June 8, 2011

ProLaw White Paper Available on Law Firm Performance Metrics with ProLaw XII

When a law firm asks,  “How are we doing?”, it can be difficult to know which performance metrics really matter.

ProLaw has put together a free white paper that looks at different metrics for measuring law firm performance.  It breaks out seven different management categories that are either in common use or have been proposed by various observers in the legal market.

The newly launched ProLaw XII, which is built on .NET technology with new SQL reporting tools, provides key financial and operational metrics for monitoring firm performance – many of which can be self‐defined by the firm.

John Hanson of Elite discussing these capabilities and other features found in the new ProLaw XII in a Legal Current podcast interview.

You can listen on the player below, or download the podcast here.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

June 7, 2011

Podcast: PMI Shows Improving Law Firm Market

The Hildebrandt Baker Robbins Peer Monitor Index rose again in the first quarter, a result of improving demand for legal services and law firm profitability.  The PMI rose 5 points to a reading of 60, its second consecutive quarterly increase.

While law firms are slowly ramping up their hiring in response to improving demand, weak rate growth and rising expenses pose continuing challenges.

A copy of the report is available for download here.

Mark Medice of Hildebrandt Baker Robbins discusses the Q1 PMI in a Legal Current podcast.

You can listen on the player below, or download the podcast here.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

May 19, 2011

WestlawNext Adds Folder Sharing Across Organizations

WestlawNext now provides sharing of folders among users across multiple organizations.

Last year, WestlawNext add folder sharing between team members within the same organization.  Now, both internal and external team members can share documents and selected text.  Corporate legal departments and their outside counsel can share their research and expand on it, reducing legal costs and producing better results.

You can watch a quick demo on how WestlawNext’s enhanced folder sharing helps law firms and inside counsel work together more efficiently.


April 22, 2011

Thomson Reuters Accelus

Our Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) business has launched the company’s newest signature brand, Thomson Reuters Accelus.

A comprehensive suite of solutions that address the GRC challenges of audit, compliance, legal, and risk management professionals, Thomson Reuters Accelus offers numerous solution areas and a diverse array of products.

Watch a video with David Craig, president, Governance, Risk and Compliance, on our corporate blog, The Knowledge Effect.

April 8, 2011

Westlaw Litigator Launches New Versions of Westlaw CaseLogistix & West Case Notebook

Litigators deal with a lot of information, often scattered across different databases and computer systems.  The Westlaw Litigator suite of tools gives litigators a set of integrated tools that pulls key case information across various sources and integrates it into their case preparation workflow.

As an example, Westlaw CaseLogistix 5.3 & West Case Notebook 2.5 were recently launched, combining e-discovery document review with case analysis.  New integration between the two tools allows litigators to easily send e-discovery documents into West Case Notebook where they can be viewed alongside other key case documents, such as transcripts, briefs, pleadings and legal research, speeding up case preparation.

Allison Guidette, vice president and general manager, Litigation, discusses how Westlaw Litigator helps litigators perform their work efficiently.

For more information on Westlaw Litigator, go here.

April 7, 2011

Brazilian legal research goes online

Today, Thomson Reuters announced the launch of Revista dos Tribunais Online – Brazil’s first online legal research service. It is a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind product that gives legal professionals a full view of Brazilian legal information and promises to dramatically increase productivity for legal professionals across the country, which is second only to the United States in numbers of attorneys per capita.

Revista dos Tribunais Online combines the technology that powers Westlaw, the leading legal research product in the United States, with the high-quality content and intimate market knowledge available in the volumes of Revista dos Tribunais.

“There are some 600,000 lawyers in Brazil,” said Jim Smith, chief executive officer, Thomson Reuters Professional Division, “and we are well positioned to serve this important market with next-generation tools that meet the needs of business and legal professionals in the region.”

Thomson Reuters acquired Editora Revista dos Tribunais, Brazil’s leading legal publisher, in May 2010.

