As readers of the February 2001 issue of LEXPERT Magazine will know, for many years I have advocated the views of Richard Susskind, the British law and IT expert, and of his far-sighted perspective on IT issues as they relate to the delivery of legal services.

Law firms and other legal service providers stand at the edge of yet another IT revolution -- one that will profoundly affect client relationships. Any firm that does not have full web-enabled communication with its clients (docketing, billing, file documentation, precedents, library) will begin to lose clients to those firms that do provide this service.

The rise of Extranets raises new issues of training of lawyers and development of new systems management techniques. These are not "mere" technical questions -- they are fundamental challenges to the management of client relationships. I can assist a legal services provider to meet these challenges and go on to produce closer client relationships.