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article LEGAL AGE IN NEW YORK STATE

The Tech Savvy Lawyer : Collaboration Technolgies for Legal Firms

The  Legal  Industry & Information TechnologySecurity - A lot of the information a legal
firm handles is highly sensitive client
Like all other industries, the legal industryinformation, which it is bound my business
is not insulated from the tremendous changesethics and contracts to protect. Since this
in information technology over the pastinformation is mostly accessed and
decade, and the challenges and opportunitiesdistributed over the public network of
it presents. If anything, the changes haveinternet, and often distributed to third
more bearing on law firms & departmentsparties at some page, security is right at
because information management is at the corethe  top  as  a  concern.  Ã‚
of what they do - consulting with clients,
colleagues or experts; increasing complianceAccess Control - Another level of security is
& regulation demands, wading through athe ability to manage who sees what
constantly expanding sea of legislation andinformation and what they can do with it.
case law; managing outsourcing partners;Since multiple parties like attorneys and
keeping abreast with latest developments; orassociates across the company, outsourcing
managing  a  mountain  of  matter  files.partners, and multiple clients access
information from the firm's central storage
Recent  Trendsthis  is  of  prime  importance.  Ã‚
Perhaps the most significant change in theProductivity Applications - Although managing
legal services industry the decline ofdocuments and information is one of the most
"relationship  lawyering".important things a law firms IT systems need
to do, it is not all. They also need the
Recent times have seen increased competition,ability to manage and share schedules, to
& changes in underlying market structure.maintain lists of important contacts, to
There has been a continuing trend of declinemanage and track different tasks and
of "relationship lawyering". Traditionallylitigations teams or individual attorneys may
strong relationships between law firms andbe involved with, or billing management.Â
corporates are eroding, with more companiesÂ
opting for in-house legal departments, or
"shopping around" for the best deal. AnotherWhat  They  Don't  Need
significant trend is the increasing
convergence of legal markets, where41% of lawyers had no IT staff at any
competition is as likely to come from a firmlocations for their firm, while 17% have one
in another state or overseas as from a localperson, 8% have two, and 38% have three or
firm. These & other developments are exertingmoreÂ
greater pressures on legal firms to be more
efficient, an it is imperative that attorneysABA  Law  Tech  Report  2006
spend their time analyzing information,
rather  than organizing or managing it.ÂIT Hassles - If getting all the above goodies
requires setting up a specialized IT
Drivers of Technology Adoption by Legal Firmsdepartment, installing expensive hardware,
and managing ongoing maintenance and
Possibilities of Technology - The primaryupgrades, it might just not be worth it for a
driver of greater use of informationsmall to mid sized law firm. Bigger firms
technology by legal firms is developments inhave the deep pockets and incentive to set up
technology itself. New technologies & greaterdedicated systems, but it might not be
bandwidths allow great possibilities in thesustainable  for  smaller  firms.  Ã‚
arenas of information management,
productivity and remote collaboration.Complexity - To ensure that attorneys embrace
Information can be moved over the internetthe IT system, attorneys should be able to
with greater security. And unlike yesteryear,concentrate on the information itself, rather
law firms can access these technologiesthan grappling with the nitty-gritties of the
without hefty costs and the need to set upsystem.
specialized  IT  departments.  Ã‚
Costs - Cost, of course is a top
In 2004, Forrester Research Inc estimatedconsideration for small to mid sized
that some 39,000 legal jobs will have movedcompanies across industries. The ongoing
offshore  by  the  end  of  2008.costs and hefty capital investments needed
for custom and enterprise systems are just
Outsourcing/Offhsoring - Legal firms are nowout  of  reach.
increasingly open to legal process
outsourcing of tasks they traditionally heldThe Software-as-a-Service Advantage for Legal
close - research, transcription, coding andCompanies  -  HyperOffice  as a Case in Study
even legal research and the drafting of legal
documents. It is commonplace to see a NYSAAS allows firms to pay for using the
based law firm, subletting research work to asoftware  rather  than  owning  it
team of professional lawyers & paralegals in
Bangalore, India. This enables firms toAbout eight to ten years back, it was true
majorly cut down costs & concentrate on corethat access to the above technologies was
legal functions. But it also necessitates aavailable only to huge firms whose budget and
greater need to communicate, collaborate &scale justified dedicated IT departments.
monitor the functioning of outsourcingTimes have changed since then. The software
vendors hundreds or thousands of miles away.as a service (SAAS) approach, allows even
Security is also an issue, since performancesmall to mid sized firms easy access to big
of the services often requires access tobusiness technologies, but without having to
regulated consumer data or other sensitivedeal with the messy underbelly and huge costs
data.associated  with  them.
In 2004, almost 60% of lawyers worked atBenefits  of  SAAS  Solutions
multi-office firms and over 10% of lawyers
work  at  firms  with  ten  or  more offices.-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
  Ã‚ Low  Implementation
Geographic Diversification - As mentioned
before, there is a distinct movement towards-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
multiple office firms, with offices spread  Ã‚ Cost  Effective
both nationally and globally. US based
companies are now serving many foreign-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
clients, or serving foreign interests of  Ã‚ Flexible
domestic clients. There was a significant
presence of international clients in even the-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
smallest law firms of 1 to 20 lawyers. There  Ã‚ Mobile  Access
has also been a spate of global mergers and
acquisitions of law firms in the new-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
millennia. All this necessitates a greater  Ã‚ Enterprise  Class  Features
