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Introduction
Prism Legal Consulting, Inc. developed this presentation for Blake Dawson Waldron, a large Australian law firm that is a leading user of technology to serve clients. BDW wanted to share with its clients a current perspective of interesting technology used by in-house counsel in the USA. The goal was not to survey all uses of technology. Rather, it was to highlight interesting applications. To develop this presentation, Prism contacted several leading legal technology vendors and interviewed them by phone.
Agenda
Technology Wish List Communicating
Extranets Intranets
Communication
Production
Extranets and Intranets Unified messaging, IM Remote access (VPN, Citrix, dial-up) Document management Utilities (e.g., DealProof, Deltaview) Practice support Research Case management E-Billing
Management
Extranets
The use of Extranets is more of a discussion point than a reality
-Technology leader in the US, October 2002
Extranet Functionality
Access work product Collaborate 1-to-1 or many-to-many Work flow Litigation support
Accumulates and collects know-how Track and work on current matters Communicate
Automates and accelerates existing work flows New items automatically send e-mail Save time, reduce costs
Share documents outside firewalls Granular security model 24x7 support (contrast to law firms)
Customers are financial institutions; law firms/departments are users Also for due diligence and M&A auctions Have an international presence
Intranets
Extranets allow communication with outside parties, especially law firms Intranets allow the law department to serve in-house clients more effectively
Producing Advice
Some interesting ways to produce the content to be communicated
Web Crawlers
Large financial institution needs to stay current on regs worldwide nMatrix supplies robotic crawlers
Software constantly checks for updated web pages Brings new pages back, posting to Intranet (and sending e-mail)
Background: Documents v. Expertise nMatrix helps same financial institution capture lawyer expertise
Combination of automatic updates (from PeopleSoft) with manual input re taxonomy (classification)
Taxonomy helps locate experts. It also lets lawyers receive robotic updates (which helps with compliance rules)
Expert Systems
Answers v. Information GEs Virtual Patent Advisor advises on patents and manages workflow Several law firms provide interactive advice. (See Prism Legal web site for list.)
E-Billing
Move toward e-billing At minimum, reduces admin cost Issues: internal v. ASP Real value: analyze bills and manage outside counsel
Case Management
Hildebrandt View
MAINSTREAM LEADING EDGE Precedents & Collaboration Forms Spaces Document Simple Assembly Extranets Intranets Decision Support INNOVATIVE Portals Know-How Expertise Locators Expert Systems