The Legal IT Innovators Group has been around for a decade now, bringing together law firms to share expertise. Its members tell Neil Hodge about the biggest technology challenges facing lawyers, including a stark warning on cloud computing

Ten years ago a software vendor brought together a number of IT directors from law firms to get their views on what challenges the legal industry was facing, and what technologies and processes firms were using to meet them. The vendor initially proposed to support this group for 12 months "to see what happens", but those attending welcomed the idea of having a platform to share experiences and information with industry peers, and decided to make it a permanent arrangement. Thus the Legal IT Innovators Group (LITIG) was born. 

The group has grown out of the recognition that collaboration on non-competitive areas will benefit not only members, but the industry as a whole. Over the past decade LITIG members – who represent more than 22,000 legal staff and a combined legal industry turnover of more than £7.5bn – have used their joint voice and considerable clout to campaign for improvements in widely used systems, while taking steps to ensure that members comply with competition and regulatory requirements. 

LITIG achieved immediate success when in 2004 it proposed an e-billing standard for the UK's legal service industry based on the Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard (LEDES). Its proposal has since become the industry standard. LITIG has also given members the opportunity to engage in closer dialogue with key organisations such as the Law Society, Microsoft, Google and Gartner.

"LITIG speaks with one voice about the technological challenges facing the industry," says Derek Southall, partner and head of strategic development at Wragge & Co and LITIG's chairman. "We think there is strength in numbers to make vendors more attentive to the needs of IT directors in law firms to produce the solutions that we can use." 

Sharing information

Southall believes there are several major technology-related challenges the legal profession faces, and that closer co-operation and information sharing between firms is a much-needed step towards ensuring that IT and data problems are properly understood and mitigated. 

"Technology is becoming much more pervasive. It can handle much larger volumes of data, and there is a growing number of devices that lawyers can access that information on – in the office, on the move and at home," says Southall. 

"IT departments need to be able to enable all these kinds of devices – laptops, tablets and other handheld devices – to access that data remotely and securely, and this is a challenge the entire industry faces, so sharing information and experiences can be incredibly helpful."

LITIG aims to develop and share best practice, and it periodically commissions projects to produce guidance for its members on particular issues that are pertinent to the majority, which are either done in-house or through external experts. 

Previous projects include developing guidelines for electronic document management; defining shorter and clearer email disclaimers; releasing a supplier charter to give examples of what LITIG members feel best practice looks like in the dealings between supplier and customer in the legal IT industry; and agreeing a common standard for the exchange of electronic transaction deal bibles between law firms and clients.

Rosemary Kind, a LITIG director and formerly an IT director at Shoosmiths, says LITIG is currently working on several projects, such as: looking at the risks of cloud storage facilities; 'bring your own device' management protocols; cyber and data security technologies that would enable lawyers to transfer huge volumes of data securely; and finding effective ways to automate back-office processes.

"Clients are demanding that we accommodate sending larger volumes of data online, and cloud services are being touted as a solution," says Kind. "But there are concerns over data security. Some services – particularly those that allow free transfer of gigabytes of data, which are popular because they are free – are about as secure as dumping your files on a layby on the M25, so we are looking for safer, viable alternatives."

LITIG currently has 70 members, with several heavy-hitters such as Hogan Lovells, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Allen & Overy and Eversheds featuring in their ranks. The organisation is self-funded with members paying a £500 annual subscription fee (or £300 for in-house legal counsel). 

Members meet quarterly, with two of the meetings usually held in London, while the remaining two are held in other UK cities for variety. Between 25 and 35 members usually attend. The group regularly invites guest speakers, who have ranged from software vendors, to an MI5 security expert to discuss cyber threats, and a BT futurologist to talk about the office of the future. 

As well as law firms and chambers, LITIG also boasts some large corporates such as Barclays and Diageo as members. "We wanted the views of corporate clients about the technology issues they face in their legal departments and so we reached out to see if they would like to become members," says David Wood, head of business projects at Berwin Leighton Paisner and a LITIG board member.

