Legal Extranet Blog - Published By The Xerdict Group

Outside Counsel Management

2011-12-14T15:42:00.000-08:00

Legal extranets can help corporate counsel track the approved counsel working on a litigation. And, they can also track the list of approved timekeepers (both attorneys and staff) working on the litigation.

They also can provide the capability to distribute messages, via a bulletin board, to all outside firms working on a case. Also, these messages are not only distributed, but also can be stored in a repository so they are available for historical review as a sort of outside counsel policy manual for law firms working on a case on behalf of a client.

This management capability helps to manage and control the costs associated with a litigation, as well as helps to be sure the proper staff (and a consistent set of staff) are representing the client in their legal matter as per agreements reached when the client retained the law firm to represent them.

December 2011 Law Technology News Article

2011-12-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

Click here to read my article, It All Comes Down To Trust.

Ease of use

2011-12-06T05:52:00.000-08:00

When designing (or selecting) a legal extranet, be sure it is easy to use. If it is not easy to use, it will not be used.

How is that statement "make it easy to use" defined?

Make all of the screens consistent in their presentation. Be sure all the system navigation menus are deployed and displayed in a consistent manner. Make the text readable -- no 6 point fonts or crazy colors. Display only a reasonable amount of information on each screen - too much information can be overwhelming for people to process -- especially those who might be accessing your system on an iPad or smart phone.

From a technology standpoint, use technologies that will work on everybody's internet browser (there is nothing system clients hate more than to have to download internet plug-ins) just to get something to work. Consider cool toolsets like jQuery to provide advanced functionality to users on a thin client.

And, select technologies that will allow your clients to load large volumes of information (no flat file databases, no other obvious size constraints) so large litigation support projects can be handled by the legal extranet.

Legal Extranet Security

2011-12-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

When building a legal extranet system, be sure to keep the following security considerations in mind:

Be sure the site is protected by a strong SSL certificate.

Be sure you can control who can access different sets of data.

Be sure you can control the type of access (enter, edit, delete) you can grant.

Be sure grants can be role based or individual based.

Be sure grants can vary by data type (case data, calendar data, documents, tasks, etc.)

Be sure you enforce an ID and password.

Be sure you delete the session cookie when one logs off the system.

Be sure you scan all the documents added to the system for virus contamination and/or spyware.

Be sure your services are in a hardened data center.

Be sure your servers are appropriately patched with the latest security O.S. and database patches.

Be sure you have an audit log in place so clients can confirm who is updated what types of data.

Demo Site

2011-12-04T11:09:00.000-08:00

It is very important to have a fully functioning demo site for your prospective clients to see. This should include elements of core functionality as well as several graphically pleasing areas (bar and pie charts, slick javascript elements of functionality, exports to high quality printing formats, etc.).

User-Focused Query Reporting Engines For User Within Legal Case Management Systems

2011-11-26T15:28:00.000-08:00

High quality legal extranet systems provide their clients with user-friendly reporting tools which allow them to develop ad hoc reports. These reporting engines allow clients to develop reports (including things like selecting the field to show, defining the sorting criteria, defining the filtering logic, and formatting the data selected by the report logic) on their own without having to wait (or pay for) customized reports to be created by programmers.

A strong query engine should also let one decide who can run which reports, and control the ability to download or view data contained in the reports. In other words, the delivery of a strong security module is also vital to the success of such a product.

Reporting engines of this nature should support the output of case reports both to printable formats (like PDF files) as well as to common program formats such as spreadsheet files.

It is advisable when selecting a legal extranet system to be sure you select a system which will allow you to run the reports you need, when you need them. It makes the data and information in a legal extanet or case management system far more useful.

Adjusting the extranet GUI

2011-11-17T06:32:00.000-08:00

When building a legal extranet, one would be wise to develop functionality which allows the administrator to alter the user interface. Some clients want large text, some want small text. Some want headings over sections, others do not. You'll definitely want to ability to place a client logo on a law firm extranet. We even have clients who request specific fonts or other variations in layout which are not closely aligned with the basic functionality of the system.

And, most notably, these types of request are often more important to a client than some of the basic functionality of a system (adding/removing fields, etc.).

One can debate which of these two types of changes are more important to the business, but the moral of the story is to build a system with some elements of flexibility in the user interface and don't hard code or embed all of the GUI settings within the application code.

Expert Witness Tracking

2011-11-14T06:42:00.000-08:00

Legal extranet systems are a great way to track expert witness information. This includes the experts presentations, papers, resume, billing rates, availability and areas of expertise. One can also track prior experiences with the experts. It's also important to be sure and provide different tracking areas for different practice groups, the needs and types of people are quite different.

Using object oriented approaches to building legal extranet systems

2011-11-12T06:24:00.000-08:00

The use of object oriented technology in the construction of legal extranet systems has recently come to light in many circles. Specifically, as these web-based collaboration systems are considered for use in additional functions within a law firm (e.g. using them to manage various workflow functions within a law firm with multiple offices, using them to construct business development portals), it is increasing important that the technology specialists building the systems do so with the end-goal of using the systems for a variety of business purposes. These systems should be coded under the assumption that businesspeople will want to track and manage a wide variety of type of information (not just cases, calendars and documents -- but also other business functions commonly done in law firms like conflict management, new business intake and other functions which one might imagine overseeing with intranet web-based technology within a law firm).

Hopefully, those charged with overseeing such systems, be they vendors building and hostsing this technology or IT Departments with law firms, will keep these considerations in mind and construct flexible and adaptable systems which can indeed be used for the wide variety of potential applications which might be helped with these types of technology in the future.

Depositions and Transcripts

2011-11-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

Legal extranet litigation support systems are excellent methods of quickly and easily posting these materials for work team use and review.

Once the electronic files are available, any authorized user can post the files up to the extranet. Then, they are available for use by any authorized extranet user. And, they can be full-text searched and searched by keyword for convenient review by attorneys associated with a case.

The types of files one might wish to post includes depositions, interrogatories, pleadings, discovery documents, or any other types of litigation related documents.

Using extranets to facilitate electronic billing

2011-11-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

Another interesting use for legal extranets is to facilitate electronic billing. How might this work?

One might, for example, deploy a series of extranets (one for each law firm a client selects to represent them in a case). These extranets can be linked to a main case management database and help to control and manage the billings for a large, mass-tort litigation. Using this technology, one can assist a company in being sure all billings are posted to active claims, that billings are attributed to the appropriate local firm, that billings are associated with specific plaintiffs (rather than to a general number) and that all submitted bills contain no plaintiff typographical errors or any basic arithmetic errors.

The implementation of these management techniques can help to ensure that all the billings received on a case are valid and are in support of open and active cases, all of which might, arguably, be helpful to a client ensuring that the funds allocated to the defense of a set of matters are spent in a wise and appropriate manner.

Using extranets for complex case management reporting needs

2011-11-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

Although many think of extranets now of being SharePoint like systems which do not have the capability of tracking very complex litigation information, that is not the case.

We have many systems in place for our clients where we track information in multiple hierarchical levels. One example is that of a multiple plaintiff case where plaintiffs many have multiple surgeries, or they may have a long work history or a long history of using a certain product or a long medical chronology.

In all situations like this, we start with a single case, attached one or many plaintiffs to a case, and then track a myriad of data points -- many with rows and rows of date-based chronological data -- and then also provide the ability to report on all this data in a variety of ways.

Once you take all this -- and then factor in that we could have hundreds or thousands of like cases -- it becomes a complex tracking system very quickly. It is a far cry indeed from some of the "single screen" extranets we can all sign up for and use at no cost.

Those certainly have their target market and appeal - after all who does not like a useful, free application -- but it should not be confused with the functionality and utility of a complex case management application.

Meet Me Halfway

2011-11-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to my article on categorizing corporate financial spend while continuing to also be compliant with company-wide cost reporting systems.

It was published in the October 2011 copy of Law Technology News.

Article Link

Reporting Flexibility

2011-10-17T03:55:00.000-07:00

Be sure, when developing a legal extranet, to provide clients various options in terms of the type of reports that they will need. Some clients will want "pretty" PDF reports which are simple "push-button" reports which they can either print or save to their hard drive for quick and simply electronic distribution (be sure for these report that you place the appropriate confidentiality and disclaimer language as well as the date/time the reports are generated on each report during the programming phase of the project since this information can not be added in an ad-hoc manner when reports are constructed) .

Others will want the ability to print simple reports (in HTML) directly from the browser with no plug ins because they prefer the simplicty of basic reporting. Others will want to export the contents of a report they run to Excel so that they have the flexibility to modify the report themselves, changing formats, headings, footings, etc. Finally, those with true IT skills may want to try and develop their own reports using a query engine/report builder.which provides the users with an interface by which they can seemlessly construct and save SQL statements to generate report output. Report builders are very valuable, they all clients to construct their own reports ASAP with no additional incremental cost since they can hop on the system and extract the data they need without asking for external programming assistance.

To the extent that a development organization can meet these needs during the process of building their legal extranet application, the higher client satisfaction will be once all their data is loaded and they need to begin to get information out of the systems. It is, of course, wonderful that an extranet allows one to look up the status of information on-line anytime, anywhere, but there are still many businesspeople in the world who need and rely upon printed or electronically saved reports, and when building a system like this we need to be sure that we develop the reports that are needed in the formats which are most useful to the user community for that particular project.

Flexible Legal Collaboration Software

2011-10-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

It's critically important to build software which is flexible and can be adjusted to meet a variety of different needs.

