Joe Davis

Beyond just keeping an eye on our to-do list, modern knowledge workers need to track their progress to ensure goals will be met, as well as to capture history to run analyses and learn from the past. The Microsoft 365 suite offers a wide variety of capabilities to help with task management, but it’s often difficult to decide which tool is the best fit for a given use case. The purpose of this article is to provide some guidelines.

Collaboration is still key to the way the legal world works, and firms that invest the time and energy into Microsoft Teams will be able to take advantage of the platform that enables that collaboration.

Most legal technology discussions are focused on the future, but the “Disrupt the DMS” session at ILTACON 2021 started by looking back. Microsoft announced Matter Center at ILTACON 2014 as middleware that would allow SharePoint to be used as a document management system. Some saw this as the beginning of the end for the incumbent DMS vendors while others remained skeptical. In a surprise move, Microsoft released the Matter Center code as open-source software toward the end of 2015… Show more

Most legal technology discussions are focused on the future, but the “Disrupt the DMS” session at ILTACON 2021 started by looking back. Microsoft announced Matter Center at ILTACON 2014 as middleware that would allow SharePoint to be used as a document management system. Some saw this as the beginning of the end for the incumbent DMS vendors while others remained skeptical. In a surprise move, Microsoft released the Matter Center code as open-source software toward the end of 2015, effectively signaling that they planned no further development of the product internally. Many at the time assumed that this was the end of the “SharePoint as a DMS” discussion, and the traditional DMS still lives on today in law firms and corporate legal departments.

Those who thought the discussion was over in 2015 may be surprised at the number of in-person and online attendees at the “Disrupt the DMS” session. Changes in the landscape are causing the legal world to reconsider how they think about documents, and some are finding that not only is SharePoint a viable option, it is an increasingly attractive one. Show less

Litera kicked off the new year by announcing it had added Foundation Software Group to its growing roster of high-profile acquisitions. While Litera is primarily known for its document drafting tools, the company expanded its reach by adding Workshare and Doxly to the brand in 2019, and Best Authority and Allegory Law in 2020. Foundation represents its first foray into the business side of law.

Foundation bills its eponymous software as firm intelligence, bringing together data from… Show more

Litera kicked off the new year by announcing it had added Foundation Software Group to its growing roster of high-profile acquisitions. While Litera is primarily known for its document drafting tools, the company expanded its reach by adding Workshare and Doxly to the brand in 2019, and Best Authority and Allegory Law in 2020. Foundation represents its first foray into the business side of law.

Foundation bills its eponymous software as firm intelligence, bringing together data from financial and HR systems, lawyer histories and client profiles to create a snapshot of a firm’s experience. ‘Foundation is a modern platform that is tackling a critical problem but doing it in a very elegant way,’ says Barry Solomon,
Foundation’s executive vice president. Show less

The legal world has had a love/hate relationship with cloud-based systems. It is hard to argue against
the notion that almost all the innovation happening in technology is cloud-based. Law firms and corporate legal departments are quick to fly the innovation flag, though many have avoided the cloud for a variety of reasons, preferring instead to maintain their data in their own data center. More progressive firms that have adopted a private cloud model have effectively virtualized the… Show more

The legal world has had a love/hate relationship with cloud-based systems. It is hard to argue against
the notion that almost all the innovation happening in technology is cloud-based. Law firms and corporate legal departments are quick to fly the innovation flag, though many have avoided the cloud for a variety of reasons, preferring instead to maintain their data in their own data center. More progressive firms that have adopted a private cloud model have effectively virtualized the servers in their data center and moved them to the Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services platform. This approach outsources management of the physical elements of the data center but fails to take advantage of many of the other benefits the cloud has to offer. Application containerization is one such benefit that legal IT is only beginning to leverage. Containerized server-based applications have the potential to revolutionize the way applications are managed and integrated, and Reynen Court is ready to combine those features with other technology – including its own app store – to lead the revolution. Show less

Nextlaw In-House Solutions is a consulting group that helps in-house legal departments with a variety of legal operations challenges. ‘That means we advise law departments on how to improve efficiency and on how to evolve and mature their operational models,’ says Ben Weinberger, recently appointed as
the firm’s Legal Operations Director.