Gonzalo Lissarrague, president of Latin America for the Professional Division of Thomson Reuters, highlighted the fact that legal systems around the world are becoming increasingly complex. “There is exponential growth in the number of laws, judgments and opinions, and only with the most advanced technology can one access a panoramic view of the applicable legal frameworks,” he said.

Read the news release to learn more.

April 7, 2011

Most Americans Opposed to Walking Away From a Mortgage, Says FindLaw Survey

Most Americans are opposed to the notion of homeowners simply walking away from their mortgage, says a new FindLaw survey.  Also called a “strategic default,” some homeowners are choosing to voluntarily stop making their monthly mortgage payments, often because they cannot make the required monthly payments because of unemployment or other circumstances, or because the balance owed on the mortgage exceeds the value of the house.

The FindLaw survey found that 60 percent of Americans say homeowners should never be allowed to simply walk away from their mortgages.  One-third say walking away from a mortgage is ok if the homeowner is no longer able to make the monthly payments.


April 5, 2011

Introducing the New West Store

After months of surveys, focus groups and detailed user testing, all aimed at improving the intuitiveness of west.thomson.com, West Store is open for business.

West Store is easy to use and a bit easier to look at, too. The simplified home page allows for easier navigation, and users will be able to search for products and services with precision and speed.

New features include:

 - Comprehensive practice-area lists and jurisdictional product pages
 - The Westlaw Plan Finder
 - The Product Recommender
 - Service links on every page

More information including a video tutorial is available at www.west.thomson.com.

Check out the news release here.

March 14, 2011

Thomson Reuters to Co-Host 2011 Global Ethics Summit

In today’s global economy, issues of business ethics, corporate responsibility and sustainability take on global dimensions as well. Thomson Reuters is teaming up with the Ethisphere Institute, a leading international think tank, to host the third annual Global Ethics Summit. Leaders from more than 40 global companies will be speaking on this year’s theme of effective global strategies for global corporate compliance.

“Highly regulated firms face significant pressure and costs to better manage risk,” said David Craig, President of Thomson Reuters GRC. “Participating in this event is a tremendous opportunity for everyone facing similar challenges to discuss the most pressing issues and strategies to address them.”

The event will be March 15-16 in New York City. More information can be found here.

March 9, 2011

Podcast: Project Management for Law Firms

Legal Project Management can be an effective approach for firms in handling matters more effectively and efficiently. Susan Lambreth of  Hildebrandt Baker Robbins discusses how proven project management principles can be successfully applied to legal work and how firms can implement project management.

You can listen to this interview edition of Legal Current podcast by clicking on the player below.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Susan Lambreth will be leading a two-day workshop on Legal Project Management in New York, March 29-30. More information is available here.  

We’re also on iTunes (just enter Legal Current in the search box).

If you have suggestions for podcast topics for us to focus on, or people to interview within the practice and business of law, send us an email to contact@legalcurrent.com.

Featured Post

What’s in a word? The Black’s Law Dictionary, 9th edition from Thomson Reuters can provide both definition and pronunciation through a new Android App. When the word of the day isn’t a word you know, Black’s mobile applications is ready to find that content on your Android. 
Black’s is available as an Android App and also [...]

Android App for The Black’s Law Dictionary Now Available
Featured Video

Pangea3 CEO David Perla was a member on the panel for Legal Process Outsourcing 2.0 at the ACC Annual Conference in Denver recently. 
With the rapid growth surrounding LPOs in the legal industry, the panel addressed numerous topics and issues ranging from: how each company addresses the relationship with the LPO differently to the best way [...]

ACC Annual Conference – Legal Process Outsourcing 2.0
Featured Podcast

We’ve got a great podcast this month to kick-off the New Year featuring an interview segment with attorney Yar Chaikovsky about monetizing patents and the forthcoming impacts of patent reform.
Then in our “On the Blawgs” segment we learn about one blogger’s top five social media tips for businesses.
In our “Chaos in the Courts” segment, we [...]

Podcast: January 2012