We have used our software recently for many different types of projects in addition to the initial intended use of Litigation Support. Some of these areas include the construction of systems to track internal projects (status, due dates, costs, vendors, etc.). Other uses include change management and task tracking with the the IT discipline as well as other implementation to support business development efforts for some clients.

Thankfully, we are in the position, based on our object oriented method of programming and strong focus on developing reusable code, to adjust our software to meet a wide variety of emerging business needs and client requirements.

jquery

2011-09-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

http://jquery.com is a great open source JavaScript Library for code to help improve your GUI.

It can be used for functionality such as auto-completion of fields, drop-down menus, and many other snazzy, innovative methods of showing data and menu options.

Legal Extranet Security Considerations

2011-09-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

Security settings and methods are critically important in the area of deploying client extranets. Here are some of the "basics".

Firstly, we expose extranets both on the internet and intranet. Therefore, it is necessary to protect the data with an SSL certificate so that any data flowing over the internet is appropriately encrypted.

Within your application itself, there are several dimensions to consider. Some of the more important areas are:

- The type of access you will grant to various types of data (submit, modify, delete). Ideally, the access levels can vary by entity type (cases, documents, calendar events, etc.).

- The creation of a set of system privileges (to grant access to see various types of functionality) and a set of corresponding roles granting different sets of privileges. The system roles should correlate to functional roles within a law firm and clients of the law firm. To cite a primitive example, one might consider creating roles for Administrators, Staff Members, Staff Attorneys, Partners and Clients, each with a different set of system privileges (depending on the nature of work they need to do in the extranet).

- Visibility to collections of data must also be protected. For example, to cite another primitive example, some workers in a law firm need access to data from Client A, others to date from Client B, and others still require access to both Client A and Client B's data. Clients A and B obviously may not be granted access to each other's data.

Electronic File Cabinet Systems

2011-08-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

The use of collaboration technology to create electronic file cabinet systems is an interesting proposition, since the systems are web-based it allows firms to consider the creation of a file cabinet reachable from any internet-site while also potentially reducing the space needed to store paper files in expensive office space.

Configuring a case management area for a client

2011-08-13T04:23:00.000-07:00

When working with new clients, it is critical that one conducts an initial business requirements gathering session. This session should attempt to identify many things such as.

The data points which need to be tracked.
The reports a client will need.
Security requirements of the client -- who should see what cases and documents, who is authorized to enter/review/update/delete data, who should have access to certain system functions, and who is the system administrator.
Discussion of the system administrative data (lists of required law firms, courts, defendants, case types, etc..) so the extranet dropdown boxes shall contain this data.

Once these items are defined, the implementation project manager should document these (in writing) and gain client signoff on the requirements. He/she can then take the requirements back to the technical implementation staff to develop, if needed, a set of functional specifications and project plan to implement the requirements.

Once these items are a available, a project manager needs to convey the cost and timing associated with the implementation activities to a client, and to keep the client updated and seek the client's feedback during the course of the implementation.

Finally, another excellent practice is to seek feedback from your clients on a periodic basis. This helps to be sure they are satisfied with your system implementation as well as helps to serve as a catalyst to further discussions about how technology can help an attorney in their practice.

Extranets - Strategies for managing files and selecting the best solution for your business needs

2011-08-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

There are many legal extranet systems in the marketplace which provide nice web-facing interfaces but are linked to back-end databases which are known as "flat-file" databases. Or there are others which are third party products which are commonly deployed in the legal environments, but some of these lock users into specific templates or interfaces being that they are packaged software solutions.

These types of databases are acceptable in some cases, but when attempting to process large volumes of data and documents or in cases where a user wants a particular type of configuration or application developed, they can tend to be problematic or, even worse, unable to meet the business requirements of a particular business situation.

This is because (without getting too technical) the best commercially available database packages are relational database packages (click here for a definition of that term) which organizes data into tables with rows/columns with the ability to add relationships between the objects, referential integrity constraints, indexes, and the like. These databases also often offer the ability to actually store documents within the database (as opposed to the alternative of storing all documents on a file server directory and attempting to link to them from the database - relaying on data retrievals from multiple sources which tend to be problematic and slower). And, with some customized code in a layer on top of these powerful relational databases, you have now have the type of product which can be customized to meet the diverse needs of the legal community on a wide variety of situations and case management needs.

So, if you have a large quantity of data to be stored, be sure to ask what the system backbone technologies are, how flexible the proposed solution is, and be sure you can see a working version of an proposed implementation with the level of required complexity and at least double the approximate volume of data and documents you expect to store in your implementation. Be sure you do not accept a "standard issue" demo where only a few records are stored, a mere 5-10 fields are shown on the applications screens and the demo therefore responds with lightning quick speed. It is unlikely your end-state application will be that simple, so you need to be sure your demo replicates, as closely as possible, what your users will require.

My article in the August 2011 Law Technology News

2011-08-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

Publish The Next EDD Blockbuster

Using Extranets To Help Coordinate Local Counsel

2011-07-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

What is the best way to be sure all local counsel to a litigation are sharing the same documents, exhibits, information and following the same case strategy.

One excellent way is to post sets of documents and instructions on a secure website. These litigation support sites are commonly known as legal extranets or law firm client workspaces. With this technology, multiple law firms can review common document sets so that everyone is 100% certain they are working with and reading the most up-to-date version of documents related to a client litigation.

Attorneys can also manage case calendars, task lists, trial calendars and other date based data using this same technology.

Of course, this also can be accomplished by emailing files around, or by periodic distribution of CD's (if the number of documents is very large). These methods of sharing documents however are prone to confusion, since we are never quite sure that everyone has the latest version of all documents (or have the documents at all). Loading documents sets into secure websites such as client workspaces where authorized attorneys and other individuals can access them is, many would contend, a superior business practice.

Best Practices For Legal Extranet Software Development Teams

2011-07-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

Teams developing legal deal rooms or legal extranets should strongly consider adapting a set of software development best practices or application development methodologies.

One such example of this is the Rational Unified Process (RUP). While it is impossible to describe this entire process in a blog, it is comprised of four broad steps: Inception Phase, Elaboration Phase, Construction Phase, Transition Phase. The RUP also encourages development teams to gather business requirements, understand business needs and goals, develop a project budget and timeline, ask clients to review and approve business requirements documents, write functional specifications, prepare a project timeline, develop and use a testing plan to ensure quality within the application, use proper change management methodologies to deploy the application to a production environment, and to document the technical aspects of the system post deployment.

When teams follow these steps, quality and client satisfaction are sure to dramatically improve.

Legal Extranets as basic case management systems

2011-07-17T03:44:00.000-07:00

We are seeing a trend where smaller firms see Legal Extranet systems as a way to track the status of their cases and calendars in a manner which allows them to view this information from the office, from home or while traveling (providing some basic remote connectivity to their data).
It is an interesting use of the technology -- more for remote access than for collaboration. And, it eliminates the need for these smaller firms to have to maintain IT staff with expertise in such systems, the entire function can be outsourced rather than having attorneys having to struggle with maintaining and supporting computer systems, which is clearly not their core compentency.

Expert Witness Areas

2011-07-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

Legal extranets can serve as good areas for attorneys and expert witnesses to share information. There is no need to store documents electronically on the servers of the attorney reviewing the document, all they need to do is access the document which is stored on a server which is not managed by the attorney's law firm or company. This, potentially, may prove to be an advantageous configuration for all parties involved.

These types of systems also allow one to track the status of one or several experts (are they currently engaged with a client and if so in what way), attach files to the record about them (their CV, picture, examples of prior work, etc...) and track any other important data about each of the experts.

Topical Portals

2011-07-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

We are beginning to see more potential users for legal extranets beyond the area of litigation support and case management. Some of these include internal content management portals, sites to facilitate the management of internal projects, and extranets constructed to help manage discovery requests.

The most common usage is to assist in the management of information relating to a particular area of law. This could include the tracking of salient recent cases, a document or brief bank, the posting of checklists on how to manage a case, listing expert witnesses, listing relevant statutes and regulations and other areas.

This creative thinking helps to make legal extranets not just a strong management tool for litigations, but also a tool which is helpful and instrumental in providing a new and different set of services to a law firm's clients and potential clients.

Extranets As Internal Management Tools

2011-07-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

Most commonly, extranets are thought of as tools law firms can use to share information such as case data, documents and calendars with clients.

While that is true, extranets can also be effectively deployed to address a variety of internal tracking needs within a law firm.

As an example, an extranet with workflow functionality and built-in email alerts can serve as a high quality change management system within a Firm. Similarly, collaboration tools and software like these can assist administrative departments like Marketing and Finance in the management of projects which span multiple offices within a law firm.

Extranets are also useful when deployed to share documents within a law firm but across a number of disparate offices when the suite of existing technologies within a law firm does not fully support the sharing/collaboration of and on documents within a law firm.

Deposition Schedules

2011-06-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

Using law firm client workspaces or legal extranets for the purpose of publishing schedules of depositions is a excellent use of this technology. It enables all parties to see the upcoming depositions (where, when, what time, etc..) and, if desired, the legal extranet could also post the transcriptions of the depositions to all system users or a subset of the legal extranet system users.

Many other types of events, like client meetings, updates, trial dates, court appearances, hearings, etc... can also be posted in a collaboration calendar.

This is a somewhat small or narrow use of the entire set of available legal extranet functionality, but in many litigations it is a very helpful way of publishing what often is a very dynamic schedule.

