In a week largely dominated by US news thanks to the UK buggering off for Easter, in a move that has sparked legal tech commentators to question whether and when we can expect more Big Law apps, Baker McKenzie last week launched a global version of its Dawn Raid App, a mobile application that, across 44 countries, provides clients experiencing a raid with real-time step-by-step guidance on their rights and obligations, as well as instant access to Baker McKenzie antitrust lawyers.
Antitrust agencies often coordinate their investigations, so a company can find itself being raided in several countries on the same day. The App is said to be a cutting-edge platform that provides practical assistance and peace of mind for individuals on the ground handling unannounced inspections. It answers a range of practical questions on a country by country basis under local law such as “Can inspectors demand passwords to allow IT access?” and “Can employees leave the building with their laptops?” Users can contact a Bakers antitrust lawyer through the app and take and send photos of key documents so Baker & McKenzie can provide immediate legal support. You can read more here: Baker McKenzie launches ‘first of its kind’ Global Antitrust Dawn Raid App
By far the biggest legal tech news of last week, however – and an announcement that for the time being will silence rumours that Intapp is to float – was that Intapp is to take “significant” investment from Singapore-based investment company Temasek in order to expand and build out its product roadmap, including extending its solutions for the broader professional services market.
Some of the money injected by Temasek will buyout a share of the equity owned by Boston-based private equity firm Great Hill Partners, which invested an undisclosed sum in 2013, when it became Intapp’s first external investor. Since that investment four years ago, which saw the exit of Intapp co-founder Tino Wuensche, Intapp has added 400 new clients and achieved revenue growth of 400%. It also acquired UK cloud-based time recording rival Rekoop in January 2016 as it moves all of its product stack towards a cloud offering. You can read our interview with President Dan Tacone here: Intapp takes “significant” investment from Temasek to accelerate growth
Other wins and deals
NetDocuments last week announced that Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth will replace its on-premises DMS with NetDocuments’ native cloud-based platform for improved security, compliance, and usability across its 10 offices and more than 130 attorneys.
“NetDocuments presents the most comprehensive DMS platform for legal, which will play a key role in our security and information governance initiatives while enabling us to achieve the usability, reliability, and mobility our clients and personnel demand,” Peter Baran, CTO at Stradling, said.
NetDocuments’ single global instance of software, quarterly updates, and service performance transparency were critical factors in Stradling’s decision to move forward.
In the UK, Encompass Corporation and ComplyAdvantage have announced a new partnership, in a combination that will apply artificial intelligence and traditional data sources in order to combat money laundering: ComplyAdvantage partners with Encompass Corporation
And following Fladgate’s introduction of LTC4 up-skilling and certification using the Capensys courseware and skills evaluation tool 18 month’s ago, 90% of the firm are now certified in Working with Legal Documents. You can read the new case study here: Legal IT Newswire: Fladgate builds IT competence with Capensys LTC4-approved courseware
New product releases
UK
Barristers’ chambers Clerksroom is developing a bot to help connect lawyers with the right barrister. You can visit Billy Bot on LinkedIn and ask him a question using the link below.
Billy, who is currently in training, has 27,000 contacts in his database and adds: “I can search LinkedIn, I can instantly contact up to 200 Barristers Chambers, their clerks and 12,000 Barristers. 6,000 of them have undertaken training to work directly with business and members of the public. I can even arrange a mediation in England & Wales from £500 + VAT per party on any date, at any venue.”
The plan is that Billy, who is named after Billy Lamb, a clerk in the TV series Silk, will eventually be able to help the public find the right barrister, check availability and quote fees. You can keep up to date with his posts and any developments here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chatwithbilly/
US
Thomson Reuters Elite has announced the release of client and matter management solution MatterSphere 7.2, which gives clients greater and closer integration with 3E, Elite’s flagship practice management system.
