LLN Law Librarians Newsletter
Issue 7 April 2002
LLN hopes you had a good Easter break.
Plenty of news over the past fortnight. LBC have opened a new bookshop in
Brisbane, Lexis have launched their new corporate and information website
and the LN - West battles continue in the US.
We also review the new magazine launch for the region, "Asian Legal
Business" and learn from LTI who the UK Law Society recommend in their
2002 edition of its Software Solutions Guide to accounts and practice
management systems.
Sean Hocking / Editor lawlibnews@ozemail.com.au
Table of Contents
News Stories
Law Book Company Relocate Brisbane Bookshop
Kluwer Law International: Rumours Abound
TimeBase Create Online Shop
This Round Goes to Lexis Nexis in the US.
UK Law Awards Results
Out With the Old & in With the New - Lexis Australia Website Consolidation
NSW Law Society Certainly Knows How to Tie up a Corporate Deal
Minter Ellison Looking to Build National Know-How Team
Legal 500 Website Features New Law Firm Website Search Engine
New .US Domain Names to be Released for Purchase in April
Federation Press Agent For Unidroit Books
The University of California Posts 50 Year Archive of US Tobacco Industry
Documents
LLRX Latest Articles: Refugee Status Determination / Enron Filings /
Class Action Database / Technology for Tightwads
Law Press Australia Justinian - Subscription & Sales Management - New Agent
New & Forthcoming Titles / Products
Latest From Hammicks Legal Bookshops
New From Federation Press / Willan Publishing UK
New From Jordans Publishing (UK)
NSW Office of State Revenue Calculators
CCH Compensation Weekly
The Daily Law Notes From the Incorporated Council Of Law Reporting of
England & Wales
Latest News & Info from Legal Technology Insider - including
English Law Society has Just Published the 2002 Edition of its Software
Solutions Guide to Accounts and Practice Management Systems
UK's Legal Software Suppliers Association has Now Published a Proposal for
an XML Schema for the Legal Profession
Solution 6 Holdings Limited and Keystone This Week Announced They Had
Reached an Agreement
Law Firms Lagging in Legal Web Stakes
TheClaimRoom, has Launched a New Vrtual Dealroom Type System For Firms
Handling Conveyancing Work.
Martindale-Hubbell's LawyerLocator has Teamed up With FirstLAW
Clifford Chance Launches Two New Online Services
SUBSCRIBE TO LEGAL TECHNOLOGY INSIDER FOR FREE - See Details
Review
Asian Legal Business - Magazine
UK Online Property Law Resources
Sets of Law Reports Wanted - Contact us
News
Law Book Company Relocate Brisbane Bookshop
The Lawbook Company's Brisbane Bookshop has moved to new CBD premises in
Brisbane and is now located on the ground floor, Telecommunications House ,
283 George Street , Brisbane. Hours are Monday through to Friday from
9.00am until 4.30pm and they can be contacted on (07) 3007 0705.
In the spirit of good customer service Danny Low the main account manager
has supplied us with your relevant Brisbane contacts. They are:
Danny Low - Account Manager, Lawbook Co & CPD
Bruce Smith - Account Manager, Lawbook Co & CPD
Scott Gaffney - Account Manager, ATP & CPD
Peter Allan - Account Manager, ATP & CPD
They in turn are supported by:
Karen Brooks (Bookshop Manager)
Jennie O'Brien(Training support for electronic subscribers)
Jo Follet (Administrative Assistant)
Thomson Legal & Regulatory Ltd has a suite of products under its name and
you may enquire about the following imprints / brands via these account
managers and the bookshop ,Lawbook Co , ATP (Australian Tax Practice), CPD
(Centre for Professional Development), Westlaw, Brookers (N.Z) , Sweet &
Maxwell (U.K) & Carswell (Canada)
Kluwer Law International: Rumours Abound
US sources have told LLN that the air of impending change is abroad at the
Kluwer Group.
There appear to be two schools of thought, neither of which can be confirmed
at the moment. Firstly that Kluwer Law International is up for sale along
with its sister company Kluwer Academic.
Secondly it's mooted that Kluwer Law International won't be sold and instead
become a part of Aspen Publishers. Looking at the recent correspondence on a
US law librarians mailing list commenting on Aspen's appalling customer
service in the U.S, KLI may want to revisit this approach to its future.
The interesting question here is: Are we seeing the beginning of the end for
the third major player in international legal publishing and choice in all
markets globally is reduced to the two lumbering giants, Lexis Nexis &
Thomsons.
TimeBase Create Online Shop
TimeBase has announced the arrival of online shopping via their website.
Currently all that's available is a range of papers and case studies from
the Australian Taxation Studies Program of the University of NSW (ATAX )
whose publications can be searched via the Browse section of the shop.
Their press release asks prospective users to "Let us know what you think.
If there is anything you would like us to make available for purchase,
please let us know and we will do our very best to accommodate your
request."
Without too much reading between the lines this sounds like they haven't
actually found any other information providers to sell their products via
their e-commerce section of the site and are hoping that this new aspect of
their business will be client driven.
The Timebase e-commerce site can be accessed at www.timebase.com.au/shop
This Round Goes to Lexis Nexis in the US.
In the ongoing saga that is bound to outlive Days of Our Lives, Lexis Nexis
& West have clashed again and this time it's West who have had to walk away
with the bloody nose.
A press release has announced that, " LexisNexisCourtLink, Inc. and the West
Group have been unable to reach a new licensing agreement under which West
would continue to offer its customers online access to state and federal
court records through the CourtLink® eAccess service." in the US.
