Legal Extranet Blog - Published By The Xerdict Group

Gimme Shelter

2012-05-02T07:24:00.001-07:00

To view this article on cloud software, please click here.

Going Green!

2012-05-02T07:21:00.001-07:00

Xerdict completed a server farm upgrade which doubled processing power and storage available to our clients, while also reducing power consumption and our carbon footprint by 40%. A true win-win for all.

Lighting The Lamp

2012-04-23T05:52:00.001-07:00

To review my recent Law Technology News article on appropriate times to consider using legal technology vendors to address business issues, please click here.

Auto-complete

2012-04-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

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.

File Rooms

2012-04-03T04:28:00.000-07:00

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).

Flexible Legal Collaboration Software

2012-03-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

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.

Building Portals For All Browsers And Office Suites

2012-03-04T06:47:00.000-08:00

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.

Task Reminders and Management

2012-03-03T05:41:00.000-08:00

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.

Lowering expenses with legal extranets

2012-02-22T04:03:00.000-08:00

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.

Litigation Support Trends Article

2012-02-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

Please click here to review my quotation on some future trends in this area with respect to how collaboration technologies may be used to support emerging needs in the litigation field.

It's A Matter Of Trust

2012-02-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

My article in the November/December 2011 issue of Law Technology News on data center operations, selections and best practices can be reviewed by clicking here.

My article in the January/February 2012 Law Technology News

2012-02-01T08:20:00.000-08:00

My article, Lighting The Lamp, can be viewed by clicking here.

Building for different browsers

2012-01-13T04:13:00.000-08:00

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).

Document Libraries

2012-01-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

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.

Using Extranets To Help Coordinate Local Counsel

2011-12-29T09:35:00.000-08:00

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.

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.