Enhancements have been made to the user interface, creating flexibility with how screens are displayed. With the ability to pin, hide, and move the Navigation and Information panels, users will benefit from better views of the screen, allowing for tasks to be completed more timely and efficiently. A closer integration between 3E and MatterSphere also will allow clients to create invoices and reports and save them using Design Gallery™ to the MatterSphere Document Management System against corresponding files or matters, making the flow faster and easier. http://www.elite.com/press/thomson-reuters-elite-launches-mattersphere-7-2-enhancements-increase-flexibility-control-users-2/
Elsewhere Epiq has announced the availability of the latest upgrade of kCura’s Relativity version 9.3 in the People’s Republic of China. Relativity hosting is available via Epiq’s ISO27001-compliant Shanghai data center and as a portable, on-site deployment. Epiq is a Relativity Orange-level, Best in Service hosting partner with data centers in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo as well as in the U.S., U.K. and Germany. Legal IT Newswire: Epiq Expands Technology and Service Offerings in China
DocAuto has announced a major new release of their WorkSite Organizer for Citrix ShareFile. With a single click, users can upload, e-mail, or download documents between iManage Work and Citrix ShareFile. The WorkSite Organizer for ShareFile is a lightweight add-in to iManage DeskSite or FileSite.
The latest release of DocAuto’s WorkSite Organizer for Citrix ShareFile has been completely redesigned and rewritten using ShareFile’s newest application programming interface (API), and includes the following enhancements:
ShareFile can now mimic the matter-centric structure of iManage by automatically creating folders and subfolders in ShareFile using metadata from the iManage content being uploaded.
iManage users can now share content with “Require Login” links. When creating “Require Login” links, authorized users can be selected from any address book in Outlook, ShareFile Personal Contacts, Shared Contacts, or from any e-mail addresses present in the same WorkSpace in iManage Work.
The new user interface more closely matches the simple-to-use ShareFile web interface.
Very large files can now be uploaded, up to 10GB and higher on some accounts.
Qualmet has announced the commercial release of the Qualmet cloud-based platform which solves the issue of measuring value and facilitating conversations between law departments and their external legal service providers.
The cloud-based Qualmet platform gives law departments a quick way to assess and compare performance of legal service providers so they can maximize the business value to their companies. It also affords legal service providers a means to understand client needs, allowing them to improve their performance and competitiveness.
“Qualmet changes everything the legal industry has come to accept about the relationship between law departments and their law firms,” said Qualmet CEO Jim Beckett. “It provides both sides with a common framework for setting expectations, for collaboration, and for creating clear accountability to improve business value.”
The law departments of several major corporations, including Atria Senior Living and CafePress, have already signed up to use Qualmet after experiencing success during the platform’s pilot phase.
Startup news
TechCrunch reports that serial entrepreneur Justin Kan’s legal tech startup Atrium LTS is looking to raise $10m for its initial round of funding. The founder of Justin.tv, Kan’s investments include Cruise Automation, which sold to GM for over a billion dollars. Kan has assembled a team including Orrick startup lawyer Augie Rakow and BeBe Chueh, who founded AttorneyFee (sold to LegalZoom). On the tech side, Kan has hired former AWS employee Chris Smoak. You can read more about it here: https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/12/justin-kan-atrium-10m-general-catalyst/
Hires
Anaqua, Inc., a leading provider of intellectual property (IP) management and analytics software and services, has appointed Karen Taylor as the new General Manager of Asia Pacific. Legal IT Newswire: Anaqua Appoints New General Manager of Asia Pacific
Industry updates
If you missed legal consultant Ron Friedmann’s latest post, Gaining the Benefits of Legal AI for In-House Counsel, you can read it by clicking on the link below. Ron recently gave a talk for legal procurement organisation Buying Legal Council on the topic of how in-house counsel can gain the benefits of legal artificial intelligence and presents a brief synopsis here: http://prismlegal.com/gaining-the-benefits-of-legal-ai-for-in-house-counsel/
Events
Preparing to replace your Practice Management Systems – 30th May. As we move ever nearer to the end of life of some major finance / practice management systems such as Elite Enterprise and Envision, and as more and more firms now begin to consider their next steps, a group of independent consultancy firms are hosting a free half day seminar around the topic of PMS system change. See our events page for more details: Preparing to replace your Practice Management Systems – 30th May