Friedrich Blase Releases First Report on CiteRight Litigation Tool
As the trusted source for legal innovation, the Ontario Bar Association knows how integrating technology can often be difficult for lawyers and even big law firms. That is why the OBA offers members and partner firms guidance and tools through its Innovator in Residence program.
Friedrich Blase, this year’s Innovator, has released his first report on legal technology. In collaboration with Norton Rose Fulbright, he conducted an in-depth examination of CiteRight – a tool that assists litigators by bridging the gap between legal research and the drafting of client memos or court submissions.
“Law firms and lawyers can spend a lot of time, money and valuable resources researching and choosing technology tools,” says Blase, who has spent more than two decades working for and with law firms and legal departments around the world. “This report is just one way the OBA is helping develop testing and analysis tools that lawyers will be able to access so they can choose the products that are right for them.”
The report – which is the first of three that will be released in the coming months – includes technology requirements, use case scenarios, features and functions, integration, cost recovery and data security.
“Thanks to Friedrich and firms like Norton Rose Fulbright, the OBA is helping to reduce the time, cost and frustration of choosing, testing and integrating new technology,” says OBA President Karen Perron. “The justice system has rapidly embraced new ways of doing things over the past couple of years, and our Innovator in Residence program is just one way we are continuing to move the profession forward.”
“We are confident that the CiteRight report will help lawyers and firms select and integrate technology more easily and thereby hasten the benefits – greater efficiency in the legal research and drafting process,” says Michelle Fernando, Senior Knowledge & Innovation Lawyer of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada. “We are pleased to have collaborated with Friedrich, the OBA, and CiteRight to prepare this report.”
“We’re honoured that the OBA chose CiteRight to be the first legal technology company to be put through this rigorous testing and review initiative,” says Aaron Wenner, CEO of CiteRight. “The report will help OBA members and the legal public better understand where platforms like CiteRight fit into the legal landscape — and their own practice needs.”
The CiteRight report is now available for OBA members. Please visit the Innovator in Residence website to learn more about the program.
About the Ontario Bar Association
Established in 1907, the OBA is the largest voluntary legal association in Ontario representing over 16,000 lawyers, judges, law professors and law students. The OBA provides continuing professional development and advocates for improvements to the law in the interests of the profession and public.
About the Innovator in Residence Program
Each year, the OBA appoints and supports an Innovator to serve a 10-month term in which they will focus on a designated innovation theme of importance to practicing lawyers. While “in residence” the Innovator’s role is to identify, develop and advance innovations that will help lawyers better serve their clients. Throughout the term, the OBA will deliver practical, cutting-edge tools, services and supports to lawyers and law firms.
About CITERIGHT
CiteRight is an integrated knowledge-sharing and litigation collaboration platform that makes it easy for litigation teams to create their own library of reusable legal research, while effortlessly generating court submission materials in seconds. CiteRight’s Microsoft Word plugin and standalone web and mobile applications aggregate an entire law firm’s institutional knowledge, turning old documents into a network of living, intelligent, reusable work products. Named an Emerging Legal Technology Leader by The National Law Journal, CiteRight is used by law firms across Canada.
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For more information: Michael Speers
Media & Communications Specialist
416-602-6146