07

SEPT
2014

Lean Six Sigma: Re-engineering legal efficiency

Legal IT: Educating the next generation of lawyers

Bitcoin: The internet of money

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 CONTENTS

From the editor

5

The E-Discovery
28
6 10
watershed

Let humans be humans: AI and legal Re-engineering legal efficiency

practice

14 24 30
Legal IT: educating the next generation of The internet of money Special delivery
lawyers

Sam Mardon is a London-based

photographer and film maker.
This photograph was taken at
Glasgow Central Station.

36
Is the Surface Pro an iPad killer?

LEGAL IT TODAY

Legal IT Today is published by: Contributors:

Asfour in cooperation with Legal IT Professionals Mark Gould, Stuart Whittle, Patrick McElroy,
Ari Kaplan, David Baskerville
Editor: Joanna Goodman - joanna@legalittoday.com
Design: De Reclamestudio ISSN: 2214-2355
Advertising information: Rob Ameerun - rob@legalittoday.com

LEGAL IT TODAY | 3
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From the editor
Welcome to issue 7 of Legal IT Today where we address some of the burning issues in the general,
technology and legal IT news and we offer additional food for thought in the form of responses to
articles in previous issues.

We look at developments that are changing the way people do considerations. Patrick McElroy at AgileLaw identifies the
business: artificial intelligence (AI), virtual currencies, business Bitcoin dilemma dealing with its complexity in order to reap
process re-engineering and legal technology education. its benefits and discusses some key considerations for early
The key questions are around timing: do we wait until the adopters of digital currency.
next game changer hits the mainstream, or do we risk early
adoption of something that may never catch on? Returning to mainstream topics concerning law firms, Ari
Kaplan shares the results of his recent eDiscovery survey, and
The UK recently experienced the Scottish independence reveals a surprising division among law firms many of whom
referendum. A yes vote for Scottish independence would are shifting their approach in this highly competitive market
have changed the UK irrevocably. Although the no lobby where technology is continually advancing.
prevailed, albeit by a small majority, and Scotland decided to
remain part of the UK, there are already political repercussions Readers in the UK may be familiar with DX as the secure
and there will be more because the decision not to devolve document delivery service that works with the UK Passport
our constitution has made people think about it. The same Service and the US Visa service among others. eDX is the
principle can be applied to business decisions doing nothing online arm of DX and provides email encryption services to
is a decision that has consequences, and these can be as far regional councils and other local authorities. I interviewed
reaching as the consequences of doing something. Our cover Tony Pepper, founder and CEO of eDX, to cast some light on
image by London-based photographer and film maker Sam a concern affecting firms that regularly work with UK public
Mardon depicts the clock in Glasgow Central station. sector clients the ability to save secure, encrypted emails
from those clients in law firms internal systems and other
We hear a lot about the robot lawyers of the future. KM questions around email encryption.
consultant Mark Gould, former head of knowledge at
Addleshaw Goddard, responds to David Halliwells opinion As Apple hedges its bets in terms of screen size trends with
piece about AI in issue 6. Gould is firmly of the belief that AI is the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, David Baskerville reviews the
not generally a good fit for legal. If you would like to respond Surface Pro as another potential iPad replacement. Could it
to this or any other pieces featured here, please contact me also replace the laptop?
and we will continue the debate!
Finally, I am pleased to announce Legal IT Todays first media
Legal technology education is a potential industry game partnership with Netlaw Medias London Law Expo 2014 on
changer and I followed up my conversation with Professor 14 October. I realise our readership is international, but if you
Andrew Perlman of Suffolk Law School to find out what are able to be in London, do come along. The event is free to
was happening on the vendor front. I caught up with Shelby attend. Legal IT Today will be covering the event and it would
Hejjas of Clio, the practice management system (PMS) used by be great to meet you. Further media partnerships are planned
Suffoks legal technology concentration and by over 150 other for 2015.
law schools and paralegal clinics in Clios Academic Access
Program, which gives them free access to Clios software. There I hope you enjoy Legal IT Today. As ever, we aim to share
has been a lot of talk about lawyers lack of IT competence and ideas and opinions across the global legal IT community and
ways of addressing this. One way of eventually eliminating the stimulate discussion. Please get in touch with feedback and
problem is to give law students basic legal IT training as part suggestions for topics, features, and images. It is always good
of their course. The idea is that, whatever system they end up to hear from you.
using, they will still understand how PMSs work and some of
the basic tasks they will have to do.
Joanna Goodman MBA
As ever, we highlight a cutting-edge technology and its actual Editor
and potential impact on the legal sector. As Bitcoin gains joanna@legalittoday.com
currency (sorry!) in the business world, more law firms are http://uk.linkedin.com/in/joannagoodman
starting to accept it, but there are still regulatory and other @JoannaMG22

LEGAL IT TODAY | 5
 Let humans be humans:
AI and legal practice
BY MARK GOULD

Mark Gould, former Head of Knowledge at Addleshaw Goddard

responds to David Halliwells opinion piece on artificial intelligence
(AI) published in issue 6 of Legal IT Today arguing why AI may not
be compatible with legal philosophy and reasoning.

David Halliwell appears to conclude business computing, rather than being Austins more recent proponents is
that there is only limited potential for specific to the law. Where is the real John Searle, who has also taken up
artificial intelligence (AI) in the future of legal artificial intelligence? a position in opposition to so-called
the law. I agree, but for very different strong AI. Perhaps it is not surprising,
reasons. I am less convinced than David Like David, I was fascinated by legal then, that I am also unconvinced by
is about the possibility of successful philosophy as an undergraduate. I assertions that machines will ever be
legal AI at all. was particularly interested in the way capable of understanding, applying
that thinking about adjudication and and developing the law.
The first legal expert systems were legal analysis might be compared with
created over 30 years ago, but the use theories of language and meaning. The Chinese Room
of such tools in legal work has not taken One of the original thinkers in this There is a debate in the AI world
off. The systems mentioned in David area was J.L. Austin, whose slim that can be roughly summarised as a
Halliwells article are almost exclusively work, How to Do Things With Words, dispute between those who admit only
applications of genuinely sophisticated is still a staple in linguistics. One of that machines will be able to simulate

6 | LEGAL IT TODAY
intelligence weak AI and those us understand what happens at a more demands a rigorous commitment to
who assert that it will be possible for basic, everyday, level. The second, more improving legal knowledge, since the
machines to become intelligent once significant, problem of using Hercules as law develops continuously, as well
the right algorithms can be determined a model for the application of AI in the as a difficult exercise in determining
strong AI. law is that not all legal work takes the relevance. Among other things,
form of a judicial process. relevance hinges on a full and proper
John Searle crafted the Chinese Room understanding of the non-legal
parable to express his doubts about the Most legal work is non-contentious. It goals of the parties. Given that they
strong AI position. It runs as follows. can be described as the translation of are ultimately human (even faceless
the personal or commercial goals of corporations have sufficient human
Imagine that one is locked in a room, two or more parties into some binding characteristics for this to be true), the
in which there is a book of rules form. This requires the lawyer to take process of comprehension/translation/
containing instructions about how to into account all the relevant legal rules relevance/drafting/negotiation is one
respond to doodles written on slips (including those that enable action that other humans are best suited
of paper passed into the room from as well as those constraining it). That to undertake.
the outside through a slot. One rule,
for example, might say that when the The case for legal AI fails, for me, at a
slip shows a squiggle, you should pass By its nature, variety of points. Primary considerations
back a slip showing a wodget. As far are the capability for knowledge
as the person in the room is concerned, knowledge is expression and the process of reasoning
all of these doodles are meaningless.
However, the people outside the room
emergent. It arises used. At the heart of any such system,
there must be some process of
are Chinese and the drawings have out of the experiences acquisition and expression of a legal
meaning as Chinese characters. If the knowledge corpus. As Richard Susskind
rules are constructed properly, each of people and their put it in his 1987 Modern Law Review
slip passed into the room as a question
will produce a slip passed out with a
engagement with article, Expert Systems in Law, expert
systems must be heuristic, by which is
sensible answer. Does that mean that each other and meant they reason with the informal,
the person in the room understands judgmental, experiential and often
Chinese? From the outside, it would with a complex procedural knowledge that underlies
appear to be so. In reality, though,
there is no understanding just a
environment. expertise in a given field (as well as
with the more formal knowledge of
mechanical manipulation of symbols Mark Gould the domain in question).
based on a formal syntax.

