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Internet Newsletter for Lawyers & Law 2.0

The Internet Newsletter for Lawyers & Law 2.0 covers how the internet presents the law, how it widens access to the law, how it is affecting society and the world we live in, how it is affecting legal practice, getting the best from your website and legal aspects of e-commerce.

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The Internet Newsletter for Lawyers & Law 2.0 has become a community of lawyers, and those working with lawyers, who are interested in the legal internet from all its "angles" - how it presents the law, how it widens access to the law, how it is affecting society and the world we live in, legal aspects of e-commerce and websites, how lawyers themselves use it for communicating and for improving service to their clients, how it is changing legal practice for both solicitors and barristers, how they use the internet to market themselves and to sell legal services on the web and IT issues relating to all these topics.

It is typically taken by lawyers interested in how to develop their website and how to make the best use of resources online (particularly free ones), lawyers looking to develop the services they can offer their clients, marketing people within firms and chambers working on raising their profile and getting new work, IT staff responsible for applications related to the internet, and librarians and information-related staff, who circulate the newsletter to those with a special interest in one or more topics.

Main stories in the current issue.... Comments from Subscribers.... Purchase Details

May/June 2010 issue

Here are the main stories this time:

  • Should law firms develop a presence on the social networks? We start a series of short articles by Jordan Furlong on how lawyers can promote themselves effectively, starting with Facebook.
  • The meaning of the word “chambers” depends on who you ask, or where you look for the answer. This would affect the meaning of a “virtual chambers” too. Stephen Ward discusses the issues and considers whether his chambers, Clerksroom, is a virtual chambers.
  • Continuing our series on marketing and referral companies, Justin Patten reviews Legallybetter.com. Their special feature is that they brings independent consumer reviews and ratings of solicitors from around the UK together in one place. As always in this series, we include user reviews so you can see what real users think of the service in question.
  • Search Engine optimisation (SEO) is all about how to be “found” by the major search engines and given a good position in the results page. David Gliroy provides a step by step guide to what you can do to improve the Google rating for your site.
  • DirectLaw is an online document drafting system which enables firms of solicitors to sell their own documents online. Many commentators (and firms) think that it will be important in the future to offer services of this sort from their web site either as a complete process or as a first stage to “conventional” services. I describe how the system works and also talk to several users about why they feel that a solution of this form is necessary and how it is going so far.
  • We return to the theme of what firms can do with social media in an article by Scottish solicitor David Flint. His firm, MacRoberts, is experimenting with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn but he remains rather underwhelmed.
  • The MoJ RTA PI claims scheme, introduced on 30 April, provides fixed stages and costs for claims valued between £1,000 and £10,000 ­ the vast majority. The process is effected via a new electronic portal. Neil Worrall of Camps Solicitors tells us how it is going so far.
  • Google wins the AdWords battle ­ but not the war. Oran Arif and Margaret Briffa bring us up to date in this legal battle about the use of (other peoples’) trademarks as keywords in online advertising.
The newsletter is primarily a printed publication (not everyone wants to spend their whole day glued to a computer) but it is also provided online, without extra charge. You can see what the newsletter looks like
here. You cannot see the full stories unless you are a subscriber but you can see how it "looks and feels".

Quick Summaries of Recent Issues

(Printed copies of the most recent THREE issues will be provided free to new subscribers as well as ALL of them available online).

In the March/April 2010 issue, we look at the new EU directive about cookies, and what sort of consent a website needs to set up a cookie on a browser’s computer. Continuing our series on marketing and referral companies, we review TakeLegalAdvice, a well established service with around 400 firms as members. We look at Perren Buildings, a group of criminal solicitor advocates working together in a new type of structure. We consider the concept of “local search” which should enable someone looking for a solicitor in your own area to find YOU. We look at how solicitors at Lawrence Graham now use their Blackberry to record, and then transmit, their dictation, using an application from Bighand. We hear how Addleshaw Goddard are using social media to share information on legal topics, client areas and know-how generally. And we provide shorter articles on how public sector data is now becoming widely available on a Creative Commons type of licence, how Google is now offering legal opinions on Google Scholar (mainly USA based so far) and the latest developments in the Google Book Settlement.

In the January/February 2010 issue, Richard Susskind describes the innovations in IT which support the new Supreme Court. We pick out highlights from 2009 in copyright and digital media law and provide a snapshot of where we are now. The series on referral companies continues with a look at LawNet. Can the provision of pro bono legal advice be improved using the facilities of the internet? We hear how LawWorks, the Solicitors Pro Bono Group, is going about this. We look at how Blacklaws Davis works – part “conventional” law firm and part virtual law firm. Cloud computing is set to be one of the key topics of 2010 and we hear what is involved. We suggest 20 ways in which firms could simplify their life, cut out unnecessary processes, and thereby make – or save – more money and we describe a new way of using RSS which enables firms to provide legal news for their clients’ web sites.

