Lotus Sametime

The core strategy of Shaw Pittman , an international law firm with nearly 400 lawyers in D.C., Virginia, New York, California and England, is to link its legal counsel through a database infrastructure. Using Lotus Notes and Domino Release 5 (R5), Shaw Pittman has enhanced productivity, streamlined business practices and improved communications with its technology expert clientele.

The translation of hard legal copy and administrative documents into an electronic format has been classified into three main database categories. Internal KM practices hold case histories, presentations and legal forms electronically, drastically reducing the amount of time spent researching records, often from a few weeks to a couple hours. Routine procedures such as training employees, tracking best practices, administrative workflow and marketing are automated. Collaborative document sharing provides nearly round-the-clock service. In some cases, firm members and clients can post and revise document transactions and then notify interested parties by e-mail to see the revisions. In others, clients can access a read-only extranet for self-service counsel.

The newest improvement in the Lotus system, in use since 1994, is the deployment of Lotus Sametime on every employee desktop. Sametime allows instant messaging so clients can receive on-screen counsel in real time while speaking on opposing party telephone calls. The same process means questions or details in a document can be confirmed instantly if the reader and the document writer are both online.