Ensuring That Litigation Extranets Can Store Unusual File Types

2011-06-14T06:40:00.000-07:00

Virtually all collaboration systems can store standard file types. By that we mean Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) files, images, PDF's, TIG's, etc...

Storing less common file types is more of a challenge. Some examples of this might be transcriptions that are delivered using customized software or other files generated and managed with customized software.

A good way to provide this functionality is for the legal extranet system to store documents as binary files. This means that the document is converted to a digital format prior to being stored. This way, any document can be loaded into a system database that is equipped to handle attached files.

When storing the documents, it is wise to obtain the MIME type for the file. If this is also stored, when another system client requests the file, the legal extranet can pass both the file and the MIME type to the user. It is the MIME type on the local PC of the user that will synch up with the user's application preferences and then launch the appropriate software to view the file based on the Windows file associations within the local PC.

A strategy such as this will allow virtually any PC file type to be stored in a legal extranet application, and ensure you are well prepared to provide broad functionality to your clients who might tend to work with file types which are a bit of the beaten path.

File Room Portals

2011-06-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

We recently deployed some innovative "File Room" portals.
These "file rooms" allow for the posting, coding and categorization of litigation and other documents for electronic storage and easy search and retreival. The many benefits of this technology include the fact that documents can be tracked and retrieved far more productively as well as the fact that a law firm can reduce the amount of physical space which is required in order to store large quantities of paper within the four walls of their office space. We expect this technology to be of great benefit to our client base.

Extranet - Build vs. Buy

2011-05-29T04:47:00.000-07:00

A number of questions are often asked about the financial returns of extranets and client workspaces, how to decide on building vs. buying a system, etc. This posting and future postings will attempt to answer some of those questions

Should one build or buy an extranet system?

Access your law firm's internal expertise.

It is critical to access the expertise level of your law firm in building applications from the ground-up, if you are considering doing so. The skill sets required to implement packaged software vs. programming new systems are fundamentally different. To build new software, you need, among other things, a software development lifecycle methodology, strong project managers to develop requirements and translate them into functional specifications programmers can work from, strong programmers obviously, and a strong database analyst to assist in both data structure design and supporting a production application.

For extranets, one also needs experts in obtaining SSL certificates, setting up an extranet zone, and web-server management.

In my experience working with law firms and their technical departments, the trend I observe is a very strong competency in supporting networks, telecom, implementing litigation support and office productivity software, and security.... but less so in applications development. So, in my opinion, I think for the most part law firms are better served, if they are starting from scratch, looking at external alternatives.

This opinion is somewhat dependent on expected system usage and how high usage might tilt the analysis (when looking at this topic from a ROI or cost/benefit perspective), and that will be the topic of a future posting on this blog.

Modular Development - Object Oriented Programming For Legal Extranets

2011-05-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

It is critically important when building your legal extranet to write modules rather than an entire system. What do we mean by this? We mean that you want to be able to "plug in" or "unplug" different modules which different clients might want to use. Some clients might want only case management. Other might want a simple trial calendar. Others might want a document depository. And, some will want an entire suite of all these capabilities (and perhaps more).

If one properly writes a legal extranet system in modules, one can quickly and easily add them or remove them from various implementations, thus providing clients with a customized version of the functionality they need without a complicated interface or additional costs or extensive amounts of time to deliver the functionality.

The modular approach should apply both to the ability to add and remove modules from a specific client implementation, but also to the menu interface so that the manner in which the modules are provided to users also is flexible and can be modified to meet the requirements of specific clients.

This modular approach to functionality can even help to turn your product into something totally different, yet useful, for your clients. For example, with the proper amount of flexibility provided by object oriented development concepts, one can, with relative ease, transform a litigation case management product into a portal for purposes such as a "business development" portal where a practice group can post articles and case law of interest within a similar extranet framework (same system and code, but different entities storing the data thus creating a seemingly totally different product using the same application code).

Another additional benefit to modular development is in the reduction of lines of code within a system and in the amount of QA / testing one needs to do to properly prepare a system for a client. Obviously, if modules can be reused, a set of code previously fully unit and integration tested does not require the same, deep level of testing when deployed to other clients.

Of course, there are other factors one also needs to consider when constructing a mechanism to deliver a customized extranet (security levels, the ability to quickly and easily change the user interface, the ability to post up client specific graphics, the ability to alter login screen text) but the adaptation of a modular programming strategy focusing on building program objects which can be placed into client implementations with relative ease (both in terms of implementation as well as in terms of minimizing the amount of system testing required to prepare the new system for client use from a quality control standpoint) is a practice those application development organizations serving the legal community should embrace.

CaseEnsemble FAQ

2011-05-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

Q. Can CaseEnsemble be used to create a complex case management tracking system?

A. Yes. Our extranet is used regularly to manage large, nationwide litigations. We assist clients in the tracking of legal matters, settlement data, defense fees, trial calendars, insurance claim reports, the storage of litigation related documents such as complaints, medical reports, dismissals and settlement agreements, and many other types of data.

Q. Can CaseEnsemble support the creation of a repository of legal documents?

A. Yes. Our extranet is used regularly to host litigation repositories. We store information securely so other law firms, corporate law departments, experts and other authorized parties can work with the documents they need to access. Access is controlled pursuant to each client's requirements.

Q. Can the extranet be customized to be consistent with a law firm or company's public materials and website?

A. Yes. We have the ability to integrate a clients logo and text in our systems. We also have the ability to import full HTML into our main landing page to provide maximum flexibility in this area to our clients.

Q. Can I limit the view of extranet data, reports and functionality available for different classes of system users?

A. Yes. You can determine what extranet tools you wish to make available for your clients on a case by case basis. You may wish to make all features available to some clients; for others, only a few. You have complete control, and you have the flexibility to change feature availability as client needs change.

Q. What types of legal groups benefit from using CaseEnsemble?

A. Any group who wants to work online, organize their data and documents, and share work product in a collaborative manner to promote efficiency can benefit from legal extranet technologies.

Q. Can CaseEnsemble be used to support legal processes requiring workflow engines?

A. Absolutely. We often assist clients in projects where local counsel submit information into a centralized system and the system's workflow engine then shoots out email prompts to the next individual in the workflow process to alert them that their attention is required on a record. We also provide functionality to produce email reminders and ticklers to individuals to help avoid bottlenecks and assist in the project management of a business process.

Q. Can CaseEnsemble be used to track and manage the effectiveness of legal business partners such as expert witnesses and EDD vendors?

A. Yes. We have several systems deployments and templates to help practice groups with needs of this nature.

Q. How secure is data loaded into CaseEnsemble?

A. Very secure. We run our applications in a world class data center with state-of-the-art data center infrastructure including power generators, UPS, cooling system, multi-level security checks, and pre-action fire suppression system. Your servers will be protected from power outages, high temperatures, and fire. Services include locked cages, replication of data to multiple locations and intrusion detection. In addition, the extranet employs granular security within each site, enabling you to assign roles and privileges to users granting them access only to the information they need to see and work with. We also maintain audit logs to monitor the data updates and actions users take on your data. All communications between extranet users are encrypted.

Q. What is the turnaround time to create a legal extranet system?

A. A new collaboration area can be created very quickly. Same day service is the norm, not the exception.

Key Vendor Evaluation Questions

2011-05-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

What are some of the important questions and followup questions to ask a legal extranet provider when considering their services for a customized system? Here are a few.

How quickly can you implement my system?

Everyone is going to respond "within a day". But then you need to drill down to figure out what actually is done within a day. Is it a generic, vanilla system with all your customizations to come later? Most likely. It's important to identify exactly what it is you get within various periods of time.

What is the impact of customization on future releases?

You will want to understand if all the changes you are requesting will be rolled into future releases of their software. All too often, a company will make a bunch of changes in a release which can not easily be ported forward. When this happens, the customer is "stuck" on their current release. Sometimes this is just a matter of convenience, like getting new features which are "nice to have". Other times, systems might not work if you don't move to a new release. Clients need to understand how their changes will be migrated forward.

Does the same question apply to for loaded data?

Absolutely. If the software vendor implemented tons of database level changes (new tables,, fields, client specific picklists, etc.) that might be another barrier to moving forward to a new release. It is very important to discuss this if you are loading a slew of data into a system which you expect to using for several years.

Will the system work in all browsers?

More and more, we are seeing multiple browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome) and multiple devices (computers, iPads, phones) used to access internet based systems. You'll need to be sure what you are purchasing works on your devices (e.g. don't implement FLASH if you have Apple devices). Ideally, a vendor will be using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or some other strategy to render the appropriate screens to individual devices. But you need not be concerned with the specifics, just ask the question and test the systems on all your devices.

Do you understand the legal area?

So many extranet companies are really just generic software providers. It behooves a client to find a vendor who is the business of building collaboration systems for lawyers, law firms and legal matters. They will speak your language and understand your needs.

Do you have what is takes to support my large litigation needs?

If you are managing hundreds or thousands of matters, you need a professional-grade system. You need a top tier database to power the system, the vendor needs to be able to provide you with a broad set of fields to track information (field formats like text, dates, currency, drop-down boxes, checkbox yes/no fields, many others), the system needs to be configuable so that new fields can be added query, there should be a user-facing reporting tool and reports need to be outputted in a variety of formats (screen, Excel, PDF), etc.. Be sure whatever tool you select can track all the fields and the volume of records you expect to store.

Auto-complete

2011-05-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

jQuery has a very nice auto-complete element of code --- implementing this can really help out with assisting your clients in making sure data is entered faster and in a more consistent manner.

