Yes, we know there were some typos in the last version of the programme – just get over it – but here is the final version, along with a copy of the full programme + the timetables for the three separate stages (see attached PDFs). AND, because it is Christmas, we have a special offer for you...
• We have 100 double passes (worth £490 + VAT each) going free to the first 100 law firms and inhouse legal departments to register for the event. Visit www.lawtechfutures.com and use the special offer registration code of LTicomp100
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Friday, December 23
LawTech Futures - 83 days to go + a Christmas bonus
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 23 Dec 2011 10:33 GMT
 4 AttachmentsThursday, December 22
Legal publishing news: all I want for Christmas is an iPad
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 22 Dec 2011 14:16 GMT
Sweet & Maxwell, a Thomson Reuters business, has announced the launch of its initial ebook for Thomson Reuters ProView, the new professional eReader application for the Apple iPad. Covering many of the most widely used references on both civil and criminal law, the company says Sweet & Maxwell eBooks on ProView mark a significant step forward in the delivery of legal information to the profession. The ProView iPad app can be downloaded free at the Apple App Store.
Sweet & Maxwell’s first ebook title available on the ProView platform is their bestselling Archbold: Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice. Archbold has been in publication since 1822. According to the company’s own research, 23% of solicitors that specialize in litigation are already using an iPad to access legal information with a slightly higher usage among barristers. The research reveals that the legal profession is exploring how it can make more use of tablets and that lawyers are embracing the benefits of mobile technologies. “We have invested in our eBook programmes in direct response to customer demand for more flexible and mobile access to legal content,” commented Chris Hendry, head of advanced media at Sweet & Maxwell. “The Thomson Reuters ProView platform introduces significant new functionality that hasn’t been available in this market – up until now electronic books have been little more than static documents that lack the user-friendly aspects of print books.” With Thomson Reuters ProView, lawyers with access to Sweet & Maxwell eBooks can make notes or email sections immediately to clients or colleagues, and they can search the textbook without having to leave the page they are reading. Additional ProView benefits include the abilities to: · Search the entire eBook without leaving the current page · Update content as new editions are published · Add notes to the text, which will automatically transfer to later purchased editions · Highlight sections of text easily · Copy sections of an eBook straight into an email for clients or counsel · Hyperlink to relevant sections via links within the text · Quickly find and review references at a later date via bookmark or flag To find out more about Thomson Reuters ProView and Sweet & Maxwell’s new eBooks visit: www.sweetandmaxwell.com/proview Comment: We hear there will be some major iPad-related announcements coming from LexisNexis in the early New Year. The Rag will have the story first.  Still on Planet Thomson Reuters, the inaugural TrustLaw Awards were held in London earlier this month to celebrate TrustLaw Connect’s first year of successful collaborations between the legal profession, NGOs and social enterprises. Hosted by Tom Glocer, CEO of Thomson Reuters, and Monique Villa, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, the awards brought together over 175 guests from the legal, non-profit and social enterprise sectors. And the award winners were: Impact Award Orrick, Latham & Watkins, together with 17 other law firms, in their collaboration with Adie to promote micro-entrepreneurship in Europe. Innovation Award J. Sagar Associates and Hewlett Packard for their work with mDiagnostica, facilitating remote medical diagnoses in rural India. Collaboration Award Mayer Brown, together with 18 other law firms, for their assistance to Transparency International in its work strengthening the global review process of the UN Convention against Corruption. In addition, DLA Piper, GE and Hamilton Harrison & Mathews were each recognised with special ‘Thank You’ awards for their fantastic response to TrustLaw members’ legal needs. “TrustLaw could not exist without the extraordinary dedication and commitment of the many lawyers willing to share their expertise with NGOs and entrepreneurs,” said Monique Villa, speaking at the event. “TrustLaw is a fabulous adventure and has become a critical service for NGOs and social entrepreneurs, helping to keep their legal costs down and allowing them to channel their funds to those in greatest need.”