To add injury to insult for West LexisNexis(tm) CourtLink® has initiated a
special program to transition West users affected by this change directly to
their feature-rich and content-rich CourtLink eAccess and have also created
a new online link at which previous West users can sign up.
http://www.lexisnexis.com/courtlink
Direct usage of CourtLink eAccess in the U.S delivers over 4000 courts.
Firms can set up customized, automated notification of new case activity in
cases they are tracking or newly-filed cases in which they may be
interested.
UK Law Awards Results
Last month Legal Business held their fifth annual UK law awards at the
Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane. The awards drew lawyers from around the
world with firm representatives coming from as far afield as Los Angeles,
Kuala Lumpur & Hong Kong.
The major awards presented were as follows.
Banking & Finance Millbank Tweed
Hadley & McCloy
Competition Herbert Smith
Corporate Linklaters
IP
Baker & McKenzie
Litigation
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
M&A Herbert
Smith
Media Entertainment & Sport Olswang
Planning Linklaters
Private Client Withers
Private Equity Freshfields
Bruckhaus Deringer A&L Goodbody
Project Finance MS Cameron
McKenna
Property Berwin
Leighton Paisner
Restructuring Cadwalder
Wickersham & Taft
Securitisation Clifford
Chance
Technology Kemp Little
European Law Firm / Office of the Year Matheson Ormsby Prentice
Asia Pacific Law Firm/Office Allen Arthur Robinson
Most Enterprising Law Firm Pinsent Curtis Biddle
Law Firm of the Year Herbert Smith
Out With the Old & in With the New - Lexis Australia Website Consolidation
The Lexis Legal of old has gone and has been replaced with a new look
Australian Lexis corporate site that incorporates some features of the
original Lexis Legal.
The old URL now automatically defaults to
http://www.lexisnexis.com.au/aus/default.asp and takes the user to what is
in essence a corporate marketing site for Lexis and its products in
Australia. Users can now search for Butterworths & Lexis product via a
subject area index and receive free emails which keep you up to date with
new publications and developments. Nothing particularly new here although
the interface does make more sense than the old Butterworths corporate site.
What was Lexis Legal is now confined to the Legal Insider section of the
site and is accessible via a ticker or menu on the default page. The Legal
Insider contains news and articles written by Susannah Moran & Josh
Massoud, a "Deals" section and an "Appointments" page.
Links from this page include e-Commerce Today purchased in 2001 by Lexis
Legal which seems increasingly to be a publication in direct competition
with Find Law's e-law Practice . There is also a link to the Legal Profiles
web site on which as yet there is no news of a forthcoming 2002 edition.
The rest of the site is fairly self-explanatory and is in essence a re-jig
of the old Butterworths site dressed up in LN colours and contains: pages on
products & services searchable by subject matter, a conferences & seminars
page, an academic section and a direct link to the customer service section.
NSW Law Society Certainly Knows How to Tie up a Corporate Deal
The NSW Law Society appears to busy in its corporate relationships at the
moment. The latest issue of Law Bytes its online newsletter talks of two new
corporate deals it has arranged to benefit its membership.
Firstly, Law Society members can now apply for a American Express Law
Society Gold Card allowing "a number of exclusive benefits" including no
annual card fee, a special offer of 1.5 frequent flyer points for every $
spent on the card until 1 February 2003, no membership rewards fee, up to 55
days interest free and best of all for all those Chino & striped shirt
wearers, points can be redeemed for vouchers from the likes of David Jones,
Polo Ralph Lauren & Country Road. American Express certainly know their
market.
It doesn't stop there. In the same newsletter the Law Society also mentions
an arrangement with AMP offering benefits on home loans with no
establishment fees, no annual package fee and no monthly service fees and of
course "if you're wanting to invest, AMP Banking offer Law Society members
special interest rates".
It's tough being a lawyer in NSW. LLN wonders if either of these corporates
would like to extend these offers to members of the ALLG or maybe even
staff working at Legal Aid centres around the state.
Minter Ellison Looking to Build Know-How Team
Minter Ellison placed a half page advertisment in the Financial Review on 22
March looking to fill five newly created positions in their national
Know-How team.
As described in their blurb, they are looking to..." Combine emerging
knowledge management disciplines with the traditional library, research and
precedents funtions".
The new positions they are looking to fill are for a National Manager who is
to be Sydney or Melbourne based, two Managers for Know How Operations an
Innovations, Content & kServices Manager and a part time Know How
Co-ordinator in the Construction Division.
It is interesting to note the Construction related position and to see
whether more positions will be developed by the firm in their other
practices, the strategy appears to be to hire people with relevant legal
skills and experience in the subject rather than a trained knowledge
specialist .
Legal 500 Website Features New Law Firm Website Search Engine
Legalease the publisher of the Legal 500 series has created a mini search
engine The Laser Law Site Register which can be found at the bottom of the
following page http://www.legal500.com/index.php.
Just pump in a law firm name or part thereof and the register will bring up
its URL. Although you can do the same on many other search engines the joy
of this one is that it only brings up law firm matches and the presentation
couldn't be simpler; the name of the firm and its URL.
New .US Domain Names to be Released for Purchase in April
A new domain extension: .US will be available as of April 24 2002.
.US will be a means to establish an American address on the internet. Most
countries already have their own extensions, for example .au .de .fr & .uk .
Now all U.S. residents, government entities, public service organizations
and businesses will be able to establish an American identity on the
internet.
Any US citizen or resident as well as any business or organization,
including government, with a bona fide presence in the U.S. will be allowed
to register a .US domain name.
Federation Press Agent For Unidroit Books
The Federation Press announced this month that it is now the exclusive agent
for Unidroit Books in Australia, NZ & Asia.
