Internet Newsletter for Lawyers & Law 2.0 |
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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.
This is the first issue with the new extended title, now including "Law 2.0", the legal manifestation of "Web 2.0". This Newsletter has always been at the cutting edge of the internet for lawyers and we intend to stay there!
2. Patrick Overy of the European Documentation Centre at the Law Library of the University of Exeter describes the amazing amount of information now available on the Europa site. Whilst the information is all available on the site, free to access, it takes some detailed knowledge of the way the site is structure to find your way round it and Patrick gives us a guided tour and points out the most useful areas.
3. Jan Durant, Director of IT at Lewis Silkin, describes the options which lawyers now have for remote access and flexible working, including Blackberry's and Windows Mobiles (and the pros and cons of each), Unified Messaging, Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), Outlook Web Access (OWA), and Virtual Private Networks (VPN).
4. Lisa Burton of Legal Inc gives us an introduction to the Electronic Presentation of Evidence (EPE) covering the types of cases and the courts where it is most used, the major techniques available for presentation, the benefits in terms of both cost and clarity which it can bring, the limitations of the technology and the issues still to be overcome.
5. Most legal blogs in the UK are written by solicitors perhaps this is just because there are more solicitors than barristers or perhaps also there are particular personality traits required to be a blogger! However, there is still a good variety of blogs from barristers, many providing significant legal resources and commentary, and I cover the most important ones.
6. Kieran Gilmurray of Belfast firm Wilson Nesbitt, gives an introduction to the topic of Virtualization - the series of software and hardware techniques to make one computer operate like several computers, or indeed the other way round. There are significant cost savings to be had from virtualization but this technology is not for the faint hearted.
7. Can you steal invisible (virtual) assets? This is the question asked by David Flint of Scottish firm MacRoberts. The case arises from the (claimed) passing off of one virtual supplier as another on Second Life (which takes us back to Web 2.0....).
In the July/August issue we look at web 2.0 sites and how “social networking” works as well as some of the
legal issues involved. Domain names are part of the infrastructure of the internet but you may be a little
hazy about how they work; we provide a tutorial on these. We describe a new sort of integrated online marketing
which includes placing a video clip on YouTube, Google and Yahoo. We learn about elexica, Simmons & Simmons
marketing and client-based site. We look at outsourcing and offshoring as it extends beyond transcription
and into “real” legal work. Podcasting is not as hard as it sounds and we give a step by step guide of how
to do it. We hear about steady progress in e-conveyancing and we discover another legal “freebie” on Garden
Court Chambers website. And finally, we look at Virtual Chambers - are they the model of the future?
In the May/June 2007 issue, we provide a detailed article on hosted email and describe how "Software as a Service"
is becoming an important part of the IT marketplace. We cover Google PageRank - what it is and why it matters.
We look at the illegal downloading of music and the key cases which are driving the current developments.
We cover email notices and email footers from the point of view of limited companies. We examine virtual law
firms and consider the key factors they share and in what respects they differ. We look at how a group of
Law Societies in the South East have set up an online recruitment service and we give a progress report on
the Statute Law Database. Finally we look at the role of the barristers' clerk in a modern online world.
The March/April asks Who needs an IT department? and considers the many IT functions which can now be outsourced,
including data storage, accounts and practice management, case tracking, web site hosting, telecoms, typing and
dictation. In the next issue, there will be an article on hosted (outsourced) email, which is a major topic in
its own right. We then cover the development of the "free access to law" movement across the world and examine
how it all fits together. Returning to the domestic scene, we look at how to create a good set of fee-earner
profiles for your web site and examine how the internet has changed the way that law firms recruit their trainees.
We explore the data protection challenges faced by businesses operating user generated websites - those commonly
known as Web 2.0. What rights (and risks) do the contributors have? We also cover a wiki used by a major New Zealand
firm which gathers the firm's collective wisdom on their specialist work area and we return to the theme of
"the law wiki dream" and whether it can ever work.
Full details on past issues:
* Richard Susskind...
* Alison Harvey, Gherson & Co....
* Senior Assistant Librarian (Law Lords Library)...
* Michael Haddrell, IT Manager, McEwens...
* Rowan Alys, Sydney Mitchell.....
* Elizabeth Graham, Librarian, Brodies, Glasgow.....
* Jill Cave-Browne-Cave....
* Vivian Grainge, Library and Information Services Manager, Freeth Cartwright
(Other Subscribers)
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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.
The cost is £45 for the year (6 issues), or 68 euros.
I will be pleased to provide FOUR back issues of the printed newsletter without charge,
with any new subscription, and also access to ALL back issues on the web.
No money is needed in advance - just email me with your order, and you
will be invoiced with the Newsletter.
(Please give me your full name and postal details, and also phone number).
If you prefer to subscribe and pay online you can do so on
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).
The price includes a printed copy. I will be pleased to provide THREE back issues of the printed newsletter without charge,
with any new subscription, and also access to ALL back issues on the web.
As above, I am happy to accept an order by email. I will invoice you with the initial material.
If you prefer to subscribe and pay online (rather than be invoiced) you can do so on
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).
Here are the main stories covered in the November/December issue:
1. Nick Holmes provides a description of what Web 2.0 is all about. This is a "revision" article for those who have already been following the development of Web 2.0 and also an introductory article for readers who are not yet up to speed on this new(ish) topic. He describes the collection of services making up Web 2.0, the tools and techniques (and buzzwords) associated with it and the ways in which lawyers are already making use of the new interactive facilities it offers.
Quick Summaries of Recent Issues (printed copies of these FOUR will be provided free to new subscribers).
In the September/October issue, we look at six new legal blogs on Family Law, what is happening in the field
of Online Dispute Resolution, how new technology is enabling firms to make more efficient use of their physical
premises, how one solicitor is using voice recognition to speed up the production of emails, how BarristerWeb
(a virtual chambers) actually works, how one firm of solicitors developed an online brand, what the new breed
of practice management systems is offering and prospects for a new wiki for Intellectual Property Law.
Comments from Subscribers
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We are enthusiastic readers of the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers which we find very informative.
I have found it to be an invaluable resource.
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.
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.
I find the newsletter very interesting and informative. Thank you for all your efforts.
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.
I think the newsletter is great.
* Thanks for your journal which (somewhat to my surprise since I am not particularly IT focussed)
I get more out of than other.
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