They log on, fill out simple questionnaires, strike a key and the tool automatically generates reliable service contracts, terms and conditions of employment, compromise agreements, staff handbooks and other policy documentation. This is not a generic, vanilla-flavoured, employment offering but is tailored by the firm so as to contain client-specific materials and standard forms.

This semi-bespoke service will surely be attractive to clients, being quicker, cheaper and often more reliable than drafting legal documents manually or paying big fees to IT-averse law firms. The underlying technology is DealBuilder by Business Integrity, a London-based company that has emerged as a leader in contract automation (www.business-integrity.com).

THE Court of Appeal (Civil Division) has launched an informative and intuitive website (www.civilappeals.gov.uk). As befits the court that lies at the heart of civil and family law in England and Wales, the site is also authoritative and accessible. It serves three purposes. First, it assists court users — by providing an interactive guide (an innovative, dynamic decision tree) that helps litigants and practitioners to identify the appropriate court for their appeal; by offering links to the civil-procedure rules and practice directions that govern the court’s activities; and by supplying details of the judges and senior officials of the court. Secondly, the website includes listings of recent judgments and of significant past cases of the court, linking these to the full law reports held in the site of the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (www.bailii.org). Thirdly, the site publishes The Daily List of the Court (of cases coming before it).

In all, this online resource greatly helps to demystify what used to be a rather remote and forbidding legal institution. Other courts should follow suit in revamping their online presence.

MORE THAN a decade ago, during a conference discussion of computer use in the presentation of evidence, Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach memorably remarked that “there are lies, damn lies and graphics”.

Sufficient time has surely now passed for it to be safe for Mojofuel, a Manchester-based company, to announce VisualAid, a simple yet powerful technique for displaying evidence electronically (www.thevisualaid.com). Premised on the shortcomings of playing standard videotapes in hearings and meetings, VisualAid is promoted as a multimedia tool for storing and presenting materials (documents, video, sound and image) on CDs, DVDs or websites.

The system has been deployed successfully in a series of personal injury cases, where one basic use has been the storage, retrieval and display of digital photographs and medical reports. In a more ambitious manner, the technology has also enabled the compilation of “day in the life” presentations that compellingly and graphically capture both the actual impact and the suffering resulting from injuries that are the subject of dispute.

The author lectures and consults internationally. He is IT adviser to the Lord Chief Justice and Honorary Professor at Gresham College. He can be contacted through www.susskind.com

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