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CCCA_V3No3_Dept-Technology-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No2_Dept-CourtLeg-V1.qxd 9/15/09 3:49 PM Page 12 Technology Online legal-knowledge services Building efficiencies and legal knowledge with the click of a mouse. By Pablo Fuchs ife has never been more challenging for it’s had such success. areas of corporate law.From the perspective of Lcorporate counsel: burgeoning compli- “First,the people we hired have real front- someone in-house, I’m not necessarily look- ance requirements and a punishing reces- line experience working for the best law ing for leading case law and statute, but guid- sion mean doing more with less.But online firms; some were also top general counsel. ance and sufficient information to make a legal-knowledge services, which are still Second, clients come to the site knowing it’s business call.” relatively new in Canada, can offer corpo- up-to-date and written by people who have Marsland also says that the website has rate counsel an efficient way to keep up-to- been in their shoes.” become even more useful during this eco- date on key developments — for a price. The website, which is organized by prac- nomic downturn: “I need to manage our Appearing in the early part of this decade, tice area, offers many resources, including spending on external counsel very closely. web-based legal-knowledge services are the material on cross-border deals, straightfor- So, I can go to PLC, get the general answers new kid on the block compared to tradition- ward“how-to”guides,as well as a deal track- I need, then go to external counsel when I al resources such as textbooks, publications, er and a section that examines cases current- need to ask targeted questions.This is good and case law databases. ly being disputed. because when I go to law firms, I’m paying The key difference is that unlike publish- “We now have 1,700 in-house departments for an added-value service that I can’t get ers which aggregate primary sources or pro- and 85 per cent of the top 500 firms in the from the web — people to negotiate or liti- duce academic textbooks that can quickly U.K.[as subscribers],”says Nelson.That success gate on our behalf.” become outdated, these services provide led to the launch of PLC USA earlier this year. As for Canadian corporate counsel, analysis prepared by experienced lawyers the Based in NewYork,the U.S.operation is PLC’s although neither PLC’s U.K. nor U.S. web- minute the law changes. first office outside of the U.K. — and Nelson sites contain any Canadian law,per se,Nelson The services include: email updates on says that 70 of the renowned Am Law 100 says PLC has some Canadian clients, most legal developments in specific practice areas firms have already signed up for the service. notably those who focus on cross-border with analysis and interpretation; practice Although PLC could not have picked a issues.As well, the firm is eyeing expansion. notes and reference guides; standard docu- worse economic climate to launch a new ven- But while PLC is not yet in this country, ments and drafting notes; up-to-date reports ture, it believes that its structure, which pro- there is a Canadian website that applies on deals and filings;and analysis of significant vides“all-you-can-eat unlimited access”for an a very similar model. Montreal-based disputed transactions and litigation. These annual fee,combined with the wealth of infor- Nimonik, which focuses on environmental web-based services can be customized to mation on the website, will attract lawyers — laws and regulations, takes an almost identi- focus on specific areas of interest to the user. especially in-house counsel. Fees, which vary cal approach: a team of experts oversees fed- Practical Law Company (PLC), based in depending on the size of the client group, eral and provincial legal and regulatory London, England, gained a reputation for range from $500 to $1,750 per person. developments, then writes an analysis in demystifying the law with its PLC Magazine. “Corporate counsel are expected to know plain English. Companies can customize the In 2000, the company launched an online a lot about finance, corporate and securities portal to focus on the issues that affect their portal to provide practical legal-knowledge law, all combined with shrinking budgets,” businesses most, and centralize all the envi- management solutions for business lawyers. says Nelson. “This website helps them ronmental requirements they need to fulfill. “PLC allows business lawyers to practise become more informed.” “It complements what people are already efficiently,” says Ian Nelson, vice-president of Francis Marsland,a corporate counsel with doing through emails and newsletters,” says business development and marketing for Biogen Idec International GmbH in Jonathan Brun, a partner with Nimonik. PLC’s U.S. operations, PLC USA, and a for- Switzerland, agrees. He says that PLC is “tak- “[The website] centralizes all the informa- mer corporate mergers and acquisitions ing a position in the legal information market tion and makes it fully indexable and search- lawyer at a major business law firm in New that was unoccupied. I use it in my depart- able. All important dates could also be ISTOCKPHOTO York.“And there are a couple of reasons why ment for broadly supporting know-how in updated to a centralized calendar on the 12 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association FALL 2009