ISSUE No.111 - 26.06.2002 SCL set up e-conveyancing forum - KM guru quits Hildebrandt for Baker Robbins - Hummingbird dealroom success in Spain - Criminal justice IT in dark ages says Blair - Online & web site news in brief - Technology news in brief - Workshare launches Synergy 2.3 - Dialog extends online research scholarship - Next issue: 03.07.2002

SCL SETS UP PROPERTY & E-CONVEYANCING GROUP
In the light of the gradual steps towards e-conveyancing and initiatives such the PISCES XML project, IT is having an ever-increasing role to play in the UK property market. Recognising this trend, the Society for Computers & Law (SCL) has decided to form a new IT in Property special interest group for people interested in keeping abreast of developments and helping shape the future of IT in property.

The first meeting of the group will be held in London at 6:30pm on Tuesday 16 July. The topic of discussion will be the SCL response to the government's latest e-conveyancing consultation document. Will all those who would like to attend please email maitland.kalton@kaltons.co.uk as soon as possible.

The group needs the support of people with relevant experience in the field, so if you feel you have a role to play and are interested in joining the committee, please also send a short CV, indicating your particular interest in the area, what contribution you can make and if you are able to host meetings of the committee in your offices.

KM GURU QUITS HILDEBRANDT FOR RIVAL BAKER ROBBINS
Sally Gonzalez has quit the US legal IT consultancy Hildebrandt International to join the rival Baker Robbins & Co consultancy. Gonzalez, who has previously served as the CIO and chief knowledge officer of an AmLaw 100 firm, will be working on law firm KM projects both in the United States and in the UK. Andrew Levison, who heads Baker Robbins' operations in the UK, said Gonzalez was already lined up for at least two KM projects in London this year.

HUMMINGBIRD DEALROOM FINDS FAVOUR IN SPAIN
Cuatrecasas, one of the largest law firms in Spain (it has 17 offices across Spain and Portugal, along with branches in Brussels, New York and Sao Paulo) has purchased a suite of Hummingbird products to support its new practice-wide portal. Cuatrecasas will use Hummingbird EIP to create a single web-based desktop for all applications for attorneys and staff, integrating key software such as email directly into the portal. Cuatrecasas IT director Francesc Munoz said a key factor influencing the choice of Hummingbird over its competition was the availability of PD Accord, Hummingbird's online collaborative framework/virtual dealroom facility, which will allow the firm to build a more secure and feature rich deal room than it has had in place until now.

The Cuatrecasas deal is one of the first to have been landed since Stephen Murphy left the UK to kick-start Hummingbird's activities in Spain/Portugal. Incidentally, recent reports of sightings of Murphy talking to law firms in Dublin do not herald his imminent return to the UK. Along with his Iberian brief, Murphy is also responsible for helping other Euroland countries to get up to speed within the legal market - and unlike the UK, Ireland is part of Euroland.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IT PRIMITIVE - OFFICIAL
Last week the UK's Audit Commission published a report blaming inadequate IT for contributing to delays and inefficiencies within the criminal justice system. In particular the report highlighted the fact that the lack of interoperability between the seven main organisations involved in the criminal justice system (the police, the Probation Service, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Criminal Defence Service, the Prison Service and the magistrates and crown courts) meant it was virtually impossible to share information between the different organisations' IT systems.

By way of confirming these allegations, at last week's Modernising Criminal Justice conference in London, the Prime Minister Tony Blair admitted that "Many of our criminal justice IT systems are still in the dark ages in comparison to other jurisdictions and leading edge private sector organisations." However he went on the promise that there would be a major investment in IT right across the system that will enable them all to communicate effectively. A white paper, incorporating the recommendations of the Auld Review of the Criminal Courts system, is expected to include details of IT proposals when it is published later this year.