In the November/December 2009 issue, we look at The Google Book settlement, which, if approved, will allow Google to put the books of the world online but not everyone thinks this is a good idea. We look at the topic of website accessibility which has gone very quiet recently. Why is this? We explain what is going on in this field. We continue our series on referral sites – which are successful and which are worth buying into; this time we look at Contact Law. We look at the different methods of assessing client satisfaction, and online methods in particular. It is now possible to “mix” elements of web sites, blogs, wikis and even twitter – we hear how this can be done, getting the benefit of all these technologies. We suggest how you can “engage” casual visitors to your site so that they become clients with a description of the devices, facilities and tools you can use for each stage. Not all virtual firms want to be described as "virtual" – we hear why. We provide a short tutorial on the Europa site and describe some of the best legal resources online (free ones) provided by chambers.

In the September/October 2009 issue, we look at the virtual firms which have featured in previous issues of the newsletter and find out how they are getting on now and we also summarise the key technology features which have made virtual firms possible. We start a new series on referral companies – which ones are worth the money? This time we cover Quality Solicitors. We look at the latest developments from Justis and get up to date on the nature and reliability of electronic evidence, disclosure and admissibility. We look at the way that outsourcing is developing. We cover the major features of Search Engine Optimisation with an indication of which areas are worth real effort and which are not. We look at ways in which Web 2.0 can be used within the organisation to make life simpler as well as more efficient.

In the July/August 2009 issue, we look at the development of the Statute Law Database, how it works, the extent to which it can now be relied on and how it is now being integrated with OPSI legislation. We look at the Human Rights database provided by One Crown Office Row and the Current Awareness blog from the Inner Temple Library. We find out why reputation monitoring is important and how you can counteract any bad coverage. We cover another virtual firm and the online tools needed, and we receive a primer on current social networking tools and how they can be used to good effect. We also cover the best 20 online legal resources currently provided by firms of solicitors which are “beyond marketing”.

Full details on recent issues:

Note that ALL these are available to subscribers on line.

Comments from Subscribers

* Richard Susskind...
Keep the Newsletters coming. I'm a big fan!

* Alison Harvey, Gherson...
We are enthusiastic readers of the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers which we find very informative.

* Senior Assistant Librarian (Law Lords Library)...
I have found it to be an invaluable resource.

* Fawzi Zuberi (Partner), Lighthouse Solicitors
The newsletters are excellent and have already helped us in terms of giving us ideas on how to develop our I.T systems.

* Michael Haddrell, IT Manager, McEwens...
The newsletter is a brilliant way to stay updated and connected to all the latest issues and developments. Please, definitely continue our subscription and I am sure you will keep up the good work.

* Rowan Alys, Sydney Mitchell.....
It's always interesting and informative - and written in the sort of plain English that I can pass on to the non-geeky lawyers in our practice.

* Elizabeth Graham, Librarian, Brodies, Glasgow.....
I find the newsletter very interesting and informative. Thank you for all your efforts.

* Jill Cave-Browne-Cave....
I do enjoy your newsletter very much - it is certainly the best of its kind that I have ever read. May you continue with this, and your other great publications, for very many years to come.

* Vivian Grainge, Library and Information Services Manager, Freeth Cartwright
I think the newsletter is great.

* Richard Jennings, R.D.Y.Jennings & Co, North Yorkshire
Please renew subscription - and thanks for another good year.

(Other Subscribers)
* Thanks for your journal which (somewhat to my surprise since I am not particularly IT focussed) I get more out of than other.

* Your newsletter is one publication which I always make sure I read.

* I agree with the judges' comments, easy to assimilate, relevant, up to date information.

* As a subscriber I read your newsletter with great enjoyment and it is a great resource in so many ways.

* The Internet Newsletter is about the best value newsletter my firm subscribes to and I have found it extremely useful both in trying to work out a web strategy and as a "portal" to legal websites which we might otherwise have missed.

* I continue to think it is an excellent review of internet activities and just the right size for me to manage!

* I am not surprised that you won the award. The Newsletter is an excellent publication and I (and my students) find it of enormous value.

* Many thanks for the straightforward instructions on how to arrange access to the Intranet/Multiple Use version. It is refreshing to be able to provide on-line access to a publication via an Intranet without having to go through a long process of negotiating user numbers or having to distribute individual passwords!


Purchase Details

The Newsletter is produced bi-monthly in printed form (designed for lawyers and those who work with lawyers, who do not want to spend ALL their time in front of a computer) but it is also available to subscribers in a web version without extra charge. You can see what the online version looks like at Nick Holmes' infolaw site (although you will not be able to read the full articles unless you have subscribed).

The cost is £45 for the year (6 issues) or 50 euros. Go to Internet Newsletter for Lawyers & Law 2.0 and follow the link at the top to "Subscribe". You can pay with your credit card or pay on receipt of invoice.

You will receive THREE back issues of the printed newsletter without charge, with any new subscription, and also access to ALL back issues on the web.


Multiple Use Licence

For Firms or organisations who wish to encourage general online use across the firm or indeed multiple locations, view and download the pdf version, do lots of photocopying, or all of these, the cost is £75 plus VAT (or 85 euros). This includes Universities and Libraries.

The price includes a printed copy. You will also receive THREE back issues of the printed newsletter without charge, with any new subscription, and also access to ALL back issues on the web.

To subscribe, go to Nick Holmes' infolaw site. You can also see what the newsletter "looks like" on that site (although you will not be able to read the full articles unless you have subscribed).


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