The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/34686
how that is calculated. That will enable law firms to charge the practices for internal IT. That doesn’t mean they will become instantly profitable, but if they do start to run themselves as a business unit by passing on expenses to users, they may eventually become profitable within the firm. Outside of the firm, I think there will continue to be a trend toward trying to make IT earn some revenue. For example, make project managers billable resources and continue to charge for building customized intranets and applications for clients with highly specialized needs and desires. Clive: I agree with Eric. It’s been done in the past in a few industries, but I don’t see generating revenue as an area for legal IT to get involved in at all. At the end of the day, it’s a spinoff and not part of the main business. Judi: I actually believe a number of firms already do that, and if yours has a culture to look at ways of generating revenue from within your IT department, then likely you’re going to staff it accordingly. Like most firms, ours has only a very small group of developers, so I don’t know that we would necessarily look to become a profit center. However, we’ve done some interesting projects over the past year and are constantly being asked by the partnership, why can’t we sell this? So it’s on their minds. Sure we can sell that product or Judi: We’re seeing an increasing use of video via iPad, iPhone and FaceTime, which makes it really easy to videochat with associates and clients. Firms have made a tremendous investment over the years in video conferencing — equipment, space, room design, audio, training — and now you can simply pick up your personal device and have an instant videoconference. That accessibility and ease of use will drive the demand that it be a part of daily business. Marcus: Ten years ago, the most important system in the law firm was the telephone. Today, it’s email. Looking forward, I see two things likely to gain further momentum. One is instant messaging. And as internal IM systems begin to federate with client instant messaging systems, it will become an even more valuable tool. One of IM’s biggest advantages is that it allows users to know the other person’s whereabouts and availability. The other is personal video — that is, person-to-person videochatting. It will explode in use. “ Every year brings us closer to the dream of the always-connected model.” service, but is the firm willing to pay to have staff supporting it? And the big question is at what point do you get a return on investment? How will communications be handled with partners and clients in 2020? Clive: Well, remember now, we’re nine years away from 2020 — a very long time in technology. Nine years ago, we were still talking about dialup when using the Internet. Communications in 2020 will be defined by the people of that time. Of course, you can be sure social networking will be a big part of it. Eric: It’s exciting to watch the amount of collaboration that’s happening between clients and the firm and inside the firm — especially larger global firms that are spread out — thanks to new colaborative technologies. And I see that extending out further to our clients — allowing us to be more collaborative and decrease response time. 38 www.iltanet.org Peer to Peer How will the 2020 attorney access the information they need? Marcus: Every year brings us closer to the dream of the always- connected model. As vendors provide a wider blanket of coverage and more devices that allow movement between different types of connection methodologies — whether broadband, 3/4G or wireless access points — the always-connected concept truly empowers the attorneys. If they’re always connected, they have immediate access to everything they need at their firm, including documents, email, and information on the Internet, custom applications and databases. Eric: Exactly. It doesn’t really matter what the device is — it’s the anyplace, anytime concept. The key is making it easy so whether people are in the office or away, they can connect to the office efficiently and securely without worrying about whether the technology will work. Judi: I think laptops as we’ve known them will become less of a standard. As iPads and other tablet devices become the norm, people who typically wouldn’t touch technology will begin using these devices on a daily basis…and in ways one would not have anticipated because they’re so easy to use. Clive: Well, it will be through whatever the latest technology is. It won’t be the iPad because that’ll be old technology by then. In terms of the information available, the battle for making the full matter file electronic is still to be won. Many firms haven’t