Headlines

LITIG publishes policy guidelines on email usage
LITIG (the Legal IT Innovators Group - a grouping of IT directors from leading UK law firms) has published two new guides on email policy and best practice. The two guides - Email: Acceptable Usage Policy and Email: User Good Practice - can be downloaded free of charge from the LITIG web site and either used in their entirety or adapted for usage by any organisation looking for guidance in these two contentious areas. Both documents are highly comprehensive - we particularly like LITIG's golden rule for email "If you wouldn't say it in public or send it by post - DON'T email it" - and are certainly worth looking at.

The LITIG team working on this project comprises Rosemary Kind, IT director at Shoosmiths and David Coates, IT director at Bond Pearce. Commenting on the project, Coates said "This project is absolutely vital to law firms and their clients. Email is now one of, if not the most, mission critical systems within our industry. The way people use e-mail is now as crucial as the management of the system itself. Many firms run huge risks by not having appropriate guidance and policies in place."

The LITIG email project team has now moved on to research further email issues around spam and archiving however if you have any comments about the two guides, please email them to emailguides@litig.org Copies of the guides can be downloaded in Word DOC file format from www.litig.org

New portal claims to be an ASP first in conveyancing
This week saw the launch of what is claimed to be the UK's first internet-based service where a complete end-to-end conveyance can be transacted and completed through a secure portal. Called Transact Direct, it is the product of a joint venture between Scottish law firm PSM (Peddie Smith Malaco) and case management specialists Visualfiles (the parent company of Solicitec). The system, which has been undergoing trials since June 2003 and is currently handling over 1500 property transactions each month - will initially be focused on the Scottish conveyancing market however there are plans to to widen it to the broader English market.

According to PSM's IT director Peter Falconer, who first thought up the Transact Direct concept, "What is different about Transact Direct is that it isn't just a tracking system that allows the buyer or seller to see how their deal is progressing via the internet, our software actually automates and conducts the transaction from start to finish. It is like everyone is sitting in the same virtual room and using a sophisticated case management system to do their bit at the earliest moment possible. Firms should easily half the average time taken to complete a conveyance." (Transact Direct prompts each party by email immediately something has happened on the matter that needs their attention.)

Frank McIlroy, the managing director of Progress Software, added "Delivering the Transact Direct software as a service, levels the playing field for the smallest firms of solicitors or conveyancers. With virtually no IT investment they can offer a service which outpaces that of much larger firms. Any service which speeds up and reduces the cost and pain of buying or selling property has got to be a winner. "

Interestingly, the software is delivered as a service, on what is an ASP basis, to solicitors and other conveyancing providers and paid for by them on a fixed fee per transaction basis for each conveyancing matter. And, apart from the cost of their internet connection, access to the system is free of charge to the property buyer or seller. The whole service is based on Progress OpenEdge application development & database technology and delivered as a service through a secure portal. Firms do not require any in-house IT infrastructure, save a PC with an internet connection in order to use the service and to pass on a faster and more efficient service to their clients.

"The breakthrough has come," says Falconer,"from the combination of the market-leading Visualfiles workflow case management software with its thin client and web services abilities and the robustness of the Progress environment for handling complex transaction processing over the internet. Progress's lead in supporting the software as a service model also means the venture is commercially viable as they provide a software licence to meet the special demands of the pay-by-transaction model. "

Technical note: The underlying Visualfiles application is developed and deployed using the Progress OpenEdge platform. The key components of which are the underlying Progress database, the Progress 4GL used to develop the business logic, XML and Progress WebSpeed, which manages the web traffic, database updating and secure access to shared and private files. The XML code is rendered in a browser using XSL and JavaScript. Users see a fully functioned business application where they enter data, check boxes and update the case. Currently this is being achieved by communicating via HTTP. The next step is to use Web services. Phase two will enable firms of solicitors who prefer to use their existing in-house case management system to integrate their applications to Transact Direct using Web services.
www.transactdirect.co.uk

