Forward thinkers reckon plain-vanilla legal advice will not be the source of future profitability for financial lawyers. It will come from providing expertise that adds value to transactions, not least by saving time in striking deals. With the rapid development of online services, the way is open for firms to embrace this approach, assuming they are willing to invest in electronic information provision. Linklaters hit the headlines a couple of years ago with its Blue Flag service, making updated financial regulatory information available online, at a cost. And Blue Flag has justified Linklaters' initial investment - maturing into a profitable and well-regarded service line. Now comes Allen & Overy's electronic foray - newchange - a brand covering new internet and technology-driven services. This is being launched with an online transaction management and documentation system with two main elements. The first - newchange documents - is a new form of finance documentation that can be produced and amended much faster than previously possible. The second - newchange dealroom - is an online dealroom allowing documents to be posted and accessed in a secure website dedicated to the deal and accessible on a password-only basis. |
