The
Tours are also published along with a much more detailed commentary
in the Internet
Newsletter for Lawyers which has been awarded Best Legal Journal
for 2001 by the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians
(BIALL). The newsletter features articles and stories from lawyers
in the UK on topical issues affecting the legal internet and the
information technology world. To find out how to subscribe, click
here.
To visit Delia Venables' site, the largest and most popular legal
resources site in the UK, click
here.
A
review of the websites of the largest firms in Scotland
By Delia Venables and Kevin Crombie
We were
both very impressed by these sites which often combine excellent
information with a stylish presentation and easy to follow navigation.
Many of the sites were bright, breesy and "good fun" as well as
having significant legal material online. We have used the same
scheme as in the previous surveys of English sites and Irish sites:
- Speed
of access
- 5 marks. As well as the mark out of 5, we show the average
access time, using an ordinary phone line, for the first full
page of the site (an average between each of our first "visits").
You may be surprised how long some of these access times are!
- Quality
of information on the firm - 5 marks. We expect to see good
information on the firm and its locations, partners and practice
areas.
- Design
of the site - 5 marks. This is obviously a subjective rating
but we like an interesting use of colour, good pictures or graphics
and easy to follow navigation. We like to find something a little
unusual occasionally.
- "Something
extra"
- 5 marks. This can be a particularly good information resource
provided free on the site, a good property section (but not
allowing this to dominate the marks, since we have already covered
property sites), the provision of an email update for clients,
the ability for clients to see information on their matters,
the provision of a "deal room".....
This
gives a theoretical maximum of 20 points and several firms were
within a point or two of this.
We have used the International Centre for Commercial Law "Largest
firms in Scotland" list, in fact taking the top 20 of this year,
and the top 20 of last year - the same except for two.
To view the winning sites, just click on a number below. We provide
a description of each site, the marks it received, and the link
to the site itself. When you click on that link, the chosen site
will open in a new window and you can explore the site. When you
have finished with that site, just close the extra window and
then click on another number below.
Delia Venables is an IT consultant for lawyers and editor of http://www.venables.co.uk.
To view the winning sites, just click on a number above. There
is a description of each site, the marks it received, and the
link to the site itself. When you click on that link, the chosen
site will open in a new window and you can explore the site. When
you have finished with that site, just close the extra window
and then click on another number.
The
Tours are also published along with a much more detailed commentary
in the Internet
Newsletter for Lawyers which has been awarded Best Legal Journal
for 2001 by the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians
(BIALL). The newsletter features articles and stories from lawyers
in the UK on topical issues affecting the legal internet and the
information technology world. To find out how to subscribe, click
here. To visit Delia Venables' site, the largest and most popular
legal resources site in the UK, click
here.
