Nabarro Nathanson is first to go with the MetaWall
Nabarro Nathanson has become the first law firm to order the Workshare Technology's (020 7426 0000) new MetaWall application, which is designed to cleanse electronic documents of all hidden - and potentially sensitive - metadata information that could unintentionally be disclosed to the wrong people. Nabarros have bought 1000 seats of MetaWall and will be integrating the system with their Hummingbird DMS.

Spratt Endicott rejects best of breed for single source solution
Spratt Endicott, the 100+ user firm created in May 2002 after the demerger of the Banbury branch of Shoosmiths, is spending £500,000 on an integrated case and practice management system from Videss. The deal includes a new hardware and network infrastructure and will be supported by the Videss CFM facilities management service and a disaster recovery package. Although when still part of Shoosmiths the office had access to the Elite PMS and case management software from DPS and Beaver, the new firm rejected a number of best of breed solutions in favour of the 'full service' integrated approach offered by Videss.
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News in brief

New legal budget software launched - at a budget price
Legal Budgets Ltd (01242 235996) this week launched its new Legal Budgets application. As the name implies, it is designed to help solicitors quantify budgets for case work, including counsel and expert witness fees, within minutes. The software's author Jim Diamond says the system can handle everything "from the smallest personal injury case to a multi-million pound commercial case" and has been designed to be used out of the box "so no formal training is required".

The system costs £575 pa (or £49.99 a month) and is being promoted at a series of roadshows around the country over the coming months. Given the price plus the fact the High Court has in recent months handed down a series of judgments in which firms failed to recover their full fees because they omitted to inform clients that costs were escalating above their original Rule 15 estimates, this application looks like a handy addition to any firm's software portfolio. www.legalbudgets.com
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LegalTech New York - the systems & suppliers
With a total of 42 conference sessions and nearly 300 exhibitors, this year's LegalTech New York tradeshow was enormous however the surprise was not just what products were on display but also those that were absent.

For example, there were over 70 suppliers in New York showing products and services that could be broadly categorised as litigation support systems whereas at Legal IT in London last year (and it looks like being the same this year) there were none. On the otherhand, while in the UK digital dictation systems are probably currently the hottest technology, at LegalTech there was just one DDS supplier - and that was New Zealand-based Winscribe which was there primarily to try to set up a dealer network to replicate the success it is currently enjoying in the UK.

It was also interesting to learn that what many delegates said they were looking for this year (in addition to general IT upgrades) were knowledge management systems. Indeed much admiration was expressed at the way "English firms do KM so much better than Americans" - a comment that may come as a surprise to all those firms in the UK currently struggling to see a decent return on their investments in KM.

One product that did catch our eye, and which could have a useful role to play in the UK, was the OpenSource system from OpenSource Inc in Silicon Valley. This is a web based analysis and collaboration tool designed specifically for lawyers working on lengthy contracts. According to OpenSource vice president Eva Mineva it has the edge on its nearest competitor Workshare Synergy because, along with all the benefits managing document changes in a collaborative environment, its automatic analysis and hyperlinking facilities create what is in effect a knowledge management system for contract precedents. www.opensourceinc.com

We were also impressed with AdLib Publishing Systems' AdLib eXpress product range, which provide a very simple way to convert documents in a wide variety of file types and formats into PDF, TXT and TIFF files. There is also an OCR add on that allows you to convert non-searchable legacy PDFs into full text searchable documents and a new server solution that enables lawyers using PDAs to access any attachments they receive by email. AdLib has also entered the litigation support sector with its inSight metadata extraction system for email, so the content of messages can be analysed for forensic purposes. www.adlibsys.com

Congratulations also to Westlaw, who had the best promotional gimmick of the show, namely a virtual reality ride. In fact it proved so popular that there was a long queue of delegates, tailing way past the stand and beyond even that of Westlaw's arch-rival LexisNexis, waiting to go on the ride from first thing in the morning until closing time on the final day.

