IN THIS ISSUE
Freelawyer site up for sale - Webcast trial in Alaska - Land Registry supplier goes into Chapter 11 - Lawyers on TV - Decision day for SCL - LCD speaks up for justice - It wasn't us - Industry & vendor news - Internet & online legal service news - LegalTech New York Preview - Next issue: 20.02.2002

FREELAWYER WEB SITE UP FOR SALE
Judicium Ltd, the company that developed and owns Freelawyer, has put the site up for sale on the basis of an exclusive annual licence to be granted to a single law firm. Negotiations have started with a law firm in the Midlands, though they have yet to reach final agreement on a price.

Currently the web site allows users to get free legal information and to contact a number of law firms if they want to take matters further. Judicium CEO Leon de Costa explained "We have developed a number of other projects that are keeping us extremely busy and we feel the site is better suited to benefit a single law firm, one that is technology literate and wants to establish itself immediately as the dominant legal player on the internet. They will have exclusive use of the site and can alter it to suit whatever purpose they have in mind."

Freelawyer consistently appears in the top 5 of our Hitlist rankings of the UK's busiest legal web sites so this is one instance where a CEO's comments cannot be dismissed as just dotcom hype. We have not been able to identify the law firm involved in the talks but we know it is not Wragge & Co.

WEBCAST TRIAL IS FIRST FOR ALASKA COURT
A political redistricting case in Anchorage has become Alaska's first webcasted trial and one of only a handful to date in the US. Early in the case, the court and the attorneys for both the prosecution and defence decided to webcast the proceedings because of widespread interest around the state and interest from other areas where redistricting efforts are challenged.

In Alaska, courts do not have stenographic reporters and proceedings are normally recorded on tape. However for this case there is an "official reporter" sitting in the courtroom captioning the trial to the internet using realtime technology, which instantly converts her stenographic notes into readable English text. The trial testimony is displayed as it happens - see www.webscriptlive.com - as well as to computers on the judge's bench and attorneys' tables. The trial, In Re: 2001 Redistricting Cases -v- the Redistricting Board, is a consolidated case involving 47 plaintiffs as well as the State of Alaska - but log on quickly as the case is not expected to last long.

LAND REGISTRY SUPPLIER GOES INTO CHAPTER 11
In what the Wall Street Journal reckons is the fourth largest Chapter 11 filing for bankruptcy in US history (Enron is the largest) the telecoms company Global Crossing is seeking protection from creditors. The company, which says it has assets of $22.4 billion and liabilities of $12.4 billion, hopes most of its business will be taken over as a going concern as part of a rescue plan put together by Hutchinson Whampoa of Hong Kong and Singapore Technologies Telemedia. A spokesman for the UK arm of Global Crossing said the problems would not affect services to UK customers, who include the telecom and internet networks for about 70 government departments and agencies. Among the best known of these is the Land Registry whose online search service is based on a secure extranet provided by Global Crossing.

MARKETING - LAWYERS ON TV
We keep hearing reports that UK law firms are becoming increasingly adventurous in their marketing activities but to-date have seen little evidence of it however congratulations to Irwin Mitchell who were spotted advertising their personal injury services during a commercial break in a recent episode of the TV crime series Taggart.

DECISION DAY FOR THE SCL
If you are a member of the UK's Society for Computers & Law make sure you attend their annual general meeting next week (6th February - it starts at 5:30pm at the offices of Ashurst Morris Crisp at Appold Street, London EC2) where one of the items on the agenda will be a proposal to restructure the SCL so as to make it a more effective and less fuddy-duddy organisation. The actual reform proposals will require the sanction of an EGM at a later date.

The SCL has also publishes its accounts for the year to 31 March 2001. After last year's blip, which saw the Society report a £30K loss, the organisation is back in the black with a profit of £22.6K and just over £90K of accumulated funds in the bank. And this is despite the fact the organisation was a lot more active - including totally redeveloping its web site - during the year 2000/2001.

LCD SPEAKS UP FOR JUSTICE
The UK Home Office and the Lord Chancellor's Department have announced details of special measures to help vulnerable or intimidated witnesses give evidence in court. The measures were recommended in the 1998 Speaking Up For Justice report. The measures include: live TV links for witnesses to give evidence; video recording of evidence in chief; and pagers by witnesses.

In the Crown Court - the Government has spent £1.2 million on new facilities. All Crown Court centres (Durham and Doncaster are soon to be installed) and widely used satellites have TV link facilities to allow evidence to be given from outside the courtroom from a different room in the court building. In addition, video conferencing allowing witnesses to give their evidence at locations which are remote to the court will be available in Hampshire, Lewes/Hove, Essex and North West England.

A switching unit allows the judge or clerk to be able to ensure that the witness is able to see the person speaking and also view the video of the evidence in chief. Witnesses may either give the evidence-in-chief by pre-recorded video tape or give this evidence in the conventional way with the prosecutor asking questions but over the TV link. The equipment was recently used to allow the brother of Sarah Payne to give evidence from NSPCC facilities during the trial of R-v-Whiting at Lewes Crown Court.