Why is this relevant to AI in the law?

For me, it turns on two issues what
we mean by knowledge of the law,
and how we translate between human
activities and legal concepts. Both of
these are simply stated, but immensely
complex in practice.

Law is more than rules and outcomes

In his article, David Halliwell uses the
model of Dworkins hypothetically
infallible judge, Hercules, a judge who
knew all the law there was to know,
and who decided cases by matching
the facts of a case before him with
those features [of the law] relevant for
particular legal outcomes. This is a
fair description of Dworkins position,
but a flawed version of the reality
since it skates over a couple of crucial
points. The first is that the purpose
of adjudication is not purely to create
a specific legal outcome, but also to
resolve a dispute between the parties.
Dworkin is interested in the use of
principle and policy in judicial decision-
making, but this doesnt always help

LEGAL IT TODAY | 7
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8 | LEGAL IT TODAY
This leads to an issue that also bedevils
knowledge management: how do we
know what we know? The former US
Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld,
understood this problem, and expressed
it notoriously well at a news briefing in
2002: as we know, there are known
knowns; there are things that we know
that we know. We also know there
are known unknowns; that is to say
we know there are some things we do
not know. But there are also unknown could create a computer containing all developed, its success depends entirely
unknowns, the ones we dont know the knowledge that exists, that machine on openness to wild guesses (at which
we dont know. Crucially, there is a would become part of the system and humans excel by comparison with
fourth category: unknown knowns, would necessarily participate in the machines) and confident assessment
the things we do not know that we process by which new knowledge is of fitness (which may be hard for
know. This is clearly a problem for created. (As it stands, dumber systems a machine to assess the closer that
organisations (how do weall find out already create the conditions for novel assessment gets to human desires).
what each of us knows?), but it is also human practices, as people work their Humans are invariably better than
true for individuals, as David Snowden way around the inevitable computer machines at abductive reasoning. As
has pointed out we always know more says no moments.) How would it such, they will continue to be better at
than we can say, and we will always say assimilate that new knowledge? There developing the law as new situations
more than we can write down. will always be knowledge that is beyond arise in the future. If legal AI can only
the ken of the machine. tell us what we already know and has
Knowledge beyond the machine limited reasoning capability even then,
Even if it were possible to capture all Abductive reasoning what good is it?
the knowledge that exists on a topic If we can overcome the knowledge-
at a given moment, there remains based objections to legal AI, there Technology has a huge amount to
the problem of change over time. remains an issue with reasoning. offer the practice of law. There are
There are two major forms of logical things that computers can do that are
reasoning, each of which can easily be way beyond the capabilities of human
Humans are translated into algorithms. Deduction beings. Humans are prone to entrained
applies general rules to specific cases to patterns of thinking, which was useful
invariably better than determine truth or falsity. Induction uses earlier in our evolution when we needed
machines at abductive specific examples to create (falsifiable)
general rules. A third form of logic,
to be alert for potential predators.
Computers, on the other hand, can
reasoning. As such, abductive reasoning was developed handle vast quantities of data: operating
during the late 19th century by the at high speed to analyse material and
they will continue American pragmatist philosopher throw up patterns (and anomalies)
Charles Sanders Peirce. His starting that would be missed by the human
to be better at point was that no new idea could be brain, but can fruitfully be explored
proved deductively or inductively using in more detail by lawyers. Repetitive
developing the law as past data (which is actually how most tasks can also be usefully automated
computer systems operate). The goal so that bored, risk-prone humans can
new situations arise. of abductive reasoning, unlike the be removed from key processes. The
Mark Gould other modes of thinking, is to find and
test possible truths. It is a process by
systems mentioned by David Halliwell
are largely in that category they make
which apparently unconnected things peoples lives easier, whether in the law
This is not simply the need to create can be linked in ways that make sense. or in business more generally. On the
a maintenance process: capturing Abductive reasoning lies at the heart other hand, attempting to replicate the
new knowledge as it is created. By of that elusive concept, thinking like things that humans are known to do
its nature, knowledge is emergent. It a lawyer. (Roger Martins book, The better than machines appears to me to
arises out of the experiences of people Design of Business, provides a good be a pointless effort.
and their engagement with each other introduction to abductive reasoning.)
and with a complex environment. This Mark Gould was Head of Knowledge
is why Snowden asserts that we only Abductive reasoning depends on Management at Addleshaw Goddard
know what we need to know when two things good hunches (what until May 2014. He now works
we need to know it. The fact is that possible connections might there be) independently as Mark Gould
in many situations (especially crises), and coherence (which of the posited Consulting, helping firms use their
the knowledge required to deal with connections most plausibly fit the knowledge more productively. He
something only comes into existence at system under examination). Although tweets @markgould13 and blogs at his
the moment the situation arises. If we abductive logic programming has been consultancy website http://mg3c.com.

LEGAL IT TODAY | 9
 Re-engineering
legal efficiency
BY STUART WHITTLE

Lean Six Sigma combines the philosophy of lean manufacturing with Six
Sigma, and is designed to eliminate waste from the manufacturing process.
Weightmans IS and Operations Director Stuart Whittle is applying Lean Six
Sigma methodologies to re-engineer the firms legal and business processes.

My interest in process improvement which identified that it was too complex.

began ten years ago, when I first Until then nobody had thought to look Lean Six Sigma is
became involved in rolling out case
management and workflow software
at the process from end to end. Everyone
involved focused on their role; they
not about making
for lawyers. My initial aim was to get didnt see the impact of what they did on huge step changes;
people working on it and then to look everyone else involved and on the need
at improving it. to work together to fix the problem. rather its about
When I became head of IT, the firm was In 2010 I took on responsibility for making lots of
experiencing problems with onboarding
new starters and the perception was
the operational functions within
Weightmans as well as IT and the
little changes and
that all the difficulties were down to process mapping initiative lost its because of the
IT. So having taken on an operational impetus as I got to grips with my new
excellence consultant who specialised in role. It became clear that each process numbers involved,
applying process mapping to operational mapping project needed someone to
issues, I called a meeting of everyone drive it by identifying the issue and to small changes
involved in the new starter process. The
problem became obvious when about
get people involved in addressing it.
quickly make a big
20 people attended the meeting. There I renewed my interest in process re- difference.
were clearly too many people involved! engineering when a particular part of
The next step was to map the process, our business was struggling and again, Stuart Whittle
10 | LEGAL IT TODAY
the initial difficulties were blamed on
IT. This time there were some genuine
IT issues, but most of the frustrations
were around processes that were
relatively simple to fix. You can take
the man out of the law, but you cant
take the law out of the man, and I
was looking for a more structured
approach to apply to diverse problems
than we had previously adopted. So I
investigated Lean Six Sigma. However,
I wanted to make sure it was a good
fit for Weightmans as some people
in legal IT had said that because
it originated in manufacturing, it
wouldnt work in professional services.
So I completed a one-week Green Belt
course followed by delivering a Green
Belt project which made it clear that
Lean Six Sigma had enormous potential the optimum number of people needed Standard operating procedures
to transform the firm. to make sure that matters are concluded All our process re-engineering projects
as quickly as possible. are aiming to produce what is referred
The Lean Six Sigma philosophy to in manufacturing as a standard
One of the main attractions of Lean Defining and delivering value operating procedure. For example, we
Six Sigma was that if you do it well, it In addition to looking for more for less, have introduced a universal, firm-wide
becomes part of the firms philosophy: clients are looking for value, and each process for opening a matter. The
the way we do things around here. client identifies value differently. But standard operating procedure has huge
The challenge, however, is that it also whatever value is from the point of the benefits. It is both a reference manual
represents a huge cultural change, client, no client is going to ask us to and a training manual. We would not
particularly for a law firm. Lean Six take longer and charge more. Lean and expect anyone to read it from start to
Sigma is a bag of tools and techniques Six Sigma start by defining value from finish, but they can dip into it when
and you need to choose the appropriate the point of view of the customer. This they need some guidance.
solution for whatever business activity ties in nicely with our managing partner
youre engaged in. John Schorahs vision for the firm to be Standard operating procedures are also
truly authentic about putting the client about identifying and explaining the
Lean Six Sigmas methodology is defined first. Everyone says that they are client rationale of each process, so they are
by its manufacturing roots and there focused, but do they mean it? We need the starting point for creating wizards
are many concepts that at first glance to start by defining the clients concept and workflows. For example, the
do not necessarily apply to professional of value and of course value means purpose file opening process is to get
services firms. For example, design of different things to different clients. the file to the fee earner as quickly as
experiments determines the relationship possible with all relevant and accurate
between multiple variables in a process How do we determine our clients information in the case management
in order to work out what is having perspective on value? Lean Six Sigma system so that the fee earner can
the most effect on the process and its offers a selection of interesting tools immediately start working on it without
outcomes. Put simply, it is about cause and techniques that translate generic getting bogged down by processes and
and effect. When I did the introductory statements into deliverables. The voice procedures or even IT.
training I couldnt see its relevance to of the customer is one such technique.
Weightmans, but I am now applying it Changing the way we do things
to one of our processes. Lean terminology would define a lot of around here
law firm processes as waste, in that As we roll out our new file opening
Takt time is described as the they are not adding value from the process, we will no doubt find some
rhythm of the factory and it is about clients perspective. exceptions cases that really dont
throughput. In industrial terms, it is fit the process. Or it may well be that
about determining exactly what each For example, our clients really dont during the roll out someone has a
machine need to do to ensure the ascribe any value to how we open brilliant idea that nobody thought of
necessary throughput to deliver what a file. Therefore all we have to do in the first place. What will we do? If
the customer wants. From Weightmans is make the process as easy and we are one tenth of the way through
perspective, if we view a matter as a efficient as possible, but there are the roll out, we may consider making
production line of things that have to also considerations like compliance an adjustment, but if we are nine
happen in a certain order and a certain (necessary non-value activities), so all tenths of the way through the roll out,
way, we can then identify our rhythm: we have to do turns out to be more we will probably revisit the issue after
our way of picking up work types and complicated than initially anticipated. the roll out.