First signs of Spring - Tikit says outlook encouraging
In compliance with UK Stock Exchange regulations, the Tikit Group - one of the legal IT industry's major players in consultancy and infrastructure projects for major UK law firms - last week announced an update on current trading for the year ended 31 December 2003, before entering its closed period prior to the announcement of its preliminary results on 17 March 2004. According to the statement "Trading during the second half of the year has been encouraging, with continuing demand for higher margin consultancy and support services. In addition, there have been a number of important software sales for the Group, signalling a gradual change by clients in considering and committing to larger scale projects. As a result, the trading performance of the Group is likely to be in line with market expectations and will show a significant improvement over the prior year. As a result of new contract wins at the end of 2003, we enter 2004 with a healthy backlog of implementation and support business and software sales activity is also strong."

First Stop changes hands
Teksys Ltd, a leading UK Microsoft infrastructure services business, last week announced the successful completion of its acquisition of First Stop Computer Group, whose legal clients include Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Morgan Cole, Mills & Reeve and Olswang. Teksys chairman Shaun Frohlich said the acquisition of First Stop, which had a turnover of £12 million in its last financial year, formed part of the company's 'buy and build' growth strategy. First Stop's old Surbiton offices have now closed and Teksys will support customers out of offices in Fleet, Hampshire; Egham; Kidderminster and Croydon. First Stop's Paul Hoffbrand is now the Legal Business Manager for Teksys and can be reached at phoffbrand@teksys.co.uk Visit www.teksys.co.uk

The LOTIES & e-LOTIES awards to be even bigger in 2004
In Brief magazine has announced details of its plans for the 2004 LOTIES and e-LOTIES awards (the UK's Legal Office Technology Innovation Awards), which once again will be run in conjunction with Legal Technology Insider. Building on the tremendous success of the 2003 awards, this year's awards have been expanded to include more categories - including giving greater recognition to the part law firm staff play in legal IT and online legal service projects. The new awards' categories include best legal technology system developed by a law firm inhouse IT team, best use of IT in an electronic disclosure/e-discovery project, best IT training and e-learning facilities, best email management system, best online security system, plus special awards for the Head of IS/Librarian of the year and law firm e-business director of the year.

As in previous years, the awards follow their familiar two stage structure. In stage one, you can nominate the projects, products and people you think should be shortlisted for an award. And in stage two, you get to vote on which of the short-listed nominations you think should win. Insider editor Charles Christian will act as the judge and scrutineer to ensure the proceedings are fair and the winners will be announced at awards' ceremonies in London later this year.

The timetable: Stage one is now up and running and you can make your nominations any time between now and 30 April for both the LOTIES and e-LOTIES. Voting on the shortlisted nominations will open on 14 May and close of 30 July for the e-LOTIES and 22 October for the LOTIES. The e-LOTIES awards will take place on 23 September and the LOTIES will be held on 18 November - so put those dates in your diary now. Further information, including the nomination forms, can be found on the In Brief web site at www.inbrief.co.uk

Scottish Law Society pulls the plug on its secure email project
After just under two years, during which time it had over 100 users in 16 firms involved in a pilot, the Law Society of Scotland decided at its last council meeting of 2003 to pull the plug on its Lawseal secure email project. Lawseal was based around the controversial PKI (public key infrastructure) approach to email encryption, the system in Lawseal's case being developed in conjunction with Trustis and the software arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland. The Society said that although the technology was proven in the pilot - and there is no dispute that technically PKI does provide a very secure email infrastructure - "the council were not persuaded that the profession and, consequently, the client's interests would be served by adding this financial commitment at this stage".

Insider sources suggest the Scottish profession was running lukewarm on the project because of the potential high administration costs associated with PKI - one firm estimated it would cost £60,000 pa to run a 100-user PKI system. An additional complication was that because the Society appeared to be basing the user authentication side of PKI around membership of the Law Society, it would create a closed community of lawyers who could not extend the benefits of secure email communications to relevant third parties, such as lenders and insurance companies.

