The Tech Savvy Lawyer : Collaboration Technolgies for Legal Firms

The Legal Industry & Information Technologypeople to get together in a virtual meeting room
Like all other industries, the legal industry is notand discuss issues as effectively as being there in
insulated from the tremendous changes inperson.
information technology over the past decade, andSecurity - A lot of the information a legal firm
the challenges and opportunities it presents. Ifhandles is highly sensitive client information, which
anything, the changes have more bearing on lawit is bound my business ethics and contracts to
firms & departments because informationprotect. Since this information is mostly accessed
management is at the core of what they do -and distributed over the public network of
consulting with clients, colleagues or experts;internet, and often distributed to third parties at
increasing compliance & regulation demands,some page, security is right at the top as a
wading through a constantly expanding sea ofconcern. Â
legislation and case law; managing outsourcingAccess Control - Another level of security is the
partners; keeping abreast with latestability to manage who sees what information and
developments; or managing a mountain of matterwhat they can do with it. Since multiple parties like
files.attorneys and associates across the company,
Recent Trendsoutsourcing partners, and multiple clients access
Perhaps the most significant change in the legalinformation from the firm's central storage this is
services industry the decline of "relationshipof prime importance. Â
lawyering".Productivity Applications - Although managing
Recent times have seen increased competition, &documents and information is one of the most
changes in underlying market structure. There hasimportant things a law firms IT systems need to
been a continuing trend of decline of "relationshipdo, it is not all. They also need the ability to
lawyering". Traditionally strong relationshipsmanage and share schedules, to maintain lists of
between law firms and corporates are eroding,important contacts, to manage and track
with more companies opting for in-house legaldifferent tasks and litigations teams or individual
departments, or "shopping around" for the bestattorneys may be involved with, or billing
deal. Another significant trend is the increasingmanagement. Â
convergence of legal markets, where competitionWhat They Don't Need
is as likely to come from a firm in another state41% of lawyers had no IT staff at any locations
or overseas as from a local firm. These & otherfor their firm, while 17% have one person, 8%
developments are exerting greater pressures onhave two, and 38% have three or moreÂ
legal firms to be more efficient, an it is imperativeABA Law Tech Report 2006
that attorneys spend their time analyzingIT Hassles - If getting all the above goodies
information, rather than organizing or managingrequires setting up a specialized IT department,
it.Âinstalling expensive hardware, and managing
Drivers of Technology Adoption by Legal Firmsongoing maintenance and upgrades, it might just
Possibilities of Technology - The primary driver ofnot be worth it for a small to mid sized law firm.
greater use of information technology by legalBigger firms have the deep pockets and incentive
firms is developments in technology itself. Newto set up dedicated systems, but it might not be
technologies & greater bandwidths allow greatsustainable for smaller firms. Â
possibilities in the arenas of informationComplexity - To ensure that attorneys embrace
management, productivity and remotethe IT system, attorneys should be able to
collaboration. Information can be moved over theconcentrate on the information itself, rather than
internet with greater security. And unlikegrappling with the nitty-gritties of the system.
yesteryear, law firms can access theseCosts - Cost, of course is a top consideration for
technologies without hefty costs and the need tosmall to mid sized companies across industries.
set up specialized IT departments.ÂThe ongoing costs and hefty capital investments
Âneeded for custom and enterprise systems are
In 2004, Forrester Research Inc estimated thatjust out of reach.
some 39,000 legal jobs will have moved offshoreThe Software-as-a-Service Advantage for Legal
by the end of 2008.Companies - HyperOffice as a Case in Study
Outsourcing/Offhsoring - Legal firms are nowSAAS allows firms to pay for using the software
increasingly open to legal process outsourcing ofrather than owning it
tasks they traditionally held close - research,About eight to ten years back, it was true that
transcription, coding and even legal research andaccess to the above technologies was available
the drafting of legal documents. It is commonplaceonly to huge firms whose budget and scale
to see a NY based law firm, subletting researchjustified dedicated IT departments. Times have
work to a team of professional lawyers &changed since then. The software as a service
paralegals in Bangalore, India. This enables firms to(SAAS) approach, allows even small to mid sized
majorly cut down costs & concentrate on corefirms easy access to big business technologies,
legal functions. But it also necessitates a greaterbut without having to deal with the messy
need to communicate, collaborate & monitor theunderbelly and huge costs associated with them.
