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02 March 2018 / Mike Sanders
Issue: 7783 / Categories: Features , Profession , Technology
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Collaboration technology for law firms

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It’s time for legal professionals to boost online collaboration if they are to see real productivity benefits, says Mike Sanders

  • Collaboration technology has evolved far beyond mere sharing of documents.
  • The latest solutions enable a project management approach, but traditional technologies lag behind.

As law firms continue to expand their presence across the globe, there is a growing need to be productive anywhere, at any time. Deadline demands are getting tighter and clients have higher expectations for law firm productivity.

However, the technology that many law firms are using to allow their lawyers to work together and with clients is creaking. Traditional on-premise systems, requiring legal staff to log in to a number of separate systems to access internal resources and share documents via email, are no longer good enough. If law firms do not address the pressing need to take their productivity to the next level, they will very soon begin to lose clients to competitors who are more flexible and responsive.

Legacy document management systems attempted to demand—often unsuccessfully—that

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Stephen Ward, The Barrister Group

NLJ Career Profile: Stephen Ward, The Barrister Group

From mowing lawns to life at the Bar: Stephen Ward reflects on an unconventional career

Clarke Willmott—Ben Loosemore

Clarke Willmott—Ben Loosemore

Commercial property partner joins Clarke Willmott in Southampton

Ellisons—Robert Tiffen

Ellisons—Robert Tiffen

Robert Tiffen joins Ellisons as Partner in growing Norwich office

NEWS
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.

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