Road traffic law web site expands
Road Law, the UK motoring section of the LAW on the WEB site has started 2004 with a bang, announcing that three more specialist road traffic law firms have joined its panel, bringing the total number to 16 firms. The site provides a great deal of free information online, including guidance on possible penalties via email, as well as a fixed fee legal advice and representation scheme. The service's founder Martin Davies says the hot topic at the moment continues to be complaints by motorists caught speeding by cameras which they say do not comply with the Safety Camera Funding Scheme Rules. "Unfortunately," says Davies, "we have to tell them that the much publicised Safety Camera Rules (which deal with the siting of cameras, painting them yellow and warning motorists of speed traps) have no bearing on any criminal proceedings. You can, and will, be found guilty if you are caught speeding, even if it is by a grey camera without any warning signs."
www.road-law.co.uk

KM - Cleary Gottlieb Recomminds Mindserver
US & international law firm Cleary Gottlieb has become the latest firm to use Recommind Inc's MindServer KM and information management system. Cleary has rolled the system out to 800 lawyers across ten offices in nine countries to provide attorneys with the ability to search across all repositories of documents at once, including sharing knowledge across different geographic locations and practice areas. The firm said another attraction of Recommind's software is its ability to conduct 'smart' searches based on contextual search as opposed to keyword searching used by many traditional document management systems.

Recommind say two of the main benefits of MindServer are that: it accesses, indexes, and organizes all of the information found within a firm to allow lawyers to easily find the information they need to do their everyday jobs; and allows lawyers to easily find the information they need by typing in simple queries and getting back relevant results in a context that makes sense to them. Other MindServer users include Gray Cary, Paul Hastings and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
www.recommind.com

Litigation support - New book on e-Discovery
Law Partner Publishing of Arizona has just published Electronic Discovery & Evidence (Looseleaf, ISBN: 0-9669347-1-7) by Michael Arkfeld. The book - which comes at a time when there is growing interest in the UK in this subject - provides an analysis of the legal and technical issues associated with the discovery, production and admission of electronic evidence. The book provides explanations of technology and legal concepts, authoritative discussion of court rules to electronic information, case summaries on electronic discovery and evidentiary issues, as well as forms, checklists and practical pointers. The book is available at the Law Partner Publishing web site at www.arkfeld.com or through Amazon.com. It can also be obtained by writing to Law Partner Publishing at 741 West Moon Valley Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85023. The book is 1 volume, loose-leaf, (with annual supplements), 454 pages and sells for $149.95 plus $6.00 for shipping and handling. For details phone: 1-(602) 993-1937 or email ruth@arkfeld.com

Interflora think virtual to tackle IP rights infringement
Internet management specialist Thinking Virtual has developed a software program to assist Interflora in protecting its trademark and copyright online. The new Interflora Trademark Infringement Protection Program features a combination of automatic and manual checks that are carried out across the internet on a weekly basis. Any trademark infringements or misuse of photography and breaches of copyright are identified, Interflora's legal department informed and action taken against the offending web site owners.

To project the brand image, member florists featuring Interflora branding on their web sites must comply with Interflora regulations and ensure products are up to date. The program also investigates third party sites for incorrect use of Interflora trademarks and copyright. Commenting on the project, Thinking Virtual's chairman Nigel Shore said "Until now it has been notoriously difficult and time consuming to monitor online activity because of the sheer volume of sites, for example, a search for 'flowers' on Google UK returns over one million results. The new trademark protection program rises to the challenge by providing a comprehensive, cost-effective and manageable system to identify the culprits."
www.thinkingvirtual.com

All the benefits of the office at home - and at a lower cost
Voice and data convergence specialist Wanbase has launched a new product - WANdesk - aimed at bringing the standard of network access and telephony enjoyed in the office into the home working environment. According to Wanbase technical director Mike Jones "It is set to provide lawyers with a genuine remote desk‚ that will bring substantial benefits in terms of improved productivity, flexibility and communication - and deliver an almost instant return on investment."

Using local DSL connections out to the internet, WANdesk provides a fast, secure data IP VPN between home and office to give rapid access to core applications such as email and practice and case management systems. With the addition of an IP switch and voice gateway to the office's main phone system and the deployment of sophisticated routers at each end, voice can then be run over the same IP tunnel at no extra cost. The home based handset replicates a user's internal extension, allowing them to keep their DDI or internal extension number and so negating the need for people to remember or dial another contact number. As the handsets are fully featured, users also get all the familiar functions they would expect at work including voice mail, caller ID, missed calls. The added value of WANdesk lies in the fact that, because voice runs over the existing VPN, calls between the office and home are absolutely free, regardless of location.