functioning of outsourcing vendors hundreds orBenefits of SAAS Solutions
thousands of miles away. Security is also an issue,-Â Â Â Â Â
since performance of the services often requires    Low
access to regulated consumer data or otherImplementation
sensitive data.-Â Â Â Â Â
In 2004, almost 60% of lawyers worked at    Cost
multi-office firms and over 10% of lawyers workEffective
at firms with ten or more offices.-Â Â Â Â Â
Geographic Diversification - As mentioned before,    Flexible
there is a distinct movement towards multiple-Â Â Â Â Â
office firms, with offices spread both nationally    Mobile
and globally. US based companies are now servingAccess
many foreign clients, or serving foreign interests-Â Â Â Â Â
of domestic clients. There was a significant    Enterprise
presence of international clients in even theClass Features
smallest law firms of 1 to 20 lawyers. There has-Â Â Â Â Â
also been a spate of global mergers and    Backup &
acquisitions of law firms in the new millennia. AllSecurity
this necessitates a greater need for-Â Â Â Â Â
communication, collaboration and information    Updates &
exchange between branches.Enhancements
Regulatory Compliance - Since the implementationSoftware as a service (SAAS) is an approach
of Sarbanes Oxley Act came into effect, recordswhere the software vendor undertakes the
management has become an essentialburden of creating, hosting, maintaining and
requirement. Organizations are required by law tosecuring the application upon himself, and further
retain certain documents for predefined periods.lets it out to customers over the internet as a
Also, the amendments to Federal Rules of Civilservice.  Customers do not pay
Procedure went into effect on December 1, 2006,for owning the software itself but rather for using
and apply to any firm involved in litigation in theit. Some specific benefits of the SAAS approach
U.S. Federal Court system. The amendmentsare as follows:-
mandate that companies be prepared forNo Implementation, No Dedicated IT Department
electronic discovery. Firms have to drastically alter- Since the backend is taken care of by the
the way they preserve, retrieve and producevendor, users don't have to bother about
electronic data.hardware, software downloads, server security,
Competition is coming both from firms spreadconfiguration etc. Implementation cycles of
across the nation & the globe, as well asmonths are cut down to just a few days. For
consultants & advisors who were traditionally notexample, HyperOffice just requires a sign up, and
considered part of the "legal industry"customers can get it up and running within
Competition - Because of the death of relationshipminutes.Â
lawyering, and "one stop shopping" by clients,Cost Effective: Scale Up & Down as Needed -
firms cannot afford to be complacent anymore.The cost structure of SAAS solutions is usually a
Moreover, competition is as likely to come fromreasonable monthly per user fee. This ensures
the opposite end of the country or globe, asthat minimal costs are locked in, unlike enterprise
from local companies. Competition is also comingsolutions where tens of thousands of dollars are
from other quarters, consultants and advisorscommitted. Moreover, there is no cost
who offer services that were previously theuncertainty, as terms are clearly laid out, which
purview of lawyers. In this arena ofallows for greater predictability.
intense competition, lawyers have to double up asBig Business Features - A range of big business
"rainmakers" & networkers (legal businessfunctionality is available to users, but they don't
development) in addition to traditional roles.have to bother about the complex backend which
Âgoes with implementing this functionality, since
IT Needs of the Legal Industrythat is the vendor's headache.
Centralized Document Storage - The legalFlexibility & Mobility: Keep Connected Always -
profession generates a tremendous amount ofThese solutions are developed with a view to
digital information in the form of case files,delivery over the web. This ensures that the
contracts, court filings, exhibits, evidence, briefs,system with full functionality is available over
agreements, bills, notes, records and other officesimply a web browser, saving users from
activity such as email. This information is thetiresome downloads or implementations on local
firm's collective knowledge & learning which sets itworkstations. Moreover, since these solutions are
apart from competition and needs to be retrievedchildren of the internet & mobility era, they also
again and again. Compliance also requires certainallow access over mobile devices. HyperOffice
documents to be stored & retrievable forallows almost full functionality over many mobile
extended periods of time. Attorneys acrossdevice with internet access including iPhone.
different offices need to access and collaborateUser Friendly - Ease of use is of prime importance
on this information. Âto a non techie attorney. SAAS solutions are
In 2007, 53% percent of lawyers used a PDAout-of-the-box. Emphasis is on ease of use, with
outside of the office, 32% to check e-mail.the messy backend taken care of. The entire
ABA Law Tech Report 2007HyperOffice solution can be managed from a
Remote Access - Ready access to crucialcentral console and needs no technical expertise
documents and information can sometimes be allat all - truly child's play!
the difference between a favorable or adverseBackup & Security: Let the Experts Handle It -
judgment. Lawyers now have wings on their feetEnsuring security and disaster preparedness
visiting clients, interviewing experts, or attendingrequires effort. Antivirus software needs to be
outstation court proceedings, and are often out ofpurchased and implemented, the system needs
office. It is important that they are able gain LANconstant monitoring, and physical security of the
like access to documents from the firm'sservers needs to be ensured. Disaster recovery
repository even when they're not at the officeplans also have to be put in place in case of
premises. Âevents like fire, natural disasters etc. Backup
Document Collaboration - It is not enough to onlyservers and magnetic tapes have to be
be able to access documents from the firm'smaintained, frequency of backups has to be
storage. A single case file may need multiplemanaged etc. Whew!
inputs from attorneys with different expertise,With SAAS, all this is a part of the messy
clients, experts, researchers, and other associatesbackend taken care of by the vendor. Moreover,
spread over the country or even the globe (inthese vendors have developed an expertise
case of outsourcing). Therefore it is important tohosting and securing applications, since this is their
have the ability to concurrently access and workcore operation. This is an expertise a mid sized
together on the same file, from right wherelaw firm can not, nor would like to develop.
everybody is. ÂUpdates & Enhancements - Since it application
Remote Conferencing - Sometimes the ability toresides on the vendor's servers, the vendor can
collaborate on a document may not suffice andsimply add updates, enhancements and new
actual discussion and knocking together of headsfeatures at his own end which are instantly
might be needed. Web conferencing allows multipleavailable to the users of the application.