Litigation 'Software as a Service' (SaaS) Arrives By Gene Albert Should your firm consider using a SaaS litigation support application? Gene Albert discusses the benefits to small and medium-sized firms, and what firms should expect. New approach Offers Ease-of-Use, Low Cost and Less Onerous IT Demands Software as a service, or 'SaaS', refers to web-native software that the service provider both develops and supports. Customers do not buy the software but rather pay to use it, often on a monthly basis.  SaaS applications have become popular in a number of industries because of its ability to provide robust functionality while not requiring from the user an upfront investment for hardware or software, or ongoing support. While the SaaS acronym is new, the idea is not.  Lexis and Westlaw pioneered the online delivery of legal research in the 1980s.  What is new about SaaS is how it's done, with new applications designed from the ground up to work over the internet. Both established and new companies have begun offering litigation SaaS applications and promise law firms the ability to manage their litigation matters anywhere from a web browser. This article will discuss why firms might want to consider using a SaaS litigation support application, benefits of the SaaS approach for small and medium-sized firms, and what a firm should expect from a SaaS provider.

Legal Careers Lose Their Allure, Drop to Dentistry Status Posted Jan 7, 2008, 05:52 am CST By Debra Cassens Weiss College grads who want wealth and social status are passing up law and medicine for careers in investment banking. A career at a hedge fund or private equity firm can offer financial rewards that outpace earnings at even the biggest law firms. Partners at the nation’s largest 100 firms made an average of $1.2 million in 2006, but many senior investment bankers will take home an average of $2.25 million to $2.75 million in bonuses and salaries, the New York Times reports. But even more important than money are the glamour, control and quick path to financial rewards in investment banking, according to the article. Lawyers no longer enjoy the prestige they once held, and the quest for billable hours has taken away the notion of law as a noble profession. Doctors and lawyers “have slipped a notch in social status, drifting toward the safe-and-staid realm of dentists and accountants,” the story reports. The change is reflected in the number of students applying to law schools. The number of applicants dropped 5.2 percent in 2005 from the year before, and another 6.7 percent in 2006, when 83,500 applied to law schools.