SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL, NOIDA

USE OF LEGAL DATABASES PROJECT SUBMISSIONOnOnline Legal Service Portal

Submitted byAchlesh Chandra MishraBA.LLB, 1st year, Division C.

Under the Guidance ofProf. Rohini AwaleCourse Chief Faculty

C E R T I F I C A T E

The project entitled Online Legal Service Portals submitted to the Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA for the subject Jurisprudence as part of internal assessment is based on my original work carried out under the guidance of Prof. Rohini Awale. The research work has not been submitted elsewhere for award of any degree. The material borrowed from other sources and incorporated in the thesis has been duly acknowledged.I understand that I myself could be held responsible and accountable for plagiarism, if any, detected later on.

_____________________________(Achlesh Chandra Mishra)

Acknowledgement

I would like to express my deepest sense of gratitude towards our course chief faculty Prof. Rohini Awale for her constant guidance, help and support and the extra sessions taken by her only for this purpose and also for entertaining all my questions with a great deal of patience regarding this project.

ContentsINTRODUCTION5BeyondEmail:Whatisaonline legal service portal ?6Benefits of aonline legal service portalfor the Public andthe Legal Profession7MANUPATRA9EBRARY10HEIN ONLINE11EBSCO12Going Green: Eco-Benefits of an online legal service portal13REFRENCES14

INTRODUCTION

Operating a online legal service portal ethically requires a strong understanding of the technology and security issues involved in a virtual law office. The careful management of a virtual law practice may benefit both the online public and the legal profession. Online legal service portal may be used as an alternative or complementary method of practicing law for the solo and small firm practitioner. The technology used to create a virtual law practice may be integrated into the legal profession in a variety of ways, including but not limited to the following examples:1. Solo and small firm practitioners wanting to practice law online to lower business overhead and expand their client base across the state to compete with larger firms,2. Existing traditional law firms wanting to add online Clients, lower overhead and provide more cost-effective services and online amenities to existing clients,3. Online attorney collaboration both in-state and across jurisdictions, allowing smaller firms or solo practitioners to pool business and networking resources4. Attorneys wanting to set up home-based or remote online law offices,5. Legal professionals, such as paralegals, legal assistants or virtual assistants, wanting to work online for an existing law practice, and6. Attorneys wanting to work part-time, such as retiring attorneys, work-at-home parents, or legal professionals needing to take time away from the office to care for children, ill spouses or aging parents.

BeyondEmail:Whatisaonline legal service portal ?By definition, a completely virtual law office (VLO) is a professional law practice that exists online through a secure portal and is accessible to the client and the attorney anywherethe parties may access the Internet.A VLO provides attorneys and clients with the ability to securely discuss matters online, download and upload documents for review and handle other business transactions in a secure digital environment.SeeAppendix IandIItoview screenshotsof attorney-client communication in aweb-based VLO.With a VLO, an attorneys clients benefit from the convenience and accessibility.The attorney benefits from the flexibility of avirtual law practice, an online client and revenue generating software, and lower overhead associated with setup and maintenance of a nontraditional law office. More specifically, the technology used to create a VLO is a secure, web-based, software as aservice (SaaS) application.Software as aService meansthatthe technology used to create and maintain the VLO is a secure, hosted system.Some ofthe benefits of SaaS include the following: 1) data stored on the server is encrypted using a 128 bit or greater Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) quality cipheral gorithm1) Data stored on the server is encrypted using a 128 bit or greater Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) quality cipheral gorithm, 2) regular software updates and new features added without disturbing the workflow, 3) No in-house software installations, 4) access to data anywhere the attorney may securely access the Internet, 5) regular data backups, and 6) less expensive than paying for software, storage, and server hardware and having to run it internally with or without hiring an IT professional for the office. It is important to distinguish a professional VLO from the many online websites selling legal documents, from law office websites with email contact forms and from rented virtual, physical offices.A VLO providesdirect andpersonal communication between an attorney and a client rather than form generated, unbundled legal documents forsale andpurchase bythe public.Communication byemail doesnot constitutea virtual lawpractice evenif sentthrough alaw firms website.Email is limited as a method of transacting business and is typically unencrypted, and therefore not a secure method oftransmitting sensitive data. Physical office space rented out to an attorney for a monthly fee for the purpose of meeting with clients is often also referredto as avirtual law office.While this arrangement allows the attorney to work from a home office and meet with clients in a shared, remote office space, the program does not use technology to operate the functions of a law office or provide an online interface to obtain and work with online clients.Likewise, a VLO is not an extranet set up by a law office to share documentsor view the office computer remotely, such as with Go To PC. Previous hesitation by legal professionals regarding eLawyering or the practice of law online centered on technology that was limited in both protecting the security ofsensitive data and in allowing foradequate communication between attorney and client. As Web 2.0 and web-based applications continue to evolve, the definition of a virtual law practice will needto adapt atthe same pace.While the software applications and technology used to create a VLO may update continuously, the public demand for online access to legal serviceswill sustain the VLO method of practicing law.It will remain the responsibility of the individual virtual law practitioner to stay current with security concerns related to the technology used for the VLO and to maintain strong ethics and professional conduct when practicing law online.Benefits of aonline legal service portalfor the Public andthe Legal ProfessionThe attorney population nationwide is increasing in record numbers, yet access to legal services for citizens remains aconstant need.Along with the publics need for legal services, soloand small firmpractitioners are seeking innovative business methods to stay competitive in acrowded market.A virtual law practice may address the needs of the legal professionas well as thegeneral public.As the legal profession continues to grow more competitive, with an increasing number of law schoolgraduates, the most effective law practices will be those that can expand beyond the traditional brick and mortar law offices and those that can more efficiently manage their clients through the available technology. According to the American Bar Associations E-Lawyering Task Force, lawyers areexploring the new Internetlandscape.These lawyershave the vision to see a wholly new market of un-met legal needs.2 Attorneys who connect with the online purchasing community increase their potential client base and tap in to a vast new online market.The use of aVLO minimizes an attorneys overheadwhile allowing the attorney to increase the client base to the entire state where he or she practices law.Protecting Client Confidences The virtual attorney should take reasonable precautions to protect confidential information which is transmitted between the attorney and the client. Most state bars have rules of professional conduct requiring that communications transmitted from the client to the attorney must be kept confidential. In this regard, email is not the safest method for attorneys to rely upon to transmit confidential client data. Most email is not encrypted, and therefore not secure. A VLO should have an SSL certificate and provide the client with secure transmission of data. The technology section of this manuscript will examine technology priorities for VLO security used to protect sensitive attorney and client data. The same technology used by online banking and government tax authorities to provide services is the same level of security that should be used in operating a web-based VLO. With a VLO, the only individuals who should have access to confidential attorney/client information are the attorney and the client. The company hosting the VLO should keep the attorneys VLO data encrypted even during updates to the software application which protects any attorney/client confidences from being viewed by a third party. By following these guidelines for a virtual law practice, the attorney may be confident that he or she is complying with the reasonable care standard is required by the ABA and most state bars regarding protecting client confidential information.

