Clients second-guess legal fees on-line

Article Abstract:

Law firms are beginning to offer clients on-line access to the firm's billing systems so that clients can track exactly how they are charged for their services. The new scrutiny is more a result of distrust between lawyers and their clients than of technological breakthrough and allows clients to review and challenge each charge as it is made. Bullivant, Houser, Bailey, Pendergrass & Hoffman is one law firm that has begun inputting its attorney's daily time sheets on a database of case files that are available to clients with modems. The system at Bullivant collects time entries from lawyers in a central file, calculates the lawyer's fees and transmits the data to clients with new charges highlighted in red. Companies such as Dow Chemical are among the clients encouraging the use of such billing systems because Dow employees want to make sure that Dow's lawyers are not allowing people to work on their cases who are not authorized.

Legal services, Offices of Lawyers, Telecommunications systems, Law offices, Law firms, Online, Legal Issues, Bullivant, Houser, Bailey, Pendergrass and Hoffman, Billing Invoicing Software

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Joint laboratory planned

Article Abstract:

Thomson-CSF and Alcatel have agreed to form a joint laboratory to conduct research into software architecture in pursuant of a broader agreement to develop synergies between civilian and military applications and merge the research and development potential of both companies. A three-year research plan provides the framework for the laboratory's research. Under the research plan, the laboratory has two mandates: develop design environments for software-intensive products based on software architectures that encourage the use of components; creation of real-time applications distributed on many types of platforms.

Computer Software, Software Publishers, Netherlands, Strategic alliances, Software, Thales S.A., Alcatel N.V., Article

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Hewlett-Packard hits legal snag over its CD burners in Germany

Article Abstract:

Germany, and several other European countries, have copyright laws that hold equipment manufacturers partly liable for infringement violations. Germany's main licensing group, GEMA, has filed a suit against against Hewlett-Packard over consumer usage of its CD-recordable drives that cost the sound recording industry approximately $5 billion in royalties last year. H-P is negotiating with GEMA over what fees should be paid by the manufacturer upon the sale of CD-recorder drives in Germany.

Integrated Record Production/Distribution, Prerecorded records and tapes, Records & Tapes, Cases, Laws, regulations and rules, Computer peripherals industry, Hewlett-Packard Co., HWP, Copyright, Copyrights, Sound recording industry, Recording industry, Sound recordings, CD-Recordable drives, CD-recordable drive, CD-R drives, CD-RW drives

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