6. Overview of Technologies Covered: Are Lawyers going “Paperless”? How? Efficient Case/Practice Management Software (CMS) (Calendaring, Docketing, Contacts, Journaling, etc..) Document Assembly & Document Management Virtual Law Practice SaaS, SharePoint & Extranets Hosted Sharepoint & Hosted Exchange Other Stuff & Fun Stuff.
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8. When asked whether they personally maintain a presence in an online community or social network, 43 percent of respondents answered affirmatively, almost three times the percentage in last year’s survey. Source: Your ABA e-newsletter, July 2009
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10. The number of lawyers using mobile technologies is huge, especially now that the browsers on these smartphones are more functional than ever. Seventy-seven percent of respondents report the availability of smartphones at their firms. Of respondents who provided brand names, the BlackBerry/RIM was cited most often at 64 percent, followed by the iPhone at 14 percent, then the Palm Treo at 13 percent, which is down from 21 percent in 2008. Id.
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12. Getting “paper-light” We encourage Law Firms to Start by trading printers for scanners! Get rid of the Laser Printer, or worse yet, the Inkjet, on every desk. Replace with Scanners and have 1 or 2 Network printers or multi-functions centrally located The Process: i) Scan Originals, ii) Ensure Properly Indexed, iii) Secure & Seal them, and iv) Re-Print only as needed . Implement a Case/Matter/Practice Management System! (A Modern Law Firm/Lawyer should not Practice without one!) Create a document policy (i.e., no prints of simple drafts; no “working copies” of voluminous medical records, financials, expert reports, etc.) Get Dual Monitors. Go Large! Post/Host as much case/matter information & Enterprise Information as possible in the CMS, on a firm Wiki, on an Intra-net., (heck) even via free online storage
13. Fujitsu ScanSnap Scanners: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 ($400.00) Output resolution: Up to 1200 dpi Speed: : 40ppm B/W & 20 ppm Color Paper Size: A4 to custom sizes Capacity of ADF: Up to 50 sheets Interfaces: USB 2.0 Adobe 9.0 Standard Included!! vs. ScanSnap S300 Mobile Scanner ($295.00) Output resolution: 600 x 600 dpi Speed: : Up to 16 ppm B/W & 8 ppm Color Paper Size: A4 to custom sizes Capacity of ADF: Up to 10 sheets Interfaces: Powered by USB 2.0
15. Case, Matter, Practice Management Systems (CMS) ● Defined: ● Combines ▸calendaring/docketing ▸tickler functions ▸case information tracking, ▸address book functionality ▸conflict of interest searching, ▸document assembly capabilities ▸Smartphone and laptop portability ● Turn wasted time looking for case info and documents into billable time ● Avoid malpractice ● Leaders: Amicus Attorney, Time Matters, PracticeMaster, PCLaw& ProDocs. ● Don’t Practice Law Without One!
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17. “Case management is another must-have, though we say this year after year. It just amazes us the number of small firms that don’t have this in place, even though it's really a fantastic tool for practitioners.” again quoting John Simek on ABA website in “Legal Technology Must-Haves for Today, Tomorrow”
18. “The BIGGEST MISTAKE”law firms and law departments make when purchasing practice management or case/matter management systems is not doing their homework. Two major factors to take into consideration::
19. First, understand your firm's technology environment and the culture -- what systems, both hardware and software, are in place and how do your attorneys and staff use them. This is often called the assessment phase. Knowing how information flows through your firm or department is crucial to helping you select the right practice or case/matter management system.
20. Second, understand the differences between the practice management programs and try to match the right application to your firm's needs. This is often called the implementation phase.
