Cyberweek Fall 2006 September 25-29

London Legal Service Forum on The Future of Legal Services
 

On September 13, 2006 a one-day Conference was held in London, by invitation only, for financial institutions, such as banks, brokerage firms, and insurance companies who are interested in getting into the business of delivering personal legal services. These new market entrants will be permitted to be involved in the ownership of law firms as a result of the regulatory reforms of the legal profession being introduced into the United Kingdom in 2007 and 2008.

The Conference was sponsored by The Capita Group, a leading outsourcing firm in the UK, and The Epoq Group, a leading internet-based legal solutions company.

The key note speaker was Richard Susskind, whose presentation was titled: The future of Legal Services -    technology, law and a changing competitive landscape. Richard has written and edited numerous books, including Transforming the Law (OUP, 2000) and The Susskind Interviews: Legal Experts in Changing Times (Sweet & Maxwell, 2005) and is a law columnist for The Times. He has advised on numerous government inquiries and since 1998 has been IT Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England. In 2003, he was appointed by the Cabinet Office as Chair of the Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information. He holds law professorships at in London and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Richard is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of the British Computer Society, and was awarded an OBE in the Millennium New Year's Honours List for services to IT in the Law and to the Administration of Justice.

Richard Cohen, a solicitor, and the joint CEO of The Epoq Group, reviewed the requirements and rules of the new Legal Services Bill. Richard has a long history of involvement with community legal advice particularly with the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaus ("NACAB").

Richard Granat, Co-Chair of the ELawyering Task Force of the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association, and the founder of MyLawyer.com, Inc., a web-based legal information solutions company based in the US, made a presentation on Winners and Losers in the U.S. Legal Market as a result of the wide-spread expansion of access to the Internet.

The entire presentation has been converted into a Web Cast, that includes both the presentations in video coordinated with the Power Point Presentations.

VIEW THE WEBCAST

You must use Microsoft Internet Explorer to view the webcast.

Speaker biographies

Professor Richard Susskind, OBE

Richard Susskind has specialised in legal technology for 25 years and is an independent adviser to major professional firms and to national governments. He has written and edited numerous books, including Transforming the Law (OUP, 2000) and The Susskind Interviews: Legal Experts in Changing Times (Sweet & Maxwell, 2005) and is a law columnist for The Times.

He has advised on numerous government inquiries and since 1998 has been IT Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England. In 2003, he was appointed by the Cabinet Office as Chair of the Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information. He holds law professorships at Gresham College in London and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

Richard is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of the British Computer Society, and was awarded an OBE in the Millennium New Year's Honours List for services to IT in the Law and to the Administration of Justice.

Professor Richard Granat, President & CEO of The Granat Group Inc

Richard is the founder, President and CEO of The Granat Group Inc. and a recognised expert on the delivery of legal services over the Internet. He is presently Co-Chair of the E-Lawyering Task Force of the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association and serves on the Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services of the ABA.

Richard has been involved in developing innovative legal services delivery systems for over 30 years, first as part of the initial working group that created the National Legal Services Program, then as Director of the US's first clinical law school, and later as President and Dean of the Philadelphia Institute for Paralegal Training, the nation's first paralegal school.

He was the founding CEO of Automated Legal Systems, Inc., an affiliate of The Philadelphia Institute, one of the first legal software companies to publish legal applications for the personal computer.

Louise Restell, Campaigns Project Manager, Which?

Louise joined Which? in July 2004 and is responsible for the campaign for legal services reform. The campaign is based on Which? research over a number of years showing that too many consumers have a poor experience of legal services. The Government's proposals for reforming legal services are, in large part a response to this research and to the efforts of Which? to keep the issue on the agenda.

Louise also runs the Which? Move It campaign to regulate estate agents and she developed the organisation's public affairs strategy and led a project on consumer choice last year. Before joining Which? Louise was the international development manager at Investors in People UK and a policy officer at the New Opportunities Fund. She has also worked for the Parliamentary Labour Party and the FDA trade union.

Alan Leach, Director, Finaccord

Alan is a Director of Finaccord, a market research and consulting company specialising in financial and other consumer services in the UK and Europe. He has extensive experience in marketing and distribution projects both for banking and insurance, in particular, and other consumer services.

Prior to setting up Finaccord in 2003, Alan was Director of Consulting for the Financial Services Division of Datamonitor plc.

Finaccord is publishing a report based on the results of a survey of consumers and small businesses commissioned to coincide with the Legal Services Forum titled Law Metrics: Consumer and Small Business Behaviour in the UK Legal Services Market.

Tom Fuller, Managing Director, Internet Market Research Services

Tom is managing director of Internet Market Research Services (IMRS) and has been working in market research for 20 years. Tom previously worked for King, Brown & Partners (a US firm) as a pioneer in Internet research in the '90's, before moving to high tech research firm Gilmore Research. Prior to joining IMRS, Tom was a commentator for the International Herald Tribune on technology issues.

Richard Cohen, Solicitor & Joint CEO, Epoq

Richard qualified in 1981 as a solicitor and founded the firm of Landau & Cohen Solicitors. He has extensive experience in a number of legal areas and is a recognised expert on the commoditisation and unbundling of legal services and their delivery.

As joint CEO of Epoq, Richard has been instrumental in developing a blue chip international customer base. His role focuses on general strategic direction and forging alliances with major corporates.

Richard has a long history of involvement with community legal advice particularly with the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaus ("NACAB"). He has been a speaker for the English Law Society, Scottish Law Society, American Bar Association, Society for Computers and Law and private seminar organisations.

Grahame Cohen, Joint CEO, Epoq

In 1994 Grahame founded and began trading as Epoch Software (now Epoq Group). Two years later, in conjunction with Richard Cohen development began on the Desktop Lawyer(r)TM CD-ROM, which was launched in 1997. Since then Grahame has been focusing the company and its' resources on the continuing development of its Rapidocs(r) document automation software and Epoq's technology platform for the delivery of legal services.

His role encompasses the conceptualisation of new products and building relationships with clients. Grahame is also responsible for managing Epoq's partnerships in the USA, while ensuring the continuity of the company's strategic direction.

Grahame has been a speaker for the English Law Society, Scottish Law Society, American Bar Association, Society for Computers and Law and private seminar organisations.

Max Pell, Managing Director - Specialist Services, Capita Group plc

Max is managing director for Specialist Services, a mandate that encompasses areas of expertise within Legal Services, Occupational Health and Absence Management as well as specialist business units such as Teceris. These business areas provide high value professional services to the insurance and non insurance sectors.

Max heads up Capita's legal services proposition which includes funding and fee-sharing arrangements with Optima Legal Services, Prolegal and Cost Advocates.

Prior to this Max was Director of Programmes for Capita Commercial Services Division where he initiated and managed change and transformation programmes across the Division.

Before joining Capita in 2004, Max worked for leading insurance company Hiscox for five years as Head of Operations.