
 |
Friday, December 31
Friday, December 24
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
American news round-up
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 20 Dec 2010 16:36 GMT
Some end-of-the-year news from the US...
• Ulmer & Berne LLP has deployed Aderant Expert File Opening workflow across its four Midwestern offices, becoming one of the early adopters of the new workflow engine. Expert File Opening gives Ulmer & Berne a shared platform for all stages of the file opening process so that approvals and research can be done in parallel. The simultaneous approval and document sharing capabilities greatly improved automation, making it possible to qualify and accept clients and matters in a fraction of the time. Additionally, the firm reports a marked increase in the enforcement of accounting standards and policies since implementing Expert File Opening. With a digital system in place, it is impossible for the file opening process to be completed without adherence to the prerequisite accounting policies. The policies and standards that the firm deems integral to success are written directly into the file opening formula, and are thus ensured to have been completed correctly upon file opening. "So far we are seeing the amount of time it takes to open new business go from four days or more to within 24 hours," said Lee Ann Gilgen, Controller for Ulmer & Berne. "We will also realize a reduction in paper costs, along with more accurate data since it will not have to be reentered at each step." • Business intelligence specialist Iridium Technology has organized and sponsored Operation Sam’s Club which resulted in over 100 large care packages being sent to deployed US Marines in Afghanistan – over one ton of supplies! Iridium worked with the local Sam’s Club and organized a team of community volunteers to solicit donations for the Marines from shoppers at the local Sam’s Club. “The response from the community was amazing,” said Iridium president Tom Jones, “75% of the shoppers that we approached were glad to purchase something extra for the Marines. We are able to fill two pickup trucks to overflowing, and eventually compressed the donations down into 104 large care packages that were shipped to deployed Marines in time to arrive before Christmas. "There were three major goals for the campaign” said Jones, “Firstly to provide direct support to our deployed Marines, secondly to thank our Marines for their service and to remind them that they have strong support from the American people, and lastly to encourage people to go to www.adoptahero.us/adoptamarine.htm to learn more about the Adopt-a-Marine program and to sponsor a deployed US Marine in Afghanistan.”
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 AttachmentsFriday, December 17
Something for the weekend - The 12 Days of E-Discovery + A Klingon Christmas
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 17 Dec 2010 12:30 GMT
So, soon be Christmas... To celebrate the holiday season, we've got a new version of The 12 Days of Christmas written by Jonathan Maas, aided and abetted by Chris Dale, for the benefit of the ediscovery and edisclosure community. And, we have a promotional clip for a new stage production of an all-Klingon version of A Christmas Carol which is playing in Chicago this year.
The 12 Days of E-Discovery On the first day of Christmas, my expert sent to me A part-image of a file-tree. On the second day of Christmas, my expert sent to me Two legal coves, And a part-image of a file-tree. On the third day of Christmas, my expert sent to me Three henchmen, Two legal coves, And a part-image of a file-tree. On the fourth day of Christmas, my expert sent to me Four stalling bods, Three henchmen, Two legal coves, And a part-image of a file-tree. On the fifth day of Christmas, my expert sent to me Five smoking guns, Four stalling bods, Three henchmen, Two legal coves, And a part-image of a file-tree. On the sixth day of Christmas, my expert sent to me Six fears allaying, Five smoking guns, Four stalling bods, Three henchmen, Two legal coves, And a part-image of a file-tree. On the seventh day of Christmas, my expert sent to me Seven rules a-breaking, Six fears allaying, Five smoking guns, Four stalling bods, Three henchmen, Two legal coves, And a part-image of a file-tree. On the eighth day of Christmas, my expert sent to me Eight days a-thinking, Seven rules a-breaking, Six fears allaying, Five smoking guns, Four stalling bods, Three henchmen, Two legal coves, And a part-image of a file-tree. On the ninth day of Christmas, my expert sent to me Nine judges judging, Eight days a-thinking, Seven rules a-breaking, Six fears allaying, Five smoking guns, Four stalling bods, Three henchmen, Two legal coves, And a part-image of a file-tree. On the tenth day of Christmas, my expert sent to me Ten boards a-beeping, Nine judges judging, Eight days a-thinking, Seven rules a-breaking, Six fears allaying, Five smoking guns, Four stalling bods, Three henchmen, Two legal coves, And a part-image of a file-tree. On the eleventh day of Christmas, my expert sent to me Eleven coders coding, Ten boards a-beeping, Nine judges judging, Eight days a-thinking, Seven rules a-breaking, Six fears allaying, Five smoking guns, Four stalling bods, Three henchmen, Two legal coves, And a part-image of a file-tree. On the twelfth day of Christmas, my expert sent to me Twelve scanners scanning, Eleven coders coding, Ten boards a-beeping, Nine judges judging, Eight days a-thinking, Seven rules a-breaking, Six fears allaying, Five smoking guns, Four stalling bods, Three henchmen, Two legal coves, And a part-image of a file-tree! # # # # # (This clip should also run on iPhones & iPads) Thursday, 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. |
           Recent Articles
RSS Newsfeeds
Main Page RSS
Twitter Updates Categories
Login
|
||
