Litera: The Legal Tech Juggernaut Takes a Breather

Remember 2021 and 2022? Litera was buying so many companies that at times it was hard to keep track.

In August of 2022, I was at the ILTACON conference at National Harbor, Maryland. Litera had acquired two companies in the previous week, business intelligence company, BigSquare, and talent management software company, Micron Systems. These followed the substantial acquisitions of Foundation Software, Prosperoware, Workshare, and Kira Systems. Per Crunchbase, 15 acquisitions in the past 5 years.

I attended the Litera session, which was in a ballroom. Standing room only. The sense that something special was taking place was palpable. Litera’s new CEO, Sheryl Hoskins, introduced herself, mentioning her active duty in the Army. She was impressive .

Historically at ILTACON the companies with a big presence have been Thomson Reuters, Intapp, iManage, and NetDocuments. But in 2022, Litera had the momentum. They also had the ample pockets of Hg. And Hg was looking for growth.

A lot has changed in the economy in the past six months. The threat of a recession has loomed large. Interest rates are up. Law firms have laid-off associates. Many of the big tech companies have laid-off thousands of people.

From where I stand, legal tech appears to be holding strong. Very few legal tech dedicated companies are public, so we don’t get a quarterly window, or even an annual window, into revenues and profits. However, layoffs in legal tech have been limited thus far. At least two e-discovery companies have had layoffs. On the other hand, Exterro just acquired e-discovery rival Zapproved. Several legal tech firms, including NetDocuments, iManage, Aderant, and Litera are actively hiring.

It makes sense for Litera to take time to work on integrating all of the solutions which it has acquired in the past three years. Keep an eye on Litera. If we manage to have a soft landing, look for Litera and Hg to lead the way again.

-Maureen

2023 Report on the State of the Legal Market by Thomson Reuters

Each year I look forward to the State of the Legal Market report in order to get a more granular look at the past year in legal services.

In 2022, the demand for transactional law firm services declined, most notably in Big Law. But law firms continued to hire apace. The result was a drop in productivity and profits. Profit Per Equity Partner growth was down in 2022. But PPEP is still at a healthy level compared to pre-pandemic.

That is the top line view from the new 2023 Report on the State of the Legal Market by Thomson Reuters with the Georgetown Law Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession.

The following three charts illustrate the slow down in demand and PPEP growth as well as the fact that profit per lawyer is still good compared to 1Q 2020.

This report is a one-of-a-kind. It has has 22 more charts, Including associate compensation, expenses per lawyer, lawyer turnover, collection realization, and more. If you work for a law firm, or if, like me, you provide solutions to law firms, there is certain to be data which will round out your view of 2022 and give you a picture of what 2023 may bring.

You can register for a free download of the full report here:

https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/legal/state-of-the-legal-market-2023/

– Maureen

What is Workflow Automation in Legal? A High School Internship

This fall I have been fortunate to mentor an internship with Blake and Joaquin, two juniors at Design Tech High School, “DTech,” in San Mateo, California. The subject of this internship was Workflow Automation in Legal. Blake and Joaquin did the research, wrote the copy, and created the graphics. They did an outstanding job.

Take a look. Do you now know what Workflow Automation in Legal is?

What is Workflow Automation?

Workflow Automation is the use of process improvement and software to increase productivity and efficiency.

What is Workflow Automation in Legal?

Workflow automation in legal is the use of software to automate legal processes,

“Workflow Automation in legal is the automation and optimization of the legal team’s workflows to maximize efficiency, eliminate errors, and provide more value to the law firm or legal department.”

Jake Link, bryter

What are Examples of Workflow Automation in Legal?

  • Client Billing
  • Scheduling Appointments
  • Client Intake
  • NDA Generators
  • Employment Contract Generators

What Companies Provide Solutions for Workflow Automation in Legal?

  • ActionStep – cloud-based, legal practice management and billing and accounting software
  • Centerbase – cloud-based, legal accounting, billing, and practice management software
  • Clio – cloud-based, legal practice management and billing software
  • Rocket Matter – cloud-based, legal practice management and billing software
  • Zapier – used to connect different applications and integrate their workflow into a single application
  • BRYTER – development platform for legal, procurement, and compliance to automate workflows, build applications, and digitize contracting
  • Matter Suite – cloud-based legal practice management software
  • Mobile Helix – encrypted mobile app for document workflows for lawyers

Why is it Important for Legal Teams to Engage in Workflow Automation? 

