Commerce, Contracts & Finance

Even the least observant are bound to notice a new look to the magazine. We have redesigned and now celebrate the fact that the world is enriched by colour. I am delighted to welcome a new design from Ken Planter and hope that we can do it justice with articles of matching vibrancy. For those…

Read More… from Editorial

Chris Wakerley, principal consultant at business improvement company Boxwood Group, looks at benefits realisation….

Read More… from How Law Firms Can Realise the Benefits of Technology Investment

Those involved in advising in the context of systems and outsourcing disputes can find a lot of inspiration in the cases coming out of the Technology and Construction Court – even when those cases deal with purely construction matters. Many IT lawyers remain unaware of them, and this article from Richard Stevens is intended to highlight one aspect of a supplier’s (or service provider’s) duty: the so-called duty to warn….

Read More… from Is There a Duty to Warn?

Although originally drafted at the start of the year (as a result of research into law firm IT) the relevance of this article by Alistair Morrison has recently been confirmed by the publication of a Law Society investigation into ITC in small to medium-sized firms. (Research Study 46 – see www.research.lawsociety.org.uk.) The Society’s report, like this paper, highlights problems facing such firms. This article additionally suggests some potential avenues of relief. Most practitioners and commentators now accept that IT is not an optional extra, and may indeed hold the only route to future profitability. The purpose of this article is to suggest a way in which the necessity which is IT can be made less awkward for small law firms….

Read More… from Small firm IT – a (better) service is needed