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Contents
Spotlight on XML
XML and the Legal Profession! What It Is & Why It's Exciting
LegalXML Organizational Structure
Other Profession's Activities in XML
The ABA and Legal Data Interchange
New SCOTIS Chair and Members
LTRC Outreach
New LTRC Research Specialist
New IS Director
SCOTIS Members
LTRC Staff
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We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful.We appreciate any feedback; contact the Legal Technology Resource Center at ltrc@abanet.org or (312)988-5465.
Spotlight on XML
The following articles have been compiled to raise the legal profession's awareness of XML technology and its potential effect on the practice of law. SCOTIS' role in providing technology leadership for the Association involves education of the membership on important technology topics as well as recommendations on use of these technologies by the Association. These articles describe XML in general, work to create legal-specific XML, and XML efforts in other professions.
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XML and the Legal Profession! What It Is & Why It's Exciting
The proliferation of technology and its effect on the practice of law have yielded dramatic changes in how lawyers run their businesses. Concepts like electronic case filing, computer-based legal research and practice management have revolutionized the ability for an attorney to automate the practice of law. A new technology has appeared on the horizon that promises to dramatically change the practice of law yet again. This technology is the Extensible Markup Language (XML).
XML has its origins in the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), the same source as for the commonplace Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). SGML has been used for years by the publishing industry to organize its content and make it more accessible. The key to all three languages is that a set of codes called "tags" is used to denote characteristics about the document. The tags may refer to a title, a picture, or a bulleted list. Text with a tag indicating that the text should appear bold might look like this:
<bold>Judge David Copperfield</bold>
These tags do not appear when the document is published, whether in a Web browser or in print, but the tags are interpreted by the particular software to render the document as its author intended. The example above would appear as Judge David Copperfield.
HTML is the language of the Web but it has its limitations. Unlike SGML, HTML can only describe how a document looks: whether it has bold text, or the text is red, or is in a columnar format. To overcome HTML's deficiencies, XML was designed to allow an author to both describe how the document looks as well as describe the content of the document. Thus, the example above could be tagged like this:
<PresidingJudge>Judge David Copperfield</PresidingJudge>
The power of XML is in this ability to describe at a very basic level the type of content in a document.
This is not quite the full story, however. XML is not a language that one just learns and with which one then begins to define documents, as one would with HTML where all the tags are pre-defined. An XML application, called a Document Type Definition (DTD), is created. The DTD specifies the totality of tags available to an author. The tag <PresidingJudge> would exist in a DTD defined for the legal profession but is not inherently part of XML. The syntax, spelling, and capitalization used in a DTD are what define the uniqueness of the tag. An individual can create a DTD with whatever tags, spelled or defined in whatever manner, she wants.
Many industries (chemists, steel manufacturers, CPAs) have defined XML DTDs specific to their industry. This allows those in the industry to create documents that refer to information that may be unique to their work or utilize certain "terms of art" that make it easier to accomplish their business. The industry-wide "standard" ensures that different companies and software will be able to communicate with one another. These standards underlie the latest stage of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
One of the developments that will change the legal profession will be the use of XML by lawyers. The two avenues are the development of open XML standards or proprietary XML. One group, called LegalXML, is leading the development of a non-proprietary set of XML standards (DTDs) for the legal profession. The open nature of these standards would ensure greater interoperability between law firm, corporate, and court technology. The alternative is vendor-driven standards that may end up favoring one vendor over another or, worse, that makes interoperability between programs impossible.
The real power of XML is its ability to connect the various communities of our profession into a seamless world. XML provides the foundation on which case management, court management, electronic filing, and other technologies can be built. XML standards provide the common language that allows a case management program by vendor A to speak to a court docket application by vendor B. The software user does not need to know anything about XML nor what the standardized XML tags say. The software developer can create an interface that makes managing case information and documents intuitive to the user and is still interoperable behind the scenes.
XML promises to dramatically enhance the way lawyers do business and their ability to share data and communicate. For additional information on XML and the development of standards, please see the following resources:
- "Constructing a Business Web."
Knowledge Management Magazine (2000)
- The OASIS XML Catalog. OASIS (The Organization for Advanced
Structured Information Standards) http://www.xml.org/
- Overview of LegalXML http://www.legalxml.org/
- "XML Nearly Ready for Business." XML Magazine (Summer
2000).
