Editor's foreword

Ark Group is once again in the final weeks of preparation for its annual LEX Connect event (27-28 February 2006). The format of the event has worked well, with practical workshops balanced against networking sessions and one-to-one meetings between law firms and legal solution providers.

In anticipation of this year’s get-together, I went behind the scenes to ask solution providers about the challenges they foresee in the legal profession and what plans they have in this space for the coming year (full report, page 24). What was surprising was just how much is going on in legal technology right now. In an industry that is meant to be slow to embrace IT opportunities, law firms have worked steadily to implement some impressive technology solutions. The ‘Athena’ knowledge-management (KM) system at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy’s ‘Omnia’ matter-centric solution spring to mind as particular examples of bespoke systems that highlight both law firms’ abilities to innovate, as well as the rising importance of IT departments in supporting productivity and profitability. But it is not just the magic-circle firms that are keen to make an impact with IT. Mid-tier firms, notably Berwin Leighton Paisner and Wragge & Co, continue to demonstrate a highly strategic use of technology that not only meets internal productivity/cost-efficiency needs, but also improves client service.

Among the solution providers, 2005 appeared a year of movement and collaboration. Last summer, David Thorpe, the well-known and respected general manager for the European operations of Thomson Elite, joined Tikit, leaving what might have been a significant hole in the Elite team. But Thomson Elite was quick to make its own scoop, appointing Derk Krophellor, who had worked for Aderant, as director of sales. Soon after, news came that Thomson Elite had secured existing client DLA Piper for a firm-wide practice-management system, which was surely an essential win in a competitive market.

After all, Thomson Elite’s main competitor Aderant also had a busy year, confirming an internal product re-branding process, and developing partnerships with FWBS and Microsoft to further support its product offerings. Nor is Aderant alone in such collaboration, with numerous solution providers working in concert to gain market share. It seems likely that further such partnerships will develop into 2006 and beyond.

From the law-firm perspective, there is also continuing interest in enterprise-resource-planning solutions, which although expensive, could provide a simple, integrated solution, particularly for international firms. For smaller firms, the cost of an all-in-one ERP system is less attractive, but if SAP manages to successfully market its ‘out of the box’ solution for the SMB market, the competition between ‘best of breed’ and ERP might heat up. And, combined with hopes that enterprise-search solutions will reinvigorate law-firms’ interest in KM, and that HR systems will gain increasing attention, there is every sign that 2006 will be a hotbed of IT innovations in the legal profession. And, of course, if firms are investing to make internal processes more efficient and streamlined, it will not only be the lawyers, but their clients that will benefit.

Caroline Poynton
Editor

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