Legal teams should engage in workflow automation because of the major impact it can bring to a firm, especially when it frees up the lawyers to bill more hours with clients. In addition, with workflow automation, lawyers and other employees can engage in higher level work which leads to greater job satisfaction and less stress.

Is Workflow Automation a Good or Bad Thing? 

It’s definitely a good thing as it enhances the efficiency of a firm to allow for increased profits.

Blake and Joaquin made a one minute video about the internship.

Authors: Blake and Joaquin

If you like this post, please let us know at contact at mobilehelix.com.

-Maureen


Resources

“Legal Workflow Automation Explained: Examples, Benefits, and Solutions”. Bryter. Jake Link. April 13, 2022. https://bryter.com/blog/legal-workflow-automation-transforms-legal-departments/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic   

  1. “Workflow Automation in legal is the automation and optimization of the legal team’s workflows to maximize efficiency, eliminate errors, and provide more value to the law firm or legal department.”
  2. Its benefits are increasing time and productivity for the workers that normally have to deal with manual paperwork/data processes. Examples of workflow automation tools are legal intake tools, automatic NDA generators, and data breach reporting, and client billing. 

“Everything You Need to Know About Legal Workflow Automation and Why You Should Have It”. Centerbase. Chelsea Huss. Apr 5, 2022. https://centerbase.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-legal-workflow-automation-and-why-you-should-have-it/   

  1. Basic overview of workflow automation along with a list of legal practice management software that includes workflow.
  2. “Workflow itself is defined as the sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion.”

“Why Legal Workflow Automation is Important to Law Firm Success”. Mattersuite. July 27, 2021 https://www. mattersuite.com/blog/why-workflow-automation-important-to-law-firm-success

  1. Goes more into the ROI and the positive worth it brings to a firm, especially down the line in use of automation. Includes useful graphics that may be used for inspiration for future graphics or to source a quote from Mattersuite.
  2. “Legal automation is designed to streamline the law practice operations smoothly. Automating document management to gaining more clients, everything can be achieved with legal automation.”

The Modern Lawyer Report from Above the Law and Litera

How Technology, Mobile Devices, and AI Are Shaping the Legal Industry in 2022

In February of 2022, Above the Law interviewed 500 attorneys on their views on technology, mobile devices, artificial intelligence (AI), and more. Of those 500, Associates made up 32%, Partners were 26%, and in-house counsel were over 12%. Above the Law and Litera have published their findings in The Modern Lawyer Report.

Over 58% over these lawyers consider themselves to be slightly ahead of the curve or a trendsetter in terms of use of technology. The lawyers who agreed to participate in this technology survey appear to be more tech-savvy than the general lawyer population.

Above the Law / Litera

Mobile Device Usage

Roughly 57% of attorneys reported that they can do “many things” or “everything” on mobile devices. From our vantage point this seems high, but consider the point above, that the majority of the attorneys who responded self-report that they are ahead of the curve in using technology. From our view of law firms, the third option, “I can follow email on mobile but that’s about it,” is the the common state of the art in law firms today.

Above the Law / Litera

Document review and approval is certainly the greatest need which attorneys and legal professionals have on mobile devices. Our clients tell us that the ability to review, annotate, compare, sign, and email documents in order to have complete workflows is their goal.

Above the Law / Litera

What is delaying mobile device adoption?

The report cities, “One partner stated, “My vision is too poor to work on such small screens,” while an in-house respondent noted that “security risks preclude the ethical use of mobile for most legal tasks.”

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence or AI is a somewhat amorphous term, granted. Over 60% of these advanced technology users consider AI to be valuable to business success in legal services.

Above the Law / Litera

One of the conclusions of The Modern Lawyer Report is that, especially with respect to mobile devices and artificial intelligence, lawyers are not taking advantage of technology’s full capabilities. There is plenty of opportunity for them to adopt these technologies further.

Update: Here is a link to register and download the report from Litera.

If you have questions or comments, I’d like to hear from you. Write to: contact at mobilehelix dot com

-Maureen

Maureen Blando is the President and COO of Mobile Helix, the makers of the LINK encrypted app for lawyers. LINK provides simple workflows for Document Management and Email in a single, secure app. Note: the LINK App offers font sizes up to XXL. (See above. for relevance.)

Meet LINK: The Easy Way To Handle All Your Document Workflows On Your Mobile Device In A Single App

By Stephanie Wilkins

From Above the Law, a new product profile on our LINK app.

