LITIG

The Legal Information Technology Innovators Group, or LITIG, has recently established itself as an independent, non-commercial body for senior IT professionals in larger firms, having begun its life as a sort of focus group for Solicitec. It caters for IT directors and others who are involved in the implementation, use and support of legal IT systems in the UK. LITIG will focus on the strategic rather than operational issues facing mid-to-large sized law firms and inhouse legal departments and aims to campaign for standards, compatibility and ease of use of systems.

LITIG is to be self-funded by subscription fees, currently set at £500 per person.

At the January meeting of LITIG, hosted at Eversheds offices in Birmingham, the group confirmed its ‘Statement of Purpose’ and ground rules for operation and membership. The group has retained the services of David Robbins as Chair and Coordinator – he was previously Group Head of Technology at Shoosmiths for 11 years and is now operating as an Independent Legal IT Consultant for Parrnell Limited.

“As Chair & Coordinator, I have been closely involved in briefing the members and learning what are the key issues facing today’s busy legal IT professionals”, says Robbins. “I canvas the members to help set the agenda and arrange suitable informal briefings for each quarterly meeting – either using an external speaker or drawing on the considerable knowledge within the group”.

LITIG has been approached by the trustees of the Society for Computers & Law to work closely with SCL. LITIG are keen to do so and to work with other legal sector bodies in order to pursue a co-ordinated approach, support other groups and avoid duplication of effort.

At the January meeting, LITIG agreed to concentrate on four key issues over the next quarter:

– Research and understand key influencing bodies in legal sector and then working with these bodies to: –

– Understand & become involved in e-government initiatives

– Encourage law firms, clients and suppliers to adopt e-billing standards

– Research and agree key issues/best practice regarding e-mail use

If you are interested in finding out more about LITIG or would like to become a member – please contact David Robbins on RobbinsDJ@hotmail.com or call him on 07803 28 18 68.