InsideLegal

2009 InsideLegal/ILTA Member Technology Purchasing Survey Released

The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA), and InsideLegal.com, an online legal community providing an insider’s guide to doing business in legal technology, today released the findings of the 9th annual ILTA Member Technology Purchasing Survey (Survey). The 2009 Survey, focused on feedback from 115 ILTA member law firms with 50 or more attorneys, covers IT budgeting, technology purchasing patterns, selection criteria and influencers, technology trends & IT challenges, and state-of-the-economy questions. Survey findings and analysis were presented as part of InsideLegal.com’s ILTA Vendor Education & Media Program in conjunction with ILTA’s Annual Conference August 23-27.

 

2009 Survey highlights include:

• Budget cuts in 2009 are severe: Only 15% of survey participants spend more than 4% of total firm revenue on technology vs. 28% in 2008. However, economic recovery is closer than many might believe with 14% of respondents claiming their firms are already on the way to recovery and 47% stating firm financials will be on the upswing within the next 12 months.
• 2008 saw major hardware projects rolled out with at least a 40% implementation rate (based on all survey responses) for server upgrades, desktop hardware, virtualization, laptops and printers/multi-function devices (MFDs).
• 75% of all 2009/10 planned purchases are for technologies that were put on hold or deferred from last year.
• ILTA’s Peer to Peer magazine is 2009’s publication favorite with a 95% read rate among respondents.
• Technology blog readership is still below 50% but LinkedIn, as a social media tool for firms, is well entrenched.
• According to ILTA respondents, virtualization, cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) are among the ‘hottest’ future technologies.
• Email management continues to be IT’s #1 challenge, this year followed by staffing concerns and managing firm growth.
• Majority of IT decision-makers say getting discounts/price cuts is the best way their vendors can work with them in the downturn. 62% indicated they have received specific vendor ‘economic stimulus’.

2009 InsideLegal/ILTA Member Technology Purchasing Survey

 

Press Release on Survey

ILTA Vendor Education/Media Program - Produced by InsideLegal.com

For the sixth year, we at InsideLegal.com will be producing the Vendor Education/Media Program at the Annual ILTA Conference (August 23-27).  If you will be attending ILTA and have not already signed up to attend, please do so.  Again, we want to thank ILTA for making it possible to provide additional valuable education for vendors onsite Monday, August 24th in meeting rooms Potomac 1&2...

ILTA Vendor Business Meeting & ILTA Member Technology Purchasing Survey Results – 2:00-2:30 p.m.
This session will include an opportunity to meet the ILTA staff, to receive updates on conference activities, find out about future conference locations and get an update on general ILTA programs.  We will also be doing a short presentation on the findings of the 2009 ILTA Member Technology Purchasing Survey.  Take a look at the 2008 ILTA Member Technology Purchasing Survey to get an idea of the information we'll be covering and stay tuned to InsideLegal.com for more information.

ILTA Vendor Education Program – 2:30-4:30 p.m.
We are offering 4 sessions, with each panel consisting of 3-4 faculty - ILTA staff, ILTA officers and recognized industry experts.  Once again, one of our goals this year is to make sure the program is applicable to established vendors who may have attended all past events as well as new vendor attendees.  To participate, please RSVP for each attendee with their name, company, title and email address to JoAnna Forshee.

The 4 panels will cover the following topics:
• Working with ILTA (outside of the Annual Conference)
• Advice for Selling to Law Firms in this Economy (Economic Impact & Doing More with Less Marketing Budget )
• Utilizing Social Media to Maximize Your Company’s Message
• Working with Media

ILTA Vendor Reception – 4:30-5:00 p.m.
Join us following the program for an in-room networking reception affording vendors the opportunity to mingle with other attendees, participating media, and the panelists. 

Again, please make sure to RSVP for each attendee with their name, company, title and email address to JoAnna Forshee.  Thanks again to Peggy and ILTA!

ALTi Celebrates 1 Year in Publication

The American Legal Technology Insider (ALTi) recently celebrated its one year anniversary with the publication of it's 12th issue (see below) and the interest is growing rapidly.  Only one year into publication, the circulation has topped over 18,000.

