Welcome to the first issue of the Insider Colour Supplement, a new webzine designed to complement the Legal Technology Insider newsletter's coverage of legal IT developments and events. In particular it allows us to carry longer feature articles we simply cannot accommodate space-wise within the newsletter and colour photography, which is just plain impossible in a newsletter that uses black ink on orange paper (unless you are David Dickinson).
Our August issue includes a white paper by Norm Mullock of Redwood Analytics on diversity within law firms, Robert Dougan of Solution Canvas on why there is room for another new supplier in the legal IT market and an overview of Recommind's new e-discovery system PLUS two photo caption stories: the Tiffin Cup at the House of Commons and the Thomson Elite user conference in Las Vegas.
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Monday, August 20
Insider Colour Supplement #1 - Hello and welcome
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 20 Aug 2007 05:20 PM BST
Insider Colour Supplement #1 - Time to power up your firm's diversity strategy
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 20 Aug 2007 04:32 PM BST
Diversity is one of those subjects UK law firms are only just getting to grips with - although an article in the July issue of the Equal Opportunities Review appears to suggest many firms are still burying their heads in the sand and hoping the problem will go away. It is therefore interesting timing to see that this week Norm Mullock, the Chief Strategy Officer at Redwood Analytics, is presenting a paper on the subject of law firm diversity strategies at the ILTA conference in Florida. And if you are wondering why Redwood? That is because they are in the business of business intelligence metrics – if it can be measured, it can be analysed and diversity is already firmly on the radar for many US law firms...
Power Up Your Firm’s Diversity Strategy: Employ BI To Fill the Information Gaps Diversity is now squarely a priority for law firms. Many law firms have diversity committees, and many have hired diversity directors. Much attention has been paid to firm recruitment and promotion processes. Mission statements, web sites and policies have been rewritten. Unfortunately, few firms have armed these efforts with the information necessary to ensure the success of their diversity strategies. Why? For one, most firms simply don’t have the tools that allow them to easily—and automatically—access the data they need to build strategies that meet the firm’s goals, communicate the results to internal and external constituencies, and perform the analysis that will allow them to make adjustments as needed. Even worse, in many instances, those at the firm who are responsible for the firm’s business intelligence (BI) efforts are unaware that this information gap exists. While firms have stepped up efforts to employ BI solutions to billing and collections, matter profitability and many other aspects of firm management, they have not leveraged business intelligence to drive their diversity efforts. Prioritizing Diversity Diversity strategies within firms take many forms and have different motivations. Many firm managers sincerely believe that diversity is an important moral imperative. In addition, firms have been compelled to scrutinize their diversity efforts because the market (ie corporate clients) dictates that they do so. A growing number of firms are adopting an even more aggressive stance—that diverse law firms are better firms, which are less subject to crisis; possess deeper experience bases upon which to draw; are able to be more nimble in their response to tricky, dynamic problems; and are more empathetic to each of their clients’ perspectives. Time will tell whether this view pays dividends beyond the important social benefits. What is certain is that no initiative is likely to succeed to its fullest potential without the proper BI underpinning. With as much as has been written about diversity in law firms, two aspects central to the discussion have been under-addressed. First, crucial to the implementation of any diversity strategy—regardless of form—is the ability to access information that supports the strategy. Second, insofar as constituencies outside the firm dictate the terms of the dialogue, they also to a large extent determine the information required. Harness Diversity Data To successfully implement a diversity strategy, firms need to be able to track, report, analyze and distribute diversity data. Firms should employ tools that allow them to code diversity characteristics at the candidate, employee, client and vendor levels. At the candidate and employee levels, firms should be able to code for characteristics crucial in today’s market, such as race, gender, age, disability, declared GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, transgender) status, flex time status etc. In addition, the data coding capabilities should allow for the expansion of characteristics to meet future needs. At the client