Headlines

BPM war: Bond Pearce drop Metastorm
Over the last couple of years we have become used to the intense competition between the two major suppliers of document management systems but now it looks as if the same level of rivalry is breaking out among the suppliers of workflow and business process management software.

The first shots in the BPM war were fired earlier this year when Shepherd + Wedderburn in Scotland announced they were throwing out their AIM Teamflo system and replacing it with Visualfiles. (In fact that firm has already gone live with Visualfiles, just three-and-a-half months after placing the order.) Now, Bond Pearce has announced it is replacing its Metastorm eWork applications in favour of a new firm-wide BPM platform based on the rival FloSuite system.

Commenting on the move, Bond Pearce IT director David Coates said “FloSuite was selected as our core BPM environment for a number of reasons, including its rapid configuration built on Microsoft Visio. The product’s pre-built templates and its true .NET architecture means that it fits into our architecture almost out of the box.” Bond Pearce will continue to run Visualfiles for its case management applications.

Rebranding for CMS
Aderant has rebranded its CMS.Net accounts and practice management system as Aderant Back Office. The move follows on from the introduction of the Aderant Front Office range (which includes a CRM module and a matter centric file, case, document and email management system based on the FWBS OMS Matter Centre software) and the rebranding of its business intelligence software as Aderant Executive Office. Release 7.0 of Aderant Back Office, which includes a new user interface, will be launched in November to coincide with the release of Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

The Insider has learned that Mishcon de Reya is planning to implement CMS.Net. The interesting aspect of this order is it was only in June last year that Mishcon’s announced they had selected Thomson Elite’s PMS to replace the firm’s old AIM accounts system. Full story next time.

Eversheds sticking with Hummingbird for DMS
Eversheds LLP has announced that following a successful pilot, it is staying with Hummingbird and will be migrating from its current DOCS Open platform to the Hummingbird Enterprise integrated document and email management system. Eversheds will be rolling out the new system to over 4000 users across the firm’s offices in the UK and Europe. The firm’s outgoing IT director Peter Owen described Enterprise as “a stable, proven, scaleable product... from a large, financially sound business that doesn’t focus entirely on one vertical market, minimising any risk associated with such a large investment.”

Lewis Silkin pick new document assembler
Lewis Silkin has become the first UK law firm to order the Perfectus document assembly and automation system from Sydney-based Perfectus Solutions. The firm will initially deploy Perfectus, a .NET system, in its employment and housing law practices, where it is expected to drastically reduce the time it takes to complete documents and contracts – one Australian firm that already uses Perfectus has reported time savings of between 30% to 60%.

The Perfectus software, which is also used in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, can be integrated with the Hummingbird and Interwoven DMS systems. In addition, property and PISCES software specialist Real Decisions has just announced a partnership with Perfectus Solutions. London-based Richard Scott (0870 750 3720), who heads up Perfectus operations in the UK and Europe, will be talking about the system at a seminar Real Decisions is holding in London on 20th September. For more details call Viviane Morris on 020 8346 7143.
www.perfectussolutions.com

Still on the subject of document assembly software, from this month Melbourne-based SpeedLegal has rebranded its operations. The company name changes to Exari Systems and its SmartPrecedent software now becomes Exari Document Assembly. Workplace law specialists Australian Business Lawyers are the latest firm to buy the system. Exari hopes to announce details in the near future of a document assembly deal in the UK insurance market.
www.exari.com

Courts testing US case management system
The Insider has learned that the Court Service is currently testing an American case management system as a first stage towards improving the e-infrastructure within the Commercial Court. The product being evaluated is the CX Corporation’s CXn Case Management system which delivers a combination of e-filing, scheduling and case management, including the provision for public access to certain categories of information, via thin client and internet technology.
www.cx2000.com/products/cxn/

At a conference in London earlier this summer, delegates expressed concern that the post-Woolf civil justice system was breaking down because of inadequate funding for court case and email management systems. With an estimated £150 million backlog in court service IT funding, delegates said the Treasury was "deluded" if it thought civil justice improvements could be entirely self-funded.