Helping clients understand your legal extranet product

2011-05-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

It's important to highlight that these systems can be used on a wide variety of different legal matters, from single case implementations to large mass-tort systems that track and manage thousands of claims. If one can build software which can be easily adapted to many types of different situations, and then succeed in making that distinction to your clients, that is a big win!

Document Libraries

2011-05-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

Client workspaces and legal extranets are ideal locations to post litigation support document libraries.

Why?

Data can be added by any party - authorized law firms or clients. Or, you can constrain entry to authorized individuals and prevent data manipulation by certain team members.

Data can be easily added - there no longer any reliance on IT professionals to post up information which is no longer timely by the time it is posted to the site. And this includes data or virtually any type of attached file.

And, assuming the legal extranet technology is a robust and modern relational database package, these systems can easily hold thousands of documents totaling many GB's of data.

Legal extranets also facilitate litigation support by allowing full text searching of exhibits and posted documents. And, of course, documents can be searched by assigned keywords or by the title of the document.

There really is no need in today's technology world to email CD's back and forth or to use cumbersome virtual private networks or other methods of sharing data. On-line, client workspaces containing case management data, trial exhibits, discovery documents, depositions, transcripts, manuals, memos, etc.. are far more effective and convenient methods of posting up contact for collaborative use between law firms and clients. It is wise to consider using robust litigation support systems such as these to host and publish large litigation document libraries.

MVC (Model View Controller) Development Strategy

2011-05-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to a development methodology which I would highly recommend as an appropriate software development methology for legal extranet systems. While this reading is not for the faint of heart, it does describe, quite well, the manner in which an additional metadata layer can be added on to a system this allowing the rapid development of new system entities and the subsequent easy reuse of application code to support a plethora of various business functions and vertical markets.

One of many links and websites describing this strategy is http://www.tonymarston.net/php-mysql/model-view-controller.html

Reducing costs using legal extranets

2011-04-28T04:28:00.000-07:00

In today's challenging economic times, reducing costs is more important than ever.

Legal extranet systems provide several potential opportunities for corporate counsel and law firms to work together in a manner which streamlines litigation support and management in a way that both improves quality and reduces costs. A few of the cost savings opportunities are below.

Commonly requested or frequently used items (master calendars, contact lists, etc..) can be posted on an extranet site once so that frequently redistribution is not required.
We can use these technologies to share documents within printing them (which also reduces a firm's carbon footprint and contributes to "Green Law" Initiatives.
Case management data can be posted on-line, eliminating the need for law firms to produce weekly/monthly reports on a client's matters.
Documents, either those which are works-in-process or those which are completed works (trial exhibits, depositions, transcripts), can be posted eliminating the need to distribute them in paper format or in a duplicative manner (e.g. sending sets of documents to multiple individuals).
Tasks and research related to a matter which are completed can be posted on an extranet, potentially reducing the amount of duplicative work done by local counsel on a broad, nationwide set of related litigations.

These are just a sampling of the various efficiencies which are made possible by collaboration and legal extranet systems. One is limited only by their own imaginations and creativity in developing and exploiting cost savings opportunities via the use of legal extranet and litigation support software.

Helping corporate law departments manage cases with legal extranet systems

2011-04-22T04:37:00.000-07:00

Legal extranets offer companies and law departments a turnkey and cost effective method of managing their legal matters. Companies can subscribe to a legal extranet system and load all their cases for tracking and management. Within such systems, law departments can track the outside counsel assigned to manage each matter, the budget and spend for each matter, information on the plaintiffs in the matters, key dates associated with the claim or litigation, the courts in which the matters will be heard, and many other important case management data points.

Additionally, legal extranets allow law departments to create litigation calendars and task tracking systems and lists which can be shared with outside counsel, to track key litigation documents, to post items on a bulletin board to share amongst the in-house attorneys as well as the outside counsel, and to generate a series of helpful one-click reports so provide all the attorneys and paralegals working on a case with up-to-date information about the case or cases which they are responsible for.

And, since this is a system which is provided by a service partner, the law department need not get involved with any of the overhead associated with running a sophisticated web-based information tracking system (e.g. server maintenance, software maintenance, security considerations).

Generally speaking, as well, because the services provided by legal extranet providers are shared services (multiple companies use the same application code, reporting engines, etc.), the overall total cost of ownership and usage for such systems will be far less than if an individual company would decide to create, operating and manage such as system internally.

Innovative users for legal extranet technology

2011-04-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

Track and manage internal projects and priorities.
Assist clients in managing workflow processes where requests and tasks need to be passed from person to person.
Help with the plaintiff or site research process during discovery.
Assist in the tracking of vendor performance, pricing and capabilties.
Help distribute training and orientation materials to new employees.

Litigation task management

2011-03-28T04:53:00.000-07:00

One useful application of internet-based legal technology is to deliver a tool allowing many law firms working on a case to manage the tasks associated with a case. If a complaint needs to be answered, depositions need to be taken, interview need to be conducted, analysis needs to be completed -- all related to tens or hundreds of cases -- tracking who is supposed to do what (and when it needs to be done and if it is done) can be a daunting task.

However, that being said, it is an important task. During the management of a large, nationwide litigation, it is vitally important that cases and litigations are properly managed, that the initial demand is tracked, the settlement negotiations are properly overseen, that any requests or movement towards arbitrition is watched over, that the discovery process proceeds as it should, that all appropriate motions are managed and tracked, that one properly prepares for a pre-trial conference, and that all pre-trial tasks are properly planned for and executed.

Legal extranets or law firm extranets commonly deliver a function which allows tasks to be tracked, assigned to individuals, assigned a status (like complete, in process, or incomplete), and be given a priority. For large litigations where many firms are involved, legal extranets can be a useful way to oversee the completion of all requisite task associated with a block of related litigations.

Task Reminders and Management

2011-02-03T05:41:00.000-08:00

Litigation extranets can provide attorneys responsible for litigations with a very helpful task management tool.

Upcoming tasks can be cataloged, assigned to individual(s), and given due dates.
When tasks are assigned the extranet can notify those assigned to complete the task of its' existance. Litigation support extranets can also distribute periodic email ticklers or reminders to those assigned to tasks to let them know a task is coming due (due tomorrow, in 3 days, 7 days, etc..).

Notifications can also be distributed when tasks lapse to either those assigned to complete the task or to the individual(s) managing the litigation.

These task management tools, properly deployed and maintained, can help ensure a litigation support group does not miss court mandated due dates nor tasks a client requested that they complete.

Using extranets for document review

2010-12-29T17:58:00.000-08:00

Legal collaboration systems are terrific places to post documents for review by many different parties. By providing an extranet system which can deliver the documents to the internet browser, a law firm is providing a client with the valuable service of providing them live access to their document sets and coding status.

This allows entities to oursource, where application, the coding function to others. It also allows and empowers the client and managing case attorneys to view, live and interactively, all the salient case documents, the status of coding efforts, and the information associated with all of the litigation and case documents.

Using legal extranets to categorize documents

2010-12-27T05:18:00.000-08:00

We recently updated a interesting project for a client.

In first, many years ago, we were asked to post up thousands of documents related to a litigation for them. These documents were then categorized by a remote coding team comprised of individuals at a few different physical locations (by client, by document type, by author, by recipient, by document date, etc.) and were made available, on a secure and password protected internet site, to various attorneys and other legal professionals defending the interests of our client.

We then used the system to assist the client in the tracking and management of their documents as they closed one facility and moved the documents and materials to a second facility.

Extranet Information

2010-12-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

To find out more about what we believe to be the most robust, flexible legal extranet in the marketplace today, please email me at kenneth.jones@xerdict.com to discuss your needs.

Inside Counsel Article

2010-11-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to an article in the November 2010 issue of Inside Counsel.

http://www.insidecounsel.com/Issues/2010/November-2010/Pages/Extranets-Cut-Costs-In-Law-Departments.aspx

Choose Wisely

2010-10-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to an article in the October 2010 Law Technology News.

http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1202472611638&Choose_Wisely

Extranet - Coding Strategies

2010-10-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

If you are considering building your own legal extranet, here are some quick do's / don'ts.

Do be sure to manage your source code with a source code management system.
Do be sure you have a strategy to manage and control software versions.
Do be sure you have strong technical specifications written.
Do be sure you write reusable objects to perform common system functions.
Don't allow a single person to code the system without adequate backup.
Don't forget to put together a solid project plan.
Don't forget to have a skilled and knowledgeable technical professional perform code reviews.
Don't forget the need to have developers perform unit tests that they prepare and are approved by a project manager.

They are many other considerations when running a software development project, these are just a few of them. More to follow in the future.

Collaborative Case Management

2010-10-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

Sharing case management information among many local counsel and clients is often difficult.

It is even more difficult to provide a common database tool that allows all appropriate parties to update litigation case management information that needs to be maintained based on information each respective party obtains.

Litigation support legal extranets help address this issue. These systems can be deployed in a manner that allows the appropriate data points for a litigation to be tracked, and so that appropriate counsel and client contacts can update the database as needed. Master, administrative type users are granted the ability to run standard reports which are distributed amongst appropriate staff. The same administrative type users maintain the picklist information available within the legal extranet.

Properly deployed and managed, legal extranet systems make all litigation case management information instantly available to all members of a litigation support team. And, the information is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, regardless of where one is at (e.g. there is no need to be in the office to access a local case management database containing this information).

Using the internet in the practice of law

2010-09-05T08:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some examples of how a well constructed collaboration tool and technology which can be rapidly deployed via the internet can help improve the efficiency of case and litigation management while also helping a law firm foster a closer relationship with clients and improve client service and productivity.

