Work improvement

How well are case management, practice management, litigation support, accounting software, time billing and recording etc meeting the needs of lawyers and firms? And are the users making the most of the software's capabilities? Commentators are in general agreement that there is scope for improvement in existing applications and great possibilities in those yet to come. The biggest challenge remains the ability to integrate the information in such a way so that it can be accessed in a convenient manner - getting the information to whoever wants it, how they want it, when they want it.

One of the greatest changes in legal technology however, has been the increased transparency which it has brought to the lawyer/client relationship. Now the client now has access to the real time status of his case as well as the relevant costs. Meanwhile the benefits for in-house counsel include: managing external spend, identifying areas for individual team members to concentrate on, and using knowledge management systems to assess whether work done previously could be re- used.

Finally, one must not treat the technology as a tool or a plug-in. The subtle effects it has on a firm cannot be ignored and attention must be given therefore to the way it is introduced.

Article on Lawyers Weekly