Do Lee & Kramer have the killer email app?
Tom Lee and Earnie Kramer, the team who introduced document management systems to the UK legal market, are back with another potential killer application. Called Lightspeed Systems Europe, they are distributing the US-developed Lightspeed Total Traffic Control system in the UK, EMEA and Asia-Pacific markets. Although the TTC product has been around for several years, the new version 6 takes the system far beyond its network management roots to offer what is probably the most comprehensive email and network security, anti-spam, anti-virus, web content filter and traffic management system currently available. A number of firms have already purchased TTC, the most recent signing being Taylor Wessing.

Lightspeed Europe’s channel partner director Allan Bower is interested in talking to any IT suppliers who would like to become TTC resellers. Lightspeed is also holding a seminar in London next week (Tuesday 13 September) looking at the TTC system and including a presentation by Rob McCarthy, the president of Lightspeed Systems Inc. For details call Peter Barnes on 020 7074 0030.
www.lightspeedsystems.com
www.lseurope.com

Scottish Law Society selects Visualfiles
The Law Society of Scotland has awarded Visualfiles the contract to supply its new regulatory management system. The system, which will be integrated with the Society’s finance and Nflow digital dictation systems, will also allow solicitors to update their own records, reserve places on legal education courses and CPD activity.

In other Visualfiles news... Shoosmiths has become the latest large law firm to buy a Visualfiles case management system; the banking group HBOS is running Visualfiles to help process remortgage work; and Visualfiles will be working with Searchflow to create an integrated home information pack.

Grundig gears up as Sanyo drops out
Grundig is gearing up its activities in the digital dictation hardware market, with a raft of new product releases. These include a docking station version of the Digta 4015 portable recorder and an entry level version of its Digta ProMic 840 USB microphone. Called the ProMic Classic, this does not have mouse control functionality but is cheaper than the rival Philips SpeechMike.

But while Grundig is making a big push into the hardware market, Sanyo is out, having announced earlier this summer it was withdrawing its digital recorders from sale in the UK. The reason cited was that its devices, which are made in the US, contain levels of lead in the solder that no longer comply with EU environmental regulations. In other hardware news... Olympus is reported to be planning the launch of a USB mike next spring and another supplier is working on a Bluetooth mike for its recorders.

New consultancy to focus on Office and e-training
Melvin Cook is a new consultancy providing e-training and practice management solutions for law firms. These include ready to run courses on all aspects of Microsoft Excel, Word, Access, Visio and SQL Server plus ‘solutions’ for Microsoft Office applications, Crystal Report, SQL and tables for legal accounts systems. Among the solutions Melvin Cook has already developed are a range of Crystal reports, automated email alerts for notifying specific people within a firm of billing and WIP data, and PMS software customisation for such things as e-billing, bill format templates and laser cheque printing.

The co-founders Sean Melvin and Robert Cook have clocked up over 30 years’ experience in the legal market and the consultancy’s services would certainly seem to meet the needs of firms who want to get a little more out of Microsoft Office or a PMS but lack the inhouse resources to do it. As part of its promotional activities, the consultancy is offering various freebies on its website. Everything from dashboard-style dials for comparing target against actual earnings, to Sick of Su Doku Too which provides a COUNTIF spreadsheet to help solve the puzzle.
www.melvincook.com

Project Rosetta launches in the UK
LexisNexis Butterworths has launched its new online legal, tax news and business information service. Originally called Project Rosetta, it will give users in the UK a single point of access to hundreds of legal, tax and regulatory primary sources, such as Halsbury’s Laws, All England Law Reports, Simon’s Direct Tax Service and Tolley’s Tax Annuals, as well as wide ranging source materials from the FSA Handbooks to Inland Revenue Manual. The service, which went through two years of testing and customer consultation, will have two key elements: an online legal and tax service called LexisNexis Butterworths and a news and business service called LexisNexis. This summer’s launch will be followed by regular upgrades as new content and functionality are introduced.