Unidroit is the "International Institute for the Unification of Private Law"
and is based in Rome. The organization consists of a governing council of
24, representing the major common law and civil law countries including
Australia, Japan, Korea and the PRC. Federation Press holds all Unidroit
titles in stock.
The University of California Posts 50 Year Archive of US Tobacco Industry
Documents
The University of California, San Francisco has posted over 20 million
previously secret internal tobacco industry documents.
The Legacy Tobacco Documents Library , offers integrated searching of
tobacco industry documents previously released through disparate industry
websites," according to its own site. The searches return the full text
documents (in either the .PDF or .TIFF file formats), the searches comb
through ONLY META-DATA the descriptive indexing information created for
tracking/classifying the documents during litigation.
On the left side of the results screen, the site features a breaks down of
which of the seven tobacco industry sources where documents were found and
the number of documents in each.
Documents included in the library come from the following tobacco industry
sources:
American Tobacco
Brown and Williamson
Council for Tobacco Research
Lorillard
Philip Morris
RJ Reynolds
Tobacco Institute
The site also contains an exhaustive links and resources section allowing
the user to search a range of websites and resources covering the following
subject areas:
General Resources
Tobaccopedia
An online tobacco encyclopedia, is an excellent site with information on
every aspect of tobacco including litigation, smoking cessation, health
effects, and more.
The World Health Organization's Tobacco Free Initiative website
Provides links to a variety of other tobacco-related websites in the belief
that the informed individual is better able to make health and lifestyle
decisions.
The Social Sciences Data Collection at the University of California, San
Diego
Is a good source for data, surveys, and reports on Tobacco Use Behavior
Research.
Tobacco Information and Prevention Source (Tips)
This site produced by the Center for Disease Control contains Surgeon
General reports, facts regarding tobacco use, and tips for quitting. It's
updated periodically, but the bibliography of new tobacco research articles
is updated weekly.
Activism In the United States:
Tobacco Control Resource Center (TCRC)
Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation (ANRF)
Tobacco War: Inside the California Battles
International:
GLOBALINK
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
Economics
Costs of Smoking
The Economics of Tobacco Policy
Politics
opensecrets.org
Kids and Smoking
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
The Truth Campaign
No Tobacco
Secondhand Smoke
Smokefree Environments Law Project
National Institutes of Health Report on Environmental Tobacco Smoke
Fact Sheet on Secondhand Smoke
Additives and Chemicals
Additives found in American Cigarettes
Tobacco Education
Dangers of Tobacco
Constant Craving
eScholarship in Tobacco Control
Litigation and Legislation
Tobacco Litigation Documents
This site contains key litigation documents from the cases brought by the
Attorneys General of 44 states and similar actions against the tobacco
industry.
Tobacco Free Initiative
A frequently updated site containing policy documents from the World Health
Organization in PDF format.
Tobacco Litigation and Enforcement
Federal Laws Governing Tobacco and Its Use
What Will It Mean for California? The Tobacco Settlement
This site shows how the state will distribute the settlement money among
different counties.
Tobacco Products Liability Project
Legal Depositions from Tobacco Trials
Tobacco Company Information
Industry Documents
Tobacco Control Archives
Contains internal company documents from Brown & Williamson,
British-American Tobacco Company, and documents used in litigation against
the Tobacco Industry.
Guide to Citing Tobacco Industry Documents
Provides a standard for citing documents in papers and monographs. Includes
instructions for EndNote 3.0 and 4.0.
Tobacco Documents Online
This site contains about 39,000 internal tobacco documents from 7 tobacco
companies, including Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, and the American Tobacco
Company.
CDC's Tobacco Industry Documents
Created in 1999, this site has an index to about 4 million Tobacco Industry
documents and about 350,000 full-text documents.
Tobacco Documents Bibliography
This bibliography cites publications regarding the release, controversy
over, and initial analysis of tobacco industry documents from 1994 to 2001.
Philip Morris Tobacco Document Website
Lorillard Tobacco Company Document Website
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Document Website
Brown & Williamson/American Tobacco Company Document Website
Tobacco Institute Document Website
Council for Tobacco Research Document Website
Research
The Cigarette Papers
An analysis of the first set of industry documents to be released publicly.
Reports on Industry Activity
Voice of Truth: WHO Inquiry into Tobacco Industry Activity in the Middle
East
Tobacco Farmers
International Tobacco Growers' Association (ITGA)
Tobacco Use and Health
Tobacco use - smoking and smokeless tobacco
Tobacco Use Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups
Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General
The Legacy National Tobacco Documents Library web site can be found at :
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu./
LLRX Latest
As always LLRX is providing relevant and current updates and new information
for librarians.
This week we have a Guide to Country Research for Refugee Status
Determination by Elisa Mason whose guide provides focused recommendationsfor
retrieving and applying country and human rights information as a means to
enhance refugee protection.
http://www.llrx.com/features/rsd2.htm
Latest Links includes Class Action Database and Enron Filings reviewed by
Margaret Berkland
http://www.llrx.com/031802.htm
and Technology for Tightwads, Part I; where Sheryl Cramer recommends basic
software that all law offices require. Much of which is available either
free or at a low cost. Part 1 of this two part article covers: office
suites, calendars/contact management/ billing, and a company that provides
a one-stop resource for all these applications.
http://www.llrx.com/features/tightwads.htm
Justinian - Subscription & Sales Management - New Agent
As of April 2002 Sean Hocking will be managing subscriptions and sales
issues for Richard Ackland's , Law Press of Australia.
