@ADOBEUK

Why the legal industry must embrace technology to improve productivity and increase security

Article by Anke Schnedler, marketing manager, Adobe Systems

In a fast-paced industry with a huge digital output and major security implications, the need for a robust document management system is not just important, it’s critical. For busy law professionals the ability to easily access, share and work on documents is par for the course: when it works, no one notices, but when it goes wrong, all eyes fall on the IT manager.

As we all know, solicitors, lawyers and barristers have always spent a serious amount of time assembling cases, filling in forms, and compiling letters, briefs and presentations. They then need to exchange these documents with clients, outside counsel and the courts and need a trusted method to control access to, and limit distribution of, confidential information.

As courts implement new electronic filing systems, IT departments need to support staff by equipping them with document collaboration tools that not only increase efficiency through the review and repagination process, but enable them to protect sensitive information, even when documents travel outside of the document management system and corporate firewall. Also key is the ability to have searchable solutions that archive and maintain an audit trail of emails and their attachments.

As a result, many firms are looking at their current document management solutions and cost effectively standardising them across their business. Herbert Smith LLP, a law firm headquartered in London which advises clients from its network of offices across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, is a great example of a firm that is boosting efficiencies, managing and protecting sensitive information and in turn offering an improved client service. Its aim was to revamp many of its administrative, document-based processes in order to drive efficiency across the organisation.

Using Adobe Acrobat, they were able to assemble case documents efficiently, redact sensitive information securely, improve collaboration across legal teams and complete forms electronically. In addition to reliably redacting sensitive content from case documents, the firm’s staff can now encrypt and password protect PDF files that are delivered to outside teams, helping better safeguard sensitive case details. Indeed, document controls and security rules ensure that only those with permission can access documents and control who opens, views, prints, copies, and modifies files – both inside and outside the firewall.

For further information on how Adobe is helping Herbert Smith LLP prepare, protect, and deliver professional communications in PDF click here.

We went out with a bang on Day 5 of #CreativeWeekUK with a packed studio for our very last live debate. Four great panellists – Glyn Dewis (@GlynDewis), Erin Moroney (@erin_moroney), Timothy Allen (@timothy_photo) and Richard Curtis (@richardcurtis) – spent the best part of an hour debating whether digital photography is ‘all tech and no talent’. All the talk around digital retouching certainly kept things interesting and the discussion continued long after the cameras stopped rolling – both in the studio and on Twitter. It was the perfect end to #CreativeWeekUK.

Throughout #CreativeWeekUK, thousands of you got involved on Twitter by tweeting your questions and opinions to the #CreativeWeekUK hashtag. In fact the latest figures show that in total #CreativeWeekUK was mentioned 5,443 times. And thanks to you all, we even trended on Twitter!

All the live shows were broadcast online from studios in the heart of London, and we were very lucky to have Tower Bridge as our backdrop for the week. But if you missed any of it, or want to watch some of the lively debates, show and tell sessions or product showcases again, then you can download it all on-demand at your leisure from here.

Yesterday’s debate at #CreativeWeekUK was one of the most lively yet, with panelists discussing whether developers should be a Jack of all Trades, or the master of one.

Alex Morris (@aexmo), Chris Jenkins (@chrisajenkins), Rob Borley (@bobscape) and Paul Trani (@paultrani) all shared their views, and the Twitter community had a lot to say too!

A big thanks to everyone that contributed comments and questions to the live debate. We can confirm that 64% voted #Jackofall vs 36% #Masterofone.

If you missed yesterday’s live show you can catch it on demand here. The last day of#CreativeWeekUK is today so make sure you don’t miss the Photography and Imaging debate at 12pm GMT!

The question on everyone’s lips was whether smaller production budgets make for more original content. Day 3 of #CreativeWeekUK saw us discuss how smaller budgets have become a natural by-product of the contracting broadcast and cinematography markets, and the implications that has had on creativity and quality standards.

We were joined by three great panelists for our live debate at the start of the day. Dan Jones (Maverick TV), Marc Goodchild (ex BBC) and Justin Weyers (Made Visual Studios) chatted about everything from independent productions and YouTube testing, right through to how the skills of hungry graduates can be best used in industry and what the future of video production has in store.

As always, the #CreativeWeekUK Twitter community played a huge part in the debate, with contributions including whether new technologies and production tools raise standards or just client expectations. And they also had their say in our daily poll with 90% of people agreeing that smaller budgets do make for more original content. What can we say…get creating!

We also welcomed Jason Levine over from the US who spent some time showing off the latest video tools Adobe has to offer including the new, streamlined Premiere Pro interface.

If you want to catch up on any of this week’s shows, then be sure to visit our website. Plus there’s still time to get involved in the final couple of days of #CreativeWeekUK by taking part in our competition. We’d love to hear from you!

Read on for our Storify of day two at #CreativeWeekUK