- Proposal for Achieving a Viable Court XML Standard. Joint
Technology XML Standards Committee of COSCA (Conference of State
Court Administrators) and NACM (National Association for Court
Management)
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LegalXML Organizational Structure
LegalXML is a nonprofit organization founded to develop "open, non-proprietary technical standards" to allow the use of XML to electronically exchange legal information. The organization includes members from private industry (attorneys, vendors, etc.), academia, government (courts, agencies, etc.), and other nonprofit organizations.
Major developments have been happening concerning the organizational structure of LegalXML. Its Organizing Committee met at LegalTech in Los Angeles on June 21, 2000. The meeting resulted in the attendees agreeing "to move forward to form a nonprofit corporation, obtain letters of intent for funding, and nominate a Board of Directors."
The proposed LegalXML Organization Structure consists of a Board of Directors responsible for planning and funding LegalXML activities; selecting and managing organization staff; monitoring the progress of the working groups concerned with core functions of LegalXML standards; developing the image of the organization; and monitoring it's own activities. The Board will have 11 positions. These positions will be elected from the membership. Five or six seats will be designated for members from particular areas while the other seats will be filled from the membership in general. The area-based seats will be from proposed categories such as "Commercial/Private, Government, Nonprofit, Academic, and Lawyer." Board terms will generally be for two years.
According to the minutes of the June 21 meeting, there was discussion on the topic of incorporation, including type of corporation and within what state to incorporate. The issue of organizational funding and membership dues also was discussed, with the intention of linking funding to the planning of when to incorporate, including solicitation of letters of intent to fund from possible members.
For more information on LegalXML, visit http://www.legalxml.org/, especially the Proposed Statement of Organizational Vision, Mission and Scope.
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Other Profession's Activities in XML
Other professions and industries are also working to create XML standards for their particular areas of interest. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) teamed up with international accounting associations, financial information providers, large accounting and professional services firms, software companies, and other technology companies to create XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language). XBRL.org is structured with a steering committee made up of the member companies and organizations, and the working groups for domain, specification, liaison/interoperability, communications, and strategy. XBRL is similar to LegalXML in that the practicing professionals will not see the XML coding directly, but they will enter familiar information into software that applies the appropriate tags behind-the-scenes and then reap the benefits of the efficient exchange of information those tags enable.
The insurance industry has also developed XML standards through its nonprofit standards development arm, Acord, which has been developing electronic information standards for insurance since 1970.
Many other industries are working on industry-specific or cross industry XML standards. More information can be found in the catalog of organizations at XML.org. XML.org recently began operating a registry service for industry groups to submit their specifications. In the future, this service will allow standards groups to collaborate more easily and prevent duplication of effort.
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The ABA and Legal Data Interchange
The American Bar Association's House of Delegates adopted a resolution in 1998 encouraging the use of technology to enhance the coordination and sharing of data within the legal profession. Dubbed "Legal Data Interchange" or LDI, the concept embraces both unfettered access to public legal information as well as leveraging technology to allow exchange of information among those at the bar and those on the bench.
In the short time since the ABA's resolution was passed, we have seen an increase in LDI-related efforts. Courts are releasing administrative information and opinions to publicly accessible sites and lawyers are collaborating more and more in extranets and other technologically enhanced environments. One of the remaining milestones will be to see interoperability of the many computer applications in use by the legal profession.
A technology that will play a key role in this interoperability will be the Extensible Markup Language (XML). Standardized at the end of 1998 by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), it offers a foundation on which to build software applications that are "content smart" in that they can more fully describe the content they contain. This, and XML's simplified nature in relation to its parent language, the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), makes XML a vital technology. The creation of XML standards for the legal profession is already under way, with the leadership of the LegalXML organization.
The result of standardization should be the ability for one vendor's case management system to communicate with a court's docket or electronic filing system or another vendor's case management system. The standards, invisible to the user as they are built into the software, will be the foundation for this interoperability.
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New SCOTIS Chair
and Members
The Legal Technology Resource Center would like to welcome the newest
members of SCOTIS: John C. Tredennick, Jr., William F. Hamilton,
and J. Anthony Vittal. We would also like to welcome the newest
liaison from the Board of Governors, Paul W. Lee and to formally
greet the new Chair of SCOTIS, Don Bivens.