Law Press of Australia publishes Justinian and the Gazette of Law and
Journalism.
For further information please contact hocking1@ozemail.com.au or call 02
9300 0120
ADVERTISMENT
INFO TOTO
Daily email alerts you to the top news headlines and the other legal and
business materials
Discounts apply according to the number of users subscribing within your
firm. To view prices simply add the number of users required into the Price
Calculator at http://www.infototo.com.au/price/price.asp
InfoToto Topic Areas
Subscribers have full access to all topic areas, and can customise their
screens to view only those areas of interest to them.
New & Forthcoming Titles / Publications / Services
Latest From Hammicks Legal Bookshops
New books received into stock during week-ending 23rd March 2002
Ali, P.A.U
Law of Secured Finance - an international survey of security interests over
personal property
Oxford University Press
0-19-829902-8
Hardback
344 pages
£110.00
Bell/et al
Law Update 2002
Old Bailey Press
1-85836-435-3
2002
Paperback
419 pages
£9.95
Ficsor, M
Law of Copyright and the Internet - the 1996 WIPO treaties, their
interpretation and implementation
Oxford University Press
0-19-829901-X
Hardback
792 pages
£125.00
Gold, R
Running a School 2002/03 - legal duties and responsibilities
Jordans Publishing
0-85308-707-5
2002/03
Paperback
471 pages
£29.95
Inns of Court School of Law
Test Yourself In Evidence, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Sentencing
Oxford University Press
1-84174-298-8
8th edition
Paperback
152 pages
£14.99
Jones/Benson
Publishing Law
Routledge
0-415-26154-6
2nd edition
Paperback
310 pages
£24.99
Plant (ed)
Blackstone's Civil Practice
Oxford University Press
1-84174-310-0
2002 edition
Hardback
3018 pages
£115.00
Simmonds, N.E
Central Issues in Jurisprudence - justice, law and rights
Sweet & Maxwell
0-421-74120-1
2nd edition
Paperback
316 pages
£16.95
Smith, J.C
Law of Contract
Sweet & Maxwell
0-421-78170-X
4th edition
Paperback
274 pages
£15.95
New books received into stock during week-ending 16th March 2002
Card/James
Law for Accountancy Students
Butterworths
0-406-94681-7
7th edition
Paperback
732 pages
£19.95
Coleman/Shapiro (eds)
Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
Oxford University Press
0-19-829824-2
Hardback
1,050 pages
£60.00
Friedmann/Barak-Erez (eds)
Human Rights in Private Law
Hart Publishing
1-84113-213-6
Hardback
393 pages
£45.00
Legal 500
Courts and Agency Directory 2002
Legalease
1-903927-07-2
2002 edition
Paperback
457 pages
£45.00
Omar, P
Procedures to Enforce Foreign Judgments
Dartmouth Publishing Company/Ashgate Publishing Limited
0-7546-2010-7
Hardback
117 pages
£40.00
Steinbock, B (ed)
Legal and Ethical Issues in Human Reproduction
Ashgate
0-7546-2049-2
Hardback
£90.00
Thorpe/Cowton (eds)
Delight and Dole - The Childrens Act 10 Years On
Jordans Publishing
0-85308-738-5
Paperback
154 pages
£25.00
Usher,J
EC Agricultural Law
Oxford University Press
0-19-826882-3
2nd edition
Hardback
209 pages
£60.00
Hammicks Legal Bookshops, 9 Broad Street, Bristol BS1 2HL
Tel: (0117) 922 7708 Fax: (0117) 922 7714
E-mail: bristol@hammicks.co.uk
Website: http://www.hammickslegal.co.uk
New From Federation Press / Willan Publishing UK
Federation Press
Future Seekers: Refugees & the Law in Australia
Crock & Saul
"Even for those with key roles in the refugee and related areas it is a must
read" Senator Brian Harradine
186287 4034
PB
March 2002
$A24.95
Corporations Law In Australia ( 2nd Ed)
Tomasic, Bottomley & McQueen
186287 3143
PB
2002
$A99
The Hidden Gender
Graycar & Morgan
186287 3402
PB
2002
$A66
Legal Technique
Enright
186287 4123
PB
2002
$A66
Integrated Planning in Qld
England
186287 3569
PB
2001
$A66
Corruption in Asia
Lindsey & Dick
Corruption in Asia establishes new theoretical frameworks for understanding
corruption and governance, and tests them through case studies of Indonesia
& Vietnam
186287 4212
PB
2002
$A55
Seddon's Domestic Violence in Australia 3rd Ed ( Due April / May 2002)
Alexander
186287 4255
PB
$A35
Prisoners as Citizens ( Due April 2002)
Brown & Meredith
186287 4247
PB
$A39.95
Willan Publishing (UK)
UK publisher specializing in criminology & policing books
Sex Crime - Sex Offending & Society
Thomas
190324 0018
PB
2000
$A49.95
Crime Abuse & the Elderly
Brogden & Nijar
190324 0034
PB
2000
$A49.95
Drugs & Crime
Bean
190324 0360
PB
2002
$A55.00
New From Jordans Publishing (UK)
Running a Limited Company ( 4th Edition)
Impey & Montague
Running a limited company is a handy and practical guide for anyone needing
a straightforward explanation of the multitude of UK legislation,
regulations and guidelines affecting Ltd companies. Written specifically for
directors and company secretaries of smaller and newly incorporated
companies registered in the UK. This 4th Edition has been fully updated to
take account of
The Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000
The Electronic Communications Act 2000
Technology Advances such as online incorporation
New Chapter on the internet providing basic information on websites and
e-commerce
Published December 2001
0 85308 729 6
PB
£16.95
Subscribe to The Jordans Journal - Winter 2002 issue contains:
New UK International Holding Company Rules
Name Protection on the Internet
Secure Email Solutions
Domain Name Renewal
Changes for Charities in England & Wales
UK Companies House gets Tough on Penalities
NSW Office of State Revenue Calculators
The NSW Law Society now provide via their website a range of Office of
State Revenue Calculators. These "handy online calculators that allow you to
estimate duty payable on a range of common transactions in NSW." and can be
found at
http://erevenue.nsw.gov.au/calculators/index.htm
The calculators offer a choice of:
duty only calculations, based on today's date, or
date-based calculations, using a future or past date, and showing interest
where applicable
The NSW Law Society indicate in writing that calculators should be used as
a guide and not as a substitute for formal professional advice. and that use
of the calculators assumes the user has read and accepted their disclaimer.