Workshare statistics - DocsCorp fire back
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 22 Dec 2011 10:56 GMT
Here’s what DocsCorp has to say…
Charles, thanks for the Workshare piece on your blog. Without going into the “lies, damn lies and statistics” bit, we would like to make just a few comments. A lot has changed from the good old days when Workshare had a near 100% monopoly in the legal market for document comparison. Certainly the arrival of DocsCorp and Litera has spiced things up in document comparison, which has seen Workshare’s market share start to erode. Competition is healthy and law firms globally have benefitted from it with new solutions, pricing, feature sets and customer service. I think we can chalk that one up to a win for the customer. Interesting slant on the TechnoLawyer top 15 products piece, which according to the Workshare PR “is a testament to the legal community’s strong acceptance of Workshare products.” Wow, as the late Steve Jobs would say, that’s a bit of a stretch especially when you read how Neil determined the top 15 – the amount of clicks an article received from readers. You read correctly. Here’s how Neil puts it… “For each product we cover, we track the number of clicks. Not for nefarious reasons mind you. We track clicks in the aggregate so that we can see which products you and your fellow subscribers find most and least interesting to help guide our future coverage. We also track clicks so that we can engage in one of publishing's most enduring cliches – the annual top 10 list.” Wow again! So these people haven’t actually used the product, they are simply reading about it. Also, not sure I understood Neils’ comment “Workshare is the Adobe Systems of the legal industry.” I always thought Adobe Systems was the Adobe Systems of the legal industry. Yes, I think we know actually what Mark Twain would say about these statistics… Tuesday, December 20
Workshare say 'We're Number #1 and we have an independent survey to prove it"
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 20 Dec 2011 14:05 GMT
According to the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) 2011 Technology SurveyWorkshare, Workshare is the overwhelming top choice for its software solutions at law firms with more than fifty attorneys.
The annual survey represented input from over 100,000 attorneys and more than a quarter million users. According to the report, for firms with 50 to 149 attorneys, Workshare’s solution is the number one choice for 53% of respondents, for firms with 150-349 attorneys Workshare is selected by 70%, and for firms with 350-699 attorneys, the software is used by 75%. For firms with more than 700 attorneys, 85% reported selecting Workshare as their solution. In a related development, the latest TechnoLawyer list of the top 15 Products of the Year places Workshare PDF Professional and Workshare Point in the second and fifth places on the list, respectively – the only company to have two products in the top five. In the summary of Workshare PDF Professional, author Neil Squillante called Workshare the “Adobe Systems of the legal industry. Speaking of which, Workshare PDF Professional takes aim at Adobe’s Acrobat with a low price of $79.” For Workshare Point, number 5 on the Top 15 list, Squillante writes that until they covered the new solution “which transforms SharePoint into a legal-specific document management system.” If you look elsewhere in the ILTA survey, you'll see that the corresponding market shares for arch rivals Litéra and DocsCorp are: Litéra 50-149 6%, 140-349 14%, 350 – 699 8% 700+ 8% Docscorp 50-149 13%, 140-349 13%, 350 – 699 14% 700+ 3% Neither DocsCorp or Litéra appeared in the Technolawyer new products piece. Comment: let the squabbling over statistics begin...
Barker Gotelee drop IRIS AIM for SOS
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 20 Dec 2011 11:08 GMT
SOS Connect from Solicitors Own Software is proving to be a catalyst for change and delivering improvements in performance, efficiency and management at Barker Gotelee Solicitors as they start to feel the benefits of rolling out their new SOS system. The software went live throughout the firm in October as part of a project to totally revamp IT in the firm.