- Setting up a case calendar (trials, depositions, conferences, etc) up for a client and partner law firms to access and contribute to, making the information live and current and more useable.

- Setting up a case management are to track and manage the status of all the cases/plaintiffs in a litigation, making this information available to clients in a live, interactive manner, rendering obsolete the monthly status report and improving client service by providing live and current information 7 x 24.

- Setting up a cost tracking mechanism to track costs (settlement, legal fees& expenses, etc.) for the purpose of litigation management as well as for the purpose of assisting clients recover litigation costs from their insurers when possible.

- Development of litigation-related databases and document depositories for clients, in areas such as the following (the storage of company contracts, the storage of images, the storage of discovery documentation/locations), and providing client access or remote office access to these databases.

Ten Great Reasons To Use Legal Extranets

2010-09-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

1) For corporate law departments, this is a great way to have on-line access to the status of your cases, legal documents or case/trial calendars.

2) Legal collaboration systems provide anytime, anywhere access to case information and documents, wherever an Internet connection is available.

3) This is a turnkey (Application Service Provider or ASP) solution, there are no servers to set up and there is virtually no technical assistance required to set up a new collaboration system.

4) Collaboration systems can track many things -- cases, litigations, practice support projects, vendors, budgets, etc....

5) Easy tracking and documentation of system updates and other data activity.

6) For law firms, this is a great way to provide incremental services to clients.

7) Sophisticated security and data permission modules, so you can specifically control who has access to various types of data.

8) Every collaboration system is highly customizable and can be individually updated so that the feature set and graphics are set up in a manner consistent with the law firms and clients using this system.

9) These systems are delivered with user-configurable reporting modules providing reports which can be output on the screen, in spreadsheet format or in PDF format, providing many ways to report on and distribute your data.

10) Collaboration systems help you work more productively with your business partners !!

Managing litigation tasks with legal extranets

2010-05-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

It is often difficult to track and manage the different activities that need to be completed by the different law firms working on a case. They can be discussed in conference calls, via email, etc... but often due to the dynamic nature of working through a case the agreed upon task listing become outdated in a very rapid manner. The process of maintaining a task list in Excel or Work and circulating it around via email can result in people working from an outdated set of requirement and deliverables.

However, if a working team is tracking and managing their activities on a commonly available system or database, the management process becomes a bit simpler. Individuals can use a central repository of tasks to get their assignments, mark items complete when appropriate, and case managers can be sure all the critical things "to-do" are addresses as they need to be.

Tasks can be tracked in a number of ways (by the individual(s) they are assigned to, by priority, by due date, or by case). And, as they are coming due or as they are worked on, email notifications can be added to these collaborative work management systems to help alert others when significant updates have occurred to the tasks which are most important to the team members.

Legal extranets (a.k.a law firm extranet systems) provide a strong backbone for this type of management of tasks. All members of a workteam can enter, update, and mark as complete tasks so that the workteam can quickly and efficiently be aware of the status of each and every item without time-consuming teleconferences or meetings.

http://www.americansoccerdream.com

The Reign of SOX

2010-05-03T11:41:00.001-07:00

Here is a link to an article published in LTN in April 2010.

http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1202446775195&The_Reign_of_SOX

Lowering expenses with legal extranets

2010-04-23T04:03:00.000-07:00

Corporate law departments who wish to lower their outside counsel expenses might consider implementing legal extranets.

These systems help lower costs in the following ways.

1) Document distribution. There is no need to overnight or fax documents that can be placed on a legal extranet.

2) Status Report Preparation. There is no need to pay attorneys and previously to generate case or litigation status reports if clients can look information up in an on-line case management system.

3) Reduced research costs. Prior to conducting research, law firms and clients can check against the set of previously completed interviews and research to be sure that the work they are contemplating doing is necessary and has not already been completed by others.

4) Providing a single location to post a trial calendar, thus reducing the need to have multiple entities track this and distribute it amongst all the stakeholders.

5) Providing a single location to post information on a case management or litigation status bulletin board for all parties to a litigation to read and review at their convenience.

Deal Rooms

2010-04-03T04:21:00.000-07:00

Properly configured, legal extranet software can be quickly adapted to meet a variety of business needs within law firms. Deal rooms where transactional attorneys can access various types of documents in a secure and productive manner relating to corporate work are one such example of how these technologies, assuming they are constructed in a flexible and adaptable manner, can be used to benefit law firms in many ways.

Large Volumes Of Trial Exhibits

2010-03-29T06:21:00.000-07:00

Client Workspace or legal extranet systems are good methods of posting large numbers of trial exhibits for joint client and law firm use.

It is important that the system administrator of a law firm client workspace system properly estimate the number of documents (both the actual number as well as the size (in GB) required to post the data) before selecting a system. For databases which are several GB, it is wise to consider a system with a relational database engine (such as Oracle or SQL Server) "under the covers" to be sure this large document set can be properly stored and properly rendered to clients.

It is also wise to advise all the parties connecting to such a extraent or client workspace system that it is important their individual internet connection is sufficient to access files of a large size (i.e. several page TIF or PDF file).

Ideally, the legal extranet system should provide an automated and easy mechanism for administrators to load large blocks of files and information so that the system can be flexible enough to support the evolving and rapidly changing needs of a large litigation.

One should also be sure to select a system with full text searching capability, and well as a system which allows document coders to assign keywords to documents along with the obvious assignment of a document title.

System users should be able to search for documents by the full text search capability (which should include the ability to FTS an image document), the keyword, or the document title. Ideally, users will be provided with a few different searching mechanisms to allow them to find and locate documents in the manner most convenient to them.

Training for such systems can be done in a fairly economical manner using web-based meeting technologies such as Web Ex.

Extranet Case Management

2010-02-16T17:50:00.000-08:00

Extranets can be a terrific way for corporate law departments to track case management information. They can, if desired, outsource some or all of the data maintenance with respect to their litigations to the outside counsel managing and litigating the matters. This way, when various individuals need to know the status of a case, since the data maintenance is done by those closest to the case and in a timely manner, the case management information is available to anyone who needs to access it.

Building for different browsers

2010-02-13T04:13:00.000-08:00

Just a quick reminder that it is very important when building web-based systems and legal extranets to be sure that they can be used by a broad cross-section of internet users.

Some basic tips are:

Test your application to confirm it operates within both Internet Explorer and Firefox (not to mention Google Chrome and Safari).
Be sure it works back a few browser revisions ago (e.g. not all users will have the latest versions of all browsers.
Try to avoid having your application require browser plug-ins (whenever possible).

File Rooms

2010-02-02T04:28:00.000-08:00

More and more, the use of collaboration systems to develop client file rooms is emerging.

As an example, one can use a file room as a sort of brief bank within a law firm to collect best practice documents to allow attorneys to benefit from the excellent work of one another and not have to work to "reinvent the wheel".

Another interesting use is to construct a "client file room", this being a place where a law firm collects all the information related to a large set of cases and places the information in a single, password protected area making it available to authorized personnel.

And a third use would obviously be to collect all the artifacts and documents related to a specific case.

This information is both operationally valuable (it helps attorneys work more productively by sharing useful work product and data) as well as very, very valuable from the perspective of marketing (a law firm can allow a client to log into a portal or they can demo the portal in a WebEx and either way they can make a very compelling argument that by sharing information and working together they truly have the client's best interests in mind and that they are able to provide strong(er) representation at a more competitive cost).

Developing additional links between a law firm and client

2009-11-26T05:15:00.000-08:00

As we all know, companies often become familiar with a certain set of attorneys and staff within a law firm. So, how can a law firm ensure that business stays with the firm if the key partner retires or leaves the firm for any other reason. One strategy is to provide the client with many additional services over and above the legal and personal services provided by an attorney or group of attorneys.

Technology-based services, such as posting case management information on-line, posting documents on-line, or managing a litigation calendar within an on-line system, are all some examples of how a law firm can provide additional services to a client which might make it more likely they will retain a client or keep a client happy with the services they are receiving from a law firm.

Building Portals For All Browsers And Office Suites

2009-09-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

Just a quick thought that it is important to be sure that functionality one deploys will work on all commonly used browser platforms. And, if one has functionality which allows users to move data into Office programs like Excel, Access or Word, it is important to validate that the functions work in all versions.

And, although this is less of a concern, one also needs to be mindful of some of the "integration pitfalls" between browsers and office platforms. We are, at times, asked to try and figure out why such integration does not work. This often results in our scouring Microsoft, Google Chrome or Firefox support areas to try and determine why downloads don't always start when they should or halt unexpectedly, etc. It often also results in our relying less on this "built-in" functionality and more on interfaces we develop which are browser or office suite independent.

The moral of the story is that, in order to provide excellent client service, one in the legal extranet field needs to be aware of all the issues relating to all the interfaces which are in place when clients attempt to move data from the collaboration platform to their desktop.

Using legal extranets to facilitate remote document coding

2009-05-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

One recent use of legal extranet technology we identified was using this extranet technology to allow remote individuals to code legal documents. Here is how it works.

The documents to be coded are locally stored at the remote work facility(ies). The individuals doing the coding open the files up locally to review them. They, simultaneously, open up the legal extranet system to code the documents. The coders add the documents to the legal extranet system assigning appropriate bibliographic and other coding values within fields on the legal extranet system which are designed to profile the added document.

Then, after the documents are coded, others can use internet-based search screens to execute searches against the documents for the purpose of performing a more detailed and targeted review. This allows a law firm and their client to be working in an interactive, live database of documents granting access to the document repository to all interested parties.

Document Distribution

2009-02-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

Legal extranets and law firm client workspaces can be deployed in a manner to assist clients with the distribution of ad-hoc documents.

For example, should a client need to distribute a document to all outside counsel, once it is added to a legal extranet system a properly configured system can generate emails with links back to this document.

Better systems can distribute documents in a number of ways -- to specific individuals, to specific members of a working team, to specific types of individuals (attorneys only, perilously only, local counsel only, etc..).

This helps get files and documents out to counsel in a reliable, consistent and efficient manner.

Expert Witness Tracking

2009-01-23T07:33:00.000-08:00

We recently completed updated some functionality on an interesting project to facilitate the tracking of expert witnesses. This tracking capability allows law firms and clients to understand the prior work product of expert witnesses as well as to be sure that prior work product is properly used and understood to ensure consistency and to reduce the likelihood of incurring redundant costs for securing the same opinion or same type of opinion multiple times.

The system which we implemented allowed us to track the basics of an expert witness (name, title, address, phone, email, etc.). We also developed functionality to post their resume. Additionally, we developed a method of posting up work product from the experts and associating each file to the case(s) and expert(s) who developed it. And, finally, we also built a method of tracking which experts worked on which case for our clients.

Legal Extranets - they are not just for large firms

2008-11-20T05:15:00.000-08:00

We at times receive inquiries from small firms, sometimes very small firms with 1-3 attorneys, regarding legal technology and litigation support extranets.

From these types of firms, the interest is generally a bit different from that of large nationwide law firms or Fortune 500 companies. Unlike the larger entities, who typically are interested in connecting large workteams spanning multiple locations and organizations, these firms are often interested in an ASP type law firm extranet solution which will allow them to outsource some of their key functions (sometimes case management, sometimes task management, sometimes document management, sometimes all of the above).

The general message we typically receive from the firms is that there is an interest in allowing an expert (such as an ASP) manage functions like servers and software, which allows the attorneys at the firm to practice law, not to attempt to practice applications support, which they generally have attempted to do for a while and have tired of doing so. Who can blame them?

These types of implementation often help with another issue -- that being smaller firms struggling to put up properly secured remote access solutions, because if they are able to locate key documents or data at an ASP, the remote access needs related to case management or document management are lessened (or eliminated).

Law Technology News Article

2008-09-05T04:34:00.000-07:00

I recently wrote an article for LTN which is published in this month's issue -- it covers the value of reusable code and how the development of program functions and modules and how one can develop once, use many times can help IT groups develop a core base of functionality and use the code and object library to build applications in a more efficient and productive manner.

The LTN website is http://www.lawtechnews.com if you want to take a look. You'll need to click on "Articles and Columns" and sign up for an account if you don't have one to view the article online.

File Room Portals

2008-07-15T05:49:00.000-07:00

Within our company, we recently deployed some innovative "File Room" portals.
These "file rooms" allow for the posting, coding and categorization of litigation and other documents for electronic storage and easy search and retreival. The many benefits of this technology include the fact that documents can be tracked and retrieved far more productively as well as the fact that a law firm can reduce the amount of physical space which is required in order to store large quantities of paper within the four walls of their office space. We expect this technology to be of great benefit to our client base.

http://www.americansoccerdream.com

ILTA White Paper

2008-04-08T05:00:00.001-07:00

April, 2008
Recently, the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) published an excellent white paper describing various marketing technologies and how they can be used in the area of law firm marketing.

One of the articles in this white paper describes some creative uses of extranet technologies and how they can help to construct content portals and information repositories containing case law, opinions, forms and other information of interest to current and prospective clients.

These repositories and the content stored within them can, when appropriately packaged, serve as a springboard and innovative way to help present services (both new and existing) to prospective clients.

For more information, please see the white paper at ILTA White Paper.

Even more uses for collaboration software !!!!

2008-03-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

Recently, we worked on a project to put together a collaboration site for a client which allows one to track and manage a set of vendor-based projects relating to E-Discovery at the Firm.

It is a pretty interesting application of collaboration software which allows us to track project metrics, quantitative data and the qualitative opinions of project managers and end-users as to how the project was completed. The underlying database also provides the ability for some annual review of vendors used, volumes, quality, etc. which could be useful in obtaining better licensing and pricing terms or making process adjustments which could result in smoother projects in the future.

Project Management Offices

2008-03-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

The use of formal project management methodologies as well as the creation of Project Management Offices (PMOs) to attack legal technology issues in areas like E-Discovery, Project Tracking and Litigation Support is growing quickly. There are many different articles on project management in the legal technology field in a fairly recent copy of PEER to PEER published by ILTA.

Using Legal Extranet Systems Within Small Firms

2008-01-18T06:03:00.000-08:00

Recently I was speaking with several people, all of who thought legal extranets were of use primarily by or exclusively by large law firms and corporations. I think that statement is not entirely true. While it is true that those constituents benefit when sharing information amongst scores of law firms across the countries, I also know of many instances when small law firms (firms with less than five attorneys) use legal extranets for a different reason. The reason is that they totally outsource to an ASP the ability to manage tasks on-line, posting of documents that they wish to use while traveling, putting up simple case calendars and status reports for clients, and many other pieces of data.

This use is far less about collaboration, and more about providing small firms with little or no IT department a way to web-enable key data and documents, but nevertheless is a key reason legal extranet systems might be of interest to smaller law firms.

Gadgets and Technology

2007-12-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

As 2007 ends and we hear more and more information about the latest and greatest technologies, now is a great time to remember that there needs to be a compelling business case (at least most of the time) to implement a new technology. One should really understand the costs, benefits, contributions to the business and effort involved in implementing a new technology prior to proceeding on an effort.

Of course, worthwhile projects should be identified and implemented quickly, this is a friendly reminder just to take a look at all projects and understand the scope, complexity and what you hope to get out of each project prior to diving into a new effort.

Potential to use Legal Extranets as Brief Banks

2007-12-04T11:09:00.000-08:00

The use of legal extranets is expanding to users within law firms as well, most notably to promote firm-wide, cross-office sharing of work product.

For example, the potential to share briefs and documents in a "Brief Bank" across offices is an emerging area of need. With collaboration technology, attorneys can quickly and easily share work product on a secure, web-based manner and facilitate efforts such as relying on particular documents as "best practices" and other strategies designed to allow attorneys and paralegals to work in a more efficient and productive manner.

Using extranets to facilitate communications across large numbers of law firms

2007-10-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

We received multiple calls this week from potential clients looking to connect 20+ law firms on litigations with broad geographical ranges. The type of information clients are looking to share is fairly straightforward -- case data, documents, different types of calendars -- but the trend towards using extranets and collaboration software to help many different law firms to communicate on a secure yet efficient legal portal is still evident and a growing trend.

Using collaboration technology to manage case related documents

2007-10-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

We recently deployed for a client a new service allowing them to attach, to specific plaintiff litigation case management records, documents pertaining to the case. This includes documents (scanned PDF's) such as the complaint, medical records, releases, and dismissals.

This linkage of the actual case documentation to the case record, made in a manner where both the client and the national counsel for the litigation can review and view the material in a collaborative manner, helps the client justify for auditing and Sarbanes-Oxley purposes, the rationale behind the decision and determination to open and close plaintiff complaints, claims and litigations.

Using extranet techologies to migrate systems

2007-08-28T06:46:00.001-07:00

Recently, we completed an interesting project to store and host a document database for a client within our structure. One of the potential benefits for the client is that we will be able to host and store and provide access to their litigation document database at a monthly cost considerably lower than that generally available on other commercially available systems and solutions. This is a nice example of how, using technology, a professional services firm has the opportunity to provide value and service to a client in areas other than their primary competency.

Web Collaboration Briefing Center

2007-08-16T05:14:00.000-07:00

Information Week has set up an interesting Web Collaboration Briefing Center. There are numerous whitepapers available discussing the field, covering success stories and challenges, benefits and costs, and many other salient topics. It's a nice overview of the area of collaboration -- not of legal extranets but collaboration tools and technologies in general -- if that is of interest to you.

On a lighter note, Chelsea overcomes a 1-0 deficit to win on the road with Lampard and Drogba saving the day (as usual) while United draws again and loses Ronaldo for three games. Didn't see the cardable offense yet but from what I read it was a no-brainer for the referee. Now United has face City without Rooney and Ronaldo. Doesn't get much better than that !!!!!!!!

Using Blogs to Further One's Career

2007-08-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

There is an insightful article on CIO.com dated August 10, 2007 on this topic.

The article points out that blogs are a great way to showcase one's writing skills and to allow readers to learn a bit more about one's personal interests.

Of course, there are some interests which one should omit from blogs -- such as political or social opinions on polarizing issues.

All in all however, the article presents some interesting ideas and things to consider for those who either do publish a blog or are considering publishing a blog.

Using Extranets To Promote Law Firm Practice Groups

2007-08-14T04:20:00.001-07:00

Recently, we implemented another extranet to help a new law firm practice group promote their practice. The practice group collects content from various sources, using various newsfeeds and alerts generally available on the internet, and provides their perspective on recent happenings in law and in the public domain associated with the new practice group. It is their hope that by providing prospective clients access to this information repository, that they will demonstrate their expertise and knowledge in their area of law and develop clients using this portal.

An Introduction to Service-Level Agreements

2007-08-07T04:24:00.000-07:00

Cio.com has a good article and primer posted about SLA's (Service Level Agreements). Whenever a law firm is considering implementing a legal extranet system (or using any other software or vendor service) many of the principles in this article (e.g. setting appropriate metrics and standards of service, monitoring the service levels, measuring uptime and downtime, response times for service based on classes of problems) are vitally important. It's a good idea for anyone working with vendors to have an understanding of these principles.

Technolawyer E-Book

2007-08-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

The TechnoLawyer eBook Was Downloaded 5,000 Times in First 36 Hours of Release

New York, NY (August 1, 2007) — Shortly after midnight on July 30, 2007 it started. Fittingly, Blawg Review, an anonymous legal blog (blawg) that hosts a weekly best of the legal blogosphere, made the new TechnoLawyer eBook, BlawgWorld 2007 with TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide, available to its readers as a free download.

In all, 60 blawgs and one email newsletter network offered the eBook to their respective
readers. The result of this event — 5,000 downloads of the eBook in the first 36 hours.

Agile Software Development

2007-08-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

Looking at CIO.com, there seems to be a lot more discussion and articles about agile software development (vis-a-vis Waterfall development) and a shift more towards shorter life cycles, a diminished reliance on written requirements vs. face-to-face communication and shorter bursts of communication between clients and IT professionals as well as amongst the members of an IT development team. It also seems as though this method of working is becoming more acceptable (not just "undisciplined" vs the "disciplined" waterfall model). Should be an interesting topic and debate to continue to watch.

Case Management

2007-08-01T11:32:00.000-07:00

Recently, we seem to be using our technology to convert more and more Access (and other PC based) technologies into web-based solutions. Most of the work seems to be related to case management document, construction of document repositories and the management of case / litigation calendars.

BlawgWorld 2007

2007-07-30T04:12:00.000-07:00

BlawgWorld 2007 compiles 77 exemplary posts from law blogs, and presents them in an easy-to-navigate e-book pdf format you can download here for free.

Seventy-seven blogs are featured in this year's BlawgWorld 2007, including the Legal Extranet Blog.

Congratulations to all whose blogs were selected for BlawgWorld 2007 from among the many others deserving recognition.

Editor Sara Skiff and Publisher Neil Squillante and the entire eBook Team at TechnoLawyer have put together an outstanding presentation of law blogs in an interesting new eBlook format described in this video, making BlawgWorld 2007 accessible to many lawyers who might not yet be reading or writing blogs. The new eBook format makes it really easy to navigate this sampling of the blawgosphere to get a feel for what's all the excitement about law blogs. Well done, I say, but check it out for yourself. Download BlawgWorld 2007 here now. It's free!!!

The link is available at http://www.technolawyer.com/r.asp?L11476&M1

Case Management

2007-07-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

Legal extranet systems help with litigation support by tracking various profile data points about cases -- courts, plaintiff and defense info, law firm info, settlement and demand info, products involved with lawsuits, alleged injuries, etc...

In addition to tracking this information, legal extranets help all parties involved in managing a litigation to see and update the appropriate litigation support datapoints.

Varying degrees of access to data (update, enter, read only, etc.) can be provided to different classes of users to properly control the type of access to sensative casea management information.

The development of these systems can provide attorneys and others responsible for the management of a case with the tools necessary to properly perform these functions. And, these systems can assist in providing this better information for management at a lower cost to clients.

Master Case Calendaring

2007-06-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

Keeping track of a calendar amongst many law firms and a client can be very diffuclt and time consuming Who has the latest version of a calendar, how can I get it, how can I update it. When are the upcoming trials that I need to plan for. These are all important and difficult issues for one to tackle.

Why not post a calendar on a secure internet site that a set of authorized clients can view, update and download at their convenience. Seems too simple and so easy to do that everyone must already doing that, correct? Well, sadly, that is not the case. Often times this is because law firms and clients can not figure out how to connect to each other's calendar system (like Outlook) across organizations.

Legal extranets solve this issue. Anyone connected to the internet can access a calendar as long as they are authorized to enter the legal extranet. Once connected, they can view the calendar and update it with appropriate events and information (meeting dates, times, locations, attendees, etc...). So, with this simple tool, everyone on the team is acutely aware of the litigation support calendar and events and confusion about dates and times becomes a thing of the best.

Reducing Law Firm Storage Requirements With Legal Extranets

2007-06-02T05:28:00.000-07:00

With the proliferation of civil litigation in the country, and the increase in e-discover of litigation related documents, file storage size requirements for law firms are skyrocketing. Law firms are looking into SAN's and other methods of storing data in the most cost effective manner possible.

But, another cost containment strategy can be to outsource the storage of this data by placing it on a legal extranet. After all, the government does not build highways, bridges and tunnels to handle peak traffic loads (those of us who live in New York City certainly understand that) so why should law firms do so with data. A firm can store litigation specific data on an external source, without purchasing costly hardware and incurring only the subscription costs associated with the use of a legal extranet system, to keep the costs of storing the data to a minimum.

Using Legal Extranets To Maintain and Store Client Audit Logs

2007-05-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

Recently, we have used our technology in a somewhat unique manner. One client has requested that we track logs of different types of activities such as claims which were opened or monies which were disbursed. To support this need, we have constructed some automated logs to reconcile to the client's litigation databases. These logs help the client confirm that the appropriate data is entered and modified in an accurate and complete manner, providing the client with the assurance that information contained in their litigation management system is providing accurate representations of their litigation for various reporting and management purposes.

Using extranets in E-Discovery

2007-05-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

A wonderful opportunity exists, in my opinion, to allow law firms to promote their expertise from a marketing perspective on the new Federal Rules for Electronic Discovery using collaboration technologies. Law firms can use these types of technologies (as Sedgwick has with their E-Discovery Portal) to share their perspective on the new rules, to post information of interest for corporate counsel and to provide corporate counsel with a location to securely communicate about the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with respect to E-Discovery which took effect on December 1, 2006.

Firms might also consider using portals like the E-Discovery Portal to allow clients to have questions about the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in a client specific area which would allow law firms to address and understand their concerns and assist clients in developing action plans to be sure they are in compliance with the new electronic discovery rules and are positioned to appropriately comply with the requests of the courts as they pertain to these new rules.

Building a Law Firm Practice Area Portal for Business Development Purposes

2007-04-12T05:06:00.000-07:00

Please feel free to join this webinar if interested:

The Litigation Support and Practice Management Peer Groups of ILTA are pleased to announce a free webinar titled, “Building a Law Firm Practice Area Portal for Business Development Purposes.”

Be sure to join us for this webinar on Wednesday, May 2, 2007 at 12:00 PM Eastern / 11:00 AM Central / 10:00 AM Mountain / 9:00 AM Pacific

To register: https://sdma.webex.com/sdma/j.php?ED=92676442&RG=1
Building a Law Firm Practice Area Portal for Business Development Purposes
This session discusses and shows how a hosted, Web-based collaboration system can be used to build a repository of information using technologies to support marketing efforts and demonstrate experience in virtually any area of law (IP, insurance, products liability, etc.). This application of collaboration technology is somewhat different than the "traditional" or "typical" use of collaboration technologies in the litigation support theater which provide services like calendaring, document management or case tracking/management.

During the session, the Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold E-Discovery Portal will be used as a case study to illustrate these concepts.

Presenter:
Ken Jones, Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP/XERDICT GROUP LLC
Ken leads Xerdict Group LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sedgwick that provides litigation support extranets to clients. Xerdict offers Web-based collaboration products that help clients manage complex litigation data, such as litigation calendars, case management data, litigation costs, discovery materials and litigation documents in a secure and efficient online portal. Ken’s professional history includes information management and applications development positions in Fortune 500 companies, at which he led efforts to build innovative website content management systems, to construct worldwide Internet-based financial collection and reporting systems and to implement SAP modules in functional areas such as order processing, manufacturing and logistics.

Uses of legal extranet technology in the risk management and insurance fields

2007-02-17T06:15:00.000-08:00

Recently, we have noted a uptick in the number of uses of web-based collaboration technologies to assist in the tracking and management of matters related to the insurance industry. These uses include using these technologies to track the status of a legal matter, to track documents related to the cases, to maintain case calendars, and to help oversee other data related to the litigations or claims. The various document sets tracked in systems like this range from small document sets (perhaps only the initial claim and pleadings and other work product associated with a matter) to very large (complete sets of documents relating to all aspects of claims related to natural disasters emcompassing the claims of hundreds of major clients). It will be interesting to see if this trend continues and if the insurance area continues to be one which is utilizing web-based collaboration systems.

Web-Based Applications

2007-02-14T06:38:00.000-08:00

Recently, there have been many interesting articles about the proiferation of web-based hosted applications for common, everyday use. There are many players in the market of providing on-line spreadsheets, work processors and presentation software. It will be interesting to see how this trend plays out in the world of managing legal and litigation data -- in a world where we all do on-line banking, manage our portfolios on-line, send emails using services like YAHOO, GOOGLE and others and where we soon might be creating all of our documents online and watching television online -- how soon will it be before we move more and more legal case management and document management applications out of technologies which require local installations, powerful PC hardware and a robust law firm intranet network (which is often a huge constraint to providing cross-office access to litigation data in multioffice law firms) into technologies which are common, hosted solution accessing in a secure and encrypted manner using the same internet backbone we use (or will soon use) for these other common, day-to-day activities.

CaseEnsemble PDF Reporting Capability

2007-02-14T03:55:00.000-08:00

Xerdict recently developed a new reporting capability within the CaseEnsemble Collaboration System for use in all collaboration systems.

The new reporting capability allows CaseEnsemble to produce any report generated by the system " Query Builder" in a configurable PDF format. To help properly format the reports, CaseEnsemble allows the system users and clients to define the report characteristics such as the report font, font size, and page size and orientation in the PDF file (prior to printing/saving/emailing the PDF file). This new feature, which adds to the existing CaseEnsemble functionality allowing clients to either view the report on the screen or export report contents to an Excel file, greatly improves CaseEnsemble clients's ability to save Case Management and other types of system reports in a useful and attractive format appropriate for printing or emailing to clients. This capability is particularily useful for those case management applications that require periodic reports (weekly, monthly, quarterly) to be sent to clients.

More information on online office suites

2007-02-14T03:34:00.000-08:00

Computer World recently evaluated four of the options in this area, Ajax13, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, ThinkFree Online and Zoho Office Suite. Check out the article to see who won. This is another interesting development in the world of hosted, on-line applications and might help others realize some of the benefits of these types of applications (like Legal Extranets).

On-line office suites

2007-02-12T08:34:00.000-08:00

The NY Times had an interesting article about ThinkFree, which is a Web-based word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software (replicating a great deal of Microsoft’s comparable applications) over the weekend.

This model, empowered by the expansion in broadband capability and other factors, ztakes the concept of moving applications to the web to another level and could, potentially, represent a very significant platform shift in the manner in which the vast majority of the general population works on the computer.

Compared to managing some legal cases or documents on the web which legal extranet systems obviously do, this model actually promotes the development and construction of spreadsheets, documents and presentations on the web. This is an exciting development and bodes well for the continued potential expansion of managing the data associated with legal matters in legal web-based collaboration systems.

The making of an e-discovery practice

2007-02-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

The new Federal Rules on Electronic Discovery, which went into effect December 1, 2006, were considered by some to be an administrative compliance burden for companies, organizations and law firms alike. However, at Sedgwick, a small team of attorneys saw these new regulations as an opportunity to develop a unique set of legal services for the firm. This new practice expanded, beyond the practice of compliance counseling, into new frontiers that include technology-based capabilities assisting companies in the implementation of the policies, procedures and best practices often recommended to corporate and institutional clients.

So, how did this all begin? In early 2006, two Sedgwick partners, Keith Casto and Kenneth Rashbaum, identified the need to counsel companies with respect to changes in business practices driven by the new Federal Rules. These needs included the requirements that organizations track and manage electronic information, implement appropriate and reasonable records retention policies for electronic records, execute litigation holds on electronic information as needed, and comply with new regulations, timing and benchmarks related to the identification and exchange of such data during the litigation discovery process.

Further complicating these issues was the fact that case law varies in federal and state courts, and also differs considerably from state to state. For example, some states have many regulations, statutes and precedents in this area, while other states have incomplete and limited prior materials in this area.

Mr. Casto and Mr. Rashbaum quickly developed the concept of gathering materials (e.g., statutes, rules, prior case law and articles) as collateral to assist them in counseling clients in this changing area of law. They developed a vision of storing this set of collected works and data in a secure, Web-based collaboration system. Using this type of technology, the work product could not only be shared within their own law firm, but also could, after appropriate review and refinement of the information, be shared with existing and prospective clients as a representation of their knowledge of e-discovery.

Transforming this vision into reality became Mr. Rashbaum and Mr. Casto’s next aspiration. First, they approached Sedgwick’s Management Committee with a thumbnail sketch of their business plan and vision. Upon learning about the new Federal Rules and the potential business opportunities they presented, Sedgwick’s Management Committee decided to establish a new practice group focusing on electronic discovery, and appointed Mr. Rashbaum and Casto co-chairs of this new unit.

With the support and backing of the firm in place, Mr. Casto and Rashbaum began assembling the key components of the practice. First, they recruited and assigned specific resources within the firm, both attorneys and paralegals, to collect, vet, organize and summarize e-discovery material. This included case law, rules, statutes, articles, forms, templates and other types of information. Sedgwick quickly compiled and assembled an impressive set of materials in this area spanning many jurisdictions, states and points of view.

Next, the e-discovery team sought to identify a method of storing this material. Somehow, in today’s electronic age, storing the material on a shared network directory or in email folders did not seem adequate. So the team called upon Sedgwick’s technology-based subsidiary, Xerdict Group LLC, which is led by Michael Tanenbaum, the managing general partner of Sedgwick’s Newark, N.J., office, to construct a secure, Web-based depository for these materials. Xerdict, using its collaboration technology that in the past primarily was used for legal case management and document management purposes, added features to the system and then constructed a customized portal in about six weeks. This newly constructed collaboration system provided the ability to store all the aforementioned types of data, with an entity screen allowing the team to specifically code and organization each type of data in the precise manner dictated by the team, and also delivered a search engine allowing authorized system users to search for specific types of data (by court, jurisdiction, type of rule, state and many other searches).

The new system, named the “Sedgwick E-Discovery Portal,” also provided some additional features that were part of the Sedgwick’s standard client extranet. One such example was the litigation bulletin board feature, which was seen as a way for Sedgwick to provide clients with communication in a secure and privileged manner on sensitive issues (such as internal investigations).

With the building blocks of the information repository and the technology delivery mechanism in place, Sedgwick began promoting the new practice. The first step was to share this information with all other Sedgwick attorneys. This was done for many reasons. One was to share all this new e-discovery information within the firm so that each lawyer within the firm gained solid footing in the new Federal Rules and could counsel their clients accordingly. Furthermore, the sharing of this information within the firm served the valuable purpose of levering the collective wisdom of the Firm in addressing any questions, concerns or gaps in the collected data prior to sharing the information with clients.

Mr. Rashbaum and Mr. Casto then made the e-discovery portal available to selected clients. The feedback on this resource was that it was very helpful but the taste of this electronic discovery information resulted in clients asking for more assistance. Some clients wanted full service models, including not only the knowledge in the e-discovery portal but also the products needed to implement the recommendations of the e-discovery practice (e.g., how to identify and collect electronic data, the process of implementing litigation holds, the production of documents, the implementation of records retention policies, etc.).

In response to these needs, Mr. Rashbaum and Mr. Casto, working with members of the Sedgwick IT Department, assessed the capabilities of many of the leading technology providers in these areas. While Sedgwick maintains a vendor-agnostic outlook on technology vendors, the Electronic Discovery Team and IT Department strived to learn enough about each of the leading players to provide clients with ideas and information on companies providing services such as e-mail and electronic media collection, enterprise search engines, document review/assessment/production, and other areas.

Given that the Federal Rules on e-discovery were only recently adopted, Sedgwick believes this to be only the beginning of its journey assisting clients in this area. It is anticipated, by all the members of the e-discovery team and practice, that further innovation and creativity will be necessary in the coming months and years for firms wishing to be thought leaders in this new area of the law.

Business Issues Related To Legal Extranets

2007-02-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

Here are a few quick items to consider if you are a law firm and considering putting up a legal extranet system for your clients and if you, for some reason, would not want to contract with the Xerdict Group for your extranet needs ! :)

Have you considered the need for business insurance.
Do you have a standard contact you wish to have clients enter into so that issues such as software warranties, data security, indemnification, etc.. are clearly defined.
Is your legal extranet system name trademarked and source code copyrighted?
Do you have a privacy policy to govern the data which will be stored on your system?
Do you have a service level agreement with your clients?
Do you feel confident that you have the appropriate support structure in place with respect to client support, technical support, customer service.
Do you have appropriate change management system in place to help you govern the various changes in the various different implementations you will ultimately be delivering to your clients.
Do you have a structure and technology in place which will allow you to do sales demonstrations and other pre-sales work?
Do you have a sense of how (or if) you will be recapturing the costs of the system (billing your clients).
Do you have a methodology for storing and managing your application source code?
Do you have appropriate backup mechanisms and failover procedures and processes put into place?

These are all items to consider, perhaps some are not applicable to you but I would expect most should be application for most firms.

Fields to track in legal extranets

2007-01-27T07:04:00.000-08:00

We recently have come across some interesting requirements and needs in terms of tracking legal case management information and data for clients. Among some of the new requirements have been the association of Bates Numbers with documents, the tracking and allocation of invoice costs associated with litigation matters, the tracking of litigation tasks by priority and completion status and the tracking of not only the opposition counsel but also the specific individuals at the law firm who are associated with a case and their role within the case.

The key lesson to be learned here with respect to legal extranets is that it is vitally important that the legal extranet system one chooses to build or deploy must be flexible enough to adapt to the various needs of different litigations, clients and attorneys.

Using web-based collaboration technology for business development within a law firm

2007-01-09T03:41:00.000-08:00

Here is another example of how this type of technology used to construct the E-Discovery Portal can be used in the marketing, business development and educational sense. If you are interested in seeing the E-Discovery Portal, please let me know (kenneth.jones@xerdict.com).

Sedgwick Launches E-Discovery Management & Compliance Practice Group and E-Discovery Portal

January 2007

In response to the significant amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that went into effect on December 1, 2006, Sedgwick announces the creation of its E-Discovery, Data Management & Compliance Practice Group and e-Discovery Portal. The e-Discovery Portal, which was constructed using Sedgwick's internal Xerdict web-based collaboration technology, is a repository of essential forms, cases, statutes, regulations, rules and articles, providing Sedgwick attorneys and the firm's clients with direct access to practical and relevant information needed at the onset of litigation. The practice group, led by San Francisco Partner Keith Casto and New York Partner Kenneth Rashbaum, further positions the firm as a leader of legal services related to e-discovery and data management.