You can Choose a calculator in the following areas
Sale or transfer of land or business
First Home Plus
Mortgages
Leases
Transfer or assignment of lease
Transfer of shares or units
Motor vehicle registration
Interest
CCH Compensation Weekly
Compensation Week published by CCH is Australia's national weekly newsletter
covering the workers compensation industry and its major issues. According
to the CCH marketing department " It delivers up to twice the volume of
information on compensation than - and at twice the frequency of - any other
Australian compensation newsletter service". Want to know more? Find out
here
<http://www.cch.com.au/fe_ps_details.asp?product_id=2422&itemcode=AWKN&topic
_code=9&category_code=127> . Compensation Week is also available for online
access
<http://www.cch.com.au/fe_ps_details.asp?product_id=2423&itemcode=WAWKN&topi
c_code=9&category_code=127> .
The Daily Law Notes From the Incorporated Council Of Law Reporting of
England & Wales
For those of you who may not be aware of this service from the ICLR in the
UK, The Daily Law Notes is a 24 hour service brought to you from the Royal
Courts of Justice in London. The ICLR brings you the most important updates
from the House of Lords, the Privy Council, the Court of Appeal and all
divisions of the High Court.
All their reporters are either barristers or solicitors, assuring the user
a high quality of reporting, for which they have been the benchmark ever
since inauguration in 1865.
The cases reported here have been summarised and are not the full text
version that will appear in due course in The Weekly Law Reports, The Law
Reports or The Industrial Cases Reports.
What the user will find here, however, is a precise and, above all, accurate
summary of those cases deemed by ICLR reporters and editorial team to be
worthy of a fuller treament and inclusion in The Weekly Law Reports.
The Daily Law Notes is a service provided by the UK profession for the
profession and can be accessed via the internet at
http://www.lawreports.co.uk/index.htm
Latest News From Legal Technology Media (UK)
TEN MAKE IT ONTO LATEST SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS LIST
The English Law Society has just published the 2002 edition of its Software
Solutions Guide to accounts and practice management systems
for primarily small-to-mid sized solicitors practices. Copies of the Guide
are being distributed free of charge of every firm in England &
Wales.
Now in its fourth edition, this year's Guide lists a total of ten suppliers.
Seven were also featured last year: Edgebyte, Gavel &
Gown, JCS, Mountain Software, MSS, SOS and Videss. There are two new
entries: Axxia and DPS, plus one re-entry: Quill. TFB, which was in
2001 Guide, declined to put itself forward again this year and Pracctice
failed to make the final cut. Mountain is now the only supplier to have
received a full listing in every edition of the Guide.
One big change this year is that along with conventional software
applications, the Guide includes a number of ASP (application service
provider) solutions plus an accounts bureau - Quill's Pinpoint service. The
Guide has also been revised to display the results of market research in a
clearer format and to make it easier for users to see which systems best
suit particular sizes of firm.
LSSA XML SCHEMA NOW PUBLISHED
The UK's Legal Software Suppliers Association has now published a proposal
for an XML Schema for the legal profession. The full text,
in PDF file format, can be accessed at http://www.lssa.co.uk - there is also
a direct link via the http://www.legaltechnology.com site.
The Legal Software Suppliers Association (LSSA) has recognised that it is to
the benefit of its members to agree a common XML standard
that can be used as a basis for all future inter-program communication
within the legal environment. The increasing need for this standard comes
from two directions:
i) No single legal software supplier can provide the panacea legal
application and law firms are now demanding a best of breed approach.
They wish to combine practice management and perhaps a number of case
management applications from different suppliers into a single
cohesive system. Clearly, given the number of suppliers, to write individual
interfaces to all potential application partners is impossible whereas
writing a single interface to an established standard is feasible.
ii) It is increasingly necessary for legal applications to communicate with
other systems outside the organisation. This includes client applications,
other service providers (eg the NLIS channel providers) and increasingly
government related bodies (eg the LSC). As the world marches towards
collaborative commerce (c-commerce) the LSSA has a key role to play in the
formulation of a common language (an XML schema).
LSSA XML Working Party chairman Neil Ewin says that: "Writing a single XML
schema to cover the vast range of possible legal transactions is daunting,
if indeed possible. The approach that has therefore been adopted is to
develop a collection of sub-schemas describing common data components likely
to appear in any such transaction (eg party, time posting, financial
posting).
"With these data components agreed, they can be combined to form schema
describing particular types of legal transaction. Example schemas can be
case type specific, for example between Insurance Company and panel
Solicitor, or as a generic link between case and practice management
systems."
It will be up to the individual LSSA member as to the degree and timescale
by which these standards are adopted however the great
interest and support this project has received from both within the group
and from external sources, indicates a real desire to adopt and implement as
quickly as possible. This document has been presented for discussion and
does not represent a formal LSSA XML standard nor is it guaranteed to be
valid or well formed but represents a collection of ideas from LSSA members
and seeks to encourage debate.