"Organisations like Barclays have the same number of people working in their legal and compliance departments as some law firms have fee earners, so it is sensible to reach out and include them in LITIG," he adds.

"Corporate members provide some excellent insight into how they manage workflow, technical and security issues, and in return they can see how we deal with many of the same day-to-day operations they carry out. It's a win-win situation."

House rules

Wood also says there are strict protocols regarding how members should conduct themselves. For example, there should be no discussion about the prices that firms are paying for software and IT services, and no named criticism of software vendors. 

"All discussions – whether conducted at our meetings or through the web forum – are under Chatham House rule, which means that members can freely use the information they get, but must not reveal the source of it. Members must also agree not to disclose commercially sensitive information about their organisations, or use any information as a way to gain competitive advantage over other law firms: LITIG is all about information sharing," says Wood.

Abby Ewen, IT director at Berrymans Lace Mawer and a director at LITIG, has been a member from the start. She says at the core of LITIG's thinking is that the organisation is strictly vendor independent and product neutral.

"Software vendors are there to sell their products, but that's not what we're looking for," she says. "We are primarily interested in how technology can help our organisations from a strategic standpoint, and how different kinds of software – such as software for better case management – can be employed to improve work processes. When we invite vendors to give presentations at our meetings, it is under strict instruction that they cannot plug their own products."

'Therapy for IT directors'

Members are effusive about being part of a 'unique club'. Graham Sankey, IT director at TLT, has been a member of LITIG since 2009. He finds the benefits of the organisation "invaluable". "LITIG is like therapy for IT directors," he says. "It is a fantastic opportunity to get together with a great group of people and talk through the challenges that we face in the legal industry and what we need to do from a technology perspective to enable our firms to embrace those changes. 

"It is an open forum to debate issues and get some valuable advice on what other IT departments are doing, and how we might be able to incorporate some of these ideas and developments into our own processes."

The value of LITIG, says Sankey, "is that it is adaptable: it has as much to offer an IT director in a small firm as it does one in a major firm. The main benefit is the opportunity to network – there's no other organisation like it for legal IT practitioners."

Keith Feeny, director of IT and operations at Hill Dickinson in Liverpool, joined LITIG in 2007 after an IT director at another law firm advised him to give it a try. "I did a bit of online research and looked at the website and thought it was a good opportunity to mix with other people doing the same job as me," he says.

"There are not many opportunities in Liverpool or the North West to mix with other IT directors in the legal industry, so LITIG fills that gap. My employers also saw the benefit of me being a part of it, and I try to get as much out of the experience as I can."

Wood says he put himself forward as a board member last year because he wanted to get more involved. "I had only been a member for about 18 months but I was impressed by the depth of knowledge and experience that the group had to offer, and the readiness of members to support one another and give advice. I wanted to be in a position where I could help encourage that interaction further, so I put my name forward."

He adds: "There is a great mix of law firms in LITIG and there is a lot of expertise that all members can benefit from. Small and mid-size firms in particular can learn a lot from the experiences of bigger firms as they are likely to have already gone through the same kinds of technological challenges that smaller firms are facing now."

Ewen says that one of the great bonuses of LITIG is that members are committed and very responsive to the needs of other members. "I recently sent an email out to the membership with a query about case management systems – whether it is better to customise, go for a bespoke option or just buy off the shelf. By the end of the week I received 40 responses, which is a huge amount of data and a terrific help to me," she says.

While LITIG has reached its ten-year milestone, the group is not planning to pursue an aggressive recruitment drive for fresh members. "We believe in organic growth," says Ewen. "Our membership has grown largely through word of mouth rather than through trying to twist people's arms. We are happy for more firms to join and we would welcome more members, but we are looking for members who want to get involved and are prepared to collaborate, rather than people who join for the sake of joining who then do not participate."