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TFB reports strong results
Technology for Business has just announced the results of its first financial audit since acquiring the Scottish supplier CB Systems Legal and English competitor Avenue Legal Systems in 2001. The company's financial year-end on 30 September 2002 saw TFB achieve total sales of £7 million and an operating profit of approximately £1 million.

Commenting on the results, TFB's managing director Simon Hill said "Our 2001/2002 results have placed TFB at the top end of the market in terms of performance ratios. An operating profit of approximately 14% of sales is a significant achievement. In 2003 we will continue to focus on the development of new and the enhancement of existing solutions and services. In addition, we plan to increase our aggressive new business initiatives and continue monitoring further acquisition opportunities, that will enable us to increase our market share." Insider research suggests most suppliers in the UK legal IT market are making an operating profit of only around 5-to-6%.
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Major win for Pilgrim Systems
Fast growing Scottish practice Harper MacLeod, the firm is part of the 500 lawyer-strong European Legal Alliance which also includes Field Fisher Waterhouse, has chosen Pilgrim Systems to supply its new integrated practice and client relationship management system. The firm's financial director Martin Darroch said the Pilgrim LawSoft product was the only one that could demonstrate a fully integrated PMS and CRM solution. Previously a CB Systems site, the Harper MacLeod deal came down to a two horse race between Pilgrim and Elite.
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Company news in brief

First sightings...
We've received reports of a couple of new systems that some firms have been investigating in recent weeks.

The first is the Prism document formatting system from Synertec (01823 335396). This allows users greater control over the formatting of accounts generated documents such as invoices and is being considered as a possible alternative to the Whitehill Technologies' billing system. www.synertec.co.uk

The second newcomer is the Docdolittle (think about it) document automation and assembly system from Owlcentral in New Zealand. This is based on Microsoft .NET technology and the buzz is the company is interested in doing business in the UK. The software has also been used to create a Desktop Lawyer style online legal document production service called Owl Documents. www.owlcentral.com + www.owldocuments.com
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What's hot? - Carpe Diem
Best Software's Carpe Diem time and expenses tracking system has been around for so long that it is now widely regarded as part of the best of breed furniture. However since the release of the latest version (4.01) the product has been enjoying something of a renaissance, particularly as users (which in the UK include seven out of the top 10 largest firms) realise that Carpe Diem really does do what it says on the box.

Karen Fate, who heads up legal sales for Carpe Diem, reckons one of the big attractions is the way it can easily - and quickly - be rolled out to support different technologies, including traditional Windows thick client, Palm/Blackberry PDA and web browser platforms. This flexibility recently helped the product win a 300 user order from Neal Gerber Eisenberg in Chicago. After being quoted six months by its practice management systems supplier to provide a web interface, the firm turned to Carpe Diem who were able to deliver, implement and roll out their own comparable CDWeb product in just 10 days. Carpe Diem is sold and supported in the UK by Tikit (020 7400 3737). www.timetracking.com

And what's not - PFI Libra
According to Edward Leigh, the chairman of the House of Commons public accounts committee: "The LIBRA project (Lord Chancellor's Department's national IT system for magistrates courts) is one of the worst IT projects I have ever seen. It may also be the shoddiest PFI (private finance initiative) project ever." The remarks were made in the wake of a report published by the National Audit Office last month which revealed that, despite spending £390 million with Fujitsu on a project which in the summer of 1998 was only meant to cost £146 million, the magistrates courts network still did not have a working IT system and the LCD was now negotiating with two other companies to deliver the core software and integration. In the early-to-mid 1990s the LCD also wasted £12 million on two earlier attempts to computerise magistrates courts.
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The Loties awards - they're back and they are bigger for 2003
In Brief magazine has announced its plans for its 2003 Loties legal office technology innovation awards. These include revised categories and the introduction of a separate event - the e-Loties - for online, e-commerce, portal and knowledge management projects. Once again the Loties are being run in association with Legal Technology Insider.

