- Legal OnRamp
Legal OnRamp is a
social networking website forlawyers . It was established in2007 . [http://californialawyermagazine.com/story.cfm?eid=892326&evid=1/ Virtual Connections Lawyer-only sites help boost online networking] ] Legal OnRamp functions as a networking site with the goal of enabling attorneys, whether in-house counsel providers or those in private practice, to connect via its website. The website has many features common to other social networking sites, includingmessage board s, group functions closed to non-group members, and open forums for discussion and document sharing. [ [http://www.legalweek.com/Navigation/34/Articles/1092928/Corporate+Counsel+The+new+tools+of+the+trade.html/ Corporate Counsel: The new tools of the trade?] ] Membership is by invitation and is is limited tolawyers . [ [http://www.law.com/jsp/ihc/PubArticleIHC.jsp?id=1202469641265/ Are In-House Counsel Ready to Embrace Social Networking Sites?] ]The site was created in part by Mark Chandler, General Counsel of
Cisco Systems , [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS139772+03-Mar-2008+BW20080303/ Lex Mundi, Leading Global Legal Network, Leads in Creation of Legal OnRamp, Worldwide] ] the law firmOrrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and attorney Paul Lippe. [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2007/09/24/focus3.html?jst=s_cn_hl/ Startup connects in-house attorneys to law firms' advice] ]Allen & Overy has been one of the biggest contributors of information to the site. [ [http://www.allenovery.com/AOWEB/AreasOfExpertise/Editorial.aspx?contentTypeID=1&itemID=40906&aofeID=306&prefLangID=411/ A&O strengthens position as most innovative law firm through collaboration with Legal OnRamp] ]Legal OnRamp was endorsed by the
March 2008 Legal Transformation Study. Richard Susskind has also written favorably about the trends driving Legal OnRamp. [ "The End of Lawyers?' [http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article2886151.ece No one has a vision for the next generation of lawyers - Times Online ] ]The most rapid adoption has been from common law countries -- the US, UK and Canada, [ [http://www.cbanational.rogers.dgtlpub.com/data/issuePDF/CCCA/9000000698_driving_up_the_legal.pdf Layout 1 ] ] but roughly 10% of members are from Continental Europe and Asia.
Legal OnRamp is considered an example of an
Enterprise 2.0 system, and has been cited by Enterprise 2.0 Pioneer Don Tapscott. Fact|date=September 2008Legal OnRamp was also prominently mentioned in a recent white paper released by Jaffe Associates, the largest PR and marketing consultancy for law firms. [ "A White Paper- Web 2.0 and PR 2.0- The Way Jaffe Looks At the Present" [http://jaffeassociates.com/pages/articles/view.php?article_id=296] ,] . They state: "In the Web 2.0 environment, networking no longer operates under 'real world' constraints like geography and time. Networks and influential interest groups are formed online, usually for free...By now, everyone has heard of public online social networking sites likeLinkedIn ,Facebook andMySpace . There is also a wide range of more specific public and private social networks like Legal OnRamp for the legal industry...Lawyers and law firms should take advantage of social networks—to post their profiles, to create, search and question networks, and to form groups—in order to enhance their profiles andsearch engine results on the Internet."References
External links
* [http://www.legalonramp.com/ Legal OnRamp website]
* [http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/whos_using_legal_onramp/ A partial list of law firms participating in Legal OnRamp] August,2007
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