Linux.com :: Italian lawyers use open source software to move online - The Diigo Meta page

• 10 Jul 08
  

  Mario A Núñez

  derecho2.0 opensource

  • All communication takes place by phone, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Internet telephony, or email. While some clients see this as an awkward but necessary way to save money, the majority like it because it saves a lot of time. The first time each client contacts Solignani, he or she decides whether to go digital all the way or stick to traditional meetings.
  • Clients can participate actively, via the Internet, in the authoring of each case document.
  • 3 more annotations...
  • • the Solignani lawyers find that client participation results in documents that are often richer and more complete (and more effective in court) than the ones they'd get via the traditional approach.
    • The official email client is Mozilla Thunderbird, and Google Calendar handles appointments. Firefox is the only browser, both because it's considered much more secure than Internet Explorer and because of all its useful extensions. OpenOffice.org handles all office documents, which are configured to interact with the Access database.
    • Later on, when broadband became both common and affordable, the firm moved to Google Docs, for two reasons: it's faster than terminal servers, and unlike OpenOffice.org, it makes it possible for several people to coauthor the same file. Google Docs features, such as highlighted comments and revision control, work better for Solignani lawyers than their OpenOffice.org counterparts. However, Tiziano and his colleagues would prefer a Google Docs version made to order for workgroups and small businesses. He says, "Google Apps for domains is a step in the right direction, but it is still far from what we need."

Would you like to comment?

Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.