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GAZETTE
T E C H N O L O G Y
N O T E S
MAY/JUNE 1995
LAWLINK - Bringing the Information
Highway to Law
by Jerry Godsell*
LAWLINK, the nation-wide
electronic network specifically
designed for the Irish legal profession,
was established with the active
participation of the Law Society's
Technology Committee. Its dual aims
are to facilitate electronic
communications amongst solicitors
and provide remote access to both
public and private databases.
Largely through the efforts of the
Technology Committee, the majority
of solicitors practices now have both
computerised their accounting systems
and adopted the use of word
processing software. These
developments, together with
increasing commercial awareness of
the "Information Highway", have led
to a greater appreciation of the
benefits to be obtained from electronic
communications.
The overwhelming acceptance of the
fax machine has proven the necessity
for quick, immediate transfer of legal
documentation. Though adequate for
short messages, the inherent
limitations of the fax become apparent
when longer documents are
transmitted. Firstly, since individual
pages are faxed as images, they are
not sent in machine recognisable
form. Thus, in order to be processed
by the recipient's word processor,
they must be re-typed. This will cause
delay and may inadvertently create
errors.
Secondly, longer documents take
significant time to transmit. Pages
often have to be re-sent due to
transmission errors and fax machines
can be unavailable during peak times.
When these problems occur office
efficiency is degraded and costs are
increased.
LAWLINK's E-Mail is the answer to
these problems. Using a modem,
documents can be sent directly from
your computer to the recipient's.
Modern modems cost significantly
less than a fax machine and can
transfer information at a higher speed.
Transfer rates of 1,000 characters per
second are quite normal, meaning that
transmission times are significantly
reduced. In addition to improving the
transfer speed, E-Mail ensures that the
document will be received in machine
readable form and error free.
As well as its E-Mail service,
LAWLINK also provides subscribers
with access to a range of information
sources. By accessing the Land
Registry, solicitors can search the
names index for an individual and
have a copy folio transmitted directly
back to their office. This eliminates
delay and reduces the costs associated
with manually retrieving the same
information. By using LAWLINK to
query the Companies Registration
Office a subscriber has direct access
to the pertinent facts concerning every
registered company in Ireland. Since
LAWLINK communicates directly
with the relevant government agency
our information is always the most
current available.
As a member of LAWLINK, a
solicitor can now receive the Legal
Diary in electronic form. We have,
with the co-operation of Mount Salus
Press, access to every issue the
evening before publication, so
LAWLINK subscribers see it first!
Our free, user-friendly software
allows you to search the listings for
any relevant item, once again saving
time and reducing the possibility of
error.
Now that more and more essential
information sources have become
computerised, there are increased
opportunities for remote access. We at
LAWLINK are committed, through
our ongoing development programme,
to continuously enhance the already
significant benefits of the system.
As all LAWLINK messages, whether
E-Mail or database queries, are
transmitted over WIRTRADE's X.400
service, our subscribers are
guaranteed a quick, error-free service.
In addition since EIRTRADE
conforms to international X.400
messaging standards LAWLINK
subscribers automatically become part
of the world-wide E-Mail community
with all the advantages this entails.
*Jerry Godsell is Chief Executive of
LA WLINK Ltd. He can be contacted at
19 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2.
Telephone 01 661 1954.
Lady Solicitors'
Golf Outing
The Annual Lady Solicitors' Golf
Outing will take place at Kilkenny
Golf Club on Friday, 25 August,
1995.
All last year's players will receive a
circular at the beginning of July. If
you did not take part last year, but
would like details, please telephone
677 0335 with your name and
address.
All participants must have a current
handicap.
Wanted -
1) Full or part set of Irish Statutes;
2) Full or part set of Irish Reports;
3) Full or part set of Halsbury
(any edition);
4) Full or part set of Butterworths
Forms and Precedents;
or any of the above.
Box Number: 2525
120