How Legal Firms Can Break Remote Working Barriers
With reference to the Doug Hargrove article How Legal Firms Can Break Remote Working Barriers, Gizem Akilli offers her views on WFH.
Technology: Historic resistance to recent reliance, but remote working barriers remain
The legal sector, owing to its historic resistance to technology and the immediate effects of the global crisis, has experienced severe disruption. Casedo inventor and practicing barrister, Ross Birkbeck, found it easier than most to work from home in a rapidly accelerating industry, still responding to the pandemic. Given his background, Ross has helped steer the ship during a turbulent time. It is these remote working barriers that are hindering progress in the legal sector.
The recent reliance on innovative tools has enabled lawyers to operate remotely. Those who have used digital solutions before, have undoubtedly boasted better adaptation to the new normal. As a case management tool, Casedo gives users the ability to work paperlessly.
The constructive feedback from hundreds of legal professionals, has in no small part, enabled hundreds of barristers feel better equipped to deal with remote practice. The software was initially developed as a user-friendly case management tool, by a barrister for barristers. Two years later, is now being utilised by the UCL Law Society. For UCL Law Society, Casedo is its sole platform for the junior and senior mooting competitions
Security issues need to be recognised
We have also recognised the issues with cybersecurity, both as a difficulty of cloud storage and a barrier to wider tech acceptance in the legal sector. That is why Casedo we designed to operate outside the cloud, with users storing their files locally. Users are able to take complete control over their data, and share casefiles using any external tools they wish. Moreover, the silver linings behind the pandemic are unavoidable.
Prior to 2020, the choice between paperless and paper files was balanced. Going forward, it seems that this approach has forever changed, and there is no looking back. The HMCTS, law firms and various organisations are already implementing expectations around paperless workflows, and this will surely continue in a post pandemic world. Law firms in the UK have already established regulations to prevent reliance on paper. This reformed approach will likely resonate with competitors, and before long, managing a paperless workflow will be the standard procedure for legal professionals.
Final Thoughts
Doug Hargrove has really hit the nail on the head with his analysis on remote working in a post pandemic world. The changes brought about have been sudden, but have momentously changed our understanding of existing solutions to long overlooked problems.
Why not read our ‘Working from home 2.0’ article on Legal Futures? Click HERE to read the full text.
UPDATE: 2022.11.08
Casedo Case Study: General Civil Law
Christian Fox, a General Civil law barrister, explores how Casedo gives him the feeling of using a paper bundle.
You can open and download a PDF copy of the Case Study HERE.
CASE STUDY
CHRISTIAN FOX – GENERAL CIVIL LAW BARRISTER
LIFE WITHOUT CASEDO
Before Casedo, I worked in London for a property management company as Legal Counsel, and I was largely paperless there. When I moved into practice, I immediately started looking for software that would help me become paperless in practice. Since the pandemic started, the whole industry has started working digitally, which was lucky for my quest to become paperless. I was desperately keen not to be one of those people who gets PDF files of court bundles and prints them all out.
LIFE WITH CASEDO
From the first moment I used Casedo, I always found it effortless. Although there are a number of features that take a little bit of learning, it’s very easy to get going.
The ability to lay out the documents easily and navigate through them truly gives me the feeling of having a paper bundle. Through the Index, I can see all of my documents, bookmarks and how big my bundle is, much like putting tabs in a paper bundle.
I now use Casedo for every case, both my court cases and paperwork cases. It’s just a valuable tool to keep everything in place neatly.
Much like all practice areas, there tends to be a lot of documents in civil cases. The ability to interrogate those properly and move between them easily is vital to my practice area. It is great to have the ability to pull all documents together and use the Desk Space area to have my instructions and other relevant pieces when preparing for submissions.
I have recommended Casedo to others, and I still do. I think Casedo is exactly what lawyers need for their practice. Lawyers don’t need something that just makes a PDF file or bundle. Lawyers need something that can operate across large bundles of paper, providing them with something they can use in court without using paper.
Christian Fox is a barrister at Becket Chambers with expertise in General Civil law. He also accepts cases in other areas such as Property law. He is a past Chairman of the Dairy Council.
WORK SMARTER.
Casedo Case Study: Financial Disputes and Civil Litigation
Nicholas Barnes explores how Casedo helped him manage his practice as Financial Disputes and Civil Litigation Barrister.