Clifford Chance launched its Applied Solutions unit about a year ago as a way to respond to changing client needs, particularly in the area of regulatory compliance. Jeroen Plink, who leads the unit, says that between 2007 and 2017, the global finance industry had to process about 50,000 new pieces of legislation or regulation. That was an average of 284 changes per day. ‘Our clients are faced with a tremendous regulatory burden,’ he says. ‘The combination of new competition and the increased… Show more

Clifford Chance launched its Applied Solutions unit about a year ago as a way to respond to changing client needs, particularly in the area of regulatory compliance. Jeroen Plink, who leads the unit, says that between 2007 and 2017, the global finance industry had to process about 50,000 new pieces of legislation or regulation. That was an average of 284 changes per day. ‘Our clients are faced with a tremendous regulatory burden,’ he says. ‘The combination of new competition and the increased pressure on our clients made the firm realize that a shift towards a new model was necessary.’ Show less

Simply billing time is no longer enough—the market is increasingly requiring firms to respond differently, and the field of practice management is working to facilitate that transition. Toby Brown oversees a variety of functions—including legal project management and lateral partner acquisition—but pricing is at the core of his role. Brown is the Chief Practice Management Officer at Perkins Coie, an Am Law 50 firm with more than 1,100 attorneys. ‘My focus on pricing is really around revenue and… Show more

Simply billing time is no longer enough—the market is increasingly requiring firms to respond differently, and the field of practice management is working to facilitate that transition. Toby Brown oversees a variety of functions—including legal project management and lateral partner acquisition—but pricing is at the core of his role. Brown is the Chief Practice Management Officer at Perkins Coie, an Am Law 50 firm with more than 1,100 attorneys. ‘My focus on pricing is really around revenue and margin,’ he says. ‘I do a lot of evangelizing on what profitability is and how to improve profitability in the way we price and deliver our services.’ Show less

When Ginevra Saylor talks about her new role as director of innovation programs for Gowling WLG, she borrows the idea of ‘delighting customers’ from consumer-facing technology companies like Apple. ‘It’s exciting to be exploring ways that we can really delight our clients, which I don’t think is something that lawyers were thinking of doing 100 years ago,’ she says.

Saylor, who works out of the Toronto office, started her career as a practising lawyer before moving into knowledge… Show more

When Ginevra Saylor talks about her new role as director of innovation programs for Gowling WLG, she borrows the idea of ‘delighting customers’ from consumer-facing technology companies like Apple. ‘It’s exciting to be exploring ways that we can really delight our clients, which I don’t think is something that lawyers were thinking of doing 100 years ago,’ she says.

Saylor, who works out of the Toronto office, started her career as a practising lawyer before moving into knowledge management about 20 years ago. In the last few years, she has seen a change in the nature of client requests. ‘My work started to shift to more client-facing solutions—ways of delivering our services differently that would be more appealing to clients—and so it really took on this innovation focus,’ she says. ‘And I soon realized that was the part of my job that was exciting me the most.’ Show less

In 2018, the perception of artificial intelligence in the legal world began the transition from existential threat to business tool. While law firms and corporate legal departments that have fully integrated AI into their workflows are still in the minority, there was a significant increase in interest in this technology. Over the course of the year, ILTA’s member and vendor communities continued to share their expertise through articles, webinars and conference panels. Below is a guide to… Show more

In 2018, the perception of artificial intelligence in the legal world began the transition from existential threat to business tool. While law firms and corporate legal departments that have fully integrated AI into their workflows are still in the minority, there was a significant increase in interest in this technology. Over the course of the year, ILTA’s member and vendor communities continued to share their expertise through articles, webinars and conference panels. Below is a guide to that content, along with some (hopefully) helpful commentary. Show less

Leigh Snider often has to explain what she does as a legal process engineer, so she has now perfected her answer. ‘I examine processes and technology - especially related to AI - to drive client value proactively by connecting the business of law to the art of the possible,’ she says. Snider is a part of the innovation team called IncuBaker at BakerHostetler, a US-based law firm.

It wasn’t about AI or machine learning or Kira in particular, it was about process improvement,” says Michael Tominna, Director of Technology in Practice for DLA Piper, a global law firm with more than 4200 attorneys. The firm is the mid-market leader in merger and acquisition deals, having completed more than 550 last year. The feedback the firm received from corporate and M&A clients was that the due diligence process should be as quick and affordable as possible. On a mission to address… Show more

It wasn’t about AI or machine learning or Kira in particular, it was about process improvement,” says Michael Tominna, Director of Technology in Practice for DLA Piper, a global law firm with more than 4200 attorneys. The firm is the mid-market leader in merger and acquisition deals, having completed more than 550 last year. The feedback the firm received from corporate and M&A clients was that the due diligence process should be as quick and affordable as possible. On a mission to address client needs, DLA Piper embarked on a process that led to the global implementation of Kira Systems software. Show less

We asked some of our contributors this year for their thoughts as we move from 2017 to 2018.

Blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) are no longer just buzzwords - they are maturing technologies that many believe will be key components of the next generation of solutions to a wide variety of challenges. Smart contracts, identity, currency, energy and real estate are just a few of the areas in which technology is beginning to outpace the law. The time has come for technologists to work together with law firms, corporate legal departments, governments and nongovernmental… Show more

Blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) are no longer just buzzwords - they are maturing technologies that many believe will be key components of the next generation of solutions to a wide variety of challenges. Smart contracts, identity, currency, energy and real estate are just a few of the areas in which technology is beginning to outpace the law. The time has come for technologists to work together with law firms, corporate legal departments, governments and nongovernmental organizations to establish and advance common goals. Show less

“I was always kind of frustrated with some of the challenges,” said Dan Hauck, “in terms of how difficult it was to collaborate, how over-reliant we are on email to manage files, to share ideas, to communicate with our colleagues, and I thought that there was really a huge opportunity to do something innovative to address the problem that lawyers and professionals had.” That frustration led Hauck to leave his job as an associate at a large law firm to co-found ThreadKM, the company recently… Show more

“I was always kind of frustrated with some of the challenges,” said Dan Hauck, “in terms of how difficult it was to collaborate, how over-reliant we are on email to manage files, to share ideas, to communicate with our colleagues, and I thought that there was really a huge opportunity to do something innovative to address the problem that lawyers and professionals had.” That frustration led Hauck to leave his job as an associate at a large law firm to co-found ThreadKM, the company recently acquired by NetDocuments. Show less

As day two of ILTACON unfolded at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, the Global Legal Blockchain Consortium (GLBC) held its launch meeting in the nearby Four Seasons hotel. BakerHostetler CIO Bob Craig gave the opening address at the event. ‘I believe the next wave is upon us, and that wave is blockchain and all the possibilities that come with this new technology,’ he said.

Most discussions around artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal industry have focused on ways that it can assist attorneys with the practice of law, such as contract review and legal research. Those areas show great promise — once law firms are willing to embrace emerging technologies — but AI requires an investment of time and money that many law firms would prefer to avoid. Soon, lawyers will feel the effects of AI on their bottom line as their clients invest in technologies designed to… Show more

Most discussions around artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal industry have focused on ways that it can assist attorneys with the practice of law, such as contract review and legal research. Those areas show great promise — once law firms are willing to embrace emerging technologies — but AI requires an investment of time and money that many law firms would prefer to avoid. Soon, lawyers will feel the effects of AI on their bottom line as their clients invest in technologies designed to reduce the amount they spend on outside counsel.
Show less

While it did not receive a significant amount of coverage in the legal technology press, cloud-based document management company NetDocuments took a significant step forward when it was acquired by Clearlake Capital in early March. Once the dust settled, I talked to Matt Duncan, NetDocuments’ CEO and Marriott Murdock, Senior Director of Marketing, about how the deal came about, and what it means for NetDocuments customers.

Even before the keynote speech at the iManage ConnectLive conference began, attendees paying attention to social media knew about the biggest news from the company since it became independent from HP: iManage acquired RAVN Systems. The deal closed on the night before the conference began, which left little time for the presenters to prepare a flashy presentation. In fact, during Neil Araujo's keynote, it almost seemed as if the announcement would be relegated to a brief mention, buried among… Show more

Even before the keynote speech at the iManage ConnectLive conference began, attendees paying attention to social media knew about the biggest news from the company since it became independent from HP: iManage acquired RAVN Systems. The deal closed on the night before the conference began, which left little time for the presenters to prepare a flashy presentation. In fact, during Neil Araujo's keynote, it almost seemed as if the announcement would be relegated to a brief mention, buried among more in-depth sections about Work 10's features. Show less

OK, so Watson won “Jeopardy!” back in 2011. That’s ancient history in technology years. ILTA provides a wealth of programming about the current state of affairs in Artificial Intelligence that will benefit law firms and corporate legal departments. In the future, I’m sure we’ll have a bot to curate all this content for us. In the meantime, below is a sampling of some of ILTA’s best AI-related content from ILTACON, Insight, webinars, white papers and Peer To Peer.

Alvin Tedjamulia sleeps only about 4 hours per night. "My mind is always thinking how can we solve this, how do we improve security, how do we improve reliability..." As CTO and co-founder of NetDocuments, Tedjamulia spends the other 20 hours of the day working on perfecting the cloud-based document management system (DMS) that seeks to breathe new life into the way law firms handle documents.

“I’m extremely optimistic,” says Neil Araujo, as we sit down to talk about the latest chapter in
the story of iManage. He chooses his words carefully, but that does not hide his excitement
about regaining control of the company he co-founded 20 years ago. Araujo is once again the
CEO of iManage, after leading the company through a buyout from Hewlett-Packard (HP).

The legal document management system landscape has not changed much in the past 10 years. That’s why the big news from ILTA’s 2014 conference in Nashville was Microsoft’s announcement of their own DMS: Matter Center for Office 365.

Lawyers love documents. They love creating documents, reading documents, commenting on documents, and even comparing documents to other documents - which, of course, produces more documents. Here are five Document Management System trends to watch for in the next five years.