As part of the service, the user interface, search and document delivery functionality have been redesigned. Changes include: allowing users to create quick shortcuts to frequently required publications and information, improved search facilities, enhanced subject indexing so online data can be interrogated more thoroughly and new delivery options so content can be instantly copied, shared or delivered directly to a document or user’s desktop.

Anya to offer larger firms premium software
Anya Designs (0870 402 9939), the company behind the CaseKeeper software for legal aid firms, has announced the launch of its new iLaw accounts and case management system for larger commercial and private client practices. Anya’s MD Christina Grzasko said the decision “to go head-to-head with suppliers such as Axxia and DPS” was made because it was felt larger firms could also benefit from good quality, premium priced software that was simple to implement – Grzasko says it is “as simple to roll out as Microsoft Word” – did not require extensive training and could actually be customised by users. Standard iLaw features include probate and conveyancing workflows, mobile working, plus accounts and legal aid billing.
www.ilawonline.co.uk

Marketing - still a black art
When it comes to marketing, despite the huge amounts of money spent on websites and CRM software, most lawyers are apparently still clueless. Earlier this summer one of the market’s better publicity consultants carried out some research into the responsiveness of the UK’s 20 largest law firms. He visited each of the sites and then emailed them for a copy of their practice brochure. Four firms merely sent emails telling him to look at the site, nine did not respond at all, and none took the elementary step in lead qualification of asking where he was from.

Undaunted, he phoned the non-responders. This time two asked where he was from, four told him to look at the website, three said they didn’t know what brochures were available, two blamed other departments for not replying to the original email, and one provided a recorded message advising callers to ring a named colleague who, it turns out, had left the firm. In the circumstances it is hardly surprising that one well-known IT director refers to her firm’s marketing team as ‘the colouring-in department’.

Now librarians can win prizes
The British & Irish Association of Law Librarians and LexisNexis Butterworths have teamed up to launch a new award scheme recognising the work of legal information professionals and the best use of technology in legal library projects. The BIALL LexisNexis Butterworths Awards organisers are now calling on librarians working in law firms, law schools and related libraries in the UK and Ireland for nominations. Nominees will be judged on how well they face the challenges of running a law library. The nominations close next week (16th September) and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on 14th October which, coincidentally, is also the last day of the Gleneagles Legal IT Forum. Full details are available on the BIALL website.
www.biall.org.uk

All change at Eversheds
Malcolm Simms is joining Eversheds as its new IT director. Simms, most recently with Buena Vista TV as vice president for information services, replaces Peter Owen who is moving on to set up his own business. Called Lights-On Consulting, Owen’s new company will offer strategic consultancy services to law firms.
www.lights-on-consulting.com

Crystal ball did not foresee fire
Eddy Winters, Nflow’s new man in Scotland (see page 4), had a lucky escape this summer when a neighbour’s flat was gutted in a blaze. According to the fire brigade, the blaze was caused when sunlight was concentrated by a crystal ball on the neighbour’s window-sill and focused, as if through a magnifying glass, on a pile of washing which promptly caught fire. The irony is the neighbour, a student at Edinburgh University, is also an amateur psychic who used the crystal ball as a fortune-tellling device.

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News in brief

SOS roll out business intelligence
Solicitors Own Software (01225 787700) has begun rolling out its new On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) business intelligence reporting software. One of the first to sign up for OLAP, which can produce snapshots of key data on demand and be interrogated by Microsoft Excel, is top 100 practice Hugh James.

Transam in Microsoft promotion
Transam Microsystems (020 7837 4050) is running a Microsoft promotion to make it easier for small-to-mid-sized firms (25-to-500 PCs) who don’t have Microsoft Software Assurance to update to the latest Windows Server/Exchange Server 2003 technology. Transam says the promotion should also appeal to firms switching from Lotus Notes or Novell GroupWise.