LEGAL IT TODAY | 11
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12 | LEGAL IT TODAY
Lean Six Sigma is about continual
improvement. It offers the flexibility
Standard processes We undertake a lot of repeat, high-
volume work such as processing claims
to change and update the way we produce an agile for insurance companies who want cases
do things around here in response concluded quickly and cost-effectively.
to new ideas and new developments workforce, making Can we do anything to work with
in the market. For example, mobile
technology has changed the workplace
it easier to move our regular clients to make the overall
processes more seamless and quicker
fundamentally. If a new development people between and easier for everyone involved?
changed the workplace again, we
would no doubt have to reengineer teams to help us Our current business process re-
our processes.
manage peaks and engineering projects will underpin
the implementation of 3E and
Weightmans is growing and Lean Six troughs in work. Mattersphere. It is the re-engineering
Sigma is helping us become more of the processes that will give us the
flexible and react quickly to market Stuart Whittle return on our investment rather than
developments. A lot of that is about the systems themselves.
understanding processes. To paraphrase partners responsible for setting up the
Steve Deming (of the Deming cycle business line and a multidisciplinary The Lean Six Sigma training has recently
fame) if you cant write down your group from the operational support been extended to 45 people. The
process you dont know what youre functions. This group has been working majority work in operational support
doing. In law firms process as a term on projects aimed at making the although there are some partners and
is commonly associated with work like new business line more efficient and fee earners. I have also led a number of
debt recovery, but in reality it is simply a effective by establishing consistent four-hour sessions with case handlers,
way of describing how you work. processes and practices. Process introducing them to Lean Six Sigma
improvement also boosts confidence, concepts and the language so they can
Processes and profitability as people immediately know how to help support the trained Green Belts.
The Lean Six Sigma Green Belt involved approach each task.
a course, an exam and a project that One of the biggest challenges to date
delivered business benefit. My project Standard processes produce an agile has been maintaining momentum of
was to look at Weightmans file opening workforce, making it easier to move the Lean Six Sigma projects where
process. Our previous file opening people between teams to help us our Green Belts have day jobs too, the
process had 15 or 20 steps and was manage peaks and troughs in work. day job can tend to take precedence.
taking too long in terms of time and Creating standard processes for routine We have addressed this by putting
effort. Having mapped the process and functions helps us to shift people a number of people full time on
identified the logjams, we changed very around in response to demand as the various projects, including two
little in our case management system but they dont have to work out how partners. Another challenge for us
reduced the number of steps to three. another department team opens a is data collection. Process mapping
We made one minor change to the case file, for example. generally involves identifying how long
management system and overall halved it takes to complete each task and the
the time it took to get the file to the fee Legal process re-engineering waiting time between one task and
earner and reduced by about 20% the The next step is to look at our legal the next, but our current systems dont
amount of work involved in opening a practices and create processes to deliver automatically collect that information.
file. Weightmans opens over 50,000 files advice more efficiently. If Lean Six So there is usually a four-to-six week
a year. So there is a huge multiplying Sigma became the way we do business window where we have to collect
effect that enables small changes to around here, we could still encounter sufficient data about the process.
have a significant impact to the firm and issues caused by external stakeholders Although this can slow down our
to the quality of the service we deliver and suppliers. Where that is the case, projects, it is necessary to collect the
to clients. Lean Six Sigma is not about we may look to take a similar approach data to define and measure the process
making huge step changes; rather its to Toyota and work with our supplier and determine where the problems
about making lots of little changes and and partner organisations to improve and log jams are for example the
because of the numbers involved, small the overall process. unnecessary movement of paper and
changes quickly make a big difference. people and find ways to address
It is a win-win situation: if we deal with Another area we would like to work them and most importantly to measure
matters faster, our clients are happier on is to collaborate with clients and quantify the improvements we
and we earn more money. on improving the overall end-to- are making. You cant easily speed up
end processes. Although we are process reengineering, but you can use
In May 2013, Weightmans established concentrating on improving internal it to speed up everything else.
a new business line to deal with processes initially, the end-to-end
fast-track personal injury claims. process of a matter includes what Stuart Whittle is IS and Operations
This represented an opportunity to happens at the client before we are Director at Weightmans LLP. He is based
introduce Lean Six Sigma to a wider instructed, during the instruction and in Liverpool in the UK.
audience. I trained 15 people the after the matter is concluded.

LEGAL IT TODAY | 13
 Legal IT: educating the next
generation of lawyers
BY JOANNA GOODMAN

Clios Academic Access Program (CAAP) provides over 150 law schools, pro
bono legal clinics and paralegal programmes with free software and training
on Clios cloud-based practice management system (PMS). Legal IT Today
editor Joanna Goodman caught up with Clios Shelby Hejjas.

14 | LEGAL IT TODAY
Legal technology education remains an with a cloud-based PMS within three law degree and uses it throughout
industry focal point, as corporate and years of graduation. Of course they the three-year course. As well as
public sector clients increasingly include do not all choose Clio, but most PMSs managing the practical elements of
technology requirements in legal services include similar features and functionality. the course, they also use it to manage
procurement. Law firms are their academic work, storing course
addressing this problem, which documents and tracking their studies.
was highlighted by Kia Motors Students
America corporate counsel The set up depends on the way the
Casey Flahertys technology work through school is using the PMS. Sometimes
competency audit, by boosting
IT training for lawyers;
actual cases students have individual accounts
and sometimes several users share
forward thinking law schools using Clio as the same account they can add or
are looking to eradicate it remove users.
permanently by ensuring the their practice
next generation of graduates The advantage of a shared account
are not just tech-savvy, but management is that it will have more cases and
comfortable with legal IT. tool. Law are more data, so students can practice
conflict checking and so on. We also
In issue 6, I interviewed Professor gradually recognising provide demo data matters and contact
Andrew Perlman at Suffolk Law School information that schools can use to
in Boston, one of the first US law that getting to know populate their systems.
schools to introduce a legal technology
concentration, whereby law students these tools are Another element of legal IT education
are offered the opportunity to learn
about legal technology in parallel with
an important part is familiarising students with cloud-
based products. Using Clio makes them
their legal studies. However, students of their students comfortable with storing documents
have to choose the legal technology and data in the cloud. They also learn
concentration to receive this training. education. to ensure they have the right level of
Another way of introducing lawyers to security whether they choose Clio or
legal IT before they even qualify is to Shelby Hejjas another provider, they will know what
offer practical experience and training to look out for. This is included in the
in popular systems and applications as How do law schools use Clio training we provide to students. For
part of their legal studies. and how does this help to example, they should know where and
familiarise students with how their data is stored. Cloud benefits
Legal IT vendors are increasingly real-world legal practice? the law schools as it provides flexibility
realising the benefits of familiarising Law school legal clinics operate like and scalability to manage fluctuations in
students with their products and small law firms so students use Clio in student numbers.
several make special arrangements the same way as practising attorneys
for academic institutions. Clio is a do. Clio is also used in classes on We see some innovative initiatives in
pioneer of this approach, with the computer applications, law office the law schools we work with. One
Clio Academic Access Program (CAAP) technology and litigation. Some schools school has about 300 students working
making its cloud-based practice use Clio as a course management tool. in Clio. The cohort is divided into 40
management system (PMS) available Each student creates an individual law firms each with a supervising
free of charge. Shelby Hejjas is Clio account when they start their attorney and a small group of students.
responsible for managing CAAP.

