The dominant software used in-house are word processing and e-mail/calendar, followed far behind by matter management, document management, spreadsheets and presentation software. My blog has discussed 27 types of specialized software. What else might a law department use? 1. Benefit plans, to test proposed changes (See my post of Jan.…
Stalking the aisles of vendors at LegalTech NY I was surprised to see a Google booth. I learned that 50 of the AmLaw 100 law firms use Google’s Postini software to pre-filter emails – to remove spam. But this is a blog about law departments, you know, so I pressed…
At LegalTech NY I ran across Tedesco Tecnologia, a 13-year-old Brazilian software firm that offers an ASP matter management system for law departments. It has law departments using its software in 32 countries, including Air Liquide, Whirlpool S/A – Brasil, Wal-Mart – Brazil, BASF, and InBev, the world’s largest brewer.…
The ALSP Update, Vol. 1, Dec. 2007 at 11, the monthly newsletter of the Association of Litigation Support Professionals (See my post of Jan. 27, 2008 on ALSP.), introduced me to Women in e-Discovery (WiE). Begun in mid-2007, “it has grown to more than 700 members with 10 chapters and…
Geoff Gussis, writing on In-House Blog on Nov. 20, 2007, , summarizes the findings from a recent survey from Computer Weekly. “A survey of 115 in-house lawyers at multinational firms said technology made their working life more satisfying despite the longer hours, as many were allowed to work from home.…
Pfizer spends $500 million in legal fees each year on more than 1,000 law firms worldwide. According to a post by David Hobbie about an International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) session on Aug. 22, 2007, the huge law department found it difficult to produce reports about that outflow from their…
Set aside the usual applications of email, word processing, redlining, spreadsheets, and scanning. Two other applications at firms vie to be the most valuable to law departments. The most likely candidate for the top spot is an effective document management system. If the lawyers in a law firm can efficiently…
Topics on this blog have touched on some sophisticated technology (See my post of June 6, 2006 about biometric fingerprint identification; Oct. 18, 2006 on RFID devices for filing; Jan. 4, 2006 intelligent agents; May 15, 2005 on Monte Carlo simulations; Oct. 26, 2006 on bubble-scan bills; March 27, 2005…
Here are some more tips for how to take the most away from a software demonstration (See my posts of April 27, 2006 for five other suggestions; and Sept. 18, 2007 for additional suggestions.). First, have diverse observers, which should include at least a lawyer or two, a paralegal or…
In a previous post about survey data on e-billing at AMLAW 200 firms (See my post of Oct. 26, 2007.), I strongly questioned the data, in light of the previous year’s data and my consulting experience. To test my reaction, I sent the post to six vendors of e-billing solutions…