Ellistons switch from AIM to Videss
Stanmore Law Practice, the conveyancing arm of Ellistons LLP, has rolled out the Videss Legal Office system and switched from their old AIM accounts within one month of their first meeting with Videss. Videss (01274 851577) has published its accounts for the year to 31 March 2005. These show a turnover of £5.56 million (2004: £4.46m), pre-tax profits of £353.6k and directors’ dividends of £1 million.

Local government IT moves
The legal department at Medway Council has awarded Laserform the contract to supply its new matter management system and Iken Business has won the contract to supply Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council with case management software.

Saturn in new orbit
The consultancy Saturn Legal has moved from Harley Street to larger offices at 107-111 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2AB. The new phone number is 020 7936 9088.

Wiggin LLP select Elite Out of the box
Cheltenham-based media lawyers Wiggin LLP has selected Thomson Elite’s Elite Out of the Box practice management system for small-to-mid sized firms to replace its current Civica accounts software.

Select offer online money launder check
Select Legal Systems (01482 644334) has released a new version of its LawFusion practice management software that includes an optional automated system for running anti-money laundering checks. The system takes data, being entered into the PMS as part of the new client set-up process, and forwards it as an XML feed to the Callcredit consumer credit referencing service’s CallML online facility, which automatically reports back on whether the client details have been authenticated. Select’s flagship site Bridge McFarland requested the new facility.
www.callcredit.plc.uk

GSH pioneer DMS move in smaller firm
Gordon Hill’s GSH Legal IT (01732 359602) consultancy has brokered a deal that will see 80-user firm Fishburns install an Interwoven WorkSite 8 system to handle document and email management. The system is being implemented by Phoenix Business Solutions. Hill says the interesting feature of this deal is the way Interwoven is extending its reach by making its products more appealing to smaller firms and that DMS “need no longer be a big boys’ toy.”

Claim 5 tracking for Bar chambers
Working in conjunction with 1 Pump Court Chambers and the Legal Services Commission, Formation Software has developed a new Claim 5 forms (Family Graduated Fee Scheme applications) tracking system for users of its InQuisita Law chambers management system.

Calvis to resell InterAction CRM
Calvis has signed up with LexisNexis Interface Software to resell its InterAction client relationship management system into the commercial real estate sector. Calvis will also be developing property-centric CRM solutions.

Lee & Pembertons upgrade with Icomm
London firm Lee & Pembertons has completed an upgrade of its hardware infrastructure, including a migration from NT4 to the latest Microsoft Windows Server and Exchange platforms, the installation of more powerful HP rack servers and rollout of a new voice over IP phone system. The work was carried out by Icomm Technologies (0121 248 7878), who completed the project in 5 days, working at weekends and overnight to avoid any disruption to normal working.
www.icommtechnologies.co.uk

Ashurst get better billing visibility
Ashurst, working in conjunction with the Blueprint consultancy (020 7832 1803), has implemented a new performance management system that uses Business Objects XI software to provide the firm’s partners and heads of department with better visibility of their clients, matters and billing. The firm opted for the new system, which delivers information to the desktop via a web dashboard, after the finance department began finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the demand from partners for increasingly complex business information reports.

Unified messaging at Lewis Silkin
Lewis Silkin has deployed AVST’s CallXpress unified messaging system to let fee earners check and manage their fax, voicemail and Outlook email messages via a mobile phone, regardless of their physical location. The system, which allows users to hear their emails read to them or else have them delivered to a fax machine, was supplied by AVST’s UK reseller Avanquest (01962 835000).

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The Insider web site
For the latest legal IT news, jobs, events and information, visit the Insider web site, described by The Times newspaper as "the definitive online resource for legal technology information".