The LSSA is keen to hear views and opinions from all interested parties
irrespective to their affiliation to the LSSA. Email your comments to Neil
Ewin at mailto:n.ewin@solicitec.com
KEYSTONE BOARD AGREES TO SOLUTION 6 BID
The boards of Solution 6 Holdings Limited and Keystone this week announced
they had reached agreement on the terms of a recommended offer that will see
Solution 6 (Europe) acquire the whole of the issued and to be issued share
capital of Keystone. Solution 6 say they believe the two companies products
are complementary, with Keystone Professional on Oracle selling into larger
firms while Net Results can be offered into second tier firms running CMS.
The proposed deal - which has paper and cash alternatives - values Keystone
at £13.5 million or 11.8p per share. Keystone shareholders
have the option of receiving Solution 6 shares or a 10p per Keystone share
cash alternative. At the close of trading before the offer was announced,
Keystone shares were priced at 8.75p. Keystone has disclosed that it
anticipates making a loss of "in excess of £4.2 million" for the year ending
31 March 2002. Keystone directors are unanimously recommending acceptance of
the offer, which is expected to have a mid-April closing date.
LAW FIRMS LAGGING IN LEGAL WEB STAKES
New research carried out by Infolaw, the UK legal portal, while reviewing
and updating its Lawyers on the Web directory, has produced
some perhaps surprising results... * Barristers in England & Wales are the
most active profession on the web, with over 36% of chambers having a web
presence. * Law firms in Scotland, where over 30% of firms have a web site,
lead over law firms in England & Wales, where only about 20% of firms have
got their internet act together. * Some 5% of top 500 UK law firms appear
not to have web sites. * More than 13% of sole practitioners in England &
Wales have sites - not far below the average for the profession as a whole.
* Many firms have abandoned former domain names yet do not redirect requests
to their old URLs to their new web addresses.
Commenting on the results, Infolaw's managing director (and co-author of
'Researching the Legal Web') Nick Holmes said: "As more than 50%
of the UK is now connected to the internet, the absence of a web presence
will surely fail to impress any potential client. The High Street law firm
has always been slow to adopt new technology and our research confirms this
conservatism. There are however notable exceptions, with some very small
firms leading the way with legal e-commerce. Time will surely demonstrate
that that £200 - all it takes to set up a simple site - would have been well
spent."
The figures show the number of principal web sites listed (some firms also
have specialist sites) - total number of firms or chambers by principal
offices - sites as a percentage of the total. Barristers chambers: England &
Wales: 215 - 595 - 36% Solicitors firms: Scotland: 370 - 1250 - 30%
Solicitors firms: England & Wales: 1695 - 8306 - 20% Solicitors firms:
Northern Ireland: 57 - 450 - 13% Solicitors firms: Ireland: 98 - 1900 - 5%
The Lawyers on the Web directory can be accessed free of charge at
http://www.infolaw.co.uk/lawyers/lawyers.asp
CLAIMROOM LAUNCHES CONVEYANCING DEALROOM
TheClaimRoom.com Ltd, the company which last year launched the online
dispute negotiation and resolution system TheClaimRoom, has launched a new
virtual dealroom type system for firms handling conveyancing work.
Called TheConveyancingRoom, the system offers web sites in the corporate
design of individual firms and on which all parties to a transaction
(solicitors, clients, estate agents, mortgagees etc) can communicate in a
secure online environment. There is also an online filing cabinet contains
files for communications with the various parties but under predefined
reading and writing powers, so clients, for example, could at the option of
the solicitor read but not write communications with the solicitor on the
other side. There is also an online storage area for documents the drafting
of which can be finalised online and archived for future reference.
Managing director Graham Ross believes the system will be attractive to
clients, who use the internet, as being not only a far more
convenient way to communicate but also allow them to be better up to speed
with how matters are progressing without having to make endless
chase up phone calls. Ross also points out that unlike ordinary email, all
mail and documents will be instantly accessible at all times from any PC
located anywhere (even whilst working at home or abroad) and remain
available even in the event of total data loss on the office network.
Because the system is being offered as part of an annual licence fee deal,
Ross believes the system will be commercially attractive to
small firms. For more details call David Street on 0151 336 2002 or visit
http://www.theconveyancingroom.com
LEGAL TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY & VENDOR NEWS
MANCHES LAUNCHES TECH FORUM - London law firm Manches has launched a new
technology forum - called FORTECH - to provide up to date
information and analysis on legal and commercial developments affecting the
buyers and suppliers of technology. Membership of FORTECH, which will offer
a series of members forums and a bulletin alert service, will initially be
free to both existing and non-Manches clients. For more information about
joining FORTECH email
mailto:fortech@manches.co.uk
OSBORNE CLARKE IS TECH FORM OF THE YEAR - Osborne Clarke has been named UK
Technology Law Firm of the Year in recognition of its strong technology
practice and work with venture capitalists. The award was announced last
week at the UK Technology Partnering & Investment Gala Awards dinner at the
Royal Lancaster Hotel. Runners up for the award included SJ Berwin, Taylor
Joynson Garrett and Wragge & Co.
Simon Rendell, head of technology at Osborne Clarke, commented: "We are
absolutely delighted to have won this award. Partnering and
investment for the technology sector is at the heart of what we do, and it's
long been our focus to work with technology companies on both sides of the
Atlantic to develop significant opportunities for growth. In this new
environment, it's our challenge to help companies, both young and
well-established, to realise their potential."
