Business Integrity attends Knowledge Management In Law Firms Conference

Dec. 2, 2010 - PRLog -- Business Integrity at Knowledge Management in Law Firms Conference - Central London
Efficiency is a constant theme of the Knowledge Management Legal Conference; this year developed the concept extensively in relation to legal technology. Key topics were covered concerning the changing legal landscape, and whether firms would react by returning to their previous models, or the industry would embrace a paradigm shift.

The dialogue on the legal technology itself has evolved distinctly, echoing recent stirrings from legal pundits, the question is now not whether, but how, to execute. This was reflected in advanced discussion of effectively implementing document assembly (DA). Richard Newton, UK VP of Business Integrity said “[the conference was] an interesting and timely debate around how Knowledge Management can help law firms address competitive and financial pressures in a very tough market. It was great to hear document assembly mentioned repeatedly as a practical tool to allow lawyers to “do more with less.”

Below are some of the main topics covered by the conference.

“The new legal landscape”

The conference considered the changing legal landscape and what effect this would have on firms. Critical to this is evolving in ways that complement lawyers’ skills. ContractExpress is an example of a Document Assembly system born in the legal world, and developed in partnership with its legal users. ContractExpress Version 3.8 released last week has reflected this, adding in many requests for developments from law firms and corporate counsel.

“Increasing efficiency of partner-client fee arrangements”

Discussion here looked on how lower fees can be mitigated by the efficiency of how these fees are arranged. Employing Document Assembly systems such as ContractExpress allows too for the cost of work to be reduced, permitting lower client fees, while increasing profit.  With efficient systems, costs can be cut without having to cut other areas to make up for it.

“A bespoke service without the huge price tag”

Bespoke services will always attract higher fees; a key development is applying bespoke elements where it is efficient. Business Integrity has long pushed this line in respect of ContractExpress, where complex documents are concerned Document Assembly may not be suited to drafting a finished item but can automate the routine parts of the document allowing attorneys to focus on the what’s truly bespoke.

These evolutions are shown in the interview below, in this interview with Richard, David Fitch Knowledge Management Director at Simmons, explains how ContractExpress was implemented and the benefits that it brings to the firm using both internal and client facing elements within their knowledge management programme. There can be little doubt with Document Assembly being referred to as “an essential part of the [law firm’s] tool kit”, that utilising this technology is becoming the norm for firms.

Watch the Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKs9_VABfxQ



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Business Integrity® is the leader in Document Assembly and Contract Management Software. Our unique contract management software for SharePoint offers solutions that automate the drafting, review and management of legal contracts and documents.

Business Integrity develops and markets software that transforms the way corporations create and manage their legal agreements, to accelerate revenue, increase compliance and reduce legal cost. We operate in the US and Europe , where our products are used by some of the world’s leading companies.