practicehacker

Lawyers Jason and Geoff Anderman want to make online document automation simple. Easier said than done. Many have tried. None have succeeded.

Hotdocs is one option; as are Richard Granat’s DirectLaw and similar “virtual practice” applications such as VLO Tech. Over the years Ixio and other desktop software solutions have tried to deploy their systems to the Web with mixed results too.  But just being online isn’t the point. The question is whether an application can add value in this (over)crowded field.  Large firms have been doing this for 2 decades and can afford to make mistakes or even do things the hard way using a virtual private network (VPN). Smaller firms have done this for a good 5 years. And with the advent of DirectLaw, Advologix – which adapts Salesforce.com for lawyers – and the prevalence of SaaS, sole practitioners can now get in on the act.

So can WhichDraft get it right? Based on my interview with the founders … maybe. At least they have a better starting point than their predecessors who literally had to cover the cost of expensive legacy systems and weren’t native web-based solutions.  My advice is to try WhichDraft and voice your suggestions loudly. These guys seem smart enough to listen and give us what we want instead of making us take what they’re giving. Are you listening, Thomson West?

According to the 2009 LexisNexis^® Martindale-Hubbell^® Survey of Corporate Counsel, more than 70% of lawyers are members of a social network; up 25% over last year. Largest gainers were lawyers aged 46 and over, who showed 30% growth. Over 50% of respondents think online networks have the potential to change the business and practice of law. 65% expressed interest in joining an online professional network designed for their profession.Survey results of note include

• 1/3 of corporate counsel use a social network daily
• ½ of lawyers in private practice use social networks daily
• Most lawyers use social networks one or more times per week
• Only 6% of lawyers Twitter, but 70% of that group twitters daily

The survey is available online at www.leadernetworks.com.  Martindale-Hubbell^® Connected is the online network developed by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell.

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