COMMERCE & INDUSTRY WEB SITE GOES LIVE THIS WEEK - The new web site of the
Law Society Commerce & Industry Group (known as the C&I Group) goes live
later this week (on 21 March). The site is intended to become the Group's
shop window, acting as the primary source of all
information and services available to the group and also providing a
bulletin board for members to debate issues of current interest.
http://www.cigroup.org.uk
LAWYER LOCATOR & FIRSTLAW TEAM UP - Martindale-Hubbell's LawyerLocator has
teamed up with FirstLAW to provide visitors to http://www.firstlaw.co.uk
with a fast and accurate online search facility to find a solicitor anywhere
in the U.K. By applying specific search criteria such as area of law, town
or postcode, users of FirstLAW's site will be able to instantly identify
legal specialists in many disciplines and locations. In a reciprocal deal -
at http://www.lawyerlocator.co.uk - LawyerLocator will offer its users the
opportunity to utilise FirstLAW's legal tendering service
to help them select, instruct and negotiate terms with the law firms that
match their requirements. In addition, all of those law firms with a web
site through Martindale-Hubbell's Lawyer HomePages service will be offered
the option of membership of the FirstLAW law firm panel, increasing their
access to potential new clients.
MISHCON LAWYERS TAKE STAKE IN LEGALPULSE - A consortium of lawyers from
Mishcon De Reya have become shareholders in Legalpulse, the UK online and
offline provider of legal documents for SMEs. The move sees Kevin Gold, the
joint managing partner at Mishcons, join the Legalpulse board. Documents
currently available via Legalpulse - at http://www.legalpulse.com - include
employment contracts, business plans and shareholder agreements.
VRISKO FINALISES DEALS WITH PERFECT & BUTTERWORTHS
Vrisko, who specialise in content integration and brokered searching, have
developed their range of services to include an email alerting
service where clients can now receive content from multiple vendors in the
same email. These emails are customised, and the content
sorted to the client's specification. The first global vendors to work in
partnership with Vrisko and take advantage of this development are Perfect
Information and LexisNexis Butterworths Tolley. Vrisko will include other
vendor content where clients have the appropriate vendor license.
According to Vrisko sales director Stuart Pocock: "Clients have been asking
for a more efficient way of delivering high value content from
multiple vendors using push technology, without overloading mailboxes. We
have always specialised in searching multiple databases
in parallel and I am delighted that we have been able to address this
important area. I expect a huge amount of interest in this service,
as it will greatly enhance the user experience." http://www.vrisko.com
TWO MORE ONLINE SERVICES FROM CLIFFORD CHANCE - Clifford Chance has launched
two new online services - Cross Border Acquisition Guide (CBAG) and an
Alerter for Communications & Media. CBAG is a cross border mergers and
acquisitions structuring tool. The Guide provides
users with a themed analysis of key issues and potential problems that may
arise from public and private acquisitions. The Guide, which
covers twelve jurisdictions in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, is
accessed via a secure extranet site. The Alerter, also accessed via a secure
extranet, is an online news tool providing users with structured updates on
legal and regulatory developments in radio, television and
telecommunications, initially across ten jurisdictions.
CASE STUDY - STEPHENSON HARWOOD OPT FOR HUMMINGBIRD PORTAL Stephenson
Harwood already used DOCS as its document management platform but with more
and more partners and staff working remotely or travelling, the firm needed
to find a solution that would provide
fast, easy, reliable and secure access to business data regardless of the
physical location of the user.
It was whilst working through the business requirement for such a system
that the firm recognised it could potentially be rolled out to their client
base, adding a new dimension to their customer service and support
provision. At about the same time Hummingbird's new portal technologies were
emerging so it made sense for the firm to explore if this solution could
extend the functionality and deliver a seamless, non-intrusive web
environment. (The firm also looked at a number of other portal solutions but
felt that these products delivered much less at a higher cost.)
When it comes to IT systems, Stephenson Harwood has a view of "if it isn't
broken, then don't fix it". They took the best of what they had and knew and
applied that to the new portal technologies. According to IT director Chris
Petrie: "We have a strategy of growing IT systems organically. This approach
ensures that we always leverage the value in existing applications and
achieve demonstrable ROI. We have no desire to replace robust and reliable
systems for the sake of a new technology offering that may not live up to
the expectation. In choosing Hummingbird EIP we didn't just protect our
existing investment - we extended it. The end result is compelling."
Stephenson Harwood was one of the first organisations to implement
Hummingbird's portal technologies and collaborated closely with
Hummingbird throughout the entire process. In fact the final market offering
includes some functionality originally developed by the
Stephenson Harwood team. However Petrie point out "this is not a bespoke
system, simply an enhancement of the 'out-of-the-box'
functionality".
The firm plans to rollout EIP, department by department and avoid
centralised bins of data. The goal is to achieve localised, specialist
knowledge within each department, managed by the department and then easily
made available, via EIP, to other areas, both internal and external. Users
should be able to view, interact with data, mine for knowledge and receive
reports in a format that suits each individual requirement.
According to Petrie, Hummingbird EIP negates the limitation of
cost-per-desktop that had proved prohibitive to the implementation of
solutions in the past. Today 450 users across the internal and external
(client) base have the potential to access the portal. "EIP is an instant
sell," says Petrie. "The first time users see it they immediately like it."
Stephenson Harwood sees the potential value of offering'Client Relationship
Portals' as a non-intrusive communications channel where
clients and lawyers share mutual industry knowledge and information, such as
the progress or status of a particular case or project - what they see
depends on who they are and what access rights they have. One client has
already gone live with EIP and two further client rollouts are expected
imminently.
