IT - still not providing the expected ROI
In its third annual Process & Technology Survey into the way the 700 largest law firms in the USA apply IT to their practices, the Hildebrandt TechGroup consultancy, reports that despite the fact they are spending on average between 4-6% of their annual revenues on technology, many of them are still not getting a meaningful return (or ROI) on their IT investments.

TechGroup managing director Curt Canfield says many firms are "growing increasingly concerned about what they perceive as a growing disparity between their IT investments and the return on that investment." Unfortunately, the Hildebrandt findings just go to confirm these concerns, revealing that "manual, paper-based processes remain prevalent despite major expenditure on networks, desktop PCs and state-of-the-art financial management and accounting systems."

The Hildebrandt report suggests that although technologies, such as electronic workflow systems, have the potential to deliver strategic advantages by helping firms "to reallocate headcount from clerical paper pushers to higher level support positions... It appears that many firms are still deploying IT on a tactical level without a strategic commitment to positively affect either the revenue or expense side of the ledger."

Canfield adds that "spending 6% of your gross revenue without some noticeable - and positive - effect often compounds economic, operational and cultural problems within the firm. Our recommendation is to take a fraction of this spending and devote it to strategic planning in your firm that will make the kind of difference that you want and need."

Another key finding was the growing technology gap, with large firms not only spending two-and-a-half times as much (as a percentage of turnover) on IT as small firms but also having nearly double the ratio of IT support staff to end users.

Copies of the 2002 Law Firm Process & Technology Survey cost $250. An executive summary is also available, to obtain a copy email Jan Reddington at jereddington@hildebrandt.com
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Nabarro Nathanson in TotalSpeech pilot
Nabarro Nathanson has begun piloting the BigHand (020 7793 8200) TotalSpeech digital dictation and workflow software in an initiative it hopes will allow the firm to switch work from busy secretaries to those with more capacity and make it possible to transfer dictation between the firm's offices.

Approximately 50 staff across the property and charities groups will receive TotalSpeech during the pilot. Solicitors based in Reading will also be able to send dictation back to secretarial support when in London on business. The firm expects TotalSpeech to encourage more effective use of secretarial resources and to improve the flow of work within the pilot group. If the initiative is successful the firm expects to roll out the software on a wider basis later this year.

Commenting on the project IT director Richard Elson said: "The fact that when a lawyer returns to the office he or she has to pass their secretary a pile of tapes, while a PC sits idle on the desk beside them, strikes me as both outmoded and wholly inefficient. Digital dictation offers the opportunity to utilise all our computer equipment while providing workflow benefits. It has to be the logical way forward."
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Libraries - smaller does not always mean cheaper
The latest (June 2002) edition of American Lawyer Media's AmLaw Tech magazine casts an interesting perspective on the way some US law firm libraries are developing, as more and more publications become available in a digital format.

A survey conducted earlier this year found that 55% of the firms in the sample had less shelf space dedicated to books than they did five years ago and that of those firms where the main library had been redesigned or relocated during the last five years, 78% were now housed in smaller premises.

Given that 68% of firms reported cutting back on their purchases of law books and 75% had cancelled subscriptions to print law report series during the past two years, this shrinkage in size is easily explained. But, while libraries may be getting physically smaller, they are also getting more expensive to run, with 57% of firms reporting that their 2002 budgets were larger than those for 2001.

Two factors contribute to this increase. The first is because the digital editions of most legal titles are sold on some form of per user licence basis, they are almost inevitably more expensive than their print counterparts. Secondly, the growing demand for specialist research and knowledge management services means many libraries are not only recruiting more librarians but also looking for more highly skilled staff who command higher salaries. Incidentally, according to the survey, over 36% of US law library directors now earn more that $100,000 per year.
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Shining a little light on the e-conveyancing revolution
Michael Kaye of Kaye Tesler & Co, one of the UK pioneers of online legal services for small firms, has published a new set of training CDs containing a practitioner's guide to e-conveyancing including: changes in the law and Land Registry practice, the role of the National Land Information Service and the NLIS channel providers, and digital signatures and identities. Kaye, an experienced lecturer, has produced the guide as an extensive lecture on two CDs and practitioners who complete the supporting material will qualify 3 CPD points. The CD set costs £49.99 + VAT and can be ordered on 020 8809 6756.

