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Thin Is In

Software as a Service (Saas) is an innovative way to find balance between practice and support, cost and resources. It is the latest iteration of the “thin client.” Software that is developed using this model is accessed through your Web browser and nothing is installed on your computer. When you start up Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Mozilla’s Firefox, you browse over to a Web site, type in your username and password, and use that particular SaaS application.

If your SaaS application needs to be upgraded or fixed, your SaaS provider does the work on its servers, and you see the changes when you next visit the site with your Web browser. The SaaS concept may sound a bit revolutionary, even a bit risky. In fact, most lawyers have been using some sort of SaaS technology since the late 1990s when Thomson-Westlaw and LexisNexis moved their legal research services to the Web. Instead of upgrading to the latest version of the Lexis or Westlaw research software, you started to visit their Web sites. As new features were added to the research systems, you would see them in your browser. But you no longer installed any new software.

A number of characteristics differentiate SaaS legal technology from more traditional client-based legal applications. They include:

• A payment model to match the software model. Most SaaS applications can be licensed on a monthly basis. No annual commitments, nothing to own. Remember that the cost includes more than a box of software, but also the support and upgrades during your license.
• The transition of Windows-based practice management functionality—calendaring, billing, document management, matter management—to entirely Web-based applications.
• Rapid release of improvements, since there is no need to wait for a software release and lawyers are not installing any upgrades.

Office in the Clouds

Perhaps the most significant difference with new SaaS applications is that lawyers can now store and save information on the Internet that they would otherwise store in their office, either on paper or computers. Client documents, work product and privileged communications exist on computers in remote locations, even outside the country in which you practice. Lawyers who use SaaS applications are considered to be working in “the cloud,” a metaphor for the Internet that describes the amorphous, disconnected environment of Web-based applications.

Lawyers have been moving in this direction, but the momentum has started to grow. Have you ever used UPS.com and stored your contacts for easier package delivery scheduling? How about using Web-based e-mail from your Internet service provider (ISP), AOL or Google? Some of your e-mail may be stored on remote e-mail servers so that you can access it from your Web browser. What about the personal information suite that most online providers now integrate into your e-mail, including a calendar, address book and other information storage? The growth of Web-enabled business and communication applications has enabled the emergence of applications designed for lawyers.

Why Now?

Hosted applications have remained on the fringe for a number of reasons. Thin client or application service provider (ASP) hosting has required a lot of Internet bandwidth in the past. Without a fast Internet connection, lawyers could not use hosted applications with anywhere near the same speed as they could on a desktop computer in the office. The peak of ASP offerings occurred during the dot-com bust and left behind it stories of lawyers who lost access to their hosted data.

The technology world has changed significantly in the past few years. For one thing, more lawyers have fast Internet. The ABA’s 2008 Legal Technology Survey reported that nearly half of lawyers had either DSL or cable broadband Internet access, and more than 42 percent of firms had T1 or faster connections. Only 1 percent reported still using dial-up; in 2001, the survey reported over 35 percent used dial-up connections for Internet access.

Lawyers are also more mobile than ever. While just over 50 percent of lawyers had access to a firm or personal laptop when they were out of the office in 2001, 86 percent of the respondents to the 2008 ABA Legal Technology Survey were able to use a laptop while on the road. This trend mirrors what is happening more broadly in the computer market. According to a story by eWeek in December 2008, laptop sales rose 40 percent over 2007 and outsold desktop PCs. The advent of inexpensive laptops known as netbooks may contribute to lawyers thinking more about SaaS applications. These netbooks are designed specifically for cloud computing, delivering Web-based applications fast while costing less than a truly business-oriented laptop.

At the same time, Web applications have matured. Developers are better at creating user interfaces, the applications are designed to be fast in a Web browser, and they are designed for the business user. With maturity comes acquisition, and the past few years have seen a number of innovative Web-based technologies purchased by larger, more established companies. For example, Mozy online backup enables you to remotely back up your office files to their Internet-based servers. EMC, one of the leading hardware and network storage companies, bought them. Google acquired Writely and turned it into Google Documents, which itself became an integral component of the Google Apps set of business applications. Even in the legal world, there has been a significant run of software acquisitions. Applied Discovery started as an independent, hosted e-discovery site that has been acquired by LexisNexis. LexisNexis also partnered with NetDocuments, a hosted document management application for lawyers.

Where Does SaaS Fit?

The question then is why lawyers should be assessing the place of SaaS applications within their practice. There are two practice areas where SaaS is a particularly advantageous fit: the solo and small firm and the mobile lawyer.

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