21. There is no one size fits all. Every law firm and law department works differently and they have different cultures and different needs.Credit: “The Case for Practice Management Systems” by Andy Atkins, III, March 21, 2008.; http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1206040363532; last accessed 9/21/09 ●
23. Practice & Case Management Q’s: Often, Lawyers, Office Managers, IT staff will ask: “How do I pick a practice or case management system?” “Who installs the case management system?” “Who will maintain & support the CMS?” “Is there a steep or protracted learning curve with a case management system?” Univ. of Florida Legal Technology Institute http://www.law.ufl.edu/lti/
25. Document Management Systems Secure & Scalable, Centralized Document Repository (accessible to all) Proper Policies Force ALL users to use on the “Front End” (Closed System) Ease of use--> Quicker implementation Standardized Saving & Naming Policies Common Application Integration & Takeover Allows for document retrieval with advanced search capabilities. Scanning of all critical or shared documents Consistent Storage Reliable Searches for Forms, Documents, etc. OCR (optical character recognition) & text tagging Wither Precise Version control, track All changes made to documents No more saving over the original, or storage eating successive document drafts. Full history of the document Useful E-Discovery Tool Mitigate Legal, Ethical, Malpractice Risk Accurate Retrieval Mechanism Ability to Freeze Documents preventing changes Audit Trail so that any change or actions on a document (and its author) is forever recorded.
26. Document Management Products… Worldox GX (Perfect for Solo, Small & Medium Firms) www.worldox.com $395/user No SQL Server required Index “server”–desktop workstation Document & Email management Full textretrieval Linked to client/matter
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28. “Sharepoint” is an excellent DMS(requires additional development, see infra) iManage Docs Open
29. Document Assembly (Automation) Defined: A Software tool that helps you create re-useable interactive templates from word processing documents and graphical PDF forms Using templates, this type of software allows you to automate your document production and workflow, thereby significantly reducing the amount of time spent drafting and editing routine or complex documents. Applicability: -Repetitious letters, pleadings or documents; Intake Documents; Records Requests, Standard Complaint Form; Estate Planning Documents, etc…
32. Advantages of Document Assembly Accurate, Quick Capitalize on repetitive Work-flow Small Learning Curve Links with Outlook and Practice Management Software like Amicus Attorney , Time Matters , Practice Master & ProDoc No Metadata Mishaps (hopefully)
35. Mobile Lawyering/Mobile Attorney - an attorney who makes use of mobile devices to practice law either with a virtual law office or in conjunction with a traditional law office.
36. Web-based Law Practice Management Tools - web-based, software as a service (SaaS) applications used in conjunction with other law office software to conduct administrative and management tasks, such as billing and time management, online.
37. Paperless Law Office - a law practice that attempts through the use of technology to reduce or eliminate the amount of paper and law office waste that it generates.
49. Exponential growth of information… New information produced each year per iWorker (MB) 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 Megabytes 1,500 1,000 500 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 Source: “The Enterprise Workplace: How It Will Change the Way We Work”, IDC #32919 - Feb 2005 Right Search Solution Means Significant Cost Saving …is causing information management pain iWorkers spend, on average, 48% of their time searching for and analyzing information (min 9.5 - 9.6 hours per week)1 The estimated cost of not being able to access information quickly to an organization employing 1,000 iWorkers, could reach $5.3 million per year.1 1“The Hidden Costs of Information Work”, IDC # 201334 - Apr 2006;
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51. Hosted SharePoint Collaborate via the Web Share Files, Contact Lists Share Calendars, Tasks Group Document storage Intranet, Extranet Blogs, wikis, etc..
