Aide!!!

Let me just say thank you russell for the extension. I have had alot of trouble with it and even though i have added quite a bit i cant get the thing to run smoothly.  Its probably because there is one little difference which makes it all wrong.  there has to be an easier way to do it.

Wiki

I am a big fan of the Wiki programme as i have used it many times even before this course to gain information. However, how reliable is Wikipedia?  Seeing as though it is community based, who is to say that one can not put false information.  Moreover if it hasn’t been put up before then the information is not there.  On making a wiki, I found it quite easy to add information and links and probably enjoyed doing this one of all the 3 tasks we had to do

Blogging

I have read a couple of blogs before but this is the first time I have started a blog.  However, it is not something I would have done if it wasn’t for the assessment. I am not the biggest fan of blogging as you never know who is reading and therefore you need to be very careful of what is said.  

My Favourite Legal Research Tool!

After 6 years of law school and almost a year and a half working in a law firm I have come across many legal research databases and have found the most useful to be LexisNexis.  The thing I like best about it is the filtering system.  That is if you search for ‘litigation’ which would give thousands of hits you can narrow it down to exactly what you want by typing in more specific words with out having to go back to the homepage and start search again. AUSTLII doesn’t allow you to do this. Well it says you can but the searching tool on AUSTLII is not reliable and often doesn’t work. Another thing LexisNexis is good for is the reference section which show cases, articles etc which the current document refers to and cases and articles etc that refer to the current document which makes researching a lot easier as you can search for similar documents by only looking at one document. However the lack of a ‘context’ button which is on AUSTLII is a disappointment. You need to scroll down and look for the word whereas clicking on the little arrows in AUSTLII will take to the next one. Also, the Boolean search tool is better on AUSTLII than LexisNexis. However the main problem I find with it is there is often too much information and that you need to subscribe to it and when my firm wanted to purchase the subscription the costs were huge. We are talking over $10,000 which is a lot of money especially for small firms.

My Favourite Legal Research Tool!

After 6 years of law school and almost a year and a half working in a law firm I have come across many legal research databases and have found the most useful to be LexisNexis.  The thing I like best about it is the filtering system.  That is if you search for ‘litigation’ which would give thousands of hits you can narrow it down to exactly what you want by typing in more specific words with out having to go back to the homepage and start search again. AUSTLII doesn’t allow you to do this. Well it says you can but the searching tool on AUSTLII is not reliable and often doesn’t work. Another thing LexisNexis is good for is the reference section which show cases, articles etc which the current document refers to and cases and articles etc that refer to the current document which makes researching a lot easier as you can search for similar documents by only looking at one document. However the lack of a ‘context’ button which is on AUSTLII is a disappointment. You need to scroll down and look for the word whereas clicking on the little arrows in AUSTLII will take to the next one. Also, the Boolean search tool is better on AUSTLII than LexisNexis. However the main problem I find with it is there is often too much information and that you need to subscribe to it and when my firm wanted to purchase the subscription the costs were huge. We are talking over $10,000 which is a lot of money especially for small firms.

Computerisation of the Law

According to speech by Justice Einstein in 2001, the computerisation of the courts in the last 5 to 10 years may be the cause of the greatly increased number of really large commercial suits.  More specifically, a case involving aspects of technology which had an immense paper trail including statements put forward by both parties in excess of 170 and approximately 550 documents where documents could be up to 15 folders long and a transcript of more that 11,000 for the trial only. In fact enough paper to fill the Melbourne cricket ground twice, lead to the introduction of an admin software which contained indexed lists of several categories which include: the courtbook; witness statements; past and current transcripts of the proceedings; real- time transcript of the proceedings; documents marked for identification; judgements; pleadings; calendars; and more.  This has increased the efficiency of the court immensely as it allows for the influx of many documents making the process for large commercial suits easier to handle. This software is known as the Ringtail Courtbook Database and is available to all participants as it is online and can be viewed outside the court room. The system has also helped the location of files using hypertext linking as all documents tendered are scanned in and stored in the database.  The court now has a designated Technology room which has computers at the bench and the bar which can be accessed by all participants making communication between the parties simpler and also saving time b allowing everyone to be on the same page of whatever document is being referred to almost instantaneously.  The court has also has video-linkage and telephone conferencing facilities. 

 

In my opinion it is clear that this database has made for a more efficient discovery and document exchange process, however there is only one technology court in the Supreme Court of NSW and this should be phased in to all court and tribunals as any time saved means less of the clients money spent which although is not ideal if you are trying to meet your billing quota but in the long run a happy client means more referrals and a lawyer is always judged by his client base.

Computerisation of the Law

According to speech by Justice Einstein in 2001, the computerisation of the courts in the last 5 to 10 years may be the cause of the greatly increased number of really large commercial suits.  More specifically, a case involving aspects of technology which had an immense paper trail including statements put forward by both parties in excess of 170 and approximately 550 documents where documents could be up to 15 folders long and a transcript of more that 11,000 for the trial only. In fact enough paper to fill the Melbourne cricket ground twice, lead to the introduction of an admin software which contained indexed lists of several categories which include: the courtbook; witness statements; past and current transcripts of the proceedings; real- time transcript of the proceedings; documents marked for identification; judgements; pleadings; calendars; and more.  This has increased the efficiency of the court immensely as it allows for the influx of many documents making the process for large commercial suits easier to handle. This software is known as the Ringtail Courtbook Database and is available to all participants as it is online and can be viewed outside the court room. The system has also helped the location of files using hypertext linking as all documents tendered are scanned in and stored in the database.  The court now has a designated Technology room which has computers at the bench and the bar which can be accessed by all participants making communication between the parties simpler and also saving time b allowing everyone to be on the same page of whatever document is being referred to almost instantaneously.  The court has also has video-linkage and telephone conferencing facilities. 

 

In my opinion it is clear that this database has made for a more efficient discovery and document exchange process, however there is only one technology court in the Supreme Court of NSW and this should be phased in to all court and tribunals as any time saved means less of the clients money spent which although is not ideal if you are trying to meet your billing quota but in the long run a happy client means more referrals and a lawyer is always judged by his client base.

A little about JP

My name is Jean-Pierre Chaina and I and in my 6th year of formal education studying Science/Law with major in Chemistry. I am in my last session doing two subjects a chemistry subject and Computer applications to law. I work part time at a small law firm in the city as paralegal and do a lot research therefore I have come into contact with almost all of the legal databases mentioned in classApart from computers my interests are sport music and cars and all gadgets in general. I love to keep up to date with the latest in technology, although my wallet doesn’t always let me. I am also the varsity manager for the UNSW touch club. If anyone is interested in playing touch or uni games please come and see me. Computers are something that I have always enjoyed using and learning about. I have never actually had any formal training in computers. I have basically learnt everything I know from using them and from friends who are IT gurus. I believe that I have a very good knowledge of computers which is why I chose to do this course apart from it being on Saturday and fitting with a fairly hectic week. I am also interested in getting into IT law and I thought that this course maybe beneficial. So far I have found this class to be helpful in learning how all the legal databases work and helping me learn how to use them better than I already do. Although I do not know what exactly the point of the WIKI is but I will in due course. That’s pretty much it. Look forward to posting many more blogs and reading all of yoursThanksJP

LAWS1032 – Test

Hi everyone,

Just testing this as i have never used a blog before.

JP

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