InsideLegal

ILTA INSIGHT Conference Opens Tomorrow in London - Don't Miss Out!

The theme for ILTA'S UK conference, INSIGHT 2012, is “Beyond the Traditional…Law Firm IT,” which "focuses on the importance of moving away from traditional thinking to explore new efficiencies and innovations." This year's conference is being chaired by Janet Day (IT Director at Berwin Leighton Paisner) and Gareth Ash (CIO at Allen Overy LLP) and has been extended to two days with an added exhibit hall. Unfortunately, this will be the first time in years that we won't be able to attend the conference, but we recommend that if you are in London and able to attend, check it out. Here is an overview of the event...

ILTA is known for its quality content and INSIGHT will be offering 18 sessions as well as a keynote both mornings. Day 1 keynote speaker will be Janet Williams QPM, Deputy Assistant Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police Service discussing Cyber Crime and day two's keynote "Economic Outlook 2012" will be presented by Vicky Pryce, Senior Managing Director of FTI Consulting Inc. In addition to the educational content, there will be a networking reception Tuesday night as well as breakfast and lunch networking both days.

Costs to Attend:  FREE to ILTA members (find out if you are an ILTA member here); £300 for non-ILTA law firm delegates and £1,500 for delegates who are not with a law firm or law department

To Register:  You can register onsite during the conference at the Central Hall Westminster

For Information on Sessions and Exhibitors:  View the complete programme guide here

Who is Speaking at INSIGHT:  Review the list of speakers here

Where:  Central Hall Westminster in London

When:  May 8 (9:30-6:30p) and May 9 (9:30-4:15p)

Don't Forget: If you are attending INSIGHT, make sure to download the Conference App

 

New Global Legal IT Survey Worth Checking Out - Legal IT Landscapes

We just finished a thorough read of a new, broad based legal IT professionals technology survey definitely worth talking about. Co-produced by our friends UK-based legalsupportnetwork and Netherlands-headquartered Legal IT Professionals, the "Legal IT Landscapes" survey includes some key issues on the legal IT chief’s desk – cloud computing, tablet PCs, social media use, business intelligence (BI), document management and Microsoft SharePoint and desktop solutions – as well as how IT people see their role in terms of its status and its future. The survey includes data from 712 responses from legal IT and legal management professionals worldwide, with the bulk of the responses coming from the UK, US and mainland Europe. According to the report, the spread of law firm sizes was well represented, although 60+% of all responses came from firms with 251+ fee earners/time keepers.

We encourage all to check out the full 26 page PDF report, but below are a few of the findings that caught our attention... 

• A third of respondents said their firms are either already using social media tools to enable information sharing and collaboration, or are looking to develop this capability in 2011.
• Three quarters (73.6%) of CIO/CTOs said their firm is either “examining how to expand” tablet use or “planning how we can do more with them in 2011”. This view was shared by those at director and manager level, with IT directors the highest at over 82%.
• Big firms were most negative towards cloud – 60% of those in firms with over 501 fee-earners said the cloud has “serious compliance issues” – while the smallest firms were most positive.
• The UK leads in BI adoption by a large margin – seven in 10 respondents in UK firms said their firm uses BI, compared to just under six in 10 in mainland Europe and even fewer in the US, which reported just 58% adoption.
• Overall, nearly a half of the legal IT people we questioned (46%) said that “partners are gradually recognising that IT plays an increasingly important role and are open to more IT involvement in determining the firm’s strategy"... But overall only 15% said 2011 would see more CIOs and IT directors becoming part of law firm management boards in 2011.
• The UK had the highest number of respondents who said IT is on a “level playing field with all the other business services departments”, with over a quarter (27.6%) of respondents feeling this confident about their role...

ILTA: Recent News & Announcements

InsideLegal spent some time with the ILTA conference and sessions team at LegalTech New York and wanted to share some of the recent scoop and announcements ... 

ILTA INSIGHT UK

ILTA will again be producing the INSIGHT 2011 event in London April 5th. INSIGHT will offer two tracks – The Business of Law 2020 and Law Technology 2020. The sessions offered tie into Law 2020, an ILTA multi-year, multi-platform educational programming initiative focusing on the ways in which law firms will have to adapt in order to thrive over the next decade. You can view the complete agenda online.

As always, INSIGHT is free and open to law firm or law department professionals. You can register here or by e-mail to Peggy Wechsler, ILTA’s Program Director.