Based in Martlesham Heath near Ipswich, Barker Gotelee provides commercial, competition, litigation, road transport, taxation, family law and private client expertise to businesses and private individuals. The firm has established a national reputation as agricultural law experts. “As a specialist firm, we are determined to build upon our high quality service and not dilute our offering,” said practice manager Mandy Suchocki, who headed up the implementation. “The investment in SOS Connect was made to prepare the firm for growth coming out of the recession. Having weathered that storm we could now be facing another recession, but with SOS Connect in place we are operating more smoothly, reducing duplication, introducing more automated processes and deploying our people more effectively. Having implemented the software now, we are best-placed to implement further improvements and face the future with confidence.” Work began on the replacement of the previous IRIS AIM system in May with SOS Connect live for firm-wide generic workflows, document management and accounting six months later. Case management has been introduced for conveyancing with probate and debt recovery scheduled to follow. Mandy Suchocki commented: “Our intention is to have some form of case management in place for all areas. The flexibility of SOS Connect and the scripting tools, in which we are trained, enable us to automate processes as much or as little as is appropriate to each speciality.” Capitalising on the investment is a key driver in the firm. “The determination is here to maximise the use of as much functionality as we can, “said Mandy Suchocki. “Already SOS Connect has highlighted areas and procedures that need to change as we modernise and is proving to be a catalyst for making improvements. I strongly believe that the best way to maximise the return on investment is to work closely with SOS who can help us to use the software as extensively as possible. I have had a genuinely positive experience in collaborating with SOS to understand what more the software can do to help the firm to evolve.” Monday, December 19
US news: trio of wins for Litera
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 19 Dec 2011 06:38 GMT
Several of America’s oldest law firms have turned to Litéra for better ways to administer document lifecycle management, workflow and client data protection. The latest deals are:
• Davis Polk LLP (founded in 1849) was recently named the most innovative law firm in the United States by the Financial Times. The firm purchased Litéra’s Change-Pro TDC, Change-Pro for Excel, Change-Pro for PowerPoint and Innova. • McCarter & English LLP (founded 1851 and in continuous operation for more than 160 years) has over 400 lawyers and offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and three other cities. The firm has selected Litéra’s Change-Pro TDC and Metadact. • Ropes & Gray LLP (established in 1865) was named by US News & World Report in rankings released Nov. 1 as Law Firm of the Year for hedge funds. They have invested in Litéra’s document comparison tool Change Pro and Change Pro for Excel, both of which offer comparison of imbedded objects, numbers and formulas within cells. Thursday, December 15
American news: the long march of Apple into the legal business world
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 15 Dec 2011 19:00 GMT
The 2011 Clio Apple in Law Firms Survey results have been tabulated and 763 people participated, 80% of which were practicing lawyers and 20% of which were law students or non-lawyers. 76% of respondents were lawyers at firms with 10 attorneys or less. Many of the survey respondents were relative Mac newcomers: 25.3% of respondents had switched to Mac within the past year.
Co-sponsored by MILOfest, this year’s results show that Apple products are going strong and gaining ground with small firm lawyers at the expense of previously dominant legal technology players, such as Research in Motion. Widely-used products in the survey included iPhones, used by 60.9% of respondents; Dropbox, used by 25% of respondents; iCloud, seeing high adoption at 15%; and Android phones with usage at 13%. Evernote, a note-taking app not included in last year’s survey, debuted at 14% usage. OpenOffice had gained 2 percentage points since last year, showing that open source technology is appealing to solo and small law firms. Why are lawyers continuing to “go Mac”? 46.5% of respondents said they chose Apple hardware over PC options because the technology was more reliable and secure. Usability was next on at 33.8%. Familiarity due to home use of Apple/Mac products was 9.8%, and surprisingly aesthetics and design came in fourth at only 3%. 76.5% of law students said that when they graduate, they plan on choosing a Mac platform for their office. his statistic shows that Mac has a bright future in legal, since the new generation graduating is heavily Apple-oriented. “This is the second year Clio has conducted this Apple in Law Firms survey to benchmark the degree of adoption of Apple products and other emerging technology in the legal industry,” said Clio CEO & Co-Founder Jack Newton. “Apple hardware and devices - especially the iPad and iPhone - continue to capture the attention and dollars of lawyers, cloud-based applications have won attorneys’ confidence and gained more traction. With the majority of law students planning to use Mac apps in their law practices upon graduation, we can reasonably predict a longstanding trend toward continued expansion of Apple products within the legal industry.” (Clio’s parent company Themis Solutions Inc is based in Vancouver, British Columbia) All legal professionals and law students were invited to participate in the survey, regardless of size and location. The survey aimed to determine to what extent lawyers and law students are now using Apple products, and whether there is clear evidence of an increasing trend of the legal industry “going Mac” in the future. For more information on the 2011 Clio Apple in Law Firms Survey or to receive the complete survey results, email info@goclio.com
December issue of Legal Technology Insider newsletter out now
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 15 Dec 2011 16:03 GMT
The December 2011 issue of the Legal Technology Insider newsletter (UK & EMEA edition No#248) is out now. The digital edition has just landed on desktops and the print issue has been popping through letter boxes since this morning.