What were the drivers and

inspiration for CAAP?
When Clio launched CAAP in fall 2010,
we were looking for a way to give back
to the community. Clinics that offer pro
bono or low bono legal services and
cannot afford a PMS as that would take
up their entire budget. We also wanted
to make experiential learning accessible
to students especially students who
are interested in going into practice on
their own once they have completed
their schooling.

We estimate that 40% to 50% of

students who use Clio go into a practice

LEGAL IT TODAY | 15
16 | LEGAL IT TODAY
They are then presented with a case.
For example, if it is a divorce case, half
CAAP is also about We customise the training programme
for each school. Some schools prefer to
the group will represent the husband brand awareness, deliver the training themselves, while
and the other half will represent the others require a lot of hand holding. In
wife. Students work through actual
as introducing a basic sense we provide handbooks
cases using Clio as their practice students to the Clio and live webinars for the faculty and
management tool. Law schools are handbooks and recorded webinars for
gradually recognising that getting to brand gives Clio an students. Some schools do live webinars
know these tools are an important part
of their students education.
opportunity to shine for their students every semester while
others use the same recorded videos for
both as a product each cohort. Students can log into their
Given that Clio prides itself on its accounts and familiarise themselves
intuitive user interface, can you tell and as the company with the system in their own time.
me something about the training
you provide?
that supported their Our support lines are also open to our
academic customers, so they can call
Not only do we give law schools education. our support team. It is comprehensive
product for free, but we also provide training. Basically we treat our academic
comprehensive training and support,
Shelby Hejjas customers in exactly the same way
and we customise this to the way each as any of our other customers. This
school chooses to use Clio. Clio prides for just four months, so they need to includes customising our training to
itself on its intuitive user interface, get up and running straight away. We include live webinars on specific topics
but every system requires some user provide schools with training resources that may be more important to a certain
training, especially if there are extensive for the faculty and its students as well instructor or school. It is up to them to
features. However, a big reason why as direct training. This, combined with decide whether they would like us to
legal clinics move to Clio is that the the intuitive nature of our product cover specific topics or whether they are
system is easy to pick up this is means that it takes less than a week for happy with our general webinar.
necessary as students join the legal clinic students to be comfortable using Clio.

LEGAL IT TODAY | 17
Do you have competition in As Clio is a cloud-based subscription course management programme
the academic space from other model, it enables graduates to enter into the UK where a few universities
cloud vendors? the market as sole practitioners with are using Clio in their legal clinics.
CAAP does not have direct competition manageable infrastructure investments. When we launched CAAP in the North
because we give our products to law This brings direct business benefits to American market, the legal clinics were
schools for free. Our competitors Clio as law graduates setting out as the first to pick up Clio as it is a perfect
offer their products for academic sole practitioners or starting a new fit for them and also offers significant
use, but at a discounted price. We firm are likely to choose the PMS that cost savings. Weve started to see the
are also differentiated by the training they are familiar with. CAAP is also same pattern of early adoption in the
and support we provide. We have an about brand awareness, as introducing UK market by the law school legal
entire support team dedicated to our students to the Clio brand gives Clio clinics that provide pro bono services.
academic customers. We have made an opportunity to shine both as As our product became more well-
a big investment in the academic a product and as the company that known in the North American market,
community in this way; it would be supported their education. more law school professors started to
an equally big decision for any of our take an interest in using it. We expect
competitors to do the same. Although CAAP represents a big the same to happen internationally
investment for Clio, its ROI is growing whereby as our product becomes more
How does CAAP help graduates? exponentially as CAAP graduates gain well-known in the market, it gradually
What are the business benefits experience and influence across the moves into the law schools too.
for Clio? sector in private practice, corporate
If graduates join a firm that uses Clio, legal departments, legal process Shelby Hejjas is the Manager of
they can hit the ground running as they outsourcing and legal technology Business Development and Partnerships,
are already competent and comfortable providers. and responsible for managing Clios
with the system. We have had feedback Academic Access Program (CAAP). Since
from law schools saying that students Having launched Clio in 2011, the CAAP team has partnered
are responding to advertisements for Europe in 2013, are there plans with over 150 law schools and paralegal
legal jobs that require knowledge of to extend CAAP? programs worldwide to offer Clio to
Clio, so it is improving their career International expansion is a key focus students, faculty and administrators at
prospects. It is also a reflection of Clios and we are definitely looking to expand no charge. Shelby can be reached at
presence in the market. our academic programme and our shelby.hejjas@goclio.com

18 | LEGAL IT TODAY
 LONDON
LAW EXPO
2014
EUROPES LARGEST LAW EXPO

14th October 2014

The Old Billingsgate
LO N D O N

JAMES CAAN ( Dragons Den )

FREE PASSES
& CPD *
REGISTER NOW AT
WWW.LONDONLAWEXPO.COM

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WWW.LONDONLAWEXPO.COM
LEGAL IT TODAY | 19
 LONDON LAW EXPO

TAKE YOUR
FIRMTOTHE
NEXT LEVEL
THE LONDON LAW EXPO 2014 TAKES PLACE ON
THE 14TH OCTOBER AT THE OLD BILLINGSGATE
IN LONDON. MORE THAN 3,000 LEGAL
PROFESSIONALS ARE EXPECTED TO ATTEND
THE NETLAW MEDIA EVENT TO WITNESS
KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS FROM THE CREAM
OF THE LEGAL AND COMMERCIAL WORLDS.

The largest event of its kind Event Overview

Produced by Netlaw Media, The London Law Expo 2014 EVENT TITLE: London Law Expo 2014
is Europes largest conference and exhibition for senior DATE: 14th October 2014
management from the legal profession. Located in the
heart of London, the purpose of the London Law Expo is
REGISTRATION: 08:30 - 09:20
to assist law firms and legal businesses to increases EVENT PROGRAM: 09:30 - 17:00
profitability whilst maximising overall performance. VENUE: The Old Billingsgate, London
With keynote presentations from business entrepreneur FLOOR AREA: 2,600 sq metres
James Caan, legal strategist Prof. Stephen Mayson, the STAGES: 3
Attorney General of England & Wales, the Justice Secretary KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: 3
of Hong Kong, Baroness Deech QC and legal technology
guru Peter Owen, the London Law Expo 2014 is an event SPEAKERS & PANELISTS: 50
not to be missed. EXHIBITORS: 65
Upon entry to the Old Billingsgate, attendees will be given EVENT BAGS: Yes
full access to a wide array of key presentations, knowledge COST OF ENTRY: Free*
sessions, panel discussions and live debates by over 50 FREE CPD: Yes
legal and commercial leaders. EXPECTED ATTENDEES: 3,000
Covering an impressive 2,600 sq metres of floor space, the
London Law Expo will deliver three presentation stages and
exhibitions by 65 leading suppliers to the legal sector. Expert speakers
The event is free* for anyone who is a full time representative With presentations led by some of the most respected
of a law firm, barristers chambers, or corporate legal names within the legal and commercial worlds, the London
department and for any attendee which requires CPD, the Law Expo 2014 will present a wide array of sector focused
London Law Expo will offer attendees free CPD points. information. Presentations & Discussions will cover topics
including:
Netlaw Media: Track record Law Firm & Departmental Management
Netlaw Media have a reputation for producing some of Operations & Practice Management
Europes finest and highest attended law events and exhibitions. Legal Technology Software & Solutions
Business Growth and Performance Strategies
With a record of selling out every major law event since
Sales, Marketing & Business Development
2009, the London Law Expo 2014 is predicted to post
another major sold out event for Netlaw Media.
Human Resources, Recruitment & Talent Management
In recent years, Netlaw Media have presented many leading Risk, Compliance & New Regulations
law events including the Strategic Leadership Forum, Key Project Pricing, Scoping & Evaluation
Strategies for Law Firms, the British Legal Technology Mergers, Acquisitions & Cultural Intelligence
Forum and the LawTech Futures series of events which Knowledge Management, e-Disclosure and much more
during April 2014 was attended by 97 per cent of the top
100 UK law firms.

