While it's mainly an American based survey there's much of interest in the latest ILTA Survey of Corporate Law Departments.

I was surprised that

Word 2003 still dominates word processing

Sharepoint hasn't been widely deployed

Most corporate law departments have had experience coping with electronic discovery

Knowledge management doesn't seem to be of interest to most corporate law departments

There appears to be ample opportunity for creative technological exchange between law firms and their clients

Simon Chester's involvement with legal information goes back to the Seventies when he taught legal research at Osgoode Hall and served on CLIC's board - that was the Canadian Law Information Council. He has practiced law on Bay Street for almost thirty years and speaks and writes widely on legal, technology, ethical and professional issues.
[click on the author's name for more information]

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2 Comments on “How Corporate Clients Are Using Technology”

  1. Dominic Jaar says:

    Interesting but not surprising… These stats are similar to what we see in law firms, except for some of the larger players.

    If I were an IT manager, I would stick to Office 2003 and let the employees get used to 2007 (and waist time…) at home.

    With respect to Sharepoint, my experience is that, even in places where it has been implemented, it is poorly integrated and therefore, just create a new repository to duplicate more material, defeating the purpose…

    Corporations do not brag about e-discovery but the reality is that most of them have had experiences and are getting ready. Those who don't will shortly… after getting sued and spending $$$!

    With respect to KM, this is normal. Knowledge being the third level of information, how can you manage it when you have no control over the information itself. This is one of the reasons I've only seen of few successes in legal departments and law firms. I feel it is of the utmost importance to properly manage information before trying collaboration and KM.

  2. Saqib Ali says:

    Any any Legal Departments using wiki like tools for information management?

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