to do something that could be done in 20
minutes, you are not doing right by your
law practice or your client."
Primerus firms work hard to do right
by their clients in all arenas, including
the use of technology, according to
Primerus President and Founder John C.
Buchanan.
"Primerus firms are embracing
new technologies that allow them to
accomplish things that would not have
been possible a short time ago," he said.
"It allows them to offer better services
at less cost, as well as collaborate
more closely with their fellow Primerus
members around the world."
Buchanan pointed out two examples,
among many. The first is V-Rooms
Virtual Data Rooms, which provides
attorney client extranets and secure
document sharing platforms. Buchanan
said he has used it extensively in major
lawsuits.
"Instead of copying, for discovery,
tens of thousands of documents for
opposing counsel, the documents are
scanned into the Internet V-Room that
all interested and authorized parties may
review at their leisure without the heavy
cost of copying and handling thousands
of paper documents to multiple parties,"
Buchanan said.
Dan R. Bradbary, founder and CEO
of V-Rooms, describes it this way: "A
client extranet, sometimes referred
to as a `client portal' or `client login'
feature, is a cloud-based network that
allows controlled document sharing
outside an organization's firewall. A
client extranet can be viewed as a secure
extension of an organization's internal
computer network to external users,
such as clients, experts, accountants
and other attorneys. In essence, using
is a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that
adds additional layers of security to an
organization's internal network when
sharing and collaborating with external
parties."
Buchanan also cited the example of
videoconferencing (with tools such as
WebEx,
communication tools) as revolutionizing
communication between lawyer and
lawyer, as well as lawyer and client.
"It now makes true collaboration
between lawyers in a tightly knit
organization such as Primerus work
much more effectively and economically
for the best interest of their mutual
clients," Buchanan said. "Since
Primerus has very high quality law firms
all over the world, and all must speak
English, clients with multi-national
legal matters can really benefit from
this combination of communication
technology and collaboration within the
Primerus organization."
It's one more way Primerus, and its
small to mid-sized member firms, can do
big things with technology.
"Where the mega law firms had an
exclusive on handling gigantic matters
requiring hundreds of lawyers, this
is also going the way of the horse and
buggy," Buchanan said. "Using the latest
technology, networks like Primerus are
now able to provide that kind of work
with high quality lawyers at a fraction of
the fees now charged by larger firms."
Technology
Tips for Smaller
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in 2015
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