Nominations for the mainstream Loties awards, which now include separate categories for best of breed and integrated products, close on 31 May, with the winners announced on 13 November. The closing date for the new e-Loties is 18 April, with the winners being announced on 18 September.

As in previous years, the awards will be a two-stage event with users first nominating the companies, firms, products, services and people they want to see on the shortlist before going on to vote on who they want to win. An online voting form will be available on the In Brief web site within the next 10 days. In the meantime you can obtain more details by emailing In Brief publisher Karen Jones at kjones@inbrief.co.uk
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Baker Robbins win Norton Rose IT review
Norton Rose has used Baker Robbins & Co (020 7224 2030) to assist with a strategic review of its information systems, to help the firm's partners create a plan for the next three to five years that will enhance client service by both exploiting new technologies and taking advantage of existing investments in IT. The consultancy team was headed by Andrew Levison. According to the firm's chief operating officer Kevin Mortell "Baker Robbins' understanding of law firm business priorities and issues, and their knowledge of legal technology, were critical factors in helping us develop our plans."
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Linklaters pushing the envelope with new Microsoft technology
Last Friday Linklaters announced that following a successful pilot with 350 users in its New York and Sao Paulo offices, it is installing the beta version of the yet to be released Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 and Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2000. The move is part of an infrastructure refresh project - Platform 2000 - designed to enhance system performance and reduce downtime. The roll out to 6500 users across 31 offices in 22 countries is due to be completed by May.

Commenting on the project, Linklaters strategic consultant Tim Warburton said "The Microsoft management solutions provide us with a complete set of tools to effectively administer our Windows servers and clients. In particular, the combination of MOM and the HP Insight Manager Agent will help us proactively manage our systems to achieve high levels of reliability and availability across all our data centres."
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Web site of the month... Woolley & Co
When Andrew Woolley, the principal of Woolley & Co, opened his firm for business in 2000, he saw the internet as a way to help him not only escape from the traditional confines of being a sole practitioner but also to provide a more client friendly service. In effect Woolley & Co, as its e-lawfirm.co.uk web site URL indicates, is a virtual law firm with no bricks and mortar offices but a network of solicitors located across the Midlands who will liaise with clients by phone, post, email or even visit them at their homes or offices.

The firm's current web site, which went live in November 2002, has a clean, striking design that combines excellent navigation - we particularly like the way the menu keeps pace with the user as you scroll down the pages - with a strong corporate image. It is also a relief to see that despite being a virtual law firm, Woolley & Co have not lost sight of the fact that the primary function of the site is, in the words of Andrew Woolley, "marketing, marketing and then marketing." Although there are some interactive features - such as the ability to register for a monthly ezine, a law shop that allows you to order a DIY divorce CD for £99 and secure extranet facilities for authorised users - there is nothing on the site that falls into the category of unnecessary gimmickry or that would frighten off the less technologically sophisticated casual visitor.

Woolley said the site was "was professionally prepared but on a shoestring budget" aided by a DTI/EU grant covering 50% of the cost. The text was drafted by Woolley "and then translated into plain English" by Teresa Harris of Second Opinion Marketing of Stratford upon Avon, with the design handled by Zarr Internet Services of Rugby. Future plans include a facility to accept payments online, including bills for conventional off-line legal work. www.e-lawfirm.co.uk
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New guide + web site from ILCA
The Institute of Legal Cashiers & Administrators, which is this year celebrating its 25th anniversary, this week launches its new How to Select a System guide to legal IT. The guide, which has been written by Insider editor Charles Christian, replaces the ILCA's previous Software Suppliers Pocket Guide and provides practical advice and a source of reference. The Guide will be supplied free of charge to all ILCA members and is available to non-members for £25.00. For more information or to purchase a copy phone 020 8294 2887.

The ILCA's new web site has also gone live this week. The site has been completely revamped to give it a fresher look, the navigation has been simplified and it now includes a secure interactive section for ILCA members. The redevelopment was headed by Regan Maloney of WPB Creative (020 7251 8686). www.ilca.org.uk
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People & Places

Legal Technology Events Diary

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