You can open and download a PDF copy of the Case Study HERE.
CASE STUDY
NICHOLAS BARNES – FINANCIAL DISPUTES BARRISTER
LIFE WITHOUT CASEDO
I went paperless in 2007 when ScanSnap arrived with an Acrobat Pro licence. I would scan in my paper brief and just use my scan. This saved my back from lugging trolley bags around. I got used to Acrobat but it is a monster of a programme, inefficient and resources hungry. I still use it, but for useable bundles, case files, trial prep and easy use, it was inflexible. It was having a tank when you needed a jeep.
LIFE WITH CASEDO
Acrobat is now relegated to page labels (if needed) and OCR. The rest is Casedo.
For a start, it does not matter how I get my papers. Paper is now rare, but there is the occasional use. I get bundles, supplemental bundles, documents not in the bundles, updating material, skeleton arguments, correspondence, etc. All of these can be added to Casedo and arranged as I wish them to be. I know where they are. It does not matter how they come to me. Some are well organised. Some are an utter mess. With Casedo, I can organise them with ease.
I rely on bookmarks and highlighting. The colours enable me to have highlighting for examination-in-chief and re-examination, cross-examination notes and general notes. Bookmarks enable me to have themes or areas for examination. Notes are invaluable for additional material, context and instructions or information as the case progresses. I have all I need for preparing a skeleton, opening, evidence, and closing. The exposure of these in the table of contents is a very useful way to have an overview and quick resource, especially for those random judicial questions. Similarly, if it is an advice or draft statement of case, I have all I need to be collated for drafting.
At the end of each case or brief, I can export an archive PDF file that I keep for six years. It is fully referenced with a thorough index of not just the documents but the notes and bookmarks. The index is replicated in a table of contents. I can find anything at any time.
Nicholas Barnes is a barrister at 2KBW with expertise in family financial disputes and a broad practice in civil litigation. Nicholas is the Head of the Civil and Family Teams.
WORK SMARTER.
Living Wage Employer Announcement
As part of Casedo's recently agreed sustainability plan, with both social and environmental strands, Casedo is delighted to announce that it's now officially an accredited Living Wage employer. For our business, this means that we've made the conscious decision to ensure that our employees and contractors are paid a fair day's wage.
A study by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that the likelihood of those in working households being in poverty had steadily increased over the last 25 years, growing from 13 per cent in 1996-97 to 17 per cent in 2019-20. According to The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, about 56% of people living in poverty in 2018 were in a household where at least one person had a job, compared with 39% 20 years ago. Both of these reports suggest that rising levels of employment have failed to translate into higher living standards.
The real Living Wage is independently calculated every year to meet the real cost of living. Living Wage UK provides a voluntary benchmark for employers such as Casedo to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on, not just the government minimum.
Jim Hitch, CEO at Casedo, said:
"Knowing that our team are paid fairly is extremely important to us. We believe that motivated employees are key to attracting and retaining the best talent, whilst at the same time helping us grow and be more resilient as a business. We're also delighted to have joined over 7,000 other Living Wage employers across the UK who have voluntarily ensured that they pay their employees at the very least an independently calculated fair wage."
Green Small Business accreditation announcement
As part of their vision and commitment to becoming a sustainable business, Casedo has been accredited as a Green Small Business.
Green Small Business is an independent environmental accreditation created to help businesses manage and reduce their environmental impact by implementing an environmental management system with the aim of becoming a net-zero business.
Though sustainability has always been a core principle for the way Casedo does business, it has only recently made this a core part of its business strategy. Casedo now has an agreed Environmental (as well as Use of Transport) Policy, and will be publishing both these and its Environmental Action Plan by the end of January 2022. Environmental sustainability is one of the main strands of Casedo's overall strategy in this area, with social sustainability being the other. Regarding the latter, Casedo recently became an accredited Living Wage Employer.
According to the Carbon Majors Database, a report published by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Just 100 companies globally have been responsible for 71% of the global greenhouse gass emissions that, since 1998, have contributed to climate change. It appears that it is business that is primarily behind emissions, not individuals.
"Sustainability has always been a part of Casedo's ethos. It is now part of our strategy. This is just the beginning of our journey; we have more exciting projects coming up."
Jim Hitch, CEO, Casedo.