ONLINE LEGAL SERVICES & WEB SITE NEWS IN BRIEF

INDUSTRIAL CASE REPORTS - The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England & Wales has launched The Industrial Case Reports Express, a new free online facility for anyone interested in aspects of employment, discrimination and competition law. The service, which takes the form of a brief summary of a decision, is to designed to provide users with a preview of cases that will subsequently be reported in full in The Industrial Case Reports. The service can be accessed via www.lawreports.co.uk

ONLINE OPINIONS FOR UNDER £100 - LawOnOrder (there's a clever pun in the name) is a new online service to solicitors in England & Wales that offers a barrister's advice/opinion on a question of English law and practice for just £80 (GBP) + VAT. Users log in the details of the question via the web and are guaranteed a personal response will be emailed back within 24 hours. There are no subscription charges or hidden extras. www.lawonorder.co.uk

SITECHECK NOW ON THE WEB - Sitecheck, the environmental search report service for commercial properties from Landmark Information Group, has been re-launched and is now available via the internet. The whole report, including maps, is produced in an A4 format making it possible for it to be supplied via email (as a PDF file) within 24 hours from the time of ordering. Landmark say the report is an essential tool for conveyancing solicitors because it assists with the process of environmental due diligence by providing an indicative risk assessment and information on 'source-pathway-receptor' linkages to potential contamination areas within 500m of a subject site's boundary. Sitecheck costs £149, for sites up to 15 hectares, and is available digitally as a PDF within 24 hours or in a hard copy format within 48 hours. www.landmarkinfo.co.uk/orders

MORE THAN AVERAGE LEGAL EXPENSES INSURANCE - MORE TH>N, the quirkily named direct financial services arm of Royal & SunAlliance has launched Family Legal Services, an enhanced legal expenses package offering free access to online legal documents. Over 200 interactive documents, covering a wide range of topics from making a will or getting a refund on faulty goods, to even pre-nuptial agreements and divorces, are available to download via the MORE TH>N web site. Documents are accessed through a secure, password protected site and once completed can be sent to a legal expert for checking. The online documents were developed for the service by Desktop Lawyer, part of the Epoch Software group.

RNIB STILL MAD ABOUT FLASH - The Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) - the UK charity that helps people with sight problems - says it is still unhappy about Macromedia's attempts to make its Flash web design software accessible to people with disabilities. The RNIB recently commissioned a test of Macromedia's new Flash MX technology, which enables blind people to view web sites using screenreaders, however according to Julie Howell, the RNIB's internet campaigns officer "We're disappointed with the results". The main problem is files created in Flash MX are only accessible to the latest version of the Windoweyes screenreader whereas if other screenreaders are used Flash files are still inaccessible. Howell says this situation is unacceptable, adding that "Macromedia needs to recognise its social responsibility - disabled people shouldn't be locked out of the web."

LEGAL TECHNOLOGY NEWS IN BRIEF

KROLL ACQUIRES ONTRACK - Kroll Inc, the risk consulting/private investigations group, has acquired Ontrack Data International, a US supplier of data recovery, electronic discovery and computer forensics services which has just begun making inroads into the UK. The transaction is a tax-free reorganisation valued at approximately $150 million. Ontrack reported revenues of $55.8 million in 2001. Commenting on the deal, Kroll president and CEO Michael Cherkasky said "Through the acquisition of Ontrack, Kroll becomes a leader in the growing electronic discovery and computer forensics marketplace. Ontrack also brings expertise and technology in data recovery that complements our core strength in information gathering and analysis." The new business, called Kroll Ontrack, will operate as Kroll's Technology Services Group. www.krollontrack.com

NEW FACES AT COPITRAK EUROPE - Michelle Harris has joined the London offices of Copitrak Systems as UK customer service & training coordinator, and Gael Allara who joined the technical team at Copitrak's French offices.

XEROX & OMTOOL TEAM UP TO PROVIDE SECURE DOCUMENT DELIVERY - Xerox and Omtool this week launched a new system for organisations, such as law firms, who need to deliver private, hardcopy documents to clients electronically but in a secure, quick and cost-effective way. The system combines Omtool's new AccuRoute software with the built-in scanning capabilities of Xerox's networked Document Centre digital multifunction systems. The resulting system simplifies the distribution of hardcopy documents in electronic form, making it easy to scan and securely send documents by fax or email, while at the same time those organizations can track scanning and delivery costs and bill them back to their clients.