Recommendation 51 of Speaking up for Justice called for an increased use of pagers to allow witnesses to wait away from the court centre until they were needed. All Crown Courts have developed a framework for their use along with the other criminal justice agencies. The Court Service then supplied each court with the number of pagers requested to allow the implementation of the framework. The courts are also taking advantage of the increased use of mobile phones to keep witnesses informed of the progress of their case.

Turning to Magistrates Courts... The installation of 135 TV links in the magistrates courts has started and will be completed during 2002. This will ensure there is a good geographical spread of magistrates courts in England & Wales with TV link equipment. This is part of the same project that is introducing video conferencing links between magistrates' courts and prisons for preliminary hearings, £5.3m has been provided to fund these links. Most of the measures will be extended to magistrates courts by 2003-04, (after their evaluation in the Crown Court), to bring them in line with the Crown Court.

IT WASN'T US
A number of our older subscribers, who recall that we used to trade as Cloudnine Technology and that our web site URL was at cloudnine.co.uk, have asked if we are in any way connected with the Hampshire vased ISP Cloud Nine which went out of business last week. Sorry, no relation - and in fact our cloudnine URL is still active. Why Cloudnine? In the absence of being able to think of anything better to call our business, we named it after a horse we owned but that's another story.

LEGAL TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY & VENDOR NEWS

PILGRIM BREAKS INTO DANISH MARKET - UK legal IT vendor Pilgrim Systems has won a contract to supply its LawSoft application to the inhouse legal department at the Copenhagen-based Ferring Pharmaceuticals Group. LawSoft will be used in a variety of information management and workflow processing applications, including diary and to-do list management, within the legal department.

KEYSTONE APPOINTS NORTH AMERICAN HEAD HONCHO - Keystone Solutions has appointed John Callahan to the role of president of the company's North American operations. Keystone chief executive Graeme Frost said Callahan would take over managerial responsibility of Keystone's principal offices in Buffalo and San Rafael and have full autonomy and responsibility for the delivery of the entire region's annual business plan. After considering a number of high quality internal and external candidates, Callahan was recruited from within the company. His former role was as Keystone's North American consulting and services manager.

SUCCESSFUL YEAR FOR INTERFACE - Interface Software is reporting its most successful year to-date, with sales of its InterAction client relationship management (CRM) system up 50% on the year 2000 and the number of InterAction sites increasing by 70 to 300 during 2001. The most recent law firm sales included Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Spencer Fane Britt & Browne in the United States and Sydney based Hunt & Hunt, which has nine offices throughout Australia and the Pacific Rim.

NAME CHANGE AS SAGE LOSES FLAVOUR - The Sage software group's time products division - best known in the legal market for the Carpe Diem system - has been reorganised along specialist market and sales channel lines. The most obvious change is that Carpe Diem is now being sold by Best Software however, relax, Karen Fate remains with the company and is now senior corporate sales consultant. Ron Verni, the CEO of Best Software US, says he is confident the new sales strategy will help increase Carpe Diem's market share. www.carpediemets.com

NEW FACIAL VERIFICATION SERVICE FOR COURTS - Police IT specialist ABM has launched a new bureau service to meet the growing demand for facial verification by the police, Crown Prosecution Service, solicitors and the courts arising from the huge increase in the use of evidence based on CCTV material. Police forces and other organisations needing facial verification services should contact the bureau at ABM's Nottingham or Stirling offices (0115 946 4999 or 01786 446480).

INTERNET & ONLINE LEGAL SERVICE NEWS

NEW UK LAW FIRM SITES - Welsh law firm Hugh James Ford Simey has launched a suite of online legal services, including free guidance notes and fixed fee packages for the SME market. THe service covers all the main legal aspects of running a modern business from employment to e-commerce. www.click2law.com And, Kent law form Kingsfords has set up a new advoce site designed to help SMEs avoid employment litigation. The site is at www.jobsworth.com

COMMONWEALTH CASE LAW - Interights now has a database of Commonwealth case law. The database can be searched in a number of ways . There is a quick search facility using keywords, phrase, boolean or free text. There is a combined search facility using more than one search term. And you can also browse this site by country via a drop down menu. www.interights.org/ccl

ISLAND LIFE - Web development company Caperhouse.com has launched a niche property portal that specialises in homes for sale on the UK's islands. Set up with the aim of matching sellers to buyers, Island-Living.co.uk has been rolled out in the Western Isles and plans to expand over the coming weeks to embrace all the UK's offshore islands. Island-Living.co.uk's target buying audience comprise of three main groups. Firstly, "hard-core" island hoppers wishing to buy a retirement or holiday home. Secondly, young families, influenced perhaps by such TV programmes as Castaway 2000 and Two Thousand Acres of Sky, who are seeking a better quality of environment in which to live. The third group are the expanding numbers of people who are seeing technology freeing them from the daily grind of commuting. www.island-living.co.uk

BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD - Gettmapping plc, one of the UK's leading suppliers of aerial photography - the company was also behind The Millennium Map project which created sa seamless digital aerial photographic image of the UK - is now providing internet access to its data to users of the PrimeLocation.com property portal. As part of the service property seekers, member estate agencies and solicitors can have online access to aerial photos of over 41,000 properties in England & Wales. The service will be expanded throughout 2002. www.primelocation.com

LEGAL TECH NEW YORK PREVIEW
You've all heard the joke about London buses - there is new one around when you need one and then two come along together. Apparently it is the same with legal technology exhibitions with next week seeing the world's two leading events - LegalTech New York (4-6 February) and Legal IT London (6 & 7 February) taking place at the same time. Memo to show organisers - this is dumb.

With time travel currently unavailable at these offices we are carrying a preview of the New York show in this issue of the ezine - with any highlights reported in a subsequent edition and review of the London show in the next issue of our print newsletter Legal Technology Insider.

The Australian legal software supplier MIDWARE is launching WebDocs at LegalTech. This is an online, collaborative document assembly tool based around the popular HotDocs application which has an estimated 200,000+ users in the United States. Still in the realms of document production, the Anglo-American vendor WORKSHARE TECHNOLOGY is chosing to launch the latest version of its Synergy 2.2 document change management system in New York rather than London next week. New features include full integration with all the major DMS products from iManage, Hummingbird, WORLDOX, OpenText and Documentum.

On the litigation support front, we are hearing reports that another Australian vendor - RINGTAIL SOLUTIONS - is unveiling a new case management system. No further details available at present. Also new is a new program from CASESOFT that links the company's CaseMap application with Summation LG. This application will be available for no charge at www.casesoft.com - the Linker requires Summation LG1.1A and CaseMap 3.5. CaseMap already links to other litigation support tools including Concordance, LiveNote, e-transcript binder, TrialDirector, Sanction, DocuLex, IPRO, and Opticon.

LEGAL COMPUTER SOLUTIONS, a supplier of litigation support extranets, will be previewing LextraNet 4.0, a web-hosted litigation support application that is fully scalable for any size law firm or matter and allows users to search across multiple cases. The new version of LextraNet 4.0 services can fulfill the basic integrated needs of calendaring, task lists, messaging, dockets, chronologies, draft version control, team and private folder. It can also be easily upgraded with modules providing transcript management, a fully searchable discovery document repository, and LextraCode, an online document-coding tool. Other lit support suppliers at LegalTech include APPLIED DISCOVERY and QUORUM.

DYNAMIC VOICE, which has been involved in the voice and data processing sector since 1986, will be using LegalTech as the opportunity to launch a suite of digital dictation and transcription systems customized for the legal market. SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY will be previewing the new client/server versions of its TABS III and CaseMaster accounts and practice management systems. And SV TECHNOLOGY will be showing its LawPort system, which is currently the fastest selling legal application in the United States.

ELITE INFORMATION SYSTEMS, which at the end of last year signalled a major change of strategy with the launch of its Encompass system (this takes advantage of the Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server browser interface to combine document management with a portal system) has announced the integration of Encompass with another popular office automation application: the MacroSuite system from SOFTWISE CONSULTING. As the name suggests, MacroSuite automates the creation of wordprocessing macros and templates. MacroSuite will in due course be available in the UK.

On the online legal publishing front: FINDLAW, now part of the West Group, has launched a one-stop resource centre for corporate counsel. Called FindLaw Corporate Counsel Center it includes industry-specific news and commentary plus a number of time saving online research tools. The site can be found at http://corporate.findlaw.com

And, LEXIS NEXIS will be announcing - the details are still under an embargo at the moment - a strategic alliance with a major publisher of US congressional and political information. The Lexis-Nexis booth will also feature the public debut of the CourtLink e-filing service - which was acquired late last year - as an integrated part of the LexisNexis group, and DolphinSearch - a new search engine that can "read" text with a human like understanding. As the name might imply, the technology is based on research into dolphins' biological echolocation systems. The research has led to breakthroughs in techniques that mimic dolphin and human brain processes and enable computers to understand the meaning of human language. DolphinSearch's query engine retrieves relevant documents about a query term, not just those containing the query term or predefined synonyms. Like humans do, DolphinSearch automatically learns the meaning of words and the relationships between them, based on their context. DolphinSearch should saves firms time and money by making document searches on intranets, extranets, email, the Internet and document management systems more efficient and reliable. www.dolphinsearch.com

To end on a lighter note, visitors to the COMPULAW booth can get their photos taken on CompuLaw's 2002 Harley Davidson Road King bike and receive desktop picture frames as part of the "2002 Leader of the Pack" tour. CompuLaw, the industry leader in publishing court rules databases, will also showcase their Vision WEB Portal Module, which provides users with 24/7 access to view and print schedules from Internet Explorer and Netscape.