Legal Technology Journal

Cynicism about social software is misplaced – the active participation it encourages could do wonders for your firm. Blogs, blawgs, wikis, RSS, social tagging, social media, social software, trackbacks – tech-speak gone mad? A lot of hyperbole? Or very useful stuff that, if you are not using in your firm at the moment, you should be soon?

Some may have misgivings, but the forthcoming edition of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Office suite, and particularly its word processor, represents a giant leap forwards.

Enterprise resource planning is, in theory, a great idea, but it remains largely unfavourable to law firms. Do the cons outweigh the pros? One of the current ‘big ideas’ in legal technology circles is whether, for their next generation of practice management systems, larger law firms will eschew ‘conventional’ solutions from ‘traditional’ legal software suppliers, in favour of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

A look at a comprehensive survey of the state of knowledge management in law firms.

A robust litigation technology strategy is vital for disputes in today’s hi-tech environment. Legal systems are built on clarity, certainty and consistency, so it is little wonder that lawyers crave those qualities in the management of engagements. Equally, it is little wonder that electronic documents pose difficulties for many (if not most) lawyers. Centuries of legal advice has been based on paper evidence. When faced with a new instruction, lawyers instinctively know where to look to find the evidence.

A look at Richards Butler’s integrated support system for matter management from inception to post-completion feedback. Over the past few years, competition within the UK law firm community has heightened. It has always been a crowded sector, but the recent influx of US law firms, coupled with the increasing numbers of boutique practices opening in London, has fuelled management teams to consistently re-evaluate what sets their firm apart.