The July/August issue of the Orange Rag is out now and should provide you with plenty of food for thought over the summer!
July Scoops!
So, July was a fairly monumental month for breaking news and in this last Orange Rag before we break for a month for the summer, we’re handing the front page over to a recap of two of our biggest and consecutive exclusives this month: Litera Microsystems acquires Workshare, and Thomson Reuters acquires HighQ. What a month!
NIS Regs drive law firms in Europe to the cloud
The EU NIS Directive on security of Network and Information Systems is driving law firms in Europe towards adopting cloud systems and solutions in order to comply with its onerous certification, security and reporting requirements. Details here.
Is Microsoft too cloud aggressive?
While putting your data in the cloud is the obvious direction of travel, this year we’re hearing that Microsoft is effectively driving the cloud agenda with its aggressive approach to licensing, with one CIO saying “this is an area that needs exposure.” Fair or no fair?
#GlenLegal: Word from the chair
We’ve saved some of the best for last when it comes to covering the content from #GlenLegal19. Here our two co-chairs give their thoughts on the latest trends. (Spoiler alert: Perkins Coie CIO Rick Howell’s death by cheese slide makes an appearance).
Why Wavelength sold to Simmons
Up there with the biggest stories in July is the acquisition of Wavelength by Simmons & Simmons, which sparked a good few questions, mostly as to why Wavelength would sell at a time when every law firm and their dog needs and doesn’t have legal engineers and data scientists. We speak to co-founder Peter Lee about the acquisition.
Bruce Braude breaks the internet
It’s no wonder that Bruce Braude says that he is “overwhelmed” by the good wishes he has received on LinkedIn following our announcement at the start of July that he is moving to Deloitte Legal as chief technology officer. The post has received 26,030 views, 249 likes and 91 comments – all congratulating him and some questioning whether this means that the true technologists are eschewing law firms for accountants. We take a look at that question.
Continental Europe IT Profile: Stibbe in Focus
While we have profiled many of the IT teams in the UK Top 100 law firms, we’re excited to say this profile of Stibbe is the first from Continental Europe. We speak to Stibbe’s head of ICT and facilities for Brussels and Luxembourg, Olivier Van Eesbeecq.
Farrer & Co: Lessons learned from shift to IaaS in Azure
Just over 18 months ago, Farrer & Co began a project to move its entire infrastructure into Azure – becoming one of the first UK law firms to do so. Having broken that news first-time round, we recently caught up with IT director Neil Davison and head of IT systems Andy Beech, as well as Nick Martin, managing director of cloud consultancy SystemsUp, to find out how the project is panning out. Has each of the stages gone as expected? What have been the unexpected challenges? We expected there would be a few bumps in the road and, of course, there have been. But have they been overcome, and if so how?
TORONTO PART ONE: The Incubator Scene
Toronto has one of the most vibrant technology scenes in the world and in legal technology has given birth to the likes of Clio, Kira Systems and Diligen as well as one of the first, if not the first, global master of laws in innovation, law and technology at the University of Toronto Faculty of Laws. Caroline Hill caught up with a few key people and was impressed by the independent incubator scene that helps drive growth.
Law firm IT profiles: Clyde & Co
In one of our largest law firm profiles to date, Clyde & Co’s global CIO DiAnna Thimjon tells us how the firm’s IT team is structured, what its strategy is, what the biggest challenges are and what changes are being made to the core tech stack. The interview will be published in full on the Legal IT website on Monday, 5 August but here are some of the highlights.
The False Promise of Lawyer Timekeeping Analytics Technologies?
What does the rising number of legal technology applications that are focusing on lawyer timekeeping analytics tell us? Will the emergence of this technology finally bring about a challenge to the billable hour and help to reduce the cost of legal services? Dera J Nevin says that the industry-wide inability to capture and understand revenues is a far greater obstacle to the acceleration of alternative fees than the billable hour.
ICYMI
A digest of the more important disclosure/discovery news from industry veteran Jonathan Maas’ BONG! email updates over the past month – helping you stay on top of all the latest eDiscovery coverage and trends.
What’s Hot & What’s Not: Wins & Deals
If you are in any doubt what kind of month it has been, the wins and deals section runs to over six pages! All the latest acquisitions, partnerships, ventures and wins are here.
Movers & Shakers
What can we say, you’ve all got ants in your pants, and here are four pages of moves just from July to prove it.
The Orange Rag is back at the end of September. Keep your eyes on the website www.legaltechnogy.com for continued daily news and updates. Editor Caroline Hill will be at ILTA in August – please drop her a line if you want to meet up.
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Our next issue (No #326 – September) will be out on Wednesday 25 September 2019
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