Exterro Fusion brings law firm�s e-discovery and litigation support to centralized platform

03/27/07

Exterro Fusion brings law firm's e-discovery and litigation support onto centralized platform
Law firm Fredrikson & Byron has implemented Exterro Fusion, the first fully integrated e-discovery and litigation support management platform for legal professionals. Provided by Exterro, Inc., the solution assists law firms' litigation support staffs, attorneys, and paralegals with bringing their e-discovery and litigation support requirements onto a centralized platform. The solution's custom templates provide consistent communication between lawyers and litigation support staff. Exterro Fusion assists in preparing real-time reports on vendor performance and costs and also quickly generates forecasts and budget comparisons. According to Chad Papenfuss, Fredrikson & Byron's litigation support administrator, Exterro Fusion helps the firm check costs, monitor progress, set and manage schedules, and assess vendor performance using the same tool. The move not only brought considerable enhancements to the firm's efficiency, productivity, collaborations, and communications but also reduced the firm's support budgets substantially. With a strength of 200 attorneys, Fredrikson & Byron focuses on the areas of litigation, corporate law, healthcare, intellectual property, banking, and real estate. A technology company based in Lake Oswego, OR, Exterro, Inc., continually provides innovative solutions to the legal industry.

Microsoft SharePoint portal integrates with RainMaker
Microsoft Gold Certified Partner RainMaker Software, Inc., has revealed that it plans to provide Microsoft portal integration with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The move, which is part of RainMaker's Platinum 8.0 launch, will significantly improve law firms' capabilities in terms of distributing, accessing, and managing financial information. The software company, which offers financial, practice-management, and business-intelligence solutions, has launched a library of web parts to help provide effortless end-user access to data in its main enterprise system. With financial information from its financial-management suite, Rainmaker's preliminary SharePoint content web parts include financial- and business-intelligence reports, digital scorecards, custom-built reports via BI Report Writer, and paperless pre-bill distribution. The integration allows RainMaker to offer law firms a centralized common location for their clients and supports their intranet, extranet, and web applications with a single tool. RainMaker Platinum is especially useful for mid-sized to large law firms.

Middle Eastern law firm to implement Interwoven WorkSite
California-based global content-management-solutions provider Interwoven, Inc., has announced its expansion in the Middle East by providing law firm Al Tamimi & Company with its Interwoven WorkSite for document and email management. The solution will enable the law firm to store its client information, including emails and scanned physical files, within an integrated electronic client file. The move will help the firm's support staff, as it consolidates all client files in one place, saves search time, and facilitates the sharing of files across the firm. It will also make client information available regardless of whether staff members are in the office or outside and provides fully integrated document- and email-management capabilities along with a remote web interface. The solution, which will be implemented by Interwoven's partner Morningstar Systems, includes Interwoven WorkSite, FileSite, and WorkSite Web. Interwoven WorkSite is used by a number of Am Law 100 firms and Top 200 United Kingdom firms. The largest non-affiliated local law firm in the United Arab Emirates, Al Tamimi has more than 90 lawyers working from offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah. It also has an office in Baghdad, Iraq, and an associate arm in Doha, Qatar.

Newton, NJ, law firm hires two associates
Newton, NJ-based Dolan and Dolan, PA , has hired John Leo and Anand Dash as associates. Both Leo and Dash graduated with honors. Leo, who has been admitted to the New Jersey and Pennsylvania bars, received his Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law in 2003. Dash is admitted to the New Jersey bar and earned his law degree from Villanova School of Law in 2006. Established in 1922, Dolan and Dolan has 12 attorneys supported by legal assistants and administrative staff.

DC-based public policy firm hires former U.S. Congressman Chris Bell as of counsel
Washington, DC-based Patton Boggs, LLP, has appointed former U.S. Congressman Chris Bell as of counsel in its Dallas office. Bell will counsel the firm's clients primarily on public policy and lobbying, litigation and dispute resolution, and administrative and regulatory matters. Prior to this, he was a partner with a commercial litigation firm in Houston. Bell, who is also a certified mediator, has significant experience with civil and criminal issues such as securities arbitration, contract disputes, employment law, personal injury, defamation, and fraud. In his political career, the Congressman served as Senior Whip, Chair, and Founder of the Congressional Port Security Caucus. He also served as a member of the committees on financial services, international relations, science, and government reform. With 500 lawyers and support staff, Patton Boggs focuses on public policy and regulatory, litigation, business, and intellectual property matters.

Nixon Peabody raids Jenkens & Gilchrist's Chicago office
Nixon Peabody has hired 17 intellectual property lawyers from Jenkens & Gilchrist's Chicago office. While 16 of the lawyers will work from Nixon's new office in Buffalo, one will relocate to Los Angeles. The move will fuel Nixon Peabody's growing technology and intellectual property practice, augment the firm's national patent litigation team, and create the 25th largest law firm in the region. Jenkens had 600 attorneys six years back and is now left with about 130. Furthermore, the firm is in talks with Richmond-based Hunton & Williams, which plans to take on most of its attorneys from its Dallas office. Nixon Peabody is a 600-lawyer firm with offices in 15 cities.

Dallas law firm adds two partners
Dallas-based Shackelford, Melton & McKinley, LLP, has announced the appointment of Mark S. McQuality and Joseph G. Chumlea as partners. McQuality specializes in real estate, construction, and insurance law matters. He was the founder of law firm Bragg Chumlea McQuality and has two decades of legal experience. Prior to starting the law firm, he served as Texas Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division. Chumlea was also Chairman of the Consumer Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. A business and commercial law firm, Shackelford, Melton & McKinley represents clients including financial institutions, automobile dealerships, and real estate owners and developers.


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