MANUPATRAManupatra is a renowned registered legal database of India. It has been derived from Sanskrit word Manusmriti. The text of Manusmriti, known as the Laws of Manu, presents itself as a discourse given by the sage Manu. Manupatra thus stands for Manu's "patra" a letter (to be read in Hindi). Manupatra was founded in the year 2000 by founder director Deepak Kapoor who is the present CEO of the company. Manupatra the tagged as pioneers in online legal research in India Manupatra started its operations in 2000 with the objective of creating a single point information repository covering archives and current data on all legislative, procedural and regulatory content of India. Manupatra launched its online legal database, its flagship product. In 2004, CD ROM based database was introduced to assist professionals with no access to the Internet to access comprehensive legal information. In 2005 the company forayed into print by acquiring Bombay Law Reporter a 110-year-old journal. Manupatra also hosts an exhaustive repository of central and state statutes, notification circulars of the Government of India and other legislative, regulatory and procedural material. With primary documents and proprietary analytic content such as treaties, digests and editorial enhancements, the company has created the most comprehensive electronic legal resource available both on the internet and CD ROM. Manupatra covers all relevant case laws from 1814 until the present date including the Supreme Court and all high courts of India.Manupatra began as a two person start-up enterprise and now has its presence in more than 20 cities in India with more than 150 employeesManupatras product :-1. Online Legal Database: The online legal Database provides judgments across all subjects of law of Supreme Court, all Indian High Courts, Orders of the tribunals, bills, central and state acts, notification and circulars, ordinances, committee reports and more.1. CD ROM: Manupatras Case Locator on CD ROM is a suite of products where the user can make their own product combination by selecting the courts for which they wish to access data.1. Books : Many book related to Indian law has been published by manupatra. It also helps the writer in publishing their materials.1. Journals: Journal are also published by manupatra.1. Manupatra Apps: Manupatra has developed applications for iPhone/iPad,Blackberry,Android where the users can get an access to judgments and Indian Statutes on the go.1. LexPack: For the consumer market, Manupatra has developed LexPack where users can access information, sample forms and instructions to assist the reader in understanding the basics about the subjects enlisted and preparing the document without the assistance of lawyer/ advocates and many more.Manupatra also provides different types of servies such as destop alert, articles,and Indian legislation. As well as it also have various features like search, manu instant,word connect and kaptureTM.