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Fresh on the radar

Whittles select SteelEye to protect email network
Following a communications failure due to a fire within is regional network, the multisite employment and trade union law firm Whittles has rolled out the LifeKeeper for Exchange system from Steeleye Technology (01223 208701) to provide business continuity and disaster recovery facilities for email across its LAN and WAN. The implementation was handled by IT Professional Services.
www.steeleye.com

Finers go with Aventail secure remote access
Finers Stephens Innocent has implemented an Aventail SSL VPN system to provide fee earners and staff with secure access to email, intranet and business applications from remote locations, including home and client sites. Aventail describes its system as using ‘reverse proxy’ technology.
www.aventail.com

Chelmsford firm gets remote access via Eurobase
Eurobase (01245 496706), a company that has widened its activities since we first encountered it in the insurance IT market about 15 years ago, has just completed a project for Chelmsford firm Hill & Abbott to create remote access links to its internal systems for selected users and clients. The solution is based on Microsoft Small Business Server, Windows Terminal Services and a bonded ADSL facility.
www.eurobase-international.com

Wragge & Co select Hornbill for helpdesk
Wragge & Co has selected Hornbill Systems’ (020 8582 8224) Supportworks to support the operations of the firm’s IT helpdesk. Along with improved call logging and tracking, the system has the facility to create predefined templates to speed up the identification and resolution of specific types of call, such as printer jams and forgotten passwords. Wragge desktop services manager Hazel Healy says the systems now in place allow 80% of the 300+ calls received each day to be resolved by first-line support staff.
www.hornbill.com

New document replication technology launched
Electronichelp (01233 620674), a newly formed document management company set up by ex-Hummingbird and KLA consultant Phil Ayton, has announced the release of DMSMirror. This uses Microsoft .NET technology to replicate document edits in near-realtime for use in offsite disaster recovery and client extranet applications. You can also obtain free vendor independent advice on DMS issues by posting questions via the Electronic help website.
www.electronichelp.com

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E-conveyancing news in brief

All Welsh authorities now on NLIS
The National Land Information Service reports that all local authorities in Wales now have links to NLIS and says it is on track to have all 410 councils in England & Wales electronically connected to the service by this December.

LSSA issues PISCES collaboration statement
The Legal Software Suppliers Association has issued a statement saying it fully supports the PISCES initiative to create an electronic data exchange standard for property transactions and “encourages” its members to adopt the XML standard in their conveyancing systems.

Easy Convey e-submissions approved by taxman
Easy Convey (01483 419025) reports that the Land Transaction Return (SDLT) e-submission facility in its CASA e-conveyancing software has passed all the Inland Revenue’s validation tests. Recent orders for CASA include Foot Anstey in Plymouth, Patterson Glenton & Stracey in Leeds and Crossroads solicitors in Cardiff. Easy Convey has also recruited Maria Cristi and Joe Sorce, both previously with LexisNexis Butterworths, to its support team.

ConveyPro launched SDLT online service
Courage & Co, the developers of the ConveyProControl conveyancing case management system, have also geared up for the new Stamp Duty Land Tax e-submission service which got underway at the end of last month. The Courage approach is a new web service – SDLT.co.uk – that talks directly to the Inland Revenue’s e-submission gateway to simplify the submission of SDLT forms. The Courage service is available as a stand-alone facility or integrated with the ConveyProControl system.
www.sdlt.co.uk

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Digital dication news

Nflow announces integration with Visualfiles
Nflow has announced the completion of an integration project with the Visualfiles portfolio of case management applications, including Visualfile v.1 and v.2 as well as the upcoming release of Solcase v.7. Visualfiles chairman Neil Ewin said it was his company’s “strategy to integrate with all the leading systems in each technology field... digital dictation is a natural addition to this portfolio.”

BigHand clean up in the regions
BigHand may have a reputation as a major supplier to larger London firms but it also has over 225 firms outside the top 250 using its digital dictation software, with an increasing presence in the regions. These include the North-West, where it now has 18 user firms, and the South-West, where 10 firms have signed up in the past few months. Here, BigHand’s secret weapon is the salesman Chris Poulson whose contacts and track record in the South-West means he knows just about everyone there is to know in that part of the legal IT world.

Gorvins select WinScribe plus SRC
Following a pilot that saw its dictation backlog slashed from 750 to 150 jobs, Gorvins is to rollout a WinScribe digital dictation system on a firm-wide basis. The contract was won by SRC, who will implement WinScribe on Citrix at Gorvins’ Milton Keynes offices. The firm will use a mix of Olympus DS-4000 handhelds and Philips SpeechMikes.