20 | LEGAL IT TODAY WWW.LONDONLAWEXPO.COM

 LONDON LAW EXPO - KEY SPEAKERS

LONDON LAW
EXPO 2014-KEY RIMSKY YUEN

SPEAKERS & SC, JP, Secretary for Justice of

the Hong Kong Special
PANELLISTS Administrative Region

JAMES CAAN BARONESS DEECH

Chief Executive, QC, (Hon) Chair,
Hamilton Bradshaw Bar Standards Board

PROF. STEPHEN MAYSON RAJ SAMANI

Honorary Professor of Law, Vice President, Chief Technology
University College, London Officer, McAfee

RT HON JEREMY WRIGHT

QC MP PETER OWEN
Attorney General, England Founder,
& Wales Lights-On Consulting

RICHARD BURCHER FUNKE ABIMBOLA

Managing Director, Managing Counsel (UK &
Validatum (UK) Ltd Ireland), Roche

DR CONNSON
CHOU LOCKE DON HUGHES
Assistant Professor, Vice President & EMEA, General
London School of Economics Counsel, Hitachi Data Systems

LONDON LAW
EXPO 2014
EUROPES LARGEST LAW EXPO

WWW.LONDONLAWEXPO.COM
LEGAL IT TODAY | 21
 LONDON LAW EXPO - EXHIBITORS

REGISTER YOUR FREE PASSES*AT:

WWW.LONDONLAWEXPO.COM
* FOR TERMS OF FREE ENTRY VISIT WWW.LONDONLAWEXPO.COM

22 | LEGAL IT TODAY WWW.LONDONLAWEXPO.COM

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 The internet of money
BY PATRICK MCELROY

Bitcoin is increasingly accepted by businesses globally, and

law firms are gradually coming around to the idea too. Patrick
McElroy of AgileLaw makes the case for accepting digital
currency and outlines some of its potential pitfalls.

Bitcoin is a digital currency that has been While the layperson will describe bitcoin is sent from one wallet address
gaining in popularity and acceptance for Bitcoin as a digital currency, its to another, the transaction is recorded
the past two and half years. It is new, evangelists think of it as a new on the blockchain with a time stamp.
disruptive and, to some, downright technology with its ability to be used Everyone in the Bitcoin network
scary. As a Bitcoin enthusiast I follow its as a currency just one of its many sees and confirms that transaction.
regulatory and legal environment. I am applications. Rather than calling it the This function could be used for any
active in the online Bitcoin community money of the internet the evangelist piece of data that one wants to have
and participate in my local Bitcoin may describe it the internet of money. permanently recorded and maintained
community, which mostly consists of by a large network with no single point
futurists, libertarians, web developers, Trustless interactions of possible failure.
and computer programmers. When I describe Bitcoin as a new
technology, I am referring to the The blockchain enables trustless
In our minds Bitcoin will, at worst, be blockchain, which is the ledger interactions. More specifically, one
another payment form option with its that tracks the bitcoins in every does not need to trust people but can
icon next to PayPal, MasterCard, and public address. The blockchain is a rely on the math inside the coding. This
Visa when you do your online shopping; breakthrough technology that allows is a major innovation as any interaction
and at best, a dominant global currency. a permanent, public record to be which requires a trusted third party
Bitcoin is not going away; or at least the distributed among all computers can now be accomplished using
technology within it is here to stay. running Bitcoin software. When a blockchain technology.

24 | LEGAL IT TODAY
How would Bitcoin benefit law firms? The Bitcoin protocol is very secure;
The number one benefit that Bitcoin
While the layperson however, the human element raises
offers law firms is reduced transaction will describe Bitcoin as security concerns. All the troubles in
fees. Amost all businesses that accept the media with people losing bitcoins
Bitcoin offer a discount for those a digital currency, its have resulted from people giving the
who use it to buy their products and keys to their bitcoins to a third party
services. Most credit cards charge evangelists think of it - usually with questionable business
about 3% plus a fixed fee for each
transaction, not including international
as a new technology practices. As developers improve the
user interfaces it will become easier for
fees. Among the top ten US banks, with its ability to be people to secure their bitcoins and use
bank wire transfers fees average $26.40 them for everyday transactions. This
for outgoing domestic and $47.50 for used as a currency development is happening right now
outgoing foreign transfers. Checks can
bounce and, in the age of electronic
just one of its many and attracting heavy investment from
venture capitalists.
transfers, are often more of a hassle applications. Rather
than a convenience. These traditional Another concern may be the legality of
payment methods often take several than calling it the accepting Bitcoin as a payment method
business days to officially go through for legal services. According to the
and are subject to banking business money of the internet Model Rules of Professional Conduct
hours and holidays. Bitcoin is open the evangelist may it is perfectly ethical and appropriate
24/7/365 and transactions are about to accept Bitcoin in exchange for legal
as fast as sending an email. For these describe it the services and there are already several
reasons businesses, including law attorneys in the US that do. Just as it
firms, will gain the most benefit from internet of money is legal to accept almost anything in
reduced transaction costs. If a firm is
not paying 3% to a payment processor
Patrick McElroy exchange for legal services so long as
the fees for services are reasonable. It
like MasterCard or Visa they can reduce then becomes a matter of meeting your
their prices to clients by that amount to try to understand the inner workings local regulatory requirements.
undercut competitors who do not using of the protocol. But just like you dont
Bitcoin. Bitcoin payment processors like need to understand TCP/IP, HTML, or In the US Bitcoin is classified by the
Coinbase and BitPay make it easy for Javascript to use the internet, you dont IRS as property and hence is subject
businesses to accept Bitcoin. need to know SHA256, cryptography, to capital gains taxes which makes
or blockchain to use Bitcoin. Bitcoin calculating your tax obligations
There are people who prefer to use developers see complexity and usability somewhat burdensome. In the UK the
Bitcoin over other methods of payment as one of the biggest hurdles to regulations are not as clear. Bitcoin is
and there are even those who live widespread adoption and are working effectively considered a private currency.
completely on Bitcoin, using online tools on creating user interfaces that are In both the US and the UK Bitcoin
and the active Bitcoin community to simpler and easier to use. is subject to the same anti-money
track identify and track businesses that laundering laws that apply to other
accept it. The huge revenue increases The usability issue is the reason for payment forms. Regardless of your
that result when companies like the security concerns around Bitcoin. location, you should seek professional
Overstock.com and Dell start accepting
Bitcoin are widely publicized.

A corollary and perhaps temporary

benefit is that accepting Bitcoin gives
your firm a free boost in advertising
because local media usually run stories
on new businesses accepting Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is still a new technology so there
is still some media coverage when a
new company starts accepting it.

Issues with Bitcoin adoption

The two main concerns with Bitcoin are
complexity and security. I doubt that any
amount of effort on my part could get
my parents, or any other IT-challenged
person, to use Bitcoin in its current
form. They dont understand it, dont
trust it, and dont see the benefits it can
bring. Frankly, it is complicated if you

LEGAL IT TODAY | 25
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 Potential use for Bitcoin in law firms
While researching payment methods in
the legal industry I discovered a great
potential use for Bitcoin in law firm
billing and trust account systems. Law
firms typically require legal-specific billing
programs to handle a variety of client
billing arrangements, such as hourly,
fixed and contingency fees. A standard
practice for most law firms is collecting
advanced client payments (retainers) for
services. In general, US states have strict
accounting rules that require attorneys
to deposit unbilled/unearned client funds
in trust accounts. If an attorney expects
to use advanced funds quickly and the
specification is in the client engagement
letter, state rules may permit deposit of
retainers in a regular operating accounts.