EBRARYebrary is a leading provider of e-books and research technology to libraries worldwide. Founded in 1999, the company offers more than 273,000 e-books from over 500 trustedpublishersunder flexiblemodelsincluding subscription, perpetual archive (purchase), patron driven acquisition, and short-term loans. As YBP Library Service's preferred e-book partner, ebrary's titles are available in GOBI, as well as YBP's Approval and Demand Driven Acquisition (DDA) service. ebrary is the only e-book provider that enables customers to upload and integrate their own digital materials right from their computers withDASH!(Data Sharing, Fast) technology as well as apply cross-referencing with multiple online resources withInfoToolstechnology. The company also offers a dedicated mobile app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. A ProQuest business, ebrary is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, USA.ebraryInfoToolssupports cross-database searching from any ebrary document to any web-based search resource available to the user. Several third-party federated search products, including Summon, fully integrate ebrary search results. From within an ebrary document, end-users may search across online resources from other vendors in the library as well as information on the world wide web.HEIN ONLINEA ll collections in HeinOnline are in exact-page image format (PDF), ensuring the authenticity of the original paper copy. In addition, the content in each HeinOnline collection is from inception, making HeinOnline a unique online resource with substantial legal history content (upwards of seven centuries of coverage in some instances). In many collections critical elements (i.e. title and author names in the Law Journal Library) have been electronically indexed to enhance searching. In addition, full-text searching is available in all library modules in HeinOnline. Browsing is also available in all collections, which is convenient for page flipping as if the user is holding the original work in his/her hands. Current HeinOnline library modules follow. New content is added monthly and new library collections are in process. We also welcome suggestions for new content and library modules.Contains more than 1,200 law and law-related periodicals. Coverage is from the first issue published for all periodicals and goes through the most-currently published issues allowed based on contracts with publishers. Therefore, in some cases the current issues are available, but generally a user will notice a one-volume delay. Searching can be done by title or author name, as well as full-text searching of the collection or select periodicals. Date ranges may also be entered to narrow search results. Sub-collections of the Law Journal Library are also available for those institutions wishing to subscribe to fewer periodicalsit also provides various other features such as-1. Law journal library1. Intellectual property library1. Hein online polisci1. Foreign and international law resources database(FILRD)1. English report 1220-18651. Digital session law1. New york court of appeals record and briefsEBSCOEBSCO Industries is headquartered inBirmingham, Alabama. It was founded in 1984 by Elton Bryson Stephens (hence the acronymEltonBStephensCompany). According toForbesMagazine, EBSCO is one of the largest privately held companies in Alabama and one of the top 200 in the United States, based on revenues and employee numbers.[3]Sales surpassed $1billion in 1997 and exceeded $2billion in 2006.EBSCO Industries is a diverse company which includes over 30 businesses. EBSCO Publishing was established in 1984 as a print publication calledPopular Magazine Review, featuring article abstracts from more than 300 magazines. In 1987 the company was purchased byEBSCO Industriesand its name was changed to EBSCO Publishing. It employed around 750 people by 2007.[4]In 2010 EBSCO purchased Net Library and in 2011, EBSCO Publishing took overH. W. Wilson Company.[5][6][7]It merged with EBSCO Information Services on July 1, 2013. The merged business operates as EBSCO Information Services.[8]Why ebsco??1. Ebsco offers critical content to support the core learning competencies in your organization.1. Ebsco create succinct reports for busy professionals.1. Ebsco present useful data on user-friendly platforms.1. Ebsco are a reliable content and information technology provider.Content provided from EBSCO can support the individuals and departments throughout your organization, including:1. Chief Learning Officers1. Organizational Development Departments1. Training Departments1. Human Resources Professionals1. Managers & Executives1. Research & Development Professionals1. Corporate Librarians

Going Green: Eco-Benefits of an online legal service portalForward-thinking attorneys will recognize the economic and environmental benefits of running a VLO. Through carefully selected technology, a VLO may greatly reduce the amount of waste that a law practice generates by being a paperless office. Many consumers today are choosing who they conduct business with based on that business sensitivity to current environmental concerns. An increasing number of consumers are interested in reducing their negative impact on the environment and are seeking out professionals who are willing to set positive standards foreco-consciousness. Attorneys operating a VLO are able to acquire clients online and conduct business through the website without the use of paper and other office supplies and resources. Attorney and client data may be stored online during the course of the transaction and then transferred as a digital file to the attorneys internal digital filing and backup system. Any documents that are not stored online in digital format through the client interface of the VLO may be scanned to PDF by the attorney and stored in digital format on the VLO database or other data storage system. The use of electronic in voicing and online payments for legal services to the VLO may be handled online without the use of paper invoices. Accordingly, a VLO by nature greatly reduces the amount of office waste and need for paper that a typical law office generates. Aside from the eco-benefits of reduced waste, the cost to operate a VLO remains minimal and reduces overall office overhead .

REFRENCES

Online various sitesVarious book5