Portal technologies are a key facet in Stephenson Harwood's IT strategy -
utilising browser-based technologies can deliver cost-effective, reliable
and secure access to business information regardless of time or physical
location. The longer term objective is that all applications move to a
"WebTop" environment where management is handled via portal technologies.
Petrie concludes: "Our internal communications should improve dramatically
and we are able to share knowledge with our clients and deliver it in a
friendly format much faster and more effectively."
LEGAL TECHNOLOGY EVENTS DIARY - for a full list see
http://www.legaltechnology.com/itdiary.htm
APRIL 17, LONDON. CLT 2002 Law Firm Management Conference. Includes a
session by Janet Day of BLP on 'today's challenges in IT' including
email and security. Takes place at the Berners Hotel with prices from £315 +
VAT for CLT subscribers. 6 CPD hours. For details call Central Law Training
on 0121 355 0900.
APRIL 18, LONDON. Data storage in the Legal Environment.Sspeakers from
Synstar, Auspex Systems, Essential and Nabarro Nathanson will
present a seminar on choosing a data management solution that covers some of
the issues facing legal firms today, namely email, backups,
productivity and ROI. The free seminar will be informative rather than a
sales pitch and is aimed at Chief Information Officers, IT Directors and IT
Managers. The event will be held at The Law Society, Chancery Lane, from
2:30pm to 5:30pm followed by refreshments. For more details call Daniel Hall
on 01344 662 992 or email
mailto:seminar@synstar.com
ADVERTISMENT
GET LEGAL TECHNOLOGY INSIDER - ABSOLUTELY FREE
Legal Technology Insider, the UK-based legal IT newsletter, is offering
subscribers to Law Librarians News a free subscription to the PDF version of
the Insider.
No catches, no spam, no hidden extras and the Insider does not disclose its
mailing lists to anyone. Issues are delivered as email file attachments and
subscribers will also be given free access to the full Insider online
archive, as well as the e-zine Legal Technology News, which complements the
Insider with coverage of online legal service and international legal IT
news.
For more details contact Sean Hocking of Law Librarians News at
lawlibnews@ozemail.com.au
ADVERTISMENT
MONDAQ - GETTING YOUR FIRM'S INFORMATION TO A WIDER WORLD
Use the Mondaq service to get your practitioners articles, law firm
information & press releases out to international media and clients.
How does it work?
Register at the website
Place first 10 articles for free
Mondaq then forward your articles to media houses and websites worldwide
Paid Services Include
Author details go out with articles
Authors can be contacted by article readers via Mondaq's secure system so no
spam
Order "Management Reports" to tell you who read your information. Where,
When & For How Long
Let Mondaq manage all your press releases and save time and money
Provide your clients with alerters via Mondaq system - no need to invest in
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http://www.mondaq.com
Review
Asian Legal Business
The first issue of this new venture by Mike Shipley and his company Key
Media, Asian Legal Business, has arrived.
To remind readers; Shipley and his cohorts were the people behind the
Australian publication, Lawyers Weekly which now survives under the
stewardship of a local Lexis management who aren't 100% sure what to do with
their inheritance.
Asian Legal Business has been launched as a monthly for the AP market with
separate editions for Hong Kong and Singapore.
Although the first edition doesn't match up with the professionalism of the
UK market's top notch publications, The Lawyer or Legal Business, it's not a
bad start and in terms of content it appears that lessons have been learned
from the Lawyers Weekly experience.
So what's in edition one ? Both editions lead with articles on China's new
Telco regulations and Japanese reform issues with a centre spread in each
edition featuring profile articles on leading local lawyers in Singapore and
Hong Kong respectively.
Importantly the news sections appear well written and researched and cover a
range of subjects from BDW extending their patent services practice, Norton
Rose's return to HK, the ongoing saga with Clifford Chance's JV with the
Wong Partnership in Singapore and succinct coverage of regional deals.
Although a percentage of the news is duplicated across both editions it's
fair to say that this is because both markets will need to be aware of the
same issues.
All in all a good start and if the content develops away from the lifestyle
approach seen towards the back of each magazine and more emphasis on the
news and feature sections we may well see a publication first for the Asia
Pacific region: a reliable source of relevant legal news and developments
for the region.
Asian Legal Business
No ISSN details
No Subscription Details Provided
Editor - stephen.mulrenan@kmimail.com
http://www.keymedia.com.sg
UK Property Resources Website http://www.propertylawuk.net/
Looking for UK Property Law Resources: try Barrister, Gary Webber's site.
Although the site has the look and feel of something that hasn't been
updated for a while it's actually pretty current and it's very simple to get
around.
The site is divided into four main sections
Property Law Articles: Inc Standard Possession Claims , Mortgage Claims,
Business Lease Renewals
Property Law Courses in the UK
Links to: Publishers, Statutes & SI's, Cases & Articles, Organisations,
Professionals, Conveyancing, Procedure, Law Reform, Landlord & Tenant
List of Mediators: A list of only 7 mediators is supplied including the
author of the site so it may be worth researching a couple of other sites to
get a bit more balance here.
All in all a great introductory resource to UK Property law issues and
simple to navigate because its not a part of some larger organisation who
are trying to sell you product while you undertake research.
Sets of Law Reports Wanted - Contact us
We Will Buy Your Books
and we urgently need the following sets.
The Law Reports UK - Rainbow Series
Halsbury's 4th
All England Law Reports
Lloyds Law Reports
Fleet Street Reports
Dominion Law Reports
The Digest UK
If you have any of these or other titles to sell please contact
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 14 2007 - 20:36:32 PST