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International Edition

Banking on experience

Outsourcing is one of the major trends in the legal industry at the moment. Whether it is moving peripheral administrative tasks to a third-party provider or moving your entire IT department to a subsidiary in India, accessing low-cost workforces is the flavour of the month for the legal manager.
7 minute read

International Edition

Code comfort

"Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; he who would search for pearls must dive below." So wrote John Dryden in 1678. And so, too, every solicitor makes minor mistakes in his day-to-day work - inconsequential errors and misjudgements. But so what, you may ask, if beneath the surface the client is getting the pearls of a first-rate job? And let us not forget that the standard is generally very high. Clients are, by and large, well served.
7 minute read

International Edition

Susskind predicts demise of lawyers in IT-led future

Top business lawyers have played down talk that increasing commoditisation and use of IT will bring about the death of the industry, following claims made by leading technology expert Richard Susskind. The predictions come in Susskind's new book, The End of Lawyers?, in which he says the legal profession needs to undergo a significant transformation to avoid extinction. He argues that lawyers need to ask themselves what elements of their workload could be undertaken more cheaply and efficiently as "the market is unlikely to tolerate expensive lawyers" for work that can be better done by "smart systems and processes"
4 minute read

International Edition

The Bar: A fruitful search

It is widely documented that web users are increasingly using search engines as a path to access relevant information. As more information becomes accessible on the internet, business people need a simple and accurate way of finding what they want. These requirements may be for research, for finding goods, services or even trading partners and suppliers. The internet has become an integral part of modern business communications and this raises the question of how much attention your business pays to ensuring that its content is properly accessible to search engines.
8 minute read

International Edition

Top of the pile

You tell me that I am one of your key clients - you say your place on our panel of legal advisers is vitally important to your firm as it gives your people stimulating work, we add kudos and attract other clients to your portfolio and the volume of fees we pass your way is invaluable. You often say the words 'key client', but to be frank I do not know what this means to us. We have a number of advisers on our panel and it is often very difficult distinguishing between them. They all have the technical capabilities to do the work we need. A couple stand out, I suppose, because of the personalities involved. But my legal department does not feel any real loyalty or affinity to one firm. You cannot differentiate one in terms of service excellence and added value. And so I suppose that is why I find it strange when you say how important my company is to your firm. I do not have any 'key' legal advisers.
7 minute read

International Edition

The learning commandments

Without good content, you cannot succeed. Targeted relevant information, pitched at the right level and directly related to the audience's work, makes good e-learning. At Lovells we tend to avoid most generic off-the-shelf content because, for us, one size does not fit all. Senior partners need different content from new graduates. Variation is also required by practice stream.
7 minute read

International Edition

The business of engagement

Customer relationship management (CRM) in law firms has been the subject of much debate in recent years. Some 18 months ago I thought I was reasonably well versed in the subject. But my eyes have been opened thanks to a development project that has proved to be challenging and, in parts, frustrating.
8 minute read

International Edition

Hard evidence

Lawyers have had to change the way they manage investigations, arbitration and litigation for their clients in response to rapid changes in technology. In order to best serve their clients' interests, lawyers in the UK will need to have at least a broad understanding of the methods and techniques available, as well as the benefits and pitfalls of e-disclosure.
6 minute read

International Edition

The right image

Osborne Clarke (OC) recently introduced an imaging management system, in a drive to improve the productivity of its lawyers. The firm faced the challenge of maintaining full client records in electronic form, automating document capture, integrating the new system with existing document management and centralised faxing systems, while also aiming to improve print productivity and reduce print overheads.
4 minute read

International Edition

The new breed

The organisation and manipulation of electronic documents presents a mounting challenge to law firms and litigation support departments of all types and sizes. Recent major advances in software architecture and technology, along with the increasingly litigious corporate environment and the rising importance of e-disclosure, are factors that are pushing the legal profession towards new technology which maximises workflow efficiency and results.
3 minute read

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