The Law Firm Web Site Launched in Hong Kong

June 16, 2010 - PRLog -- Cloud Solutions, a Hong Kong based IT consultancy firm and solutions provider, launches The Law Firm (www.thelawfirm.com.hk) web site to present business applications for Hong Kong and Asian based law firms. With the growth of cloud computing and the SaaS (software-as-as-service) licensing model, small firms of even two attorney’s or solicitors’ can now use the same applications as large firms without the need for expensive software, hardware or experienced IT professionals.  

The Law Firm web site presents business applications that cover the following areas within a law firm; Practice Management and Time & Billing (TaBS), Trademark & Patent management, Document and Image Management and finally Email and calendaring. All applications are browser based and most can be provided as a service (SaaS) and hosted off-site.

It is estimated a law firm, no matter the size, need only save 20-30 minutes a week, per timekeeper, to pay for the adoption of all applications, that is, Time & Billing, Trademark Management, Document Management, Email and Calendaring.  From a manual paper based system, this is very realistic.

Firms that under-utilize technology lose valuable time, are less productive, tend to be more error-prone, and are at greater risk.

The Applications

TaBS Time and Billing System allows law firms to efficiently manage their time and billing processes, improve profitability and reduce risk.

TaBS (www.tabs.com.hk) does this by allowing timekeepers (or their assistants) to enter time directly into the system, no double entry. To track office and out-of-pocket expenses, manage time and tasks by areas of law for case management, generate billing worksheets in a timely and easy-to-use manner, and issue statements for improved cash collection. Risk is reduced with conflict of interest searches, total client exposure summaries and real-time dashboard graphical reports for aging of WIP, disbursements and receivables.

The Document Management system provided is the leading SaaS Content and Document Management system for law firms, NetDocuments (www.netdocuments.com). NetDocuments allows lawyers and their support staff the freedom to access and work on their documents anywhere. NetDocuments fully supports Chinese document indexing and searching. It also removes the issues of sharing documents via email or precedent templates with colleagues  in another office location. Project documents can be shared with clients and third party team members via NetBinders. Scanning and archiving matter paper records and files are also supported with unlimited storage space available.

IPPO's leading Trademark and Patent management software, WebTMS (www.ippo.com) is available as an SaaS application or purchased and hosted in house by the firm. Well known Hong Kong firms such as Hastings & Co., Stephenson Harwood & Lo., and DLA Piper use WebTMS  to manage their trademark records.

WebTMS data modules include Trademark profiles, Disputes: oppositions, infringements and policing Contracts: licenses and agreements, Assignments, Searches Administration, Case Management, Companies & Contacts, and Other Party Trademarks.
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Google Apps and Google’s Postini Message Discovery Services improves availability and reliability of a firm's email services as well as providing a disaster recovery position for the firm.  

Outlook is used by many law firms as their default email client. This is supported with the installation of Google's OutlookSync. Users can continue to use Outlook with a hosted server from Google, thus removing the need to purchase hardware, perform backups or be concerned with issues of discovery. Training is also not an issue as the users continues to use Outlook however the firm has reduced their risk and costs by moving the backend server to Google Apps.

Postini Message Discovery services provides full message archiving and discovery services. Unlimited emails can be stored for up to 10 years on-line for as little us US$33 per year per user.

NetDocuments provides integration to Outlook allowing fee earners and attorneys to simply file and share matter related emails by dropping them  into folders in their Outlook client. These are then replicated to the NetDocuments workspace folders in real time.

Google Apps provides Law firms of any size service level up times of 99.9%. No longer does a firm have to invest in complex and expensive IT systems. Google Apps for Law Firms allows a firm to use their own domain and each user enjoys 25GB of storage. All of this for less than US$5 per month per user.

For more details please visit www.thelawfirm.com.hk or contact us on +852 5808-0451.

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Cloud Solutions provides organizations consultancy and technical services on Google Apps migration. We provide a cost-effective service for small-mid sized businesses adopting Google Apps. A Google Apps Reseller and Zoho Alliance Partner in Hong Kong.