Casedo Case Study: Student Research and Organisation
UCL Law Student Louis Stripp shares how he uses Casedo to grasp an overall understanding of different topics.
You can open and download a PDF copy of the Case Study HERE.
CASE STUDY
LOUIS STRIPP – STUDENT AT UCL
LIFE WITHOUT CASEDO
Before Casedo, I had handouts, cases, articles and statutes all in separate documents and located in different files. This made writing essays particularly hard, as having a streamlined train of thought was difficult to achieve when the relevant documents on a particular area of law were so scattered.
LIFE WITH CASEDO
As a law student, using Casedo has made understanding the law a much easier task. Having a number of documents within one continuous file has allowed me to gain a holistic understanding of different topics. The ability to access all relevant information in one file has made legal research, essay writing and general comprehension much more efficient, as I am able to see all of the necessary information in front of me at once.
The split screen function is a particular favourite. Being able to examine and compare two documents at once has improved my legal research and critical analysis, and has allowed me to identify similarities and anomalies I would likely have missed if the documents had been on separate windows.
I would absolutely recommend Casedo to a student. It has allowed me to better understand the law, something which can be incredibly difficult. It allows for a holistic view of a topic, thereby ensuring you have an informed and clear perspective of the law you are trying to analyse. This makes life much easier.
Louis Stripp graduated in law at UCL June 2022. He is a now trainee solicitor at Allen & Overy.
WORK SMARTER.
Casedo Case Study: Employment and Personal Injury Claims
David Green, barrister specialising in employment and personal injury claims, explains how Casedo has helped him work more efficiently.
You can open and download a PDF copy of the Case Study HERE.
CASE STUDY
DAVID GREEN- EMPLOYMENT AND PERSONAL INJURY BARRISTER
LIFE WITHOUT CASEDO
I was almost exclusively paper-based before I started using Casedo. Papers would usually come in to chambers electronically, but they were routinely printed by our junior clerks, and put in lever-arched files for my use. I spent hours dragging these files after me, in wheely suitcases, on and off trains and in and out of court buildings.
I had started to look around for an alternative – something that would be easier and more ergonomic to use, and that would also save my back – in late 2019, which was when I discovered Casedo.
LIFE WITH CASEDO
I’d say that Casedo is the single app I have open, and in front of me, the most in my working life. I have a relatively high and varied workload, with lots of ongoing cases, which might “pop up” again after a few weeks or months for a new instruction (say, to advise on an offer that’s been made, or attend the latest hearing). At last count I had nearly 160 individual Casedo .case files.
I find that Casedo allows me to organise documents around my cases and the instructions I receive within those cases, rather than having to organise my life around the documents I’m sent however they come in. My “Casedo process” – of organising a folder structure, and then splitting, merging and labelling documents – is the way that I engage with the material I’m sent, so that I remember my way around a set of papers straight away.
The ease with which documents can be moved around and re-organised: that’s what makes Casedo a document and bundle management system, rather than a mere PDF reader.
David Green is a barrister at 12 King’s Bench Walk, specialising in employment and personal injury claims.
WORK SMARTER.
Casedo Case Study: Real Property & Landlord and Tenant law
Fern Schofield, a Real Property & Landlord and Tenant law barrister, explains how Casedo has helped shape her practice.
You can open and download a PDF copy of the Case Study HERE.
CASE STUDY
FERN SCHOFIELD – LANDLORD & TENANT BARRISTER
LIFE WITHOUT CASEDO
I previously did all of my work on paper. It was a struggle to keep track of various individual documents that aren’t part of the bundle. Each of those has to be open in a separate document, which was less convenient.
LIFE WITH CASEDO
I use Casedo for the majority of my work, including working on papers for written advice and for hearings (both physical and remote).
I find it easy to add and organise new papers as different documents come in over time – doing it electronically and labelling everything in Casedo means all my electronic bundles are tidy for when I return to them.
The ease of renaming and re-ordering documents I find useful for sorting out sets of electronic papers which come in poorly organised – I save everything into a folder, put it all in a new case, and then go through and arrange everything in a way that makes sense. I have tried doing this in more traditional PDF software like Adobe, but find Casedo is far superior for this kind of wholesale reorganisation.
