Law & MIS

1. Law & MIS How Lawyers Use Management Information Systems Presented By: Nasser Haddad MIS M-W-F 1-1:50pm

2. Table Of Content • History Of MIS • Introduction • Present vs. Future • Cont. Present vs. Future • Twelve Ways Technology Can Make You a Better Trial Lawyer • How Lawyers Use the Internet • Five Reasons for Lawyers and Law Firms to Be on the Internet • Using MIS can help Lawyers manage their law office • The Future • Personal Interview • Footnotes • Bibliography 1

3. History Of MIS • In the 1960's as Information Technology was emerging on the commercial scene, a number of associations were established to provide support to the rapidly increasing numbers of programmers and analysts. education. • In DSS beginning with building model-oriented DSS • In the late 1960s theory developments in the 1970s • Implementation of financial planning systems and Group DSS in the early and mid 80s. • Then it documents the origins of Executive Information Systems, OLAP and Business Intelligence. • Discussion ends with the implementation of Web-based DSS in the mid-1990s. 2

4. Introduction • The "Millennium Bug" captured the attention of the media and the general public • Envision resulting when computer systems recognize "00" as the year 1900 • Companies to implement a timely and effective solution • Imperative that senior management and MIS develop a common understanding • Once they overcome finger-pointing, management • MIS departments who solve the Millennium Bug • Discovery that had a pleasant side effect an improved relationship based on trust and confidence that each wants only what is best for their companies. 3

5. Present vs. Future • Chicago Kent study[1] is that not only did over 70% of attorneys in large law firms use computers • Substantial rise from 1985 when only 7% of attorneys had a workstation on or near their desk and 1989 when the figure was 33%. • Little difference between the figure for large law firm attorneys (70%) • The corresponding figures for mid-sized firm attorneys (68%) • Smaller firm attorneys (56%) and in-house counsel (74%) as recent American Bar Association surveys have shown.[2] 4

6. Cont. Present vs. Future • The 1993 Robson Rhodes survey indicates that only 11% of firms give all partners a workstation, • 30% giving none of their partners one • Over 50% giving less than 10% of their partners one. • The 1993 Law Society Survey[3] suggested that less than 20% of solicitors in England and Wales in the small and medium sized firms had a workstation on their desk. • This indicates that not only is the legal profession as a whole in the UK lagging behind its transatlantic cousins in having access to and using computers but that (as the 1989 Law Society survey and other researches[4] have shown) the small to medium sized firms here have fallen significantly behind the larger firms in terms of computerization. 5

7. Twelve Ways Technology Can Make You a Better Trial Lawyer • Use Listservs to Stay on Top of the Law • Use Weblogs and Internet Searches for Trial Techniques and Tips • Use Software for Trial Preparation • Use Trial Presentation Software to Present Information • Use Software for Demonstrative Exhibits • Use the Internet for Research on Injuries and Defendants • Use Software for Increased Efficiency • Use Weblogs to Stay Current on Technology • Use Weblogs to sty on Top of Productivity News and Thinking • Use Software to Manage your Case Load • Use Weblogs for Practice Management Advice • Use Weblogs for Marketing Advice/Help 6

8. How Lawyers Use the Internet • Australian attorney relates how he used a conventional search engine to find all the United Nations documents on prisoners rights issues.[5] • An One California attorney relates how posting messages regarding his expertise in immigration matters resulted in billings of $500,000.[6] • A Michigan lawyer describes how he located product liability plaintiffs for a nationwide class action lawsuit against an automobile manufacturer.[7] • A great deal of space is devoted to helping lawyers decide if they could benefit from a home page on the World Wide Web, and to the practical considerations of creating such a Cyber presence.[8] 7

9. Five Reasons for Lawyers and Law Firms to Be on the Internet • Clients and Potential Clients Are There • Other Law Firms (as Well as Non-lawyer Purveyors of Competing Services) Are Establishing Themselves on the Net • Conversation Among Lawyers and Maybe Clients About Legal Issues Is Already Taking Place on the Net. • Cost-Effective Access to Information • Cost-Effective Global Communication of Data of All Sorts 8