Comment: Kaye, whose firm handles conveyancing work, says he was prompted to produce the guide because he was conscious that solicitors were being bombarded with information about e-conveyancing from all directions from different suppliers and agencies but with no-one providing a comprehensive picture of the overall position as it is today. We don't have to be so tactful as Kaye and suggest that practitioners are confused not only by the piecemeal nature of the information they are being fed but also by its often opaque content. It would be ironic if this communications revolution stalled because of the inability of those involved to communicate the benefits of the changes they are advocating.
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New face hopes to revive jaded consultancy market
With a handful of honourable exceptions, the most noticeable trend among legal IT consultancies in the UK in recent years has been their tendency to close down. One consultancy hoping to buck this trend is the JADe Group (01635 45544), which has been operating in the media, charity, NHS and legal markets since 1999. The consultancy's legal track record includes work for Lovells and Elite-related projects. JADe is now reporting growing interest in Linux as an alternative to the Microsoft platform and has also launched a bulletin board for legal IT staff which can be found on its web site. www.jadegroup.co.uk
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Looking for IT staff ?
If you are a law firm or legal systems vendor looking for IT staff, including positions in sales, development, web services, know-how, library services, support, management and training, you can post your vacancies free of charge to the Jobs Board on the Insider web site. Email to news@legaltechnology.com

Two new entries to the US market
One of the unwritten rules of legal technology seems to be that whenever a new product starts making inroads into the US market, sooner or later someone (often Tikit) starts distributing it in the UK. On that basis two names that could soon be heading for these shores are viDesktop - www.videdesktop.com - and Nylon Technology - www.nylontechnology.com

viDesktop produce a range of human resources and staff evaluation applications that are delivered entirely to the desktop via a web browser. There is also a thin client case management system but that is currently only applicable to Ontario-based law firms. Nylon's offering is the Herrmann TechSuite, which has been developed in conjunction with a New York advertising agency to provide law firms with the tools to manage web site content, including CRM materials. New deal management and proposal generation applications will be launched later this year.
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Axxia signs up for Tower records
Axxia Systems (0118 960 2602) is to offer a new integrated electronic document & records management system following a tie-up with Tower Software, whose EDRMS product TRIM is widely used within the public sector. As part of the deal, the TRIM software will be used to combine workflow, image management, document management, web publishing, email management and records management, with Axxia's case management system via a single off-the-shelf application.

Comment: A question we are frequently asked on the Insider is can we suggest any suppliers of EDRMS products that can meet the needs of small-to-mid-sized solicitors practices. Such firms typically fall between two stools, as the volumes of documents they have exceed the capacity of a 'lets buy a scanner and CD burner and do it ourselves' approach yet fall short of the workloads seen as necessary to justify using the services of the big litigation support bureaux. For these firms the ideal solution is an add-on to their existing case or practice management system. Well done Axxia for spotting this gap in the market.
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News in brief

Interface launches InterAction v.5 CRM
Interface Software this week launched Version 5 of its legal market leading InterAction CRM (client relationship management) system. Interface vice president Rick Klau says the new version, which is scheduled to start shipping in Q3 this year, is the most significant upgrade to the product since the launch of IRIS in 2000 and will give users access to functionality that even mainstream CRM products cannot compete with.

Klau says the new release focuses on three key themes. These are improvements to the 'user experience' - in other words to make the system fit in better with the way lawyers like to work. Probably the most noticeable change here is the introduction of a privacy element that allows lawyers to decide just which pieces of information they have on a client or contact are shared across the firm and which remain private.

The second theme is a new 'project' oriented architecture, so instead of just looking at the relationship between people, including clients, lawyers and other contacts, it can also link them to deals, matters and projects. Finally (and echoing a recent Gartner Group report which said that one of the biggest problems with CRM projects is about 30% of all data goes 'bad' every year) Interface has placed new emphasis on data quality and 'change management' so as to make it easier to manage CRM records while avoiding duplication and errors.

Other changes in version 5 include full support for Lotus Notes platforms and a web browser interface that, according to Klau, still gives users Windows style functionality. Interestingly, the web interface is based entirely on dynamic HTML and does not require any interactive elements, such as Java applets, to be downloaded into the system. www.interfacesoftware.com
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Microsoft's new licence deal - who cares ?
According to some of the stories appearing in the mainstream IT press, the new licensing regime for Microsoft products, which comes into effect on 1st August, is just about the worst thing to happen in the IT world since Y2K. But according to the legal IT suppliers and consultants the Insider has spoken to, the issue has raised barely a ripple of interest among most law firms. Or as Doug McLachlan of Axxia summed it up "I thought this would be a big issue this year but it looks like turning into a damp squib. Most of our users are just letting the deadline slip by them and are doing nothing."