To give some background information:
Don Bivens is a partner of Meyer Hendricks & Bivens in Phoenix,
AZ where his practice area is complex litigation. He is former president
of the State Bar of Arizona, a member of the ABA’s House of Delegates,
former chair of the ABA’s Technology Council, and former member
of the Resource Development Committee and Technology Task Force
of the ABA’s Litigation Section.
William F. Hamilton is a partner with Holland & Knight LLP
in Tampa, FL where his practice area is commercial litigation. He’s
the firm’s intellectual property litigation national group leader.
William is a member of the Intellectual Property, Litigation, and
Antitrust Sections of the ABA, co-author of the Florida Manual of
Trademark Examining Procedure written for the Division of Corporations,
Florida Department of State, and has authored a presentation on
unfair advertising, and has spoken at Internet seminars.
John C. Tredennick, Jr. is the Information Technology Partner with
CIO responsibilities for technology management for Holland &
Hart in Denver, CO where his practice area is Commercial Litigation.
He is Director of Trial Partners™, a division of Holland &
Hart, which offers graphics and video services, trial presentation,
trial consulting, litigation consulting and technology consulting
to the firm’s clients across the country. John is secretary of the
Law Practice Management (LPM) Section of the ABA, former Editor-in-Chief
of Law Practice Management Magazine, and has written and
spoken on litigation and computer related topics.
J. Anthony Vittal is a partner of Vittal and Sternberg in Los Angeles,
CA where his practice area is litigation. A former President of
Beverly Hills Bar Association, he’s a member of the ABA’s House
of Delegates and active in the ABA’s sections of Business Law and
Litigation.
Paul W. Lee is a partner in the Corporate Department of Goodwin,
Procter & Hoar LLP in Boston, MA where his practice areas are
corporate and securities law and the representation of high technology
start-up companies. He’s the former president of the National Asian
Pacific American Bar Association and serves on the ABA’s Commission
on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession.
The ABA appreciates the time and support of its volunteers and thanks
you for your participation. The LTRC looks forward to working with
all the members of SCOTIS to promote the use of technology in the
profession.
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LTRC Outreach
One of the goals of the LTRC is disseminating technology information
to a wider audience. To this end, our staff present seminars and
continually add new information to our web pages.
Gabriel Rothrock gave a presentation on collaborative technology
at a firm retreat of Chuhack & Tecson including how lawyers can
use technology to gain and retain clients. David Whelan participated
in the recent CALI (Computer Assisted
Legal Instruction) national conference. He gave a presentation and
led a panel on the use of wireless networks in law schools. David
also gave a presentation during the ABA Annual Meeting to the National
Conference of Bar Presidents on leveraging Internet technology
to enhance bar association membership offerings.
Catherine Sanders updated and revamped the general legal technology
resources on the LTRC web page. Gabriel Rothrock created an entirely
new section on the changes in legal ethics to cope with changing
technology .
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New LTRC Research Specialist
My name is Catherine Sanders, and I am the newest member on the Legal Technology Resource Center team. My title is Research Specialist and my areas of expertise are legal research and document management software. I am very happy to have the opportunity to keep up with cutting edge technologies in the legal sphere and look forward to the challenge of effectively assisting ABA members.
Originally from Columbus, MS, I am an identical twin and the seventh child of seven. I received my undergraduate degree in English from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. I went on to graduate with a Masters of Library and Information Studies from U of A in 1997. I moved to Chapel Hill, NC and was manager at a used and rare bookstore for a short stint. Wanting to experience city life and all it had to offer, I moved to Chicago and worked as a reference/technical services librarian in a downtown law firm. By accepting the position in the LTRC, I have a chance to use my skills as a researcher and continue my education in the use of technology.
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New IS Director
The ABA is proud to announce Cynthia (Cindy) Semrau as the new Director of Information Systems at the American Bar Association beginning July 17, 2000. Cindy’s former position was with Deloitte & Touche, where she was Director of Enterprise Services for the Chicagoland practice. This practice involves the management of technology for 4 offices and 2000 users; 450 of these users are partners.
Cindy’s resume contains a broad background in the design, development, and implementation of complex systems in a multi-platform environment. She is a graduate of both the University of Illinois (BS in Mathematics and Computer Science) and Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Business (MBA). Cindy has extensive experience selecting and leading high performance teams in the design and implementation of intricate innovative solutions that integrate information from multiple databases. And she brings zeal, knowledge, and interest to the Association.
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