Why? The Benefits:-Everyone has access to it; at the same time; from anywhere; no need to “Look for the file & get back to you”. This Increases productivity & Concurrent work output!-Eliminate hundreds of staff hourswasted next to the copier reproducing copies(example: Exhibits received from Opp. Counsel or from an Expert, can be very large)-With robust Document Management Application, every team-member can Search, Scan & Print the Desired/Requested Documents
Good Article in support of Document Managementhttp://www.knowledgetree.com/solutions/legal_document_management_software
1) Secure and Scalable Document Repository provides the Platform Firms need a secure and scalable document repository that attorney and staff, effective access to case information. Other parties such as a litigation team, the client, or the opposing counsel, may also need to participate in legal processes. These stakeholders expect access to electronic documents both during office hours as well as remotely from home or while travelling and so access through a web interface or via hand-held devices is essential. Effective security entails the ability to restrict access rights to documents based on groups and roles within the firm and password security should comply with best practice. An interface to the practice management system may automate billing information by relating work in progress to particular cases.2) Ease of Use Shortens the Learning Period An intuitive interface using well understood document metaphors will shorten the learning period and where possible, end users should be protected from complex areas of the system. Integration with widely-used office productivity tools such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint reduce the learning period and encourage compliance with processes. Similarly emails and their attachments relating to cases and customers are required to be archived for pre-defined periods. Integration into common email clients such as Microsoft Outlook will allow both outgoing and incoming emails as well as their attachments to be saved, stored and indexed, and have metadata attached. 3)Scanning, Storage and Searching An effective electronic document management strategy can greatly streamline these document storage and retrieval challenges. Original copies of documents may be scanned, stored and managed on site allowing legal firms to reduce costs and improve service delivery to their customers. An effective system search engine will offer metadata and full text searching as well as the ability to save searches. An important requirement is the ability to scan and perform optical character recognition on hardcopy documents through integration with both desktop and high volume scanners (multifunction machines). 4) With proper version control Lawyers sleep at night How often have we searched through our file share wondering which version of a document is the latest one? Effective document management allows a single document to have multiple versions with users able to view a version history and compare them side by side. 5) Good Records Management Strategies CAN mitigate Legal RiskIf a dispute of your work, or your clients’ arises,Legal admissibility and evidential weight of electronic documents are other important considerations when implementing a document management system. -Contract negotiations may occur between remote parties - until recently, signatories were either required to meet face to face at signing time or were required to fax contract documents and post the originals. -Legal firms, as well as other organizations, need assurance that, when faced with a legal battle, their electronic documents are both admissible in a court of law and that they will carry enough evidential weight, alongside corroborating evidence, to be accepted as being the documents they purport to be. Two key features of document management systems increase the admissibility and evidential weight of electronic documents: (1) the ability to freeze a document so that it cannot be changed and (2) an audit trail so that any changes or actions to a document are recorded in the database.
Top 3 Close Ended Systems:Worldox:World Software Corporation and its flagship product WORLDOX GX is a market leader within Document Management Solutions, with 3500+ clients in 35 countries. WORLDOX is the only DMS to win a LTN award for its mobile device product allowing users to access documents from anywhere at any time.
Open ended vs Close ended:Worldox is a wonderful "Close Ended" Document Management System or "DMS". That means that when you click on open or close in word processing, email, and various other programs, Worldox takes over and saves the document into its system. Other programs like PCLAW and Time Matters are Opened Ended systems that allow the user to choose if they want to save their document into the program or just do a normal save. I am of the opinion that a good DMS is Close Ended and does not give the user the option of bypassing the program. You should give your users no other option but saving into the DMS. Firms with PCLAW and Time Matters do not have to purchase another program to get their DMS to behave like a closed ended system. There are two steps to this process.
This was an actually message left on my business partner’s phone. PhoneTag dictated the whole thing. No training, just ramblings of a moron
What is Hosted (Cloud) ComputingIt is where software is provided to the customer over the Internet and is securely maintained by a third-party vendor, but not necessarily its manufacturer. Instead of purchasing an application, the customer pays the vendor a monthly fee to use the latest version of the software. When the product goes down or needs tweaking, the provider handles it. The actual software does not reside on the user’s computer but rather at the host site. (Think: always up-to-date software that you “rent” at a fixed monthly cost). One of the first hosted solutions was the (free) Google Docs. This suite allowed users to create documents in their web browser and easily access and share them with colleagues. Now more in the mainstream, the most commonly deployed hosted solutions in the legal industry are Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint and their related applications. Data Storage and SecurityWhere is your data? Most hosting providers have multiple, redundant data centers across the country. If one location goes down, everything switches over to the next data center. As a result, most hosted companies guarantee a 99 percent uptime, which means you will not lose any money from business interruption (no matter what’s brewing in the Gulf). Moreover, if you keep all your data in a remote/hosted environment, you no longer have to worry about backing up your data or making that police-escorted trip to get your servers after that hurricane hits. The data center takes care of backup and continuous access. If client confidentiality or data security is of concern, you can be assured that most hosting companies use cutting-edge layers of encryption and enterprise level firewall components. Fixed Cost Benefits If you use a hosted solution, much of your routine IT support costs can be reduced (at least the unpredictable charges associated with failure of hardware and applications). The hosted provider handles applying the latest patches and upgrades and, since you do not any of the hardware at your office (other than your individual workstations, scanners, printers, etc.), you do not have to worry about costly server outages and expensive, on-demand IT service calls. With reliable internet access, you can drastically reduce the number of network purchases you must make.
