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TECH SUPPORT although it has done work in the past for law firms. "Law firms," Birer says, "are a little more suspicious, a little more sensi- tive about appearing to be using our services." He believes more will use outsourcers in the future as the legal process outsourcing industry matures and loses some of its stigma. Technology is indeed crucial. "[Offshore outsourcing] was really inconceivable before the advent of the high-speed Internet," Birer says. "The Internet is the ultimate enabler." The firm's chief information officer, Darren Traub, adds: "Without high-speed Internet, the turnaround times would be impossible. You'd be relying on mail and FedEx. It would take days for infor- mation to be passed back and forth, not to mention the security issues. We're able to turn many records around in 24 hours." As might be expected, Legalwise makes heavy use of e-mail and other Internet-based technologies such as Skype, the free-or-cheap phone service, to communicate with its lawyers in Bangalore and occasionally to put cli- ents in touch with the Indian lawyers. And its core system is built on a model or style of computing now often referred to as cloud computing. Legalwise leases space from a data centre outsourcing company that maintains a highly secure facility with very high-capacity con- nections to the Internet and Legalwise's offices. The Legalwise system housed there runs a "heavily customized" ver- sion of business process management software from SmartSimple Software Inc., a Toronto-based firm. IPAD — NO KEYBOARD, NO PROBLEM T echnology news headlines in the fi rst quarter were dominated by rumours about, then reports on the launch of, followed by obsessive analysis of Apple Inc.'s tablet computer, iPad. IPad, for those who wintered under a rock, is a keyboard-less, all-in-one computer — LCD fl at screen with built-in processing and storage. It's by no means the fi rst, but iPad embodies Apple's brilliance in industrial design and user ergonomics. Tablet (or slate) computers are supposed to be easier to carry and use than a laptop, and easier on the eyes than a smartphone. Should lawyers care? Should they rush out and buy an iPad? (They are due in stores right about now.) Debate has raged about whether the iPad has any application for business — or whether Apple's insistence on making it an over- grown iPod have ruled out that possibility. IPad uses the same slick and wildly popular touch-screen interface as the iPhone and iPod Touch and runs iPhone/iPod Touch applications, but it has a 9.7-inch screen. The whole thing weighs 1.5 or 1.6 lbs and is an impossible half-inch thick. The least expensive models start at US$499. They have built-in Wi-Fi wireless for accessing the Internet. More expensive versions (starting at US$629) also include 3G (cellular broadband) so you can connect on the go. What iPad doesn't have is an easy way to connect to peripheral devices such as printers (no USB port), the ability to run Adobe Flash-based web applications or an audio system that would allow it to double as a cellphone or VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) phone. You will be able to buy an accessory keyboard. My take: who cares about its shortcomings? The iPad is gorgeous. It still has enormous utility — imagine wowing judge, jury, and colleagues by brandishing one of these things in court. And it's only $500. Just bill another hour or two and it's yours. — GB 26 ApRil 2010 www. C ANADiAN law ye rmag.com Clients and the lawyers in India communicate with each other through the intermediary of the Legalwise sys- tem using a web browser. Each client has its own "portal," or private web site on the Legalwise system, where it — and the Indian lawyers assigned to it — go to upload and download infor- mation and documents. But the technology is more than a necessary speeder-up of information flows. It's also central to the company's "value proposition," which Birer insists is more than just offering cheaper legal services using foreign workers, although the savings can be significant, he says. "This is not just about reduc- ing costs. When clients come to us, yes, there's obviously a desire there to lower costs, but we also add value in many areas." Legalwise has developed technology on the SmartSimple platform that radi- cally streamlines and routinizes legal processes such as reviewing requested changes to standard business contracts. The company may have developed this technology originally to ensure quality control — and, perhaps more impor- tantly, to demonstrate to skepti- cal clients that it could ensure quality control — but it now lays claim to offering superior service to domestic providers because of it. "It's assumed that the quality of the work product is as good as or better than they would get in Canada," says Birer. Legalwise works with the cli- ent to develop "a rule book," a set of acceptable responses to differ- ent legal circumstances. The rules are coded into automated work flows with which the Indian lawyers interact online. In many cases, they simply click a drop-down menu and select one of a few allowable options, sometimes just a yes/no response. "We don't leave them with free rein," Birer emphasizes. "We give them a range of acceptable pos- sibilities. You can say this or this or this." Much of the work Legalwise handles is reviewing documents, such as stan- dard contracts and powers of attorney, on which an end customer has requested Gadget Watch