need for communication, collaboration and
information  exchange  between  branches.-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
  Ã‚ Backup  &  Security
Regulatory Compliance - Since the
implementation of Sarbanes Oxley Act came-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
into effect, records management has become an  Ã‚ Updates  &  Enhancements
essential requirement. Organizations are
required by law to retain certain documentsSoftware as a service (SAAS) is an approach
for predefined periods. Also, the amendmentswhere the software vendor undertakes the
to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went intoburden of creating, hosting, maintaining and
effect on December 1, 2006, and apply to anysecuring the application upon himself, and
firm involved in litigation in the U.S.further lets it out to customers over the
Federal Court system. The amendments mandateinternet as a service.  Customers
that companies be prepared for electronicdo not pay for owning the software itself but
discovery. Firms have to drastically alterrather for using it. Some specific benefits
the way they preserve, retrieve and produceof  the  SAAS  approach  are  as  follows:-
electronic  data.
No Implementation, No Dedicated IT Department
Competition is coming both from firms spread- Since the backend is taken care of by the
across the nation & the globe, as well asvendor, users don't have to bother about
consultants & advisors who were traditionallyhardware, software downloads, server
not  considered  part of the "legal industry"security, configuration etc. Implementation
cycles of months are cut down to just a few
Competition - Because of the death ofdays. For example, HyperOffice just requires
relationship lawyering, and "one stopa sign up, and customers can get it up and
shopping" by clients, firms cannot afford torunning  within  minutes.Â
be complacent anymore. Moreover, competition
is as likely to come from the opposite end ofCost Effective: Scale Up & Down as Needed -
the country or globe, as from localThe cost structure of SAAS solutions is
companies. Competition is also coming fromusually a reasonable monthly per user fee.
other quarters, consultants and advisors whoThis ensures that minimal costs are locked
offer services that were previously thein, unlike enterprise solutions where tens of
purview of lawyers. In this arena ofthousands of dollars are committed. Moreover,
intense competition, lawyers have to doublethere is no cost uncertainty, as terms are
up as "rainmakers" & networkers (legalclearly laid out, which allows for greater
business development) in addition topredictability.
traditional  roles.  Ã‚
Big Business Features - A range of big
IT  Needs  of  the  Legal  Industrybusiness functionality is available to users,
but they don't have to bother about the
Centralized Document Storage - The legalcomplex backend which goes with implementing
profession generates a tremendous amount ofthis functionality, since that is the
digital information in the form of casevendor's  headache.
files, contracts, court filings, exhibits,
evidence, briefs, agreements, bills, notes,Flexibility & Mobility: Keep Connected Always
records and other office activity such as- These solutions are developed with a view
email. This information is the firm'sto delivery over the web. This ensures that
collective knowledge & learning which sets itthe system with full functionality is
apart from competition and needs to beavailable over simply a web browser, saving
retrieved again and again. Compliance alsousers from tiresome downloads or
requires certain documents to be stored &implementations on local workstations.
retrievable for extended periods of time.Moreover, since these solutions are children
Attorneys across different offices need toof the internet & mobility era, they also
access and collaborate on this information.allow access over mobile devices. HyperOffice
Âallows almost full functionality over many
mobile device with internet access including
In 2007, 53% percent of lawyers used a PDAiPhone.
outside  of  the office, 32% to check e-mail.
User Friendly - Ease of use is of prime
ABA  Law  Tech  Report  2007importance to a non techie attorney. SAAS
solutions are out-of-the-box. Emphasis is on
Remote Access - Ready access to crucialease of use, with the messy backend taken
documents and information can sometimes becare of. The entire HyperOffice solution can
all the difference between a favorable orbe managed from a central console and needs
adverse judgment. Lawyers now have wings onno technical expertise at all - truly child's
their feet visiting clients, interviewingplay!
experts, or attending outstation court
proceedings, and are often out of office. ItBackup & Security: Let the Experts Handle It
is important that they are able gain LAN like- Ensuring security and disaster preparedness
access to documents from the firm'srequires effort. Antivirus software needs to
repository even when they're not at thebe purchased and implemented, the system
office  premises.  Ã‚needs constant monitoring, and physical
security of the servers needs to be ensured.
Document Collaboration - It is not enough toDisaster recovery plans also have to be put
only be able to access documents from thein place in case of events like fire, natural
firm's storage. A single case file may needdisasters etc. Backup servers and magnetic
multiple inputs from attorneys with differenttapes have to be maintained, frequency of
expertise, clients, experts, researchers, andbackups  has  to  be  managed  etc.  Whew!
other associates spread over the country or
even the globe (in case of outsourcing).With SAAS, all this is a part of the messy
Therefore it is important to have the abilitybackend taken care of by the vendor.
to concurrently access and work together onMoreover, these vendors have developed an
the same file, from right where everybody is.expertise hosting and securing applications,
Âsince this is their core operation. This is
an expertise a mid sized law firm can not,
Remote Conferencing - Sometimes the abilitynor  would  like  to  develop.
to collaborate on a document may not suffice
and actual discussion and knocking togetherUpdates & Enhancements - Since it application
of heads might be needed. Web conferencingresides on the vendor's servers, the vendor
allows multiple people to get together in acan simply add updates, enhancements and new
virtual meeting room and discuss issues asfeatures at his own end which are instantly
effectively  as  being  there  in  person.available to the users of the application.



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