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.
Here are the main stories this time:
1. Nick Holmes looks at Gov 2.0 - how Web 2.0 can be used to deliver information designed for the user rather than the provider, how the citizen can be more involved in the process of democracy and how public sector information can be "freed up" for re-use by citizens and businesses.
2. Damien Behan of Scottish firm Brodies assesses the impact of external social networking on firms: is it just trendy to allow unfettered access or does it need to be kept under control. He finds some evidence on both sides of the argument.
3. Delia Venables continues her series of articles on virtual law firms. She interviews Heather Rose of Towcester Family Law Practice who provides legal services in her own area (rather than nationally or internationally) and takes the office to the client, usually in the client's own home.
4. Reema Corney of Merrill Legal Solutions describes how courtroom technology has changed over the last few years and how the various big names in court reporting, starting with Smith Bernal and then moving on to WordWave, LegalLink and now Merrill, have broadened the scope - and the context - in which courts can operate.
5. Nick Holmes gives a tutorial on Google Custom Search Engines - what they are, what you can do with them, how you do it, and issues which may arise when you limit searches in particular ways.
6. Justin Web of Human Law Mediation looks at the way that the web has impacted reputation - and how hard it is to control information (including libellous information) once it is "out there" on the web. Hostile bloggers are particularly dangerous. He suggests some steps which can be taken to limit the damage caused.
7. In the last issue Alastair Morrison looked at SharePoint, which is a very powerful generator of intranets, document management systems and web sites; this time David Gilroy of Conscious Solutions looks at a simpler intranet "out of the box" solution called Intranet Dashboard. We hear from a firm using this product and Delia also gives some brief pointers to other products.
8. Bruce Lawson puts a point of view that web sites created by SharePoint may contravene the Disability Discrimination Act, since SharePoint doesn't publish in a manner that adheres to internationally recognised accessibility guidelines.
The newsletter is primariy 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".
In the January/February 2008 issue I provide an article on Software as a Service - what it is, the main
legal software companies already providing their software in this way, and why it will be going mainstream
in 2008. A small firm describes how it "went virtual", giving a blow by blow account of the services and
resources needed to do this. A legal librarian describes how legal research in England differs from legal
research in the USA - what is different, and why. Laurie Kaye provides a concise guide to what you should
know about digital media law including liability for third party content, privacy, jurisdiction and the
role of technical standards. A medium sized firm describes why it decided to produce its own HIPs and how
it does this. We cover 11 years of Internet Law with Graham Smith and we find out how PLC is working on its
own Law 2.0 products in connection with the new Companies Act.
In the November/December 2007 issue Nick Holmes provides a description of what Web 2.0 is all about - the services, tools,
techniques and buzzwords associated with it and the ways in which lawyers are already making use of the new
interactive facilities it offers. We provide a guided tour of the legal resources available on the massive
Europa site. We describe 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. We describe the main features of the Electronic
Presentation of Evidence (EPE) describing where it is most used and the major techniques available for presentation
and also give 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. Finally, we return to the
theme of Web 2.0 with an article about whether it is possible to steal invisible (virtual) assets.
This is the basis of various current court cases in the USA developing from activities on Second Life.
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.
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.
Full details on recent issues:
* Richard Susskind...
* Alison Harvey, Gherson & Co....
* Senior Assistant Librarian (Law Lords Library)...
* Fawzi Zuberi (Partner), Lighthouse Solicitors
* 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
* Richard Jennings, R.D.Y.Jennings & Co, North Yorkshire
(Other Subscribers)
* 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!
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 usual cost is £45 for the year (6 issues) or 60 euros but there is a
Special Summer Offer running at the moment - if you subscribe via the infolaw
site, as above, the first year's cost will only be £30!
(Note that this special offer is only open to people who do not have current subscriptions.
It IS available however to people who have had subscriptions in the past which have now
lapsed - believe it or not, there are a few people in this category!)
Go to
Internet Newsletter for Lawyers & Law 2.0
and follow the link at the top to "About the Newsletter and How 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.
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 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).
May/June 2008 issue
Quick Summaries of Recent Issues (printed copies of the most recent THREE will be provided free to new subscribers
as well as all of them available online).
In the March/April issue, we look at the way that law firms are engaging with the social networking sites
of Web 2.0 - it is not really a question of "whether" they should do this but "how". And, is it possible
(or desirable) to control the use of these sites by staff? We look at how entrepreneurs are collecting
domain names, not as "cybersquatters" but as "domainers". We describe how some firms are using their
lawyers to produce video lectures of particular legal topics for training purposes which can then also
be linked into searches of external legal resources (to keep them up to date) and incorporated into the
firm's Knowledge Management systems. We consider the need for a global data protection resource, since
so much of our data crosses national boundaries these days, and describe a new Europe-wide data protection
resource launched recently. We look at the process by which Richard Susskind is finishing his upcoming
book "The end of Lawyers?" and describe some of the themes emerging. We describe the different types
of mobile device now available and how lawyers are using the new devices. We also give a detailed tutorial
on Microsoft's SharePoint, a multiple purpose tool for creating portals, web sites and intranets - very
powerful but rather scary.
Note that ALL these are available to subscribers on line.
Comments from Subscribers
Keep the Newsletters coming. I'm a big fan!
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 newsletters are excellent and have already helped us in terms of giving us ideas on how to develop our I.T systems.
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.
Please renew subscription - and thanks for another good year.
* Thanks for your journal which (somewhat to my surprise since I am not particularly IT focussed)
I get more out of than other.
Purchase Details and Special Summer Offer
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,
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