Editors Note: InsideLegal is again a sponsor of INSIGHT UK and we look forward to this program this year. Last year will be hard to top. Great sessions and great people...

STAFF CHANGES

ILTA is excited to anounce some new internal organizational changes that will allow them to better tackle their new initiatives and their constant pursuit to top themselves with each Annual Conference. Peggy Wechsler remains as Program Director but will concentrate more on strategic planning, including focusing on vendor, alliance, and press relationships. TJ Johnson, who has been will ILTA since 2003 has been promoted to Program Manager of Conferences. You may not be familiar with TJ, but she is the lady behind the logistics of the conference, from the educational program to the details. You may have seen her running around the conference with a headset. In her new role, she will take over moreof the planning from Peggy of special events outside of the annual conference, i.e. INSIGHT and ILTA’s track at LegalTech. Another ILTA team member, Deb HImsel, has been promoted to Program Manager of Core Education. Deb will direct the coordination of all the regional meetings, roadshows and webinars (and other new media) in this new role. Gaynor Senyszyn, who previous served as ILTA’s Peer Group Coordinator, is moving over to Conference Coordinator to provide support to TJ and the conference planning committee.

A new team member, Kristy Cole, is joining ILTA as Communications Specialist and will be working with Executive Director and Editor, Randi Mayes, on ILTA's publication Peer to Peer and its popular whitepaper series. Kristy has spent the last five years as IS Communication Administrator and Web Content Editor for Mayer Brown so the ILTA content is very familiar to her.

ILTA PEER AWARDS

ILTA's 2011 Distinguished Peer Awards program, announced earlier this month, recognizes outstanding achievements in organizational and individual excellence involving areas of focus covered by ILTA's peer groups. Vendors and consultants will also be recognized, for superior achievements in thought leadership and innovation. The rather simple nomination and application process encourage ILTA members and vendors to nominate themselves, peers or their organization by the April 30th deadline.

In addition to the award itself, presented at the awards dinner at ILTA 2011 in August, winners will be featured on the ILTA website and in various ILTA publications.

Editors note: InsideLegal covered the inaugural ILTA Peer Awards last year and we were very impressed with not only the caliber of nominees and winners, but with the overall organization and presentation - check out the coverage from 2010. 

 

Tikit Acquires Carpe Diem from Sage Software & PensEra, Makers of TimeKM

Quite a day for UK based Tikit! Tikit has announced this morning the acquisition of both Carpe Diem time recording software from Sage Software and PensEra, makers of TimeKM time recording software. According to the news release (which can be found on their blog)...

"With immediate effect, the Sage Carpe Diem product becomes Carpe Diem Classic, with a new version - Carpe Diem Classic 2010 - scheduled for launch in Q4 of this year. This release will incorporate many of the enhancements users have requested from Sage over recent months.

The TimeKM suite (which along with time recording also includes forecasting and budgeting) will be renamed Carpe Diem Enterprise and will inherit its existing roadmap, supplemented by feedback from firms using Carpe Diem Classic, to ensure it continues to address next generation time recording trends and best practices."

Here are some financial details thanks to The Orange Rag Editor, Charles Christian.

• Annual support revenues for Carpe Diem were US$2.2 million in the year to 30 September 2010, while the total consideration was US$1.35 million, paid in cash from Tikit’s existing resources.
• PensEra had total revenues of C$0.99 million in the year to 31 July 2010. The initial consideration of C$0.73 million has been paid in cash from Tikit’s existing resources, and there is an additional capped deferred consideration payable over the next three years, dependent on software sales growth.

Students: Maybe You Shouldn't Become a Lawyer

During Simon Chester's (Partner, Heenan Blaikie) presentation at the COLPM Futures Conference (more coverage to come), he told of an announcement that came in 2009 from the Law Society of England & Wales cautioning people considering a law career due to the time and financial commitments it requires. A Law Society spokesperson said:

"Working closely with the Junior Lawyers Division the Society is looking to inform and educate those considering a career as a solicitor to think long and hard about the commitment it requires to succeed - particularly in the face of increased competition. Last year alone, more than 1000 people who completed the Legal Practice Course  did not get a training contract. This is about responsible management of entry to the profession. Alongside this campaign the Society and the profession have long been working hard to create a level playing field for those who are genuinely talented and meritorious in order to overcome the barrier of financial disadvantage."

Can you imagine the ABA or a similar organization making that type of announcement in the US?