Integrated Suite of Server Capabilities based on:A Platform of Windows 2003 ServerInternet Information Services (IIS)Active Server Page (ASP.Net) web applications language.Evolved from Microsoft (MS) FrontPage used extensively for building Websites, coupled with the MS Standard Query Language (SQL) Database.Tool designed to create websites with predefined, easily customizable content templates, with reach back to SQL for data and content storage.Fully integrated with the MS Office Suite of Applications thereby providing a familiar user interface and applications interoperability.
Key Features and Benefits Collaboration made easyWindows SharePoint Services allows your staff to collaborate via the Web in order to share files and contact lists, store documents online, run blogs and wikis and more. With hosted SharePoint, you simply pay a low per-user monthly fee and your staff benefits from all of the great collaboration tools SharePoint has to offer. We host the entire service for you. You’ll also be provided with software and security updates as they become available.What you getBy integrating with a hosted Exchange 2007, SharePoint 3.0 gives your employees an instant, powerful intranet. They can:· Store documents online. Everyone works off a single, centrally-stored version of all documents, which can be easily opened using a hyperlink.· ‘Check out’ files. Lock documents while they are being edited, so nobody overwrites the work of others.· Run blogs and wikis. All of your staff can stay in the loop. Business benefitsThe new features in SharePoint 3.0 provide better ease of use and even more functionality. Business benefits of SharePoint 3.0 include:· Tight integration. Our SharePoint 2007 offering is architected to work closely with Exchange 2007. Microsoft has also designed SharePoint and Internet Explorer to link smoothly.· Improved functionality. Better collaboration, portals, search, content management, administration and platform functionality.· 40 application templates. Microsoft’s application templates for WSS 3.0 are available for your use with our service.· Enhanced security. Including improved permissions, security groups and administration hierarchies.
WHAT IS HOSTED EXCHANGE?Email, collaboration and scheduling tools have become critical factors to the success of any business. Unfortunately, small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) often lack a large IT budget or in-house team to implement and maintain the sophisticated messaging software they need. Yet SMBs need this critical toolset in order to succeed in the marketplace. Exchange 2007There is a better solutionMicrosoft Exchange Server is used by the majority of large corporations for their email, calendars, contacts and files. The Exchange server powers the full collaboration functions of Microsoft Outlook, such as group calendars, contacts and file-sharing. We provide the latest version of this as a hosted service. SMBs can subscribe to this on-demand service for a low monthly fee – instead of paying tens of thousands of dollars upfront for expensive servers and software licenses, hiring specialist IT staff to install and maintain the system and being responsible for a 24x7 infrastructure. We let you focus on your core business.Hosted Microsoft Exchange means that we provide all hardware and software, then run and maintain it for you in a tier-4 datacenter. You pay a low monthly fee, and can access your email using Outlook® or Entourage® on your desktop, Outlook Web Access (OWA) in any Web browser, or wirelessly from a device like the BlackBerry, Windows mobile device or Treo.
Rocket Lawyer- makes it easy and affordable for consumers and business operators to create standard legal documents online.Using the Rocket Lawyer Legal Document Service can reduce the time required to complete typical legal documents to 10 minutes or less, at a fraction of traditional legal costs. It is free to try. Enhanced Legal Document Services include electronic signatures, document sharing and collaboration, and safe, secure document storage. Rocket Lawyer also makes it easy to work with a lawyer when necessary, completely online. Lawyers get a free online profile and the tools they need to practice on the Web, delivering legal help to Rocket Lawyer users, completely via the Internet.Rocket Lawyer partners with other related sites and companies such as H&R Block, Lexis-Nexis (Lawyers.com), TrueCredit and many more to deliver the easy Legal Document Service to users of partner sites. Source: http://www.crunchbase.com/company/rocketlawyer