Here’s an excerpt:

Do Everything, Everywhere With LINK

When you think about the tools you use most in your day-to-day work, your document management system (DMS) and Outlook are probably at the top of the list. Working in both on your mobile device, though, has historically been a huge struggle, if not impossible. LINK brings them together in a single, secure, easy-to-use app.

LINK is designed to support the workflows attorneys use all day, every day. The app works with today’s most popular mobile devices – iPhones, iPads, and Android phones and tablets – and supports the three leading document management systems, iManage Work®, NetDocuments, and eDocs by OpenText.

LINK for Smartphones and Tablets

LINK is solving the pervasive problem of lawyers being unable to adequately work on their mobile devices. With LINK, lawyers can fully access their documents, compare them, mark them up, edit them, email them, and more, as easily and securely as they can on a computer.

Read the full profile here.

Questions? Write to us at: contact at mobilehelix dot com.

-Maureen

What is the LINK App? Find out in 112 seconds.

In this short video, view the major features of our encrypted LINK app.

LINK is integrated with iManage, NetDocuments, and eDocs DMS as well as Outlook and SharePoint. LINK enables essential workflows in a single app. Review, annotate, compare, and email files. Edit securely with the Word App.

Want to learn more? Email us at: contact at mobilehelix dot com.

-Maureen

REvil has struck again. What can we do? Design for explicit access.

At a glance… 

  • Kaseya VSA is used by IT organizations and many Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to track IT assets and to deliver software installations and patches to a network of endpoint nodes.  
  • Over the 4th of July weekend, a ransomware attack perpetrated by the REvil gang and its affiliates was delivered through the Kaseya VSA remote management software.  
  • Each Windows node on the network runs a Kaseya agent, which is responsible for downloading and installing patches and software packages from the VSA server. It is common practice for an MSP to use a single VSA server to manage all of the MSP’s client networks, meaning that one compromised VSA server can create a downstream impact on hundreds of individual businesses. 
  • 1,500 businesses may be effected. 

The fascinating anatomy of the hack 

REvil’s successful hack began with an SQL injection attack against the VSA server. The attacked VSA servers were exposed to the Internet, presumably to allow for remote access to the VSA server by an MSP’s employees. An SQL injection attack was crafted by the hackers to (a) bypass authentication, (b) upload a file, and (c) inject a command to distribute a malicious software patch. This software patch was then dutifully downloaded by Kaseya agents installed on Windows endpoints attached to the compromised VSA server. The technical details of how this was accomplished are explained quite clearly in this article by Sophos

The hack itself is fascinating from a technical perspective in multiple ways. First, an authentication bypass renders an entire stack of security technology (authentication providers and MFA) entirely irrelevant. There is no password guessing or credential stealing involved in this attack. Second, the MSP model where client networks are intermingled in a single VSA instance is inherently dangerous in that a single compromised server (whether it be a via a 0-day exploit or a more traditional stolen credential) can spread malicious software across many disparate organizations, geographies, and networks. Third, it is perturbing that a piece of software like the VSA server was directly exposed to the Internet. The lack of any intervening, independent authentication (e.g., a VPN or IIS authentication using certificates or Kerberos) places an inordinate amount of trust in the security architecture of a single piece of software (the VSA server). 

In general, the best way to mitigate hacks of all varieties is to apply a few principles: 

  1. Keep independent networks as separate as possible, and always require authentication to move between them. 
  1. Authenticate users and devices in layers that rely on disparate software stacks. Software is built by humans, and humans make mistakes that cause security vulnerabilities. Using independent software stacks to layer together multiple forms of authentication ensures that a hacker has to find multiple, independent mistakes that are exploitable in conjunction. 
  1. Because there is still no perfect way to prevent endpoint attacks from happening, effective endpoint protection is essential. The Kaseya exploit relied on anti-virus exceptions on the endpoint to allow a malicious file to be downloaded, decoded into an executable, and run via a shell command. This malicious executable then executed a side loading attack to actually launch the encryption process. Effective anomaly detection could have shut down the encrypting process before it got too far, and an alternative approach to using an anti-virus exception would have stopped the attack when it tried to execute the downloaded executable. 

A collective reconsideration of how we protect networks and endpoints is overdue 

This latest attack from REvil confirms the obvious – the business of ransomware is here to stay. Whether it is REvil, a spinoff from REvil, or an entirely new organization that is inspired by REvil’s success, a collective reconsideration of how we protect networks and endpoints is overdue. It has become standard practice to disable security software in order to enable functionality, rather than demanding the opposite – that software declare its intended behaviors in order to enable security software to detect anomalous behavior. 

