International Technology

AUSTRALIA

Circling the Tech Globe: What's up Down Under?

By Eddie O'Brien

BOTH Australia and the U.S.A. share British roots, with its very strong legal heritage that has allowed both countries to blossom and grow with solid democratic and legislative foundations.

Of course, times have changed -- and there are some subtle but significant differences in our legislative systems. For example, the U.S.A. has very different rules of disclosure, huge jury damages awards, interrogatories, depositions (evidence before trial for you Aussies) and other little things like Bates numbering, redwelds, etc.

Australia in turn has the intrinsically fair "loser pays" system. These variations lead to differences in the practice of law and the application of technology to support the legal practitioner, courts and corporations.

Obviously, demographic issues also have an effect. The U.S.A. population is approximately 280 million, to Australia's 19 million. There are rumored to be nearly one million lawyers in the U.S.A., to Australia's 60,000. Against this, Australia has a technology-led economy, a well-educated population, and Australia's top 10 law firms all figure in the top 150 law firms in the world.

The biggest consideration for technology in Australia is the dichotomy between size and population. For a country so vast the population of less than 20 million people makes rolling out substantive infrastructure difficult. A hopeful sign is that recent wireless innovations have been applied in at least one major court case "The Federal Court Native Title Case" where much of the case was being heard in the Australian outback.

CORPORATE LAW FIRM MARKET SPENDING ON TECHNOLOGY	Australia	UK	USA	US$ million
Estimated IT budget as % of revenue	6%	5.50%	5%
Top 100 (US), 31 (UK), 9 (AUS) Law Firm Revenue [1]	$1,200	$5,800	$26,600	$33,600
Estimated per annum IT Spend in US$ million	$72	$319	$1,330	$1,721
[1] Figures for FY 1999/2000 (top 9 law firms in Australia, Legal III FRMC), CY 1999 (top 100 law firms, Am Law 2000, American Lawyer), CY 1999 (top 30 UK firms, UK Legal Business 2000)

TOTAL CORPORATE IN-HOUSE SPENDING ON TECHNOLOGY	US$ millions
US corporate in-house legal service spend	$12,388
UK corporate in-house legal service spend	$2,154
Australian corporate in-house legal service spend	$284
Total corporate in-house legal service spend	$14,826
IT spend (at 5% of total in-house legal spend)	$741

Technology Trends:

* Increasing trend among law firms towards "outward looking" Extranets and Intranets information services for the benefits of their corporate clients.

* Many major firms such as Mallesons Stephen Jaques have established their own versions of "hosted products and services" (similar to the ASP concept) based on collaborative workflow on legal projects such as litigation, due diligence and deal rooms.

* Smaller and medium sized firms have started to create syndicated legal services. This syndication seems to be a very interesting opportunity for these firms to integrate expanded legal services for consolidation and redistribution via Internet technologies.

* At least one Australian law firm, Blake Dawson Waldron, has created a legal service to deliver online expert systems or "Virtual Lawyers." The philosophy behind these systems is to allow the firm to extend their reach within the corporation.

* In general the Australian legal community has been quick to embrace legal technology standards. The XML based legal standards workgroup LegalXML has a very large and active Australian contingent. Most major Australian State and Federal courts have published "Civil Proceedings Practice Notes" that include considerations for electronic imaged based court filings and the Federal courts have established the concept of the virtual courtroom.

Finally, on behalf of most Australians, I'd like to dispel a misconception about the dangers in our beloved country. In spite of the impression given by the "Crocodile Hunter," it is a very safe place. Australia is not full of rabid, bloodthirsty critters itching to sample a bit of raw American flesh, so come and visit and mention my name, but please don't expect a fair trial!

Eddie O'Brien is president of Ringtail Solutions, which has offices in the U.S.A., U.K. and Australia.