Nflow opens Scottish office
‘Big 3’ digital dictation software supplier Nflow has opened a Scottish subsidiary, called Nflow Scotland. The company, whose customers include The Scottish Law Society, has offices in Glasgow and is headed up by managing director Adrian McKenna and business services director Eddy Winters, previously the IT manager at Archibald Campbell & Harley WS.

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Online news in brief

Whither the Legal Web part 2 out now
The second part of Nick Holmes and Delia Venables’ e-book Whither the Legal Web is published today. This part looks at the impact of the web on legal practice, covering everything from e-conveyancing to virtual law firms – including a keynote article by Insider editor Charles Christian on the way email has transformed communications. Each section is written by an expert in the particular field and the book qualifies for CPD. Priced at £40, or £60 if you buy it with the companion first part published earlier this year, copies can be purchased online.
www.infolaw.co.uk

Online research costing rebranded
Following a new alliance with 7SIDE, a provider of online company information, Priory Solutions (0845 056 9464) has rebranded its online research cost recovery product as Research Monitor. The system, which was previously sold through Copitrak Systems, allows libraries and information service departments to track, manage and allocate the cost of using online information services. www.priorysolutions.co.uk

Eversheds in new e-publishing venture
Eversheds has launched an online reference guide to the governing law in 29 different European states. Called Directors Law of Europe, it is intended to provide legal counsel for multinationals and general counsel for US corporations with operations in Europe with a single source of information on corporate compliance and governance law.
www.eversheds.com/directorslawofeurope/

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International news

BigHand Australia win
Minter Ellison has gone public on the results of a pilot project with BigHand’s digital dictation workflow management at its Brisbane offices, with the firm saying the system “more than delivered on our expectations”. This is BigHand’s fourth win among ‘top 20’ law firms in Australia. Ebsworth & Ebsworth announced their move a couple of months ago and the two other firms are expected to go public later this year. Diskcovery Information recommended the firm trial BigHand.
www.diskcovery.com.au

Irish courts to use WordWave
WordWave International has been awarded an exclusive contract to provide transcription services to the Republic of Ireland Courts Service. This is the first time the Irish courts service has outsourced court reporting to a single provider. The contract, which will initially run for one year, is to provide stenographic services for the civil and criminal courts.

New consultant at Know Where
New Zealand information and knowledge management consultancy Know Where Consulting has appointed Amanda Cole as a consultant. Cole was most recently in the UK working on e-government projects and before that with Simpson Grierson.
www.knowwhere.co.nz

Sprusons select Inform for WorkSite deal
Sydney intellectual property firm Spruson & Ferguson has awarded Inform Systems with a contract to provide consultancy and implement a 220 seat Interwoven WorkSite document management system.
www.informsys.com.au

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People & places

Aikin takes over sales at Timeslice
Pat Aikin, who can take a lot of the credit for establishing the Pericom name in the legal market, has joined Timeslice as sales director. Aikin will primarily cover the North and Midlands and Timeslice is currently recruiting for someone to cover sales in London and the South-East.

Archbold moves to A&O
Christina Archbold, one of the original driving forces behind the English Law Society’s Software Solutions Guide and, more recently, an independent consultant, this month joined Allen & Overy as relationship manager. In the new job she has responsibility for managing the relationship between the IT department and other A&O departments to ensure users are getting the most from their IT.

Three appointments at Linetime
Leeds-based legal IT supplier Linetime has announced three new appointments. Martine Harney has joined the company as a business development executive, Kirsty Lamont joins as marketing assistant and Lisa Entwhistle joins the training team with responsibility for conveyancing case management systems.

Board changes at SearchFlow
The online conveyancing search provider SearchFlow has appointed Stuart Pearce, previously with the Landmark Information Group as its new sales & marketing director. And, SearchFlow’s parent company PropertyFlow has appointed Rob Pimenta as its new finance director.

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