A system of specific access vs. access to the entire network 

Our LINK system is architected with this last principle in mind. Rather than assume that all mobile devices need access to the company network (e.g., via VPN), LINK assumes that only a small number of applications and data repositories should be mobilized. To configure LINK, IT specifies exactly what intranet applications, email servers, and file repositories (Document Management Systems, One Drive, SMB shares, etc.) should be accessible from a mobile device, and this specification is role-based so that IT can take a pessimistic approach to mobile access (i.e., you can’t access anything unless permission is explicitly granted to you). LINK also uses multiple, independent layers of authentication – SSL certificates to authenticate the device, then traditional password-based authentication if the SSL authentication succeeds. Finally, each LINK installation acts as its own certificate authority for the purposes of SSL authentication. Hence, stealing a certificate for one installation does not grant access to any other installations. 

As we expand LINK beyond mobile, our goal is to promote a different approach to endpoint computing. This approach starts with the idea that users, applications and data need to be integrated explicitly, rather than implicitly. This creates a work environment that is easily encapsulated, encrypted, and protected with limited entry points and exit points to move data in and out of this environment. While no approach is perfect, the more explicit we are about how users, applications, and data interact, the better chance we have to stop the ransomware business before it expands any further. 

-Seth Hallem, CEO & Co-founder, Mobile Helix

Annotation Just Got Easier – New LINK App Release

Attorneys have always loved the annotation in LINK because anytime you open a file in LINK, annotation is immediately on the same screen. Whether the file is in DMS or another file share, or whether it’s an attachment to email, it just takes a tap to bring up the annotation menu. Annotate, then tap to email or upload to DMS or a file share.

You can even save your signature and initials in LINK so that you can sign a file with a couple of taps on the annotation menu.

In our new release you’ll see:

  1. Improved location of the annotation menu
  2. New features, including page display settings and grid view
  3. Enhanced layout of the annotation tools, for clearer discoverability
  4. A lighter interface.

We’ve gotten wonderful feedback on these improvements. Thank you!

You can get a quick look at the new UI in this 17 second video:

LINK App Annotation in 17 Seconds

To see LINK’s annotation in a full workflow, watch this video.

You will see how to use LINK’s split screen, then how to annotate a PDF, and email it.

If it looks simple, that’s because it really is. If you would like to see a demo via Zoom, write to me at: contact at mobilehelix dot com.

-Maureen

Productivity Leap with the LINK App: Multi-task with Split Screen Mode

This is a fun week for us! With this new release LINK gives you the ability to multi-task on a tablet. We have also refreshed the LINK UI with a lighter look. The feedback has been fantastic. We appreciate the enthusiasm!

The key feature which enables multi-tasking is Split Screen Mode:

  • Two screens
  • Multiple live tabs in each screen
  • Tabs are files and apps like DMS, Email, Intranet
  • Drag and drop a file or app
  • Annotate or compare files in either screen
  • Keep email open while you work

Here is a 14 second preview of LINK’s new Multi-tasking capabilities.

Let us know if you would like to see a demo of LINK.

Email us at: contact at mobilehelix dot com

Next, more about the UI refresh!

-Maureen

Home Screen: Grid or List Mode

We are updating the LINK App User Interface, starting with the Home, My Files, Settings, and Login screens. We are redesigning to give you a more polished and consistent appearance throughout LINK as well as to provide improved ease of use.

LINK’s new User Interface is lighter and in keeping with contemporary iOS and Android apps. LINK is now using the OS “system colors” so that features like Dark Mode will be supported in LINK.

Now users may choose their preferred home screen layout, per device. In Settings, select the familiar Grid mode with rows, or the new List mode. List mode is especially useful on a phone so that you can scroll through your apps.

In the LINK Controller the LINK Administrator may set view mode defaults

  • Always use Grid Mode
  • Always use List Mode
  • Grid Mode on Tablets; List Mode on Phones

Users can always override the defaults by using the Settings tab on the Home screen.

Grid View on iPad
List View on iPhone

Go to the Home screen Settings tab to:

  • Select Grid or List Mode
  • Select a default app in LINK. For example, to have LINK open directly to DMS or Email.
User Settings
User Settings: Default App and Grid or List Mode
Example of all four options on a phone. The same four options are available on tablets.

We are excited to roll out to you these new enhancements in LINK.

More to come!

Maureen