Says Jones "One of the major barriers to effective home working has been the fact that your desk at home is not the one you enjoy in the office. Traditionally, people have had to put up with slow dial-up connections, limited access to network applications and using a home phone, mobile or another business line, none of which is ideal in terms of functionality or cost. We felt that if we could give people exactly the same technology at home as they enjoyed at work, we would make home working an altogether easier, more productive cost-efficient and satisfying experience with no price premium."

The leasing figures for an initial 5-user WANdesk system is £325 a month (WANdesk is available as a 5, 10, 20 and 50-user system and also on an enterprise basis for installations of 50+ users). The only other costs aside from the initial investment are those associated with the DSL line rental, which currently stand at just £30 per user per month. For more information contact Mike Jones on 0870 340 2000 or email mike.jones@wanbase.com

Are we making ourselves perfectly clear?
Finally, in our last edition we carried what we thought was a perfectly clear report about Perfect Information, which had rebranded its portfolio of products in the aftermath of its recent acquisition of the Synergy Group. What could be simpler? Unfortunately this appears to have caused some confusion among our readers, so here we go again: Perfect Information is an online information provider and part of the Centaur Communications. It is no relation to the IT training and e-learning consultancy Perfect Access Speer (also known as PASpeer) which remains an independent company with operations in the US, UK and Europe. And, just for the record, it is also no relation to the Welsh legal IT company Perfect Software, which produces the Perfect Books accounts package for solicitors.
   
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News in brief

Thomson Elite expands Euro team
Thomson Elite has appointed Wibo Rigter as its latest European sales representative. He will be joining Harry Pfeffer, the company's continental sales manager, as part of a strategy to expand Elite's presence in Continental Europe.

In like Flynn
Interface Software, the company behind the InterAction CRM system, has promoted David Flynn to the position of vice president of sales for North America. In this capacity Flynn is responsible for all sales of InterAction and related products in the legal and accounting markets within the United States and Canada. Flynn has been with Interface since 1997.

Land Securities & Pisces
Land Securities PLC has joined the executive committee of PISCES, the Property Information Systems Common Exchange Standards organisation, with effect from 1 January 2004. Land Securities has been an associate member of PISCES since 2002 however by moving to executive membership, it will be bringing the expertise and influence of one of the largest of the UK's quoted property companies to the policy forming level of the organisation.

Inhouse lawyers in legal budgets deal
The London Region of the Law Society Commerce & Industry Group has struck a deal that will provide its members with the option of using the Legal Budgets computerised legal budgeting system to assess litigation costs. The system can accurately calculate the projected costs of any potential legal action, thereby allowing in-house lawyers to assess the financial risks involved prior to making any decision on how to progress. For further information on Legal Budgets contact managing director Jim Diamond at jimdiamond@legalbudgets.com

LA law meets records management
Two Los Angeles-area local government authorities - the City of Pasadena and the City of Laguna Hills - have chosen Accutrac Software's Records Management Program to automate the classification, indexing, search and retrieval of city records. The two organizations were looking to improve the ability to index, track and manage hard copy files throughout the record lifecycle. Employees will use Accutrac software to classify and label official city records, manage their storage and locate them when they are needed again. The Accutrac system will also helps employees keep track of how long records need to be kept, in compliance with government regulations.
www.accutrac.com

UK money laundering regulations looming
The UK's new anti-money laundering regulations will finally come into effect in about six weeks time, on 1st March 2004. They impose potentially onerous obligations on law firms and if you are not up to speed on staff training, you could check out the MLTS e-learning web site, which has been developed by solicitor Michael Kaye in conjunction with Jonathan Fisher QC. The price is £35 + VAT per head but there are discounts of an incremental nature available for 10 or more staff members. There is a free demo on the site plus a free money laundering news page.
www.mlts.uklaw.net
 
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