ALTi comes from the same publishing stable as the UK’s market leading newsletter Legal Technology Insider and follows the UK formula of treating vendor and industry news as real news, albeit with a strictly North American flavor. ALTi is the brainchild of Charles Christian who is the Editor and Publisher of Legal Technology Insider (in its 12th year) as well as The Orange Rag breaking news blog. Charles Christian has been described by The Times of London as "the definitive online resource for the latest news about legal technology".  ALTi focuses on the large firm North American market.

If you haven't subscribed already, send an email to sign up to receive future issues of ALTi delivered to your email free of charge.  Also,  if you are interested in advertising, you can get information at ALTi's site or contact Charles Christian. 

ALTi's Editor Charles Christian will be a panelist in the Media Program that InsideLegal produces for ILTA at the upcoming Annual ILTA Conference so make sure to attend the event on Monday, August 24th.

Download ALTi#12

2009 InnovAction Award Winners Announced

For the fifth straight year, the InnovAction Awards have recognized outstanding innovation in the delivery of legal services, demonstrating to the legal community what can happen when passionate professionals, with big ideas and strong convictions, resolve to create effective change.  The InnovAction Awards were initiated in 2004 by the College of Law Practice Management, an organization formed to honor and recognize distinguished law practice management professionals.

The receipient of the award was The New Family Organization which was selected for its Family, Justice and Law initiative. "Advocate Irit Rosenblum broke fresh ground defending a universal right to family as intrinsic to the practice of law. Rosenblum pioneered a new sphere of legal rights surrounding the family based on the conviction that the rights to marry, divorce, have children, bequeath and inherit assets, and conduct family life are human rights and must be attainable to all regardless of faith, nationality, sexual orientation or status. She founded New Family to fill a critical gap in the practice of law in Israel: to attain the right of every individual to establish a family and to exercise equal rights within it. For the two million people in Israel who are subject to discrimination due to family status, New Family’s achievements have been invaluable."

For the first time in 2009, there was also an InnovAction Honorable Mention which was awarded to Practical Law Company, Inc. for creating efficiency for business lawyers.  "Practical Law Company (PLC) is changing the way business lawyers work. It employs attorneys with significant experience practicing with the world’s leading law firms and legal departments (e.g., Davis Polk, Skadden, Sullivan & Cromwell, Pfizer) to provide practical, up-to-date resources that help business lawyers practice more efficiently and provide greater value to clients. PLC provides the practical, generic level of information needed by all business lawyers that allows them to get up to speed quickly, stop reinventing the wheel, and focus on client- and firm-specific work. It launched its first US services in December 2008 to wide market acceptance. PLC began in the UK in 1990."

The awards will be presented on Saturday, September 26, at a special session during the 2009 Futures Conference held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the College of Law Practice Management in Denver, Colorado.  For additional information on the 2009 award recipients and the nomination process, visit InnovAction's site.

InsideLegal.com is a Friend of InnovAction.

Sign Up to Attend the ILTA Conference and Receive Complimentary Membership For the Remainder of 2009

The theme for ILTA's 2009 Annual Conference - Leading Technology | Optimizing Value - conveys two messages: It will be the premier place for ILTA decision-makers to come together to share their experiences as technology leaders to talk about how they best use leading technologies, and we'll all learn how to best optimize the value of IT in law firms and law departments, a particularly important focus in our current economic climate. The theme helps direct the conference educational program and the networking events of ILTA '09. The conference will be held at the Gaylord Resort in Washington DC, August 23-27. It includes 26 educational tracks and 192 educational sessions.

Due to unprecedented economic conditions and resultant constraints on expenses, ILTA is offering an incentive for non-member entities to join the association through the conference date at no cost, if they are sending at least one person at the full price of registration to the event ($1,025), either as an attendee requiring lodging for the week or under the “day tripper discount” ($750), if the attendee is in the DC area.

In that entities coming in to membership will require a review to ascertain qualifications, they must email Grace Palma, Membership Services Coordinator, or call her at (512) 795-4669 to apply for membership. Eligible entities include private law firms, law schools, corporate law departments (for corporations whose primary market is not legal), and government law departments. This offer, good until August 24, will provide all the benefits of membership to the entity at no cost beyond the conference registration fee. The membership will expire at the end of 2009, though the entity can renew for 2010 by paying the appropriate membership dues.

Don't miss out on the ILTA Conference!