10. Using MIS can help Lawyers manage their law office • Teach law firm lawyers and staff why measurement of processes is important • How to complete a data collection sheet and how to calculate the price of poor service • Teach DBA's error elimination process • Teach law firms how to determine the real cause of problems • Problem-solving tools as the cause-and-effect diagram, process comparison, brainstorming and pareto analysis. • Provides practical tools to help a law firm flow chart processes • DBA's Client & Provider Requirements Worksheet. • Find base root causes of problems and eliminate them • Client-Focused Quality training program 9

11. The Future • Research in Motion (R.I.M.) has finally debuted a combined PDA and cell phone. • The Java-based BlackBerry 5810 helps lawyers manage their important communications and information from a single, integrated device. • The palm-sized unit weighs 4.7 ounces, and integrates BlackBerry's capabilities (wireless organizer, e-mail, Web browser) with the convenience of a built-in phone. • R.I.M.'s "thumb typing" keyboard, navigation trackwheel, a large screen, and a headset jack for the phone services. • Software applications are pre-loaded on request, it notes. The "always on, always connected" unit can support GSM/GPRS • networks in North America, and incorporates Java 2 Micro Edition as its core operating system. • Now all major cell phone companies have some type of PDA device 10

12. Personal Interview • Justin Reese • Morehouse Alumni c/o 04’ • Native of New Orleans • Father Civil Court Judge • “Instead of wasting time in cabinets and file boxes, now look it up on the data base and find the file and page it’s on in seconds.”[9] • “To help find out the demographic for the possible jury lawyers have software to help track what type people is in that area.”[10] 11

13. Endnotes • 1. The 1992 survey was published in 1993. • 2. See A. Stein, "How In-House Counsel use computers" 1993 ABAJ September p. 42. • 3. Which was limited to the smaller and medium sized firms and excluded the top 400 firms in England & Wales. • 4. See R. Widdison, "Databases in Law Firms - An Overview" 8th BILETA Conference Proceedings 93 at p. 99. • 5. About half of the firms with LANs in the Chicago Kent study also had WANs. • 6. G. Wingate Grant, "Net Law: How Lawyers Use the Internet", 4 RICH. J.L. & TECH. 4 (Winter 1997) (book review) <http:/www.richmond.edu/~jolt/v4i2/grant.html> • 7. G. Wingate Grant, "Net Law: How Lawyers Use the Internet", 4 RICH. J.L. & TECH. 4 (Winter 1997) (book review) <http:/www.richmond.edu/~jolt/v4i2/grant.html> • 8. G. Wingate Grant, "Net Law: How Lawyers Use the Internet", 4 RICH. J.L. & TECH. 4 (Winter 1997) (book review) <http:/www.richmond.edu/~jolt/v4i2/grant.html> • 9. Justin Reese Quote • 10. Justin Reese Quote 12

14. Bibliography • A. Stein, "How In-House Counsel use computers" 1993 ABAJ September p. 42. • R. Widdison, "Databases in Law Firms - An Overview" 8th BILETA Conference Proceedings 93 at p. 99. • Justin Reese 404.680.3232 • Paul Jacobsen, Songline/O'Reilly, 1997, paperback, • American Bar Association, Center for Continuing Legal Eduacation, Winning Your Case With Computers . . . Without a Degree in Computer Science (a videotape course offering) <http://www.abanet.org/cle/catalog/wyc1000.html>. • International Trade Law, Law on the Internet (legal resources for law students and practitioners) <http://ananse.irv.uit.no/law/nav/law_ref.html>. • Peter W. Martin, “Five Reasons for Lawyers and Law Firms to Be on the Internet” Based on a Presentation at New York City BarInternet Program, April 22, 1994 • Jacobsen Paul, How Lawyers Use the Internet (1997) David Swarbrick Journal Title: Journal of Information, Law and Technology; http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/BookRev/97_3swar/default.htm • Nancy Blodgett, DBA Associate, Certified Quality Manager - Malcolm Baldridge Examiner - Law Firm Expert • G. Wingate Grant, "Net Law: How Lawyers Use the Internet", 4 RICH. J.L. & TECH. 4 (Winter 1997) (book review) <http:/www.richmond.edu/~jolt/v4i2/grant.html> 13