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Five minutes with... Janet Day, IT director, Berwin Leighton Paisner

Firms that have invested heavily in technology solutions are now looking at how they can better integrate and use their systems to improve efficiencies and business throughput. With this in mind, Caroline Poynton talks to Berwin Leighton Paisner's (BLP) IT director Janet Day about her firm's approach to business-process management.

Dare to be different: Gaining the competitive edge on a behavioural level

In a profession where technical expertise is a given, how can a law firm really differentiate its services in a competitive market? Andrew Powell, director of marketing at CMS Cameron McKenna, argues that it's about delivering and interacting with clients through the consistent application of behaviours and principles throughout the organisation.

Pagan Osborne acquires Ketchen & Stevens

Fife-based Pagan Osborne has expanded its accessible personal-asset management and private-client services into Edinburgh, following the acquisition of the private client, agriculture and property divisions of Ketchen & Stevens WS.

Event report: LEX Connect Europe 2004

LEX Connect Europe followed close on the heels of LEX Connect UK, held in January 2004. With little time to gather resources for this second event in the legal Connect calendar, would Ark Group be able to follow up its success with this Amsterdam event of 1-2 March 2004? Caroline Poynton went along to find out.

Financial-management systems: Do you really know what is going on?

Accounts and practice-management software are frequently regarded as one of those dull but worthy aspects of legal technology that all firms must have, but involves aspects of the business that only cashiers and bookkeepers buried in the bowels of the practice ever use or worry about.

Differentiation: Developing the right approach for you

In the first two articles of this series, Andrew Hedley, business development partner at Pinsents, considered the concept of differentiation and the way in which it can be used to shape the direction and strategy of a firm. In particular, he argued that there is no 'one size fits all' or formulaic approach when it comes to developing the right strategy. This final part of the series considers the range of issues that need to be considered when trying to differentiate your business.

People and places

Find out who is moving where and when...

The importance of knowledge management

Knowledge-management strategies are a natural partner to HR, especially as the term human capital has become more popular with its emphasis on firm-wide knowledge sharing and organisational learning. Karen Battersby, course leader of Nottingham Law School's postgraduate diploma in knowledge management for legal practice, explores the components of a knowledge-management system and highlights the range of benefits knowledge sharing can have in UK law firms.