In-house lawyers and law firms agree standard for deal bibles

Groups representing in-house lawyers and law firms have agreed a common standard for the exchange of electronic transaction deal bibles.

The Knowledge Management and IT in-house group (KMIT), chaired by Andrew Dey, head of operations (legal and compliance) at Barclays Bank, recommended a standard naming convention and file structure. This was then enhanced with the help of the Legal IT Innovators group (LITIG).

The move followed research suggesting that while law firms spend a considerable amount of time and effort production branded CDs for lawyers at their clients, it is increasingly the clients' IT departments who are tasked with copying the files to shared network drives or document management systems.

Derek Southall, chair of LITIG and a partner at Wragge & Co, said: “It's all too easy to assume we know what the client wants from IT. This is a great example of clients being proactive to help law firms deliver what they really need.”

To access the full guidance note, go to www.litig.org