This would be a perfect use case for the

smart contract application of Bitcoin.
The client and the law firm could set up
a trust account from which the law firm
could withdraw funds only if certain
pre-agreed upon criteria were met, such
as filing a case in a court or some other
publicly verifiable action. As an added
feature the client and the law firm
would be able to see how many bitcoins

The blockchain enables trustless were in the account at any time because
the blockchain is public and both parties
interactions. More specifically, one does would know the public address where
those bitcoins were. Auditing and
not need to trust people but can rely transparency would be much easier and
reliable for all parties.
on the math inside the coding. This is
Bitcoin solves a lot of problems with
a major innovation as any interaction current payment methods. Its cheaper,
faster, more secure, and doesnt
which requires a trusted third party can require a trusted third party. Bitcoin

now be accomplished using blockchain is supported by a distributed network

of computers confirming transactions
technology Patrick McElroy and ensuring that a wider audience of
people has access to the financial tools
that many take for granted. I believe
that law firms, legal IT professionals,
legal advice to ensure that you are addressed by using Bitcoin merchant office managers, and solo practicing
meeting all local regulations and if services companies like Coinbase and attorneys should consider accepting
your client is in a different jurisdiction BitPay. These companies will establish Bitcoin as an addition to their current
their local regulations should also be your Bitcoin wallets, provide you with payment methods.
considered. For example, Iceland has applicable tax documents for your
very restrictive laws for how Bitcoin can transactions and exchange bitcoins to Patrick McElroy of AgileLaw helps
be used. your sovereign currency at the exchange law firms to transition to paperless
rate at the time of sale. So as the depositions. He is a West Point
Volatility in the exchange rate between merchant you will only see your local graduate and former Army Officer
Bitcoin and USD and GBP is a significant currency entering your bank account with a Masters degree in Technology
consideration for legal offices, with a small processing fee. These Commercialization from the University
especially if you hold client funds in services are provided at a much lower of Texas McCombs School of Business.
trust accounts. Thankfully the volatility rate than credit card companies charge He is actively involved in the online
issue, as well as the tax compliance to process your transactions and they Bitcoin community, as well as his local
issues mentioned above, are easily take on all the volatility risk. Bitcoin community in Austin, Texas.

LEGAL IT TODAY | 27
 The E-Discovery watershed
BY ARI KAPLAN

US legal consultant and author Ari Kaplan shares the findings of his in-depth
benchmarking survey on eDiscovery, and offers some interesting predictions.

With corporate legal teams increasingly struggle to find equilibrium between impression of technology at all levels
calling for greater transparency, those building internal groups with a of law firm operations. As it becomes
heightened levels of efficiency, and multidisciplinary staff and others relying more ubiquitous, it seems to be losing
a more sophisticated application on a hybrid model that combines inside value. Some clients think that practice
of technology in their matters, law experience with outside support. support technology is part of the cost
firm leaders are reinventing their of doing business and not a billable
approach to accommodate these Both approaches must overcome event, highlighted another.
changing expectations. From training the challenging impression that the
to client service, the approach is technical aspects of eDiscovery are The efficiency factor
perpetually shifting. In preparation for interchangeable. Clients expect Much of the transition is driven by a
a comprehensive benchmarking report practice support technology to be renewed focus on efficiency to manage
underwritten by RVM Enterprises, cheaper and more efficient; it is legal services, particularly given that
Inc., I spent the first quarter of 2014 becoming more commoditized, 93% of respondents reported that
interviewing 30 senior attorneys at remarked one participant. That clients are demanding greater efficiency.
the largest law firms in the US to commoditization is impacting the overall As a result, law firm leaders are focusing
find out how they are navigating on providing clients with cost and status
this new landscape. updates in an effort to showcase their
When corporate savvy productivity.
73% of those with whom I spoke
were partners and 27% were senior counsel call for When corporate counsel call for
eDiscovery lawyers. All were members
of an eDiscovery group within their
eDiscovery efficiency, eDiscovery efficiency, their demands
often relate to avoiding over-collection,
firms to varying degrees. their demands often over-preservation, and extraneous
document review. The brute force
93% of survey participants agreed that relate to avoiding method of lining up documents in
client expectations have changed with a database with a team of contract
respect to practice support technology. over-collection, reviewers is on its way out; clients are
In response, law firms are engaging in demanding discovery solutions that
various new strategies to demonstrate over-preservation, will fit in their litigation budget,
their technological prowess, particularly
as it relates to eDiscovery.
and extraneous said one respondent. Efficiency is
one of the benchmarks for legal
document review practice these days; you need to
In fact, many are at a crossroads in justify your time as opposed to
their approach. There is an interesting Ari Kaplan simply billing it, added another.

28 | LEGAL IT TODAY
The collaborative client of respondents have had clients ask invoice, said one respondent. In fact,
Those calls for efficiency are based on their firms to specifically work with 97% outsource some portion of their
experience as in-house lawyers continue a lawyer possessing that experience. eDiscovery, with the most common
to take greater ownership of the law It is a growing trend because clients aspect being processing, and 83%
departments eDiscovery efforts, rather like the firms geeks to speak to had received a client request to write
than leaving the key decisions to outside the law departments geeks, joked off eDiscovery costs. There has been
counsel. They are forming direct vendor one respondent. a swing between what should be
relationships and dictating uniform overhead and what a firm can charge
protocols for their lawyer to follow. As a result of this heightened interest for, said one law firm leader.
Clients have moved from expecting in eDiscovery-speak, 100% of the
that the firm will host data and provide respondents emphasize their familiarity Predictions
support, to outsourcing with a preferred with legal technology when marketing Firms will adopt new technology more
vendor directly, said one participant. their services in live discussions, print rapidly to remain competitive
They are also more financially savvy than media, and thought leadership. 100% 72% of respondents expect law firms
ever before. Clients are developing also consult with clients on the practice to increase their current level of practice
a better understanding based upon support technology they are planning to support technology in the next three
analytics about what things cost, and use for a particular matter. years. As a result, it is likely that the
what they should cost; they recognize legal industry will continue to adopt
the value of institutionalizing things, new tools at a rapid pace, particularly as
added another. 72% of respondents cloud-based technologies make it easier
to update, change, or adjust without
That said, only a third of the expect law firms to incurring additional costs or data loss.
respondents reported that clients
are substantially influencing their
increase their current Client influence on eDiscovery will grow
legal strategy, drawing a distinction level of practice With 87% of respondents reporting that
between the macro issues and micro their clients influence what technology
details. Clients care about strategy, support technology the firm uses for eDiscovery, it is already
but are less concerned with individual well settled that law department leaders
tactics, noted one participant, whose in the next three are driving these critical conversations.
view is consistent with the 23% who It is a cost-savings decision made
reported that clients are exercising a
years. As a result, it by the client in favour of a preferred
moderate level of influence on the is likely that the legal vendor, advised one participant.
legal technology the firm should use
and the 27% rating it as average. industry will continue The split between firms that serve as
In contrast, 40% of respondents vendors and those that do not will grow
considered that their firm has to adopt new tools 60% of the respondents advised that
substantial influence on the clients the firms eDiscovery team executes the
use of legal technology. Clients
at a rapid pace same functions as the vendors it hires,
follow the firms recommendations, Ari Kaplan albeit to varying degrees. There is a lot
reported one participant. of overlap in almost every way, said
one lawyer noting that the firm handles
The rise of eDiscovery counsel Clients Are Still in Control collection, hosting, processing, and
Beginning in about 2007, with a spike Law firm lawyers are not, however, review. The firms internal team can
of 25% in 2008 and another 25% solely responsible for making replace 95% of what a vendor does,
over the past two years, an increasing technology-focused decisions. echoed another. Interestingly, 17%
number of law firms began creating 93% of respondents reported that a reported that in-house processing has
eDiscovery-specific legal positions. 73% combination of individuals is engaged posed a conflict in the past, but that the
of respondents highlighted that their in the practice support technology firm was able to resolve it.
firms employ eDiscovery counsel today, and vendor selection process. One
though not all specifically designate respondent even admitted that The Ari Kaplan, author of Reinventing
their lawyers with that title and it has firm knows a lot, but lawyers are Professional Services (Wiley, 2011) and
a varying degree of stature. At some not technologists; law firms work The Opportunity Maker (Thomson-West,
firms, it is an equity partner level best when working with a good 2008), is the principal of professional
position and at others it is a senior non- consultancy, but want the opportunity services consultancy Ari Kaplan Advisors.
partnership track role. to provide perspective. He is a popular keynote speaker at user
conferences and other legal technology
How firms use their eDiscovery Profitability events. Learn more about his work at
counsel also differs. 79% of participants That collaboration is valuable, but http://www.AriKaplanAdvisors.com
reported that the role is as much of an It is a challenge to properly bill and feel free to download the
external marketing tool as an internal for eDiscovery services; firms need complete report cited in this article at:
resource. Regardless of how firms to educate merits counsel on why http://litn.eu/ak
leverage their eDiscovery counsel, 57% eDiscovery services need to be on an

LEGAL IT TODAY | 29
 Special delivery
BY JOANNA GOODMAN

In July, distribution company DX, which provides secure, tracked delivery for parcels
and mail, including sensitive documents such as passports and visas, launched eDX
powered by Egress Switch, the government-certified email encryption service used
by central and local government services. Legal IT Today editor Joanna Goodman
caught up with Tony Pepper, CEO and co-founder of Egress Software Technologies
to clarify some of the issues around email encryption.

