This article first appeared in Legal Web Watch April 2017. Legal Web Watch is a free email service which complements the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers. To receive Legal Web Watch regularly sign up here.
The following items have been selected from Delia Venables’ “New” page.
LEAP celebrates 1000 UK firm milestone
LEAP Legal Software has doubled its UK customer base in the last twelve months and has now passed the 1,000 firm mark with over 6,000 end users of its integrated case management platform. This rapid growth in firms switching to LEAP has been accelerated by the recent launch of LEAP 365, which enables a lawyer to access an up-to-date document or matter, as well as accounting information, from whichever device they are using worldwide. LEAP 365 includes the UK’s largest library of automated forms, document management for the firm and clients, time recording, billing and client accounting.
Legal research platforms – Justis have launched a new website
Justis have launched a new website, providing information on their new (tech-focused) legal research platform. If you want to see what other search and analysis tools are out there for research, or increase your access to case law, this is the place to look! There is a useful video on the homepage telling the viewer all about the new system and indicating some of the special features. You can find out about the tools on their newest platform in the technology section, including a unique tool which highlights the influential passages of a judgment based on how it has been subsequently cited. You can also view detailed information on their case law coverage, which includes expanding UK, Irish, Caribbean and Off-Shore collections. There is a free trial which you can sign up to, from the home page.
Events and updates on Irish and Northern Irish Law
Updates on Irish and Northern Irish Law prepared by Darius Whelan from the School of Law at University College Cork, lists all events of interest to lawyers for the next few months. In each case, the title of the event is given together with basic details and the link to the full information from the organisation concerned. Darius Whelan also provides the Irish Law site which is probably the most comprehensive (and constantly updated) site for Irish lawyers in existence, with a Guide to Irish Law, Irish Legislation and Irish Cases. There is also a description and analysis of online materials by Legal Subject and E-Mail Lists & Groups relating to Irish Lawyers.
Companies Selling Legal Services and Documents Online
Companies Selling Legal Services and Documents Online is the web page I provide on this topic. I am currently in the process of updating this web page, prior to writing an article for the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers. There are over 60 entries on my web page already – this is a flourishing area! Please let me know of any new companies selling legal services or documents online, or tell me about any updates needed to existing entries. My previous article on Firms of Solicitors Selling Legal Services and Documents Online, based on my web page here, was published in the March/April issue of the Newsletter here. There are only about 20 firms of solicitors that I know of, still doing this – quite a few made a strong start a few years ago but have dropped out since then.
Social Media for Lawyers – section updated
Social Media for Lawyers is a section on my site written by Alex Heshmaty of Legal Words. He has now updated this section and it contains a great deal of useful information, including a description of all the main Social Media and Networking Platforms, Blogging, Social Media Management Tools, Training and Analysis.
Eclipse brings it all together with TouchPoint+
Eclipse Legal Systems has launched its latest interactive online portal, TouchPoint+, which uses real-time data from Eclipse’s Proclaim Case and Practice Management system. Building upon Eclipse’s existing TouchPoint system, it provides a device-independent and interactive experience. Law firms can now offer clients and business partners 24/7 access to all types of relevant online information, including case tracking, e-signatures, targeted news feeds and social media links and they can brand the portal experience in line with their current visual identity so that their clients continue to see the firm's logos, colours, background etc. The system now integrates Eclipse’s core online tools FileView Interactive (an online matter tracking system, providing real-time access) and SecureDocs (an online document delivery and acceptance tool). There is more information about the TouchPoint+ launch here.
e-signatures could replace signatures on Land Registry forms.
If a set of proposals by the Land Registry are approved, paper property deeds may finally be replaced by electronic documents and Solicitors would no longer be needed to witness signatures on paper documents. The Land Registry has opened a consultation on amending rules to allow documents to be signed online using the government’s Gov.UK.Verify process. Law Society president Robert Bourns described the move as a ‘positive step’, saying the Society had backed the use of electronic signatures last year with the publication of a practice note for commercial transactions. ‘We are considering the proposals in the rules consultation, and awaiting further important details on exactly how the proposed system will work,’ he said. ‘Our focus will be to ensure that they are practical and effective, and most importantly provide appropriate identity and security measures.’ More from Law Society Gazette and Today's Conveyancer.
HotDocs strengthens its base in Ireland
HotDocs, global leader in document automation software, has partnered with codex-dss, a provider of enterprise scale applications and infrastructure and a major contender in the Irish market of more than 30 years standing. This new partnership agreement will provide Codec-dss clients with HotDocs’ industry leading document automation technology, which provides increased operational efficiency in the production of business-critical documentation and will give HotDocs enhanced access to the Irish marketplace in addition to the other 42 countries it is already represented. There is more information on this new partnership here.
