Extranet Spotlight

Views from the Front Lines

By John Tredennick

WE WERE into Extranets at Holland & Hart for about two years before I realized their true promise. These are not mere tools to post a document for a client to review, nor just a place to keep your calendar or a copy of your Rolodex. The real power of an Extranet is this: finally we have the perfect vehicle for a truly "paperless office."

About two years ago a client called one of my partners with an interesting request. We've been sued, along with about 340 other companies in our industry. What would you charge to have someone make 340 copies of every pleading that comes in these cases (about 50 of them were filed) and send them to all the defendants?

My partner was ready to jump to attention and sacrifice a secretary to the cause, but I intervened. You know," I said, "There might be a better way to do this. What if we created an Extranet, a private, secure Web site, and posted all of the documents there. That way every team member would have access to the (virtual) files and we would save zillions in copy, fax and overnight charges."

Back in 1998 this was kind of radical, but my partner and, eventually, our clients warmed up to the idea. So we set it up. One of the first, and maybe one of the biggest legal Extranets ever created. We put all the case pleadings and other documents up there for every member to see. If it was a short document, you could read it on screen. If it was too long, you printed it. The good news was after you read it you could toss it. The documents were stored on the server and retrieval was easier than pawing through your file cabinet.

Before long we had more than 50 different Extranets going, all acting as repositories for pleadings, correspondence, work product and all the other stuff you throw on an Extranet. Little by little we realized that we were on to something.

Here is the promise in a nutshell. Instead of going to a copy machine and making the obligatory one, two, three, or more copies for distribution, you go to a scanner. The paper is uploaded to the central server and an e-mail goes out to the team ("You've got mail," in effect) only the details come with it. If the recipient wants to see the letter or pleading, or whatever, it is a click away. If not, it is sitting on the server whenever you need it (from wherever you may be). Rather than five team members (including clients) managing, the paper pile, the server does it for everyone. And there is no fax or overnight courier bill.

Once you start thinking about it, the advantages become pretty attractive. Whether or not you work on a big case, it is nice to be able to access your files from home or a hotel room. And Extranet security is routine these days; your office would be an easier target for someone bent on getting to your files.

Within the next couple of years, all the paper will be on Extranets. I don't know about you, but I can't wait. Neither can your clients.

Editor's note: See Sept. LTN, MIS@Holland and Hart, for more details.

John Tredennick is a partner and CIO at Holland & Hart and the CEO of CaseShare Systems, LLC, a spin-off of the firm building paperless systems for the law and business community.