How did Egress Switch get together commercial businesses are being sector, we understand law firms
with DX to form eDX? encouraged to go digital. DX has a operations and security requirements.
We encountered DX when we were strong brand and customer base, but We were already providing encryption
presenting at a Government event their customer requirements were services to law firms when DX
where we realised the synergy between changing. Although DX was a leader in suggested a partnership that could
our offerings. The DX value proposition physical information, it had no digital further broaden our customer base.
is around the secure delivery of presence. If DX developed a digital
important physical information such service, a DX subscription would offer Can you give me some background
as passports. Law firms use DX for the secure delivery of both physical and about Egress Switch?
delivering important legal documents. electronic documents. They were looking My previous business created end-point
Egress Switch delivers electronic for a partner to deliver technology encryption for memory sticks. When
information securely and our product is that they could offer their customers that business was sold in 2007, I turned
Government certified and accredited. and leverage their brand online. eDX my attention to another significant
Our core messaging around electronic powered by Egress Switch delivers the IT security issue: sharing electronic
communication mapped the DX values DX brand promise electronically. information securely. This problem still
in the physical world. has not been solved. If you ask most
Egress Switch is the encryption product law firms whether they used encryption,
Postal revenues are declining as more of choice for businesses, government the answer will probably be no. Firms
information is shared electronically departments and local councils. With recognise the need to protect client
and government departments and more than 100 customers in the legal data, but most security products are

30 | LEGAL IT TODAY
not user friendly and this makes them
a barrier rather than a solution.

Not all data is commercially sensitive,

requiring encryption but some of it is
and does. We thought that if we made
encryption easy and straightforward,
firms would not hesitate to encrypt
where necessary.

Do existing Egress Switch customers

need to do anything to access eDX
encrypted emails?
No. Egress Switch is the technology
platform that underpins eDX, so if
youre already a customer of Egress
Switch you can automatically open eDX
branded emails.

In order to access encrypted emails,

you need to click on a link. Some to send an encrypted message, and legal documents, provide a single
law firm IT functions are concerned they are using our Outlook plug in, they service for encrypted communication
about encouraging lawyers to select the encrypt option before they and secure document sharing, which
click through. Are there other press send. The system archives the is particularly useful for council
ways to access encrypted emails message in clear text before sending it correspondence which could include
sent via eDX? to our system to be encrypted before planning documents.
When you pick up an encrypted email it is delivered. Switch Gateway is an
sent via eDX you get sent a link and encryption layer on top of the firms Our latest use case scenario is the Secure
you click on that link to access your existing infrastructure. Encryption is the Workspace, a secure government-
message. This is a link to your message, last step before an encrypted message accredited online collaboration platform
not a portal. The message is not stored leaves the firm and the first step when which includes document comparison
elsewhere it is actually in your inbox. an encrypted message is received it and version control.
We also offer a web-based viewer is decrypted before it is routed to
which allows you to access encrypted the Mimecast archive. Once it is in If local councils send encrypted
messages via any internet connection the archive unencrypted it can be emails that cannot be saved or
as some firms may not allow users to accessed by the firms internal systems. forwarded, does this create gaps in
download software. However, if a law the firms document management
firm is communicating with a council system (DMS)?
who requires all email to be encrypted,
rather than users having to click
Firms recognise the Clients are looking for different
experiences depending on the
through and authenticate need to protect sensitivities of the data. The sender sets
every email, it may be easier the security settings. Some customers
to download an Outlook add client data, but want to retain control over it once they
in, or a free app for iPhone, have sent it, so they dont want the
Android or Windows. most security recipient to be able to pass it on or
print it locally. The sender has control
Does eDX work with email products over what the recipient can do with the
management solutions such
as Mimecast?
are not user information whether they can access,
and read the information, but not
Yes. eDX is fully integrated
with Mimecast. We have
friendly and forward to a third party, for example.
The sender sets the security level before
a lot of mutual customers who use this makes them a sending the email. Of course there is
Mimecast for archiving, anti-virus and nothing stopping parties agreeing on
anti-spam and eDX for encryption. The barrier rather than the level of security for particular types
two services work together. When the of correspondence.
firms Mimecast system receives an a solution.
encrypted message, it is immediately The Switch Gateway can facilitate
routed securely to our hosted gateway Tony Pepper this. Two law firms working together
to be decrypted. The decrypted message can use a Switch Gateway account
is then routed back to the Mimecast Other Egress products such as Secure to decrypt and archive messages.
archive. The same process works for File Transfer, which offers the ability to Switch Gateway does not host or
outgoing messages. If someone wants send very large files such as corporate store messages. It is essentially a key

LEGAL IT TODAY | 31
32 | LEGAL IT TODAY
 eDX is like a virtual data? They also ask about certification
and accreditation.
behalf of their clients?
If a law firm is dealing with a local
envelope: it wraps council they have to use eDX; if they
It is important for our customers to handle litigation, they will also have to
an encryption layer know that we are a UK business, use CJSM. Other organisations prescribe
around each message incorporated in the UK, so the US
Patriot Act does not apply to us and
the use of particular systems and it is
especially challenging if those systems do
as it is delivered. US authorities cannot access our not integrate with their internal systems.
information. We use only UK data Our challenge is to make sure that eDX
Tony Pepper centres, so the data we handle never integrates with legal IT systems and does
leaves the UK. In fact, the Patriot Act not disrupt other systems that the firm
management service. It encrypts and has got more companies wanting may be using. Clients have become more
decrypts messages and allows the to work with UK rather than US interested in how law firms manage
sender to set access permissions. But businesses. Of course the UK Data their information and regularly include
the emails reside in the recipients Protection Act does apply to us. this in their criteria for choosing a firm.
inboxes. We layer on top of the existing If a firm does not have a mechanism for
email system the ability to encrypt and It makes sense to match a firms secure communication, they may choose
limit the ability of third parties to open encryption services to its email service a different firm that does, or provide an
and access messages. The parties to and eDX can be hosted or on-site. appropriate system. Whatever system
the correspondence therefore have to For example, if a firm uses Mimecast, you choose, it has to integrate with
negotiate access arrangements. The the eDX hosted service is a logical your internal systems and if you are not
default setting allows the recipient to choice, whereas a firm with on-premise proactive when it comes to encryption,
access, print and share information, email may prefer on-site encryption it is likely that you will end up managing
but the sender can change the security and decryption. It is important to even more products. Another area to
settings for each message. offer customers a choice as there be proactive is in negotiating with local
are genuine reasons why a particular councils and other parties in negotiating
We are in the business of giving our solution is the best fit for different access and the ability to save and share
customers the choice of the extent to organisations. eDX is like a virtual messages. The key is to be proactive
which their information is disclosed. envelope: it wraps an encryption layer about secure communication.
If our customers are happy for that around each message as it is delivered.
information to be shared openly, they Tony Pepper co-founded Egress
will set the appropriate policy. If they are Law firms are increasingly required Software Technologies in 2007 and
not, that is a matter between the firm to use encryption services, with currently serves as its CEO. Prior to
and their clients. eDX being the de facto system for Egress, he held executive management
local councils around the UK and the positions at Reflex Magnetics Ltd,
Has Snowden and the US Patriot Act Criminal Justice Secure eMail service Pointsec Mobile Technologies and
led to more businesses focusing on (CJSM) for the courts. What is your Check Point Software Technologies.
email security and encryption? advice to firms who are required to A frequent technology speaker, Tony
It is a really hot topic. As a cloud based use multiple systems, and must also sits on industry committees including
service provider, the one question we maintain comprehensive records Intellects Government Management
get asked all the time is wheres the of their interactions with and on and Defence & Security Groups.