level, not-for-profit and minority- and female-owned corporate clients should be tagged. The same applies for firm vendors. When diversity data is collected, entries should include a reasonable amount of historic information. Once this base of information has been captured, the full capabilities of BI can be deployed to support the diversity initiative. The firm can respond quickly and accurately to internal and external information requests, as well as react to calls for change. With business intelligence tools in place, a firm can, for example, produce a full census of its employees, clients and vendors. Likewise, as clients demand more specific information that goes beyond the makeup and practices of the firm to include specific timekeepers (by title), the firm can readily access the data and quickly interpret it. Custom requests can be fulfilled. Look for the Big Picture Most importantly, BI solutions allow firms to proactively analyze the effectiveness of their diversity initiatives—at every level of the firm. Too often, diversity is discussed broadly, as an overarching concept. These discussions often lose sight of the fact that in the law firm environment, diversity is not a single, homogeneous issue, but rather a series of threads woven through the fabric of the firm’s culture and interactions. Firms that pay careful attention to diversity efforts in recruitment—and reap rewards through their entry-level recruiting class—still may struggle to achieve in their partner ranks desirable proportions of lawyers of color and female lawyers. For other firms, the retention for a particular group of lawyers might be a disproportionate problem. Problems that do not exist at a firm-wide level may plague a particular office. Even the most successful firm from the perspective of diversity management may unwittingly cause client-relationship concerns by not being able to address diversity concerns at the matter planning level. BI, properly deployed, provides the platform to address all of these issues. For example, one firm recently discovered that its associates of color were disproportionately participating in business development activities, preventing them from being able to work the same billable time generally expected of its associates. Meet the Press, Impress the Clients Law firms that choose to embrace business intelligence solutions are in a position to take the lead on diversity efforts. The ability to act, rather than waiting to react, can create a powerful competitive edge. Requests for information abound. The press, law schools and professional associations all have a vested interest in the debate and inundate firms with multiple and varying requests for information. Because law firms have been slow to recognize the importance of diversity, their clients have taken the lead to define data needs in line with their own agendas. Large corporate clients in particular go beyond requests for firm-wide information, and ask for matter-specific details. Multipage questionnaires are a routine part of the proposal process, yet each is worded differently, and definitions across proposals are inconsistent. Nonetheless, the chaotic nature of the current environment has an upside—it has created an opportunity for firms with vision and good information management practices to seize the initiative. Redwood Analytics is developing extranet sites that will allow law firms to offer corporate counsel the ability to manage diversity information for participating vendor firms in one spot, with automated data pull and the ability to benchmark firms against one another. Business intelligence solutions have allowed firms to better execute important strategies by allowing them to draw upon the wealth of information captured within firm systems, and use analytic output to enable better decision making. Profitability analysis can lead to better compensation schemes and client management. Business development activities can be proactively directed. Diversity is no exception. Firms that demonstrate commitment to diversity draw greater talent and more business development opportunities. The combined competitive advantage from greater talent and demand for services drives growth in work, rates or both. But leveraging value from a well-conceived diversity strategy requires more than good intentions. Today, business intelligence is the underpinning to driving diversity efforts. • Norm Mullock is Chief Strategy Officer at Redwood Analytics, a leading provider of business intelligence solutions to the legal industry. He can be reached at nmullock@redwoodanalytics.com © Copyright Redwood Analytics 2007, all rights reserved.
Insider Colour Supplement #1 – Justia sets out its store
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 20 Aug 2007 04:10 PM BST
You could be forgiven for thinking the last thing the legal IT market wants today is another software system but in this article Robert Dougan of Solution Canvas ( 0870 361 3190) explains why he thinks his company's new Justia offering is a product whose time has come...
