Document assembly and contract automation specialists

 

August 2006 - By Bridget Meagher

Law In Business: IT: Maximum impact

In-house legal departments are investing in technology to save legal costs, improve compliance and streamline processes. Some of the systems they are putting in place are even being adopted across their corporations because of today’s compliance-pressured environment.

Julia Chain is former general counsel for T-Mobile and a consultant with the Kite Consultancy, which specialises in advising corporate counsel. She says: "The biggest in-house legal departments’ systems are quite sophisticated, and there is a big push into document management and precedent building. Ad hoc systems have been developed over time, but because of liability and risk issues, there is a need for more robust systems for collating information."

Global networks giant Cisco Systems has embraced legal technology with a contract management system and sophisticated e-learning modules. During the past year, the legal department has deployed the DealBuilder document assembly system which has had a ripple effect across the business.

For example, a salesperson can go to the company website, fill in some basic details and generate an online non-dis-closure agreement (NDA) for a customer. Hans Albers, Cisco’s director of legal services for the US and Canada, estimates that 500 NDAs are completed automatically per month across the globe. Furthermore, the contract management system adopted by the legal department several years ago has evolved and become linked into other departments to provide vital information for customer service and finance.

"We view the use of the internet and IT tools as a way to position the legal department as a key strategic partner. It raises the department’s visibility and importance," Albers says.

International energy infrastructure company National Grid has also bolstered its document management strategy with an investment in Micro-soft SharePoint and WorkShare.

"SharePoint is more open and cost-efficient than legal-specific document management systems," says Adam Davidson, a solicitor with National Grid. "We need to share e-mail and documents with colleagues around the world."

The WorkShare software ensures content compliance and security, helping the department track multiple document versions and changes and ensuring metadata containing confidential information is not attached.

"People are more watchful of document security with WorkShare, because it flags up potentially high-risk material," says Ian Leedham, senior counsel with National Grid.

Implemented late last year, National Grid is looking at the possibility of opening up the SharePoint system in an extranet setting for working with out-side firms.

BP, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, has also announced the rollout of a worldwide legal management system. Peter Bevan, group general counsel for BP, says the system will improve efficiency and help the company proactively manage legal costs. The system comprises matter management and e-billing software from CT TyMetrix, as well as document management software from Interwoven for "sorting and retrieving electronic documents quickly and consistently".

Adaptable systems

In-house legal teams are often spread across several departments and do not have their own dedicated IT staff and resources, making it difficult to secure a budget to invest in software and maintain it. Consequently, few corporate counsel have long-term plans for technology development. They must tailor their projects to fit in with the overall business.

"We are here as a support function, not as revenue earners. Our systems need to be adaptable to the rest of the business environment," Davidson says.

"We are a small team in a large company. You need to make a business case for IT projects and justify it with numbers," adds Leedham.

Davidson and Leedham point out that the IT department of National Grid has been supportive of their document management initiative, which has led the way throughout the rest of the company.

With internal systems becoming increasingly complex, in-house counsel are demanding more from the firms that work for them. They are requiring information to be available online through extranets and asking for services such as e-billing. E-learning services are also popular because they are well suited to multinational companies training staff across the globe about regulatory changes. Cisco Systems values firms using technology to make repetitive legal services, such as general employment advice, more cost effective.

"We look for law firms using IT to commoditise the services they offer, who make services scalable and efficient. You do not always need a senior partner to review everything," says Albers. "We prefer alternative billing methods based not on the hourly rate but on the fee per transaction."

Anything that makes targeted legal know-how available on the web is appreciated, with some legal departments signing up for user-friendly and frequently updated services from suppliers such as the Practical Law Company. Many law firms are also reporting that their corporate clients are demanding to know what business continuity plans they have in place to ensure business will be conducted as usual in the event of an emergency.

Corporations have even come together to demand the online information resources they want from law firms. Nine major investment banks formed the Banking Legal Technology Group in 2003 to request a single web portal rather than separate client extranets.

An online system was developed to provide newsletters, briefings, updates and other resources from top firms Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters and Simmons & Simmons.

Despite the challenges experienced by some in-house lawyers in securing IT resources, large multinational corporations such as Cisco, National Grid and BP are at the forefront of technological innovation because they recognise the legal cost savings in a market where services are becoming increasingly commoditised.