LEGAL IT TODAY | 33
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34 | LEGAL IT TODAY LEGAL IT TODAY | 35

 Is the Surface Pro
an iPad killer?
BY DAVID BASKERVILLE

In a well-timed article, following the re-entry of Microsoft into the

legal IT market, consultant David Baskerville reviews the Surface Pro
tablet and discovers a genuine alternative to the ubiquitous iPad.

In 2010 the world of computing users expectations. For years there had Ironically, the main battle was often
changed forever with the launch of been talk of IT consumerisation and with more senior partners who, until
a new consumer-orientated product early smart phones had seen the start this point, had mostly avoided using
which lawyers were pestering their of this, but people were buying the any form of IT. These same people were
IT departments to let them use. Most iPad almost as a fashion accessory and now pushing for the adoption of the
IT managers were reticent in their expecting to use it at work. The iPad iPad and feeling frustrated when they
response and objected to being told was the first consumer device which were unsuccessful.
by lay people what kit they should IT departments had to deal with and
be purchasing. it would spawn the bring your own One of the most interesting things
device (BYOD) challenge. about the iPad was lawyers attitude
The release of the Apple iPad to learning how to use it. The same
catapulted enterprise IT into the The iPad phenomenon people who would normally be
mainstream. Apples marketing was The iPad phenomenon was particularly reluctant to spare 30 minutes for
sublime. The iPad was easy to use, dramatic in law firms, where IT teams Word or practice management system
flexible and powerful and provided had traditionally devoted significant time (PMS) or content management system
apparently endless functionality. One and resources to trying to get people to (CMS) training were spending hours
month after the iPads launch 1 million use the solutions they had engineered. playing, learning and sharing tips. Early
devices had been sold, and this figure The iPad was the piece of technology adopters seemed happy to undertake
had grown to 15 million by March 2011 that lawyers really wanted to use, but all sorts of weird and wonderful work-
when the iPad2 was released. their IT function would not allow them arounds in order to use their new
to use it, citing issues such as security, device for straightforward tasks such
At the time I dont think anyone lack of business apps and lack of as editing a Word document.
realised what the iPad would do to connectivity to existing solutions.

36 | LEGAL IT TODAY
I purchased an iPad with a view to be interesting, easy to use and able to This is a significant development in the
giving up using a laptop. But after a combine personal and business use. use of tablets within the legal industry.
week or so I returned to the laptop as Although a Windows tablet offers
simple business-related tasks required a In the past few years there has been nothing that cannot be achieved with
major effort. an explosion of tablet devices with a laptop, we have learnt from the iPad
sales overtaking desktop PCs in 2012 explosion that people are engaged by
The major problem for law firm IT and laptops in 2013. It is predicted the device rather than what it can do.
functions was that the iPad simply that in 2014 tablet sales will overtake
did not fit into firms network and combined sales of PCs and laptops. Is the Surface Pro the iPad killer?
application architecture. The basic Most of the latest devices have been With the Surface Pro Microsoft has
email functionality was fine but the based on Googles Android operating produced a real competitor to the iPad,
device did not support anti-virus, system. According to International Data if not the iPad killer, both in terms of its
document management, PMS and Corporations Worldwide Quarterly appeal as an exciting, innovative, piece
CMS solutions not to mention all Media Tablet and eReader Tracker, of equipment and as a single device that
the bespoke interfaces which are Apples tablet market share dropped can be used for work and play.
used to get it all to hang together? from 87% in 2010 to 36% in 2013.
IT departments simply could not The Surface Pro is a true tablet but is
understand why their partners wanted
to use a device which didnt work with
IT teams need to find designed to have a keyboard attached.
It has a USB port so that devices such
the solutions that they had worked so a way of leveraging as mice, cameras, and printers can be
hard to get operating seamlessly in the connected. It also has a pen and the
traditional Windows environment. lawyers desire to ability to convert the handwriting into

The answer is painfully simple.

use kit. Whatever text (or leave it as handwriting but still
be able to search it). The handwriting-
the disadvantages of to-text functionality is remarkable, with
Its hype and popularisation via the text requiring few corrections.
media made the iPad a must-have status the iPad, the genie is
symbol for business leaders. In 2010-11
it was almost impossible to open a paper
well and truly out of The keyboard comes in a choice of
vibrant colours with backlit keys and
or industry magazine without reading the bottle in terms snaps into the magnetic strip on the
about how the iPad would change your base of the tablet. There is even a little
life. In fact, many senior business people of IT needing to be kickstand which is especially useful
were catching up on life reading The
Times on their iPad on the train into
interesting, easy when using the touch screen keyboard
in a confined environment such as a
work! Eversheds was among the first to use and able to commuter train.
firms to announce large -scale iPad trials.
combine personal and Since the launch of the Surface Pro
Tablets and legal IT
In the current legal industry environment,
business use several other suppliers such as Asus
and HP have created Windows tablets
however, the iPad is a limited tool. David Baskerville or hybrid tablet/laptops but for me the
Most people simply use their iPad for sleek design and usability of the Surface
email, reading documents or making Android tablets have the same Pro make it the device which genuinely
brief meeting or attendance notes. It is connectivity and interface problems challenges the iPad.
useful, but it is not the ground-breaking as the iPad and despite their success
advance initially envisaged. as mid-priced consumer devices they I believe that the advantage of Windows
have not had much success in the legal tablets is that they can be loved by
Some four years after its initial release, marketplace. Androids are often seen as both the IT team and end users. The
legal software vendors have still to cheap entry-level tablets, underlining my IT team will be comfortable with the
deliver any significant feature rich iPad- belief that the desire for a tablet is often Windows operating system and all
focused solutions. It seems that most an aspirational brand purchase rather existing solutions and interfaces will
apps offer limited functionality and than related to device functionality. work on the devices. The end-users will
provided just so vendors can say they enjoy the Metro interface and touch
have an iPad app. Whilst Microsoft has The sleeping giant of Microsoft appears keyboard, which are more user friendly
finally released an iPad version of Office, to have finally awoken and is beginning than the iPad. Although apps was the
this is tied to their Office 365 platform, to make inroads in its attempts to catch Achilles heel of Windows devices, the
so it will not be useful to most law firms. up with the mobile market place. number of apps in the Windows Store
(Microsofts version of the iTunes store)
IT teams need to find a way of Microsoft released the Surface in 2012 is growing and includes several from
leveraging lawyers desire to use kit. and the Surface 2 in 2013. The Surface legal IT vendors. The seamless way in
Whatever the disadvantages of the 2 Mini is due for release this year and which email and files from the corporate
iPad, the genie is well and truly out other Microsoft tablets are coming network can be made available when
of the bottle in terms of IT needing to onto the market. the device is being used away from

LEGAL IT TODAY | 37
 the office even without network
connectivity is of great advantage,
The Surface Pro is iPad model, the Surface removes the
need to provide a desktop or laptop.
as is the full functionality of Office the first tablet which
particularly Outlook. The iPad revolution changed the way
has real business people engage with IT and pushed the
Windows 8 tablets enable users to boundaries of how they make use of
operate in two different modes. The functionality and equipment. However, it is deficient in
Metro interface is designed for modern
touch-screen operation and apps are
provides the terms of business functionality. The
Surface Pro is the first tablet which has
added in a similar way to the iTunes flexibility that the real business functionality and provides
store. There is also a neat little function the flexibility that the iPad promised but
which enables you split the screen and iPad promised but failed to deliver.
run two applications side by side and is
useful when reviewing information. The failed to deliver David Baskerville is an Associate of
iPad does not offer this function. The
traditional Windows desktop interface
David Baskerville Lights-On Consulting, advising legal and
professional services firms on IT strategy,
enables the IT team to deploy traditional system selection and implementation
legal IT tools including practice The Surface Pro can be used as a and programme/project management.
management, case management, tablet or as a full desktop (there is He also undertakes interim and virtual
document management, time recording also a docking station available) so the IT director engagements. David can be
and Citrix or VDI access without needing business case is compelling. Although it contacted on David.Baskerville@Lights-
to provide a new infrastructure. is more expensive than the comparable On-Consulting.com

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40 | LEGAL IT TODAY