There is a lot of talk around today about Web 2.0 and the benefits and improvements that this new range of internet technologies will bring to consumers and businesses. Software as a Service (SaaS) is a key element to Web 2.0 which facilitates a break from the traditional model of software deployment whereby a vendor sells a product to a consumer, who then installs the software locally and runs it using their own computers resources. SaaS reverses this model and allows users to access powerful applications through their web browser, with the computing power provided by the vendor’s servers. This type of software provision means that expensive investment in hardware and software can be avoided. Typically SaaS products exist as subscription services rather than using the typical licensing model. This flexibility means the consumer has a greater freedom to switch services if they are unhappy. The 24/7, always-on nature of the internet and improved broadband connections are driving the push by software vendors to deliver more powerful and useful applications online. Microsoft Office Live marks the company’s entry into this domain with a comprehensive range of applications and services targeted at small companies who may not have the financial power and technical know-how for large scale computing investment but who want access to applications that will help them to drive their business and improve the efficiency of their day-to-day processes. Office Live provides a domain name, a content management system (CMS) based website, hosted web mail (also accessible through Outlook using the Office Outlook Connector) and a range of business applications ready to use out of the box. More advanced users can take advantage of the flexible customisation features to develop in-house applications. Office Live has also opened up a new market for independent software vendors to develop applications to work on this new, SharePoint powered platform. With a potentially large audience in the official Office Live Marketplace, there is a real opportunity for developers to tap into this new branch of software development and to use their expertise to produce SaaS solutions. Justia for Microsoft Office Live is Europe’s first third party, commercially available Office Live® application and has been developed by Glasgow based Microsoft Gold Partner Solution Canvas. Targeted at small legal firms, Justia aims to deliver the features and functionality of more heavyweight and expensive practice management systems (PMS) but at a fraction of the cost and in a much more easy to use and flexible way. The system will also be on show at the Scottish Law Society’s Beyond nothing.but.the.net (sponsored by Legal Technology Insider) conference in Edinburgh in October. Many small firms struggle to find a cost effective solution that will easily fit into their firms established processes and that their staff will be able to use straight away. Justia’s quick and easy installation and user friendly interface means that the system can be up and running with a minimal amount of fuss. An Office Live Essentials or Premium account is required to run Justia which is charged at a reasonable monthly rate. The rate is for the entire firm, regardless of the number of users. Because Justia is based on Microsoft Office Live, everyday infrastructure tasks like backups and maintenance are handled for you. Justia contains comprehensive matter and client management features, task and milestone management, document libraries, integrated mapping, a diaries system, invoicing and work recording. A Red Amber Green (RAG) system alerts fee earners to matters that require attention and alerts can be tailored to be fired off when different conditions are met allowing for the constant monitoring of issues to ensure that they are handled in a manageable way. Obviously, there already exists a wide range of legal software systems available on the market. Justia stands apart from other PMS solutions due to its focus on availability and ease of use and also its target audience; the small practices who thought that powerful legal applications were beyond their reach. Justia takes a fresh approach to legal practice management, aiming to offer a more streamlined application which will quickly produce results for the practices who decide to use it. Its hosted nature means that any updates to the system can be carried out centrally, with no action by the user required. Hosted solutions will become more and more common in future years – Justia is leading the way for legal software in this increasingly popular area and shows exactly what is possible in the Web 2.0 age. www.justia.co.uk
Insider Colour Supplement #1 - Recommind enters e-discovery market
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 20 Aug 2007 03:38 PM BST
With the UK newspapers full of stories about Tesco and Asda having to supply as many as 12 million email messages to the Competition Commission as part of an invetigation into alleged threats made by the supermarkets to their suppliers, Recommind has chosen the perfect time to enter the e-discovery/e-disclosure market with a new system.
Called Axcelerate, Recommind CEO Bob Tennant says the product "represents several industry firsts, including fully automated First Pass Review of an entire document collection, One Click Coding and the ‘find all like this’ feature, which enable clients to organise and conduct their review far more effectively and efficiently while gaining critical insight into a document collection before review has even begun. "With its ability to automatically organise even multi-terabyte document sets by myriad parameters including responsiveness, issue, privilege and concept group, Axcelerate’s First Pass Review functionality makes review organisation and document batching far simpler, more accurate and quicker than ever before. Simultaneously, the patent-pending One Click Coding feature makes a computer-generated judgment – with explicit confidence score – about each document’s relevance, responsiveness, and privileged nature, dramatically expediting the actual review process while concurrently improving accuracy and lowering the risk of missing key documents. "Axcelerate also offers law firms and enterprises more accurate and extensive document culling and filtering of virtually all document types, including both structured and unstructured data. The solution automatically filters duplicates and near-duplicates between and across custodians and parties, and offers contextual email thread analysis, while also applying more than 17 additional filters to a document collection, dramatically reducing the number of documents to be reviewed. The product’s early case assessment tools then automatically extract key documents, people, phrases and concepts of interest, helping attorneys and paralegals quickly understand the contents of a document collection, regardless of its size, before the review process has even begun. Other industry firsts include its fully automated “find all like this” functionality, which uses the system’s conceptual search engine to quickly locate similar documents to a sample document of interest whether a particular keyword was used frequently, occasionally or not at all, and the system’s ability to “learn” across all users by incorporating myriad reviewer responses directly into the automatic coding and review mechanism." |
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