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The Wizards Of Ozmosys
Since 2000, I have been part of the team at Clifford Chance that has been charged with getting the best information to the right people in the most timely and convenient fashion. The Knowledge Systems team, combining the library and the intranet staffs, is responsible for assuring that our legal staff has access to the news, data, and documents they require, including paper-based information and electronic content such as e-mail, the Internet, or our intranet.
In my more than 20 years as a librarian, I've seen many changes in formats and methods of delivery of publications; paper, microforms, and CD-ROMS. The Internet, of course, has become the medium of choice for many publishers and organizations, replacing paper with digital delivery of daily news and newsletters. But just like their paper relatives, it takes time to slog through a bunch of Web pages and e-mails each morning ' and time is generally at a premium for most of us. How do you make this task easier?
In 2000, Clifford Chance merged with New York-based Rogers & Wells and the German firm of Punder, Volhard, Weber, & Axster. The result was the largest law firm in the world with 3500 attorneys in 29 offices worldwide. Our new organization faced many new challenges as well as opportunities to reinvent our information sharing and communication capabilities. When the merger occurred, many of the Clifford Chance offices already contributed to a system of intranets. A team was put together in the Americas to develop the intranet in our hemisphere. Its members included Shireen Kumar, Director of Knowledge Systems, Katherine Walkden and Christine Patterson, Web Editors, a Web-development firm, and me. We began in January of 2000 and released the first version in May. One of our most important objectives was to provide legal and corporate news from multiple sources to every attorney in an easy and practical way. We investigated our options and decided to focus on two goals: first, to deliver news from major media sources to the intranet pages of various practice groups; and second, to monitor Web pages of the most relevant companies, government agencies and professional organizations and to publish pertinent legal and regulatory items to specific intranet pages. By accomplishing these goals, our practice groups could stay up-to-date on news about our clients and other organizations of interest. Many providers existed to accomplish our first goal (news from media sources), but the second goal (news from sources generally not covered by media sources) required special functionality. For that purpose, we found Ozmosys (or perhaps they found us). Whichever way it happened, it proved to be fortuitous.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Stranger to the Deed Rule
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.