Top stories include the Pilgrim & IRIS deals + Pannone goes live with its Sharepoint DMS + we ask if 2012 is going to be the crunch year for the dictation industry. The next issue will be published on 26 January 2012. Also, the print issue included flyers for our upcoming LawTech Futures event - you can find a PDF of this document, including the full speakers & programme schedule, here http://www.legaltechnologyhub.com/CloudBox/LawTech-Futures.pdf And we carried a flyer for LSN's latest issue of its Briefing publication http://www.legaltechnologyhub.com/CloudBox/LSNBriefing.pdf
H M Courts Service - we have a £1.4 billion problem with debt
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 15 Dec 2011 14:34 GMT
Amyas Morse, Comptroller & Auditor General, reported to Parliament today that HM Courts Service, the body responsible for the collection of fines, confiscation orders and penalties imposed by the judiciary and police, has been unable to provide him with proper accounting records supporting those fines, confiscation orders and penalties. This meant that he could not give an audit opinion on whether transactions and balances were complete, proper to this account and appropriately raised.
Today’s report highlights how limitations in Libra, the case management IT system in use across magistrates’ courts, and similar systems have contributed towards HM Courts Service’s inability to provide information at an individual transactions level to support the accounts. Total outstanding debt in respect of fines, confiscation orders and penalties at the end of March 2011 according to the HM Courts Service is £1.9 billion, increased from £1.5 billion in the previous year, while only £457 million is recognised in the account as receivable. The difference of £1.4 billion represents management’s estimate of debt that is at risk. The Courts Service and the Ministry of Justice have made some recent improvements to the collection of fines, confiscation orders and penalties. These include new performance measures to monitor collection rates, timeliness and levels of arrears for fines; developments in enforcement and collection procedures; and additional work with other government bodies to maximise recoveries. The Ministry also plans to carry out further investigations into the accounting functionality of Libra. However, both the Ministry and Courts Service have informed the NAO that they may not be able to address the accounting records issue fully until Libra and other relevant systems are significantly enhanced or replaced. Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said today “Because of limitations in the underlying systems, HM Courts Service has not been able to provide me with proper accounting records relating to the collection of fines, confiscation orders and penalties. I have therefore disclaimed my audit opinion on its Trust Statement accounts. “I welcome the further steps planned by the Courts Service and Ministry of Justice to improve the evidence on its financial position relating to fines, confiscation orders and penalties. However, I recognise that they and other government bodies face significant challenges in improving the extent of available data and on reducing the level of outstanding debt.” The notice above describes a figure of £1.4 billion as management’s estimate of debt from fines, confiscation orders and penalties that is at risk. This represents an impairment of the outstanding debt following an assessment by management of its collectability. This has been considered based on work already done to enforce these impositions, and the factors which increase the risk that the debts will not prove collectable.
Gardner Leader go with TikitTFB
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 15 Dec 2011 09:45 GMT
TikitTFB has just announced that Gardner Leader LLP is the latest law firm to have made a major investment in TikitTFB’s Partner for Windows practice and case management system, due to go live in the spring of 2012.
Derek Rodgers, managing partner at Gardner Leader said "After researching into various products we decided to go with Partner for Windows due to its market leading functionality and ease of use. Not only will this move contribute to further improve our firm’s efficiency and service to clients but after having just undergone a re-brand, we feel the new IT system will complement our aspirations to build a competitive edge." "We are delighted that Gardner Leader have chosen Partner for Windows as their practice management solution," commented Richard Higgs, Sales Director, TikitTFB. "At what is a very challenging time for firms across the sector, we believe we offer a flexible, efficient and cost effective solution that in turn offers competitive advantage." |
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