Litera Microsystems recently announced a new publication called The Changing Lawyer. So, yawn, what’s so new about that?

Turns out there is something new. Like most vendors, Litera Microsystems (which it insists it be referred to as instead of any shortened version of its name), one of the larger document management service and technology providers with a complete range of products in this space, already has a product blog devoted to providing standard information about the products and services it offers. While a sound publication, its blog is pretty much like most vendor blogs these days. I have previously written generally about Litera Microsystems by the way both in my blog and for The Lawyerist.

But Litera Microsystems recently decided to go further. Like Fastcase, Litera Microsystems recently decided to offer its own content. (Fastcase announced in January it would be offering RAIL: The Journal of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence & Law, a print publication available via subscription).

Last August, Litera Microsystems offered for the first time a paper publication called The Changing Lawyer at the ILTA conference. This publication was basically a report on the status of the legal industry and the challenges and opportunities it faces.

But unlike Fastcase, who intends to charge for its content-content that that will be centered more on practice guides and specific artificial intelligence related topics-Litera Microsystems will, according to Julian Morgan, the VP of Marketing, be offering “a collection of thought leadership pieces that provide a snapshot of trends and stats in the legal profession” which it will offer free of charge to its customers and the legal community as a whole.

Last August, Litera Microsystems offered for the first time a paper publication called The Changing Lawyer at the ILTA conference. This publication was basically a report on the status of the legal industry and the challenges and opportunities it faces. In late February of this year, Litera Microsystems also announced plans to offer a new paper version of this publication most likely at this years’s ILTA conference