Using Xerox's FlowPort server software, AccuRoute helps office workers create a coded routing cover sheet containing established contacts and global addresses for a distribution list of any size. With AccuRoute, multiple delivery methods (such as fax, email, secure email or file storage) can be selected concurrently. The delivery of hardcopy documents as secure email and fax is managed through Omtool's Genidocs and Genifax server repositories. Billing codes can be validated in real time and easily integrated into document management systems such as iManage and Hummingbird. AccuRoute is immediately available through the Xerox direct sales force and is priced at $4995. www.omtool.com

NEW MAIL ESSENTIALS FOR EXCHANGE - GFI has launched GFI Mail Essentials for Exchange 7, a new product that adds essential utilities not found in Exchange Server to provide more effective corporate email use. With GFI Mail essentials, Exchange administrators can block spam at server level; add corporate messages, including footers and disclaimers to all outgoing email; archive mail; create reports on email use; download mail from POP3 mailboxes and direct it to one or more Exchange mailboxes; and send personalised server-based auto replies. Unlike previous versions, GFI Mail Essentials 7 does not include email content checking and anti-virus features. These now form part of a separate application: GFI MailSecurity for Exchange/SMTP. GFI Mail Essentials 7 is available from distributors or online from the GFI site. Pricing starts at $225 for 10 mailboxes or $445 if bundled with GFI MailSecurity www.gfi.com/mes/

SOLUTION 6 SELECT ISYS TO CATCH CONFLICTS ON INTEREST - Odyssey Development, the developer of the ISYS information retrieval system, and Solution 6 Group, the company behind the CMS Open practice management software, have announced a deal that will see the integration of ISYS search technology within Solution 6's new CiO Conflicts conflict of interest search module. CiO Conflicts is scheduled for a Q3 2002 launch date. ISYS is available both via Odyssey offices around the world and regional distributors. www.isysusa.com

WORKSHARE ANNOUNCES SYNERGY 2.3
Workshare Technology this week announced the release of the newest version - 2.3 - of its Synergy document content collaboration application. In this latest version, as a Microsoft Word document is selected from the document management system (DMS) or local file system to begin a collaboration, the Word document is automatically associated with Synergy. The document is then shown in the DMS or local file system as a Workshare Synergy collaboration file and is represented with a Workshare Synergy icon. All future contributors to the document automatically open the document with Workshare Synergy instead of Word. This new process is designed to give document contributors an easy way to edit the document and submit their proposed changes while also ensuring that no unwanted changes can be made to the original document.

Other new features include enhanced document security via password protection; the ability to print a reduced redline containing only the pages in which changes have taken place; and the introduction of 'Synergy Helper' - an HTML-based quick reference guide can be invoked as a pop-up window to help new Workshare Synergy users learn the product more quickly. Workshare's CTO Barrie Hadfield says many of the version 2.3 enhancements are a direct result of conversations with early adopters of Synergy. www.workshare.com

DIALOG EXTENDS SUMMIT SCHOLARSHIPS TO EUROPE
Dialog, part of the Thomson Corporation, is looking for applicants from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for the first Roger Summit Scholarship to be offered in the region. The scholarship, which is named after Dialog's founder, is worth 5000 Euros to a graduate student from the EMEA region enrolled in an accredited library or information sciences course.

The deadline for EMEA applicants is 18 October 2002. The EMEA scholarship award will be presented at the Online Information 2002 Conference and Exhibition, to be held in December 2002 at Olympia in London. An application form can be accessed at http://training.dialog.com/gep/scholarship.html

Scholarships are also being awarded this year in North America, and in Australia/New Zealand. (In 2003, the scholarship program will be expanded to encompass the entire Asia Pacific region.) Scholarship winners are selected by information professionals and educators based locally in each of the regions. Criteria include academic achievement, demonstrated interest in electronic information services and faculty recommendations.