Law Firms Join Portal Trend
Legal technology has historically developed at a slower pace than the technology industry as a whole. Highly concerned about the security of posting documents online, the legal industry has been slower than other industries to adopt e-mail, utilize the Internet and employ Web-based technology tools to increase workplace proficiency.
But that is changing. According to the META Group, 90 percent of companies are going to deploy an enterprise-wide portal in the next few years in an effort to lower employee support costs and increase profits. As a result, more and more law firms are recognizing the difference technology has made in the businesses of their clients and have begun deploying enterprise-wide portals and similar knowledge management solutions. As of last year, 38% of the 200 largest law firms had already implemented portal technology, according to the 2002 AmLaw Tech annual survey, with more expected in the future.
Components of a Legal Portal
Just as every law firm has a unique culture and practice, they also each have specialized knowledge management needs. To be successful within the law firm realm, portals must be flexible and customizable and address the discrete workflow needs of legal professionals, while meeting client and enterprise demands. They must provide legal professionals a convenient and easy-to-navigate “one stop shop” for simultaneously searching the firm’s intranet and online legal research system, the Internet, and internal documents, memos and databases.
To deliver a quality portal offering to the legal community, LexisNexis has teamed with leading portal provider Plumtree Software to offer the first portal technology developed exclusively for law firms. Plumtree Software’s technologies empower organizations to create an open, enterprise-wide Web environment for users to interact with applications, find information and work together. Plumtree’s independence and its Web services architecture allow its solutions to span rival platforms and systems, maximizing customers’ return on their existing technology investments.
The Future of Legal Portals
While there are few comprehensive studies on the scope of portal deployments in legal environments, it is expected that, like deployments in corporate environments, they will increase over the next several years. According to a Goldman Sachs January 2003 IT Spending Survey “enterprise portal software” is one of the “highest priorities” for the “greatest spending increases over the next 12 months” in corporations. Like corporations, law firms will continue to invest in enterprise portal software and embrace Web services to create newfound levels of productivity. And LexisNexis will continue to partner with its customers to provide customized tools for success.
Leveraging Internal and External Legal Knowledge
Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, LLP, a national full-service law firm serving international and national clients, was the first law firm to deploy the LexisNexis Portal as its primary knowledge management tool.
“A portal was the framework we needed to allow us to build a technology and information infrastructure for Schnader” said Bobbi Cross, director, Research and Information Resources. “It allowed us to bring together internal attorney work product and external research resources. It brought together multiple desktop applications and became our central practice management tool.”
Schnader was especially excited by the portal’s exclusive one-search capability. “It is an enormous productivity enhancer to be able to search simultaneously for documents on our intranet, extranet, the Internet and the LexisNexis service,” said Ralph G. Wellington, chairman of Schnader.
The most recent firm to deploy the legal portal is Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, LLP, a global, full-service law firm. “The Plumtree portal, powered by LexisNexis, has saved our attorneys, paralegals and administrative staff significant hours of valuable time. We now have much more effective access to and use of the information universe inside and outside the firm. This has allowed us to dramatically increase our efficiency which, in turn, increases our productivity and profitability,” said Alirio Gomez, director of Library & Information Services and Milbank Research Portal project manager.
“Milbank is a knowledge-intensive organization,” explained Gomez. “Our market position depends on the quality and quantity of knowledge resulting from transactional work with clients. It is critical that our portal be customized to allow us to integrate and organize in-house and outside information resources for the most efficient attorney/client access.”
LexisNexis™ is a global leader in comprehensive and authoritative legal, news and business information and tailored applications. Its online services combine searchable access to over four billion documents from thousands of sources. For more information, visit LexisNexis, email newsales@lexisnexis.com or contact a customer service representative at 1.800.543.6862