So just what is happening with Microsoft licensing? Under the old regime, the company operated various upgrade schemes for existing users of Microsoft products, including Windows and applications such as Microsoft Office. These meant instead of paying the full list price, you could upgrade for about 60% of the product price. In May 2001 Microsoft announced the introduction of a new arrangement whereby unless you subscribe to Upgrade Advantage (UA) or purchase a new Software Assurance (SA) you will in future have to pay the full purchase price next time you want to upgrade to a new version of a Microsoft product.

There is also an key transitional period. If you currently run an old Microsoft product - such as Windows 98 - you have until 31 July to register for UA, which will give you a 35-40% discount on the cost of an upgrade. After 1 August the only way to obtain discounts on subsequent future upgrades is to buy SA when you next upgrade - but unfortunately that first initial upgrade will have to be at the full list price.

Confused? In fact the scheme is even more complex than this sounds. For example, because Software Assurance costs between 25-29% of a full licence but only lasts for three years, if you have recently upgraded and do not plan another upgrade until 2005/2006, it may actually be cheaper not to join the scheme.

Essentially Microsoft is saying that if you want to run the latest software, the only way to do so without paying the full price for each upgrade is to subscribe to UA/SA before 31 July. But, Tikit's software assets manager Matt Breen, who has worked with a number of larger firms on this issue, says firms need to balance the immediate cost of UA/SA with the likely future savings and the status of their current systems. For example, if you currently run older Microsoft products and are planning an upgrade during the next three years, then you stand to save between 37-42% by enrolling for UA/SA before 31 July.

Breen adds that external factors may also influence decisions on future upgrade timetables. For example, how long will Microsoft continue to support legacy versions of its products - it has already said it will cease support for Windows NT4 Server in July 2003. And, what about any third-party systems you run that are integrated with Microsoft products. If the authors of those products standardise on the latest versions of Microsoft products, you may be forced to upgrade to continue using them.

Clearly there is no one size fits all solution but with the deadline set to expire in just three weeks - do the maths now.
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Online marketing referral sites get thumbs down
New research conducted by the well known internet commentator Delia Venables suggests that UK law firms have been left singularly unimpressed by the services offered by the large number of online marketing referral web sites currently targeting the legal profession.

The premise behind all these sites is broadly the same: if a law firm pays the fees and signs up to join a panel, it will benefit from a far greater marketing budget to promote the site than it could ever afford if left to its own devices. This means more visitors will be attracted to the site and should in turn result in a larger number of prospective clients being referred on to the panel members.

However with these sites charging anything from £150 to £1250 a year per postcode for panel membership, Venables wanted to know just how effective they were. The results of her survey suggests 'not very'. A total of 800 firms were canvassed but according to Venables "the responses I received were overwhelmingly sceptical, saying either that they had not tried these sites or had tried them and found them of very little use."

Giving the referral sites the benefit of the doubt, she then contacted the operators of all these sites (twice) and "invited them to encourage their happy users to contact me." But apparently happy users were also in short supply as the only responses Venables received were from three firms who had all found the Law-on-the-Web service useful.

In the light of this dire response, Venables advises all firms considering going down this route to (i) ask for validated figures relating to these sites' web traffic, (ii) find out how many other firms are on a panel, (iii) find out how many referrals are passed on in the course of a month and (iv) find out how many of these referrals actually turn into real fee generating clients.

Venables says firms should also remember that they all qualify for a free listing on the Law SocietyÕs own very popular www.solicitors-online.com site. Here on the Insider, we would suggest other pertinent questions include: what are these organisations doing to promote their sites, how big are their marketing budgets and what are they spending the money on? Full details of the survey can be found on the web. www.venables.co.uk/n0207bry.htm
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New guide to email for small firms
The legal management consultancy Practical Solutions has just published Email & Internet Access Solutions for Smaller Firms. This guide contains useful checklists to help simplify the selection of the most appropriate system for a particular firm, along with a clear explanation of all the jargon and practical advice, including a template for a practice email and internet usage policy. Copies of the guide cost £25 (including p&p) and can be ordered via the Practical Solutions web site at www.inpractice.co.uk or by phoning Kayleigh O'Neill on 0161 929 8355.
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E-conveyancing news in brief

One of the main changes is the new forms ask for a National Land & Property Gazetteer Unique Property Reference Number (NLPG UPRN). This should enable faster searches and greater certainty with results. According to Jan Boothroyd, a member of the working party that developed the form: "The new CON 29 is designed to be more user friendly and easier to read, which is particularly helpful if a lawyer is working online. Since NLIS channels can also supply the location plan now needed with Part 1, practitioners can leave this to NLIS, which should save time." NLIS is currently processing over 2000 searches electronically each week and estimates that by the end of July over 10% of all local authority searches will be made through NLIS channels. www.nlis.org.uk

TFB client facing initiative
Following the first phase of TFB's CFI client facing initiative, which over the past 10 months has seen TFB directors and senior management meet and discuss issues with representatives of over 300 user firms at meetings and client workshops across the UK, the company is preparing for the second phase of its CFI.

According to customer care director Len Hall (to our knowledge TFB is still the only legal IT supplier with a main board director dedicated to this task) the next phase of the initiative will focus on customer support. "Our new customer care portal, which has been in beta test for the last three months, will be rolled out shortly to improve client communications and keep customers constantly updated on the status of support calls. We have adopted a proactive approach to call log analysis, by identifying issues or problems that arise more frequently than others and addressing these specific problems directly to limit their occurrence."

Comment: And about time too. It has always been a source of amazement to us that suppliers spend so much time trying to win new sales yet ignore the needs of their existing users.
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More new names queue up to enter the legal market
The Insider has lost track of the number of times we have been told there are too many suppliers fighting for a slice of the legal technology market and that a shakeout is needed. Perhaps it is but clearly nobody has told the rest of the IT industry and in this issue we report on more new faces either making their debut or poised to enter the UK legal IT market.

According to Terry Doherty, a key feature of Outlook Anywhere is it provides secure, server-level synchronisation between PDAs and a firm's back office systems rather than just mirroring data, where there is always the risk of information being duplicated or falling out of sync. Because the system can also handle Microsoft Office file attachments Doherty says that with a suitable PDA, lawyers who just need to access email need no longer carry a laptop with them on out of the office trips. www.doherty.co.uk

Interestingly - and by way of adding extra security - each encrypted message has its own dedicated, one time key. Code-X is a managed service and can either be run by the supplier on an ASP basis - with pricing based along the lines of £1000 for 1000 keys - or else installed inhouse on a law firm's own servers.

Unfortunately there are a couple of drawbacks with the system. The first is that the system is currently only available for the Microsoft Exchange/Outlook platform and cannot support Lotus or GroupWise. Secondly, and rather more crucially, the Code-X system requires the authorised recipient (typically the client) to install a decryption utility on their PC before they can read an encrypted message. This utility can either be distributed in advance by the sender firm or else the client must download it from the Code-X web site - options which have in the past been non-starters for most law firms. www.code-xcrypto.com
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Gonzalez quits rival to join Baker Robbins
Sally Gonzalez has quit the US legal IT consultancy Hildebrandt International to join the arch-rival Baker Robbins & Co. Gonzalez, who has previously served as the CIO and chief knowledge officer of an AmLaw 100 firm, will be working on law firm knowledge management projects both in the United States and in the UK. Andrew Levison, who heads Baker Robbins' operations in the UK, said Gonzalez was already lined up for at least two KM projects in London this year.
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Scots web domain row reveals email chaos
The latest revelation in the dispute between the Law Society of Scotland and Tommy Butler's Local Websites service, over the rights to the lawscot.co.uk domain name, centers on the fact that for a period during early 2000, the Society mistakenly published the co.uk domain as its main email address, when at the time it had only registered the lawscot.org.uk domain and co.uk still belonged to Butler. The result was Butler's business received over 760 incorrectly addressed email messages from solicitors and other people attempting to contact the Society. Butler, who is now asking whether the Society contravened the provisions of the Data Protection Act, says some of these emails were of a sensitive - and in the case of those addressed to an apparent media mole at the Society - highly embarrassing nature.
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