The side-by-side viewing panes are useful for all sorts of things, but particularly for my practice, it’s useful for comparing maps and plans. I also like to use it to check I have all of the relevant enclosures to my instructions – I open the instructions in one pane and check the enclosures in the other.
The links feature is useful for clauses in leases which cross-refer to other schedules or plans. I also use them for solicitors’ correspondence which refers to numbered points in previous letters.
Having everything in one Casedo file means I don’t have to look through lots of different files to work out if I have a particular document – I know that everything is in Casedo because I put it there when it comes in.
It is also very useful to be able to export everything as one clean bookmarked PDF if I have to give papers to a colleague.
Fern Schofield is a junior barrister at Falcon Chambers, specialising in all areas of property and landlord and tenant law. She has particular expertise in telecoms law and has appeared as junior counsel, led by Wayne Clark, in the first case under the New Code to be heard in the Court of Appeal.
WORK SMARTER.
Casedo Case Study: Family Law
Rhys Taylor explains how Casedo works for him in his family law practice. You can open and download a PDF copy of the Case Study HERE.
CASE STUDY
RHYS TAYLOR – FAMILY BARRISTER
LIFE WITHOUT CASEDO
Before I went paperless, it was sometimes a logistical feat to gethard copy papers delivered to me if I was not in chambers.Alternatively I would have to rely on very heavy-duty and time-consuming printing.
LIFE WITH CASEDO
Every case I read or meeting I attend, I am using Casedo to kettleand organise the documents into a manageable space.
Once documents are split down into individual documents, it is then easy to move that document or to exchange it for an updated copy or insert new pages without causing havoc to the overall shape of the bundle or scheme of numbering.
Emails can be dragged into a Casedo file and if there are attachments, Casedo creates a folder with the date of the email and the attachments within the folder. This enables me to keep a tight grip on the progress of an issue in emails, which are all now in one place and very easy to read as one narrative.
The split screen allows me to look at documents side by side and easilyhyperlink between different points in a bundle. I can quickly create bundles if called upon to do so and then export into a PDF format.
The search facility also helps me locate information which I cannot otherwise immediately reference.
I printed out a large document to read recently. After two minutes I put it to one side and imported the document into Casedo, which felt the more natural way to read it.
Rhys Taylor is a barrister at the 36 Group and 30 Park Place, specialising in financial remedies and TOLATA claims. He is a member of the Family Procedure Rule Committee, a member of the National Committee for the Family Law Bar Association and a Bencher of the Inner Temple.
WORK SMARTER.
London Legal Walk 2021
The 2021 London Legal Walk is fast approaching and once again Casedo has entered a team to participate. We aim to raise £250 and will be joining thousands of legal professionals in support of free legal advice charities and law centres. Join us on October 18 and if you would like to sponsor us please visit our Virgin Money Giving page.
Team
Jim Hitch
Ross Birkbeck
Milad Shojaei
Gizem Akilli.
Casedo Case Study: Public Right of Way
Sue Rumfitt, Public Right of Way consultant, explains how Casedo has transformed the way she works.
You can open and download a PDF copy of the Case Study HERE.
CASE STUDY
SUE RUMFITT – PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY CONSULTANT
LIFE WITHOUT CASEDO
When I started there were no rules on submissions.
Exceptional solicitors instilled the importance of producing comprehensive, paginated and indexed bundles.
Last year, I needed to create my first electronic bundle in anticipation of a virtual inquiry.
LIFE WITH CASEDO
I can’t imagine how I managed without it.
I was delighted to find it paginated the documents and produced an index automatically.
The two viewing screens makes comparing maps and documents so much easier.
Rotation of individual pages lets me ensure my text documents are portrait and my map images are landscape with north at the top.
Casedo has revolutionised what I do, improved my throughput, and allows me to produce much more professional-looking bundles.
17 case files down the line, I use Casedo for public inquiry bundles, instructions to counsel, appendices to my reports and for analysis of evidence.
Sue Rumfitt is a nationally known public rights of way consultant, an expert witness, and holds a Bar Council Licence to instruct counsel and participates in local public inquiries; both in a witness and advocacy role.
WORK SMARTER.
Casedo Case Study: Intellectual Property
Aaron Wood, Intellectual Property lawyer, explains how Casedo has made a huge difference to the way he works.
You can open and download a PDF copy of the Case Study HERE.
CASE STUDY
AARON WOOD – TRADEMARK ATTORNEY
LIFE WITHOUT CASEDO
Before I used Casedo I worked in the traditional way – largely on paper and organising and re-organising evidence was a particular pain.
Without a print team or software, I ended up spending days preparing bundles when I should have been preparing for trial.
LIFE WITH CASEDO
Casedo chops 30% off the time I used to spend putting evidence together and, as it stays electronic until printing is required, the images stay crisp.
I create printed paginated and hyperlinked e-bundles in minutes.
I produce witness statements quickly and drag in documents from the other side and collate everything into a single submission.
I read and annotate the witness statement in one viewing window while looking at the exhibit in the other.
The more I use Casedo the more useful I find it to be.
Clients are grateful for it as it has reduced the time spent on preparation.
Casedo makes the bundle readable and searchable to help me find references during hearings.
Aaron Wood is a Chartered Trademark Attorney, trademark litigator and trademark advocate. He is Head of Intellectual Property at Blaser Mills and a Casedo user since July 2019.
WORK SMARTER.
Demystifying some common law jargon terms
Hundreds of students in the UK use Casedo for both legal mooting competitions and for their studies. For the benefit of them, and those of us that are not legally trained, we've put together a list of some common legal terms that may not be familiar to most of us. If you have any more suggestions for terms we could add, please let us know.
Actus rea: The action or conduct that comprises the physical elements of a criminal act. Refers to the external element or the objective element of a crime, is the Latin term for the “guilty act.”
Adversary: The opposition party.
Appeal: When a party to a court case asks a higher court to review a judge s decision from a lower court.
Appellant: The person who appeals to the decision of the court.
Arbitration: A form of dispute resolution. It is a way of settling a dispute without having to go to court. Both of the parties put their case to an independent person called an arbitrator. The decision is final and binding.
Caveat emptor: In Latin, this translates to “let the buyer beware”. This refers to the principle that the buyer is responsible for checking the product before he/she purchases it.
Claimant: The person, company, or institution who brings the claim or charge forward against the defendant in court.
Defendant: The person, company, or institution against whom a claim or charge was brought in court.
Diligence: Reasonable care or attention to the matter, that is sufficient to avoid a claim of negligence.
Duty of Care: Refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to avoid any behaviours or omissions that could reasonably be foreseen to cause harm to others.
Freehold: Ownership of a substantial interest in land held for an indefinite period of time. This is known as the ‘best’ type of interest. The freeholder of a property owns it outright, including the land it’s built on
Joint tenancy: Refers to a legal arrangement in which two or more people own a property together, each with equal rights and obligations.
Leasehold: Ownership of lease from the freeholder. A leaseholder can only use the property for a specified period of time. Under this, the interest in the property is held under a rental agreement. A leaseholder has the right to occupy the property for as long as the lease is valid.
Litigation: This is an alternative means of dispute resolution. It is the process of bringing and arguing a case in court.
Mediation: A form of dispute resolution, where parties discuss their dispute with each other with the assistance of a mediator, in hopes of resolving the dispute amicably.
Mens rea: The mental element of a crime, referring to the criminal intent and state of mind of a person. The literal translation from Latin is “guilty mind.”
Obiter Dicta: A judge’s expression of opinion uttered in court or in a written judgement, but not essential to the decision and therefore not legally binding as a precedent.
Party: A person or company involved in a lawsuit (can be either side of a case).
Precedent: A precedent is a statement made of the law by a Judge in deciding a case.
Ratio decidendi: A legal rule derived from, and consistent with, those parts of legal reasoning within a judgment on which the outcome of the case depends.
Tenancy in common: A shared tenancy in which each holder has a distinct, separately transferable interest.
Recent Changes in the Law
The legal sector has evolved rapidly in recent years. Gizem Akilli writes that there have been particularly significant developments in areas of employment law, GDPR and the legal tech landscape.
1. Employment Law
Employment law has experienced significant upheaval in 2020. The Coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) has in no small part encompassed much of recent debates surrounding employer/employee relationships and positive steps taken in safeguarding the economy in light of the global crisis. Under the CJRS, employers have claimed 80% of furloughed employees monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month alongside associated Employer National Insurance and pension contributions on that wage.
Although this has stabilised the impact on unemployment and potential tribunal claims, it is coming to an end. Since September 2020, the grant has been reduced by 70% and will drop further in October to 60%, with employers expected to pay the balance. As the furlough scheme winds down, so too does the optimism for job retention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Conciliation service ACAS has clarified that its redundancy advice line has almost tripled throughout June-July in light of the announced changes. The main concern is in respect of the rate of redundancies as companies struggle to stay afloat.
"The economic impact of coronavirus, alongside fears around the furlough scheme tapering off, has left many employers and their staff concerned about their future livelihoods."
Susan Clews, ACAS Chief executive
The Coronavirus job retention scheme was initially intended to run till the 1st of June 2020, however, on the 5th of November the Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a further extension to the CJRS (also known as the furlough scheme), until the 31st of March 2021.
The government will review the policy in January to decide whether economic circumstances are improving enough to ask employers to contribute more.
2. GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the latest data protection law developed by the EU; it came into force on the 25th of May 2018. In the UK, GDPR led to the creation of the Data Protection Act 2018, which superseded the previous 1998 Data Protection Act.
Under the General Data Protection Regulations ('GDPR'), international transfers of personal data outside the EEA are restricted unless adequate safeguards are put in place. Through these principles, everyone responsible for using personal data has to follow strict rules called 'data protection principles'. They must ensure that the information is used fairly, lawfully and transparently.
Due to the UK's departure from the European Union, a new unique set of data protection law was implemented through the Data Protection Act 2018, following the EU – GDPR. The Data Protection Act 2018 is similar to GDPR in that it controls how your personal information is being processed. The Withdrawal Agreement, from the EU-GDPR to only UK-GDPR, will be in effect until the end of the transition period, likely on the 31st of December, 2020.
3. Legal Tech
The legal industry has always shown resistance to change and technological advancements. However, law firms can no longer ignore the advantages of integrating technology into their operations. According to Bonsor, ‘Tech will be very helpful in creating opportunities for lawyers to focus on interpreting law, doing their legal role rather than an administrative side of things that currently occupies a lot of time.’
Law firms have faced notable issues over the years. These include adapting to the rapid changes instigated by AI-powered systems, getting to grips with block chain/crypto currency and moving into remote practices. In the wake of the pandemic, the government’s advice to working remotely was problematic for numerous legal professionals who were ill-equipped to operate in new ways. Fortunately for the legal sector, various existing technical solutions were capable of assisting. From video conferencing providers such as Zoom to powerful bundling software like Casedo and Adobe, versatile lawyers leveraged these solutions expeditiously.
While you're here, why not read our article on 'The rising risk of cybercrime for law firms'? Click HERE for the full text on Legal Futures.
5 Best Tools for Law Students
Most law students struggle with digesting large amounts of information under tight deadlines. Managing time can be difficult when working under pressure and with limited resources. In recent years, technology has played a pivotal role in the lives of law students and legal professionals alike. Technological tools have acted as study aids, stress relief and assisted with work management
I made law students and legal professionals a list of invaluable apps that I think can help. Here are my top 5 tools that I have relied on throughout my studies and career.
1. Dropbox or Google Drive/OneDrive
In my opinion, everyone should use a cloud storage solution. This way, you will be able to save your documents, assignments, and any relevant study materials handy and ready to be accessed anywhere and at anytime. Imagine a scenario where your bag gets stolen or perhaps your laptop crashes a few days before your deadline. It’s not impossible, it may happen to anyone. In fact, it happened to me. But if you have them saved on one of above-mentioned tools, there will be no issues.
A note of caution; remember that Cloud Storage is like an external disk drive on your laptop. It might be that you are using Cloud Storage as a backup for your files, but you can also use it as just another folder. In other words, if you only have a single copy of a file, no matter where it is stored, if it is accidentally deleted, you might lose it. Cloud Storage and back up are not the same thing!
https://www.google.com/drive/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/onedrive/online-cloud-storage https://www.dropbox.com/
2. Microsoft Outlook
This app is especially great for students who have multiple emails to manage. That could be your work email, your university email or your private email. Microsoft outlook keeps all of your emails simultaneously open in one tab, and you could manage them separately as you wish. Having this app handy is a lifesaver.
3. Legal Cheek
Legal Cheek is the most read legal news organisation in the UK. They provide aspiring lawyers and students with a combination of news, analysis, careers advice and insider insight on the leading law firms and chambers operating in the UK. Law students can use Legal Cheek to stay commercially aware, and to get ahead of the curve with invaluable career advice. You can also tune in on the industry gossip!
4. Casedo
Okay, I’ll admit a little bias here, but Casedo is a brilliant tool to help any law student and legal professional manage a paperless workload. As a law student, you can use this as a workspace to bring together all of your documents into one space. You can easily switch between them, highlight the vital information, annotate your documents, make notes and link between files. The software was initially developed for legal professionals; however, due to the high demand, law students can now also use it for their coursework and in their mooting competitions. Casedo is designed as a space to bring together relevant inter-related documents to make sense of them; as such, it is excellent for research and case management.
5. Headspace
It is a fact that law is a very demanding course, and it is almost unlikely that a law student did not struggle with their mental health during busy periods like exam season. Headspace helps and teaches users how to meditate with guided meditation sessions. Meditation improves focus and decreases stress and anxiety. Emotional well-being is essential when attending law school. You’ll be under an immense amount of stress, and learning how to meditate and calm your mind can make it all a little more manageable.
While you're here, why not read our article on 'Let’s talk about Mental Health First Aid'? Click HERE for the full text on Legal Futures.
Graduating in law during COVID-19
Gizem Akilli is graduating this year. Heading into the penultimate semester of her hard-fought law degree, the pandemic struck. She takes a brief look at how the virus has affected her studies and the first steps in her legal career.
Coming into the final year of my law degree, I was eager to graduate and swiftly move onto the Legal Practice Course at BPP. I had taken on a multitude of extracurricular responsibilities to ready myself for the challenges that I could face as a solicitor. I dedicated countless hours as a volunteer Initial Assessor at Toynbee Hall and worked with the CASEDO team on exciting projects that advance legal tech and the paperless agenda.
When COVID-19 emerged, and the global crisis ensued, I was concerned with what this could mean for my degree and career. I witnessed the unprecedented impacts of the crisis on Pro-bono services first hand. Despite all efforts, the law clinic was unable to give face-to-face assistance to clients in light of the new regulations and my volunteering placement came to an end. All my remaining assessments had been reshaped to a digital alternative, vital seminars and lectures were hosted by Zoom & GotoWebinar, and my graduation had been cancelled entirely. Given the research-heavy nature of the assessments and the fact that no university had ever transitioned in such a drastic fashion, I was increasingly anxious about the impacts this would have on students like myself.
I quickly realised that for most, who would spend days and nights at the law library working together, that operating remotely was a very dire change. However, as someone who had the opportunity to rely on legal case management software at the Casedo Paperless Moot, I was pretty confident in my ability to manage a digital workflow during lockdown to good effect. With signs that the pandemic had impacted universities across the UK, and with the likelihood of deferral amongst UK-domiciled students being approximately 17% higher, I could see quite clearly that City, University of London's effective transition was a positive move for the future of the institution. I was also pleasantly surprised that since the start of April, Toynbee Hall had been able to also transition effectively. The law clinic has been able to assist nearly 500 people over the phone and online, but this is clearly not enough, and the clinic would certainly have benefited from having pre-existing digital support in place.
As an international student, my first instinct was that the already tricky prospects of becoming a legal professional had become that much harder. Like many, I was disappointed with the news that vacation schemes and work experience programmes were cancelled in light of the circumstances. With such confidence-curtailing news, it has not been a good time to 'aspire' to a career in law. Having said that, I understood the importance of grasping the implications of COVID-19 for the commercial world and readying myself despite the challenges that lie ahead. I have had the opportunity to upskill, applying the technological and commercial awareness I have developed at CASEDO to an array of virtual networking events and work experiences. Through completing virtual internships at Linklaters, Pinset Masons, Baker Mckenzie and White & Chase, I have realised that students need not worry, as the opportunities to impress have not collapsed, they've just transformed.
Despite the adversities brought about by COVID-19, I have made efforts to avoid losing sight of my ambition. By demonstrating higher productivity and efficiency, I have become more energetic throughout the crisis. This will undoubtedly bode well for me when my dream law firm asks How did you respond to the COVID-19 crisis?
Why not read our ‘International Women’s Day – Time to demand more’ article on Legal Futures? Click HERE to read the full text.
