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Blake Dawson select

July 21st, 2010 by The Orange Rag In Main Page

Blake Dawson has selected Elite 3E to replace its legacy financial and practice management system. The commercial law firm is the largest firm in the region to partner with Elite to upgrade its technology platform and enhance internal processes.

According to deputy managing partner Helen McKenzie “The Elite team brought a depth of experience, knowledge and a proven process that enabled us to address each issue in an open and professional environment. Furthermore, the strength of the Thomson Reuters brand and Elite’s focus on the legal market are significant advantages as we feel we are working with the best in the industry. The level of flexibility and sophistication in 3E gave our entire team the confidence that we were making the right long-term decision and we look forward to successfully implementing the solution across our offices throughout Asia Pacific.”

Comment: I think it’s fair to say Elite has finally exorcised the curse of the troubled A&O 3E implementation.

The July issue of the Legal Technology Insider newsletter (UK & EMEA edition) is out now. The digital edition has already hit in-boxes and print edition in in the mail.

Top stories include: New MD at IRIS a
‘listener’ + iPads on the march + Aderant’s plans coming together + Consultancy sector getting busier + Probate: there’s money in them
estates + Fresh on the radar: BSCM
Riskenomics + New client advisor role at LexisNexis + all July’s big wins and
deals + Word users going native

Well known legal IT consultant Neil Cameron is now running a regular thought leader piece on his website. It’s called Neil’s Ruminations and the latest episode looks at whether Microsoft Office 2010 have an impact on law firm productivity?

Follow the link to the latest episode
www.neilcameronconsulting.com/Default.aspx?sID=45&cID=113&ctID=11

Mat Sutton, head of IT at Howard Kennedy, discusses the firm’s use of a Worldox DMS and its move into mobile working…

Since 2000, our firm has used the Worldox document management system from World Software and it has performed very well for us throughout the past decade – with nearly 250 Worldox licenses, we are one of their largest sites in Europe.

However, there has been a growing trend for lawyers wanting to work from home or remotely when travelling on business, including the need to access their documents. Worldox/Web Mobile, which is the DMS’s online interface that operates over an internet connection, helps us meet this demand. We updated Worldox/Web Mobile to the latest available version as part of our infrastructure virtualisation project in 2008. The interface is extremely similar to that of the Worldox desktop product, so the training aspect is very light. Approximately 60% of our fee earning user base currently benefits from the availability of Worldox/Web Mobile system.

Though based in London, Howard Kennedy has clients all over the world. When our lawyers work from home or travel abroad for client visits and meetings, they can easily access documents via Worldox/Web Mobile, regardless of time differences.
 Any computer with a web connection can bring up Worldox/Web Mobile. Clearly, this is extremely convenient and helps maintain productivity. Access to documents can sometimes make the difference between a successful meeting and happy client or the opposite, so 24/7 availability of documents is critically important. 


From an IT perspective, Worldox/Web Mobile was straightforward to install, and is easy to maintain. Because of the way Worldox/Web Mobile is designed with challenge/response authentication and HTTPS protocols there is a high level of security protecting our documents. We rarely have any Worldox issues for the DMS or the web product. Having products on the system that just work like Worldox and Worldox/Web Mobile is valuable, because they don’t require manpower for troubleshooting purposes.

Worldox/Web Mobile is a good solution for Howard Kennedy for a number of reasons. First, its operating cost is very low, which is appreciated by everyone at the firm. Second, it is extremely reliable and rarely goes offline. It is a constant resource that we can count on. Third, there is very low training overhead because the interface is so similar to that of Worldox. 

GT Law, which specialises in injury claims of all kinds, including RTAs, accidents at work, occupational disease and criminal injuries, has selected Eclipse Proclaim as its new software platform. The software is being rolled out to 70 staff
at the firm’s offices in Merseyside and Essex.The firm says rapid growth in the claims sector has led to the opening of a new office in Knowsley and necessitated an overhaul of the firm’s IT systems.

Eclipse Proclaim case management is being rolled out to every member of GT Law. The firm is also implementing Proclaim accounts to provide an integrated PMS. Proclaim will provide a complete desktop tool with which to automate and manage case progression, and will also enable the practice to submit RTA claims via the MoJ’s new Portal using A2A (Application-to-Application) technology. In addition, GT Law has selected Eclipse’s FileView tool which will allow clients and referrers to securely view, online, real-time case data and progression milestones.

Comment: So has Eclipse Proclaim become the market’s favourite case management product – this decade’s answer to Visualfiles Solcase?

MFG Solicitors LLP, which has offices in Worcester, Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, Halesowen and Telford, has placed an order with Solicitors Own Software for a 140 user SOS Connect case and practice management system. The plan is to implement SOS Connect in 2011, using the interim period
to clean up data from several databases and prepare for the deployment
across the five offices.

ICT partner Peter Simner, who headed up the IT systems evaluation said “A firm of our size, which is experiencing considerable growth, needs to ensure that IT keeps up with the competitive pressures in the market as well as the quantity of work which we now need to process. We pride ourselves on providing exemplary service to clients and believe that SOS Connect will help us to continue to improve the quality of service for which we are known.”

MFG looked at several possible replacements for the incumbent Osprey system which could no longer meet the demands of the firm. SOS Connect was selected from a final shortlist of two. “We preferred SOS Connect because we could see how to standardise and centralise on a single system which would deliver efficiency benefits to all areas of the firm whether for conveyancing case management, probate work or financial accounting,” said Simner.

Legal software developer FWBS is launching an office in Australia. FWBS sales & marketing director Mark Craddock said “Launching an office in Australia strengthens FWBS as an international supplier. Our continued alliance with Aderant in the APAC region will also be better supported by having our own resources on the ground.

“FWBS is pleased to be building on significant MatterCentre wins that Aderant have spearheaded in the territory, including Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) and Slater & Gordon. FWBS are providing productivity gains to fee earners firm wide through MatterCentre, and this expansion into Australia will allow FWBS greater scope to support more law firms and fee earners in more territories.” 

Craddock added “With Aderant continuing to increase their PMS client base in the region, the fully developed integration between MatterCenter and Aderant Expert, provides a market leading end-to-end matter and practice management solution.”

The territory opportunity will be managed by FWBS new recruit Marin Sardelic as Australasia sales manager. Sardelic has extensive experience of the Australian legal IT scene having worked with companies such LexisNexis and Leap.

Geneva-based litigation support services provider H7b1 – www.h7b1.com – has created a French subsidiary H7b1 Eurl, which is based at La Defense in Paris.

Commenting on the development, H7b1 CEO Rafik Abboud said “Our experience in digital forensics and litigation support technology within the context of EU data protection regulations will be more readily accessible to one of the continental Europe’s largest legal communities. As Paris is a key international legal center, this French subsidiary gives us the opportunity to strengthen our data advisory and technology practice into the French international legal community,”

H7b1 operates litigation technology service centres in Paris, Geneva, Zurich and Budapest, as well as mobile operations throughout Europe. The company partners with IPRO Tech Inc and LexisNexis Concordance.

Over the last few days we’ve been contact by a Swiss legal IT company and Dutch IT company both asking how much we charge to publish a press release. Not us, we never charge companies to use their press releases. Never have done, never will do. And, nor do we twist their arms to advertise with us or sponsor something, which we know is another wizard wheeze some publications have used in the past.

The sole criterion for use is that it is of any genuine editorial merit. If it is, we’ll use it in the next available issue of the newsletter – and if we run out of space, we’ll carry it over until the following issue. UK & EMEA news goes in the UK/EMEA issue. North American news goes in the American Insider. APAC news goes out on the blog.

The Orange Rag blog also carries breaking news – note the use of the word breaking – this means either BIG news stories OR stories that we get FIRST before anyone else.

Finally, as we seem to be running through our editorial guidelines here, we never accept or solicit advertorial or sponsored feature articles. And, we also will not tolerate attempts by PR agencies etc to vet, control or otherwise dictate the stories we write about their clients. Capito?

A new portal – called ETSOS – for conveyancers has just gone live. The service’s main purpose is to set up a reliable website that could provide all the products needed to buy and sell properties. ETSOS provides a one stop shop for products such as Official Local Authority Searches, Land Registry documents and searches, Environmental Reports, Mining Searches, Planning Reports, Utility Searches and Energy Performance Certificates on one website.
 
ETSOS also offers a free boundary marking tool so there is no need to pay for plans which is unique to any other offering on the market. Currently, ETSOS are able to give a 20% discount off Landmark Environmental reports and CLSL Chancel Check products because of their cutting edge technology and automation. This means they are able to pass the cost reductions onto their clients.
 
According to ETSOS managing director Philip Natusch “Having researched the market, I could see a clear gap for an online service which was really simple to use. People are put off web based solutions if they are complicated and difficult. I wanted to combine ease of use with a really competitive price – basically something that was not currently out there.  I have made sure that ETSOS uses the latest cutting edge technology so that we can provide our customers with a quality service at a market beating price.”
 
Duncan Rawlinson, Head of Residential Conveyancing at Linder Myers, said “ETSOS is an excellent online system that is easy to use and reports are delivered quickly and efficiently.  I can order everything from standard conveyancing searches to EPCs, company searches, AML searches and even Land Registry products all on one website.  Our dedicated account manager has always been available if I’ve needed to pick up the phone and ask a quick question.  In this age, it makes a real difference to know that I have a totally personal service combined with fantastic online platform.”

Chris Cheesman of Cheesman & Co said “We have found ETSOS online search ordering platform to be extremely useful. The system enables us to order all required reports online and delivers the searches back to us electronically. We particularly like the favourites tab which enables us to order a set of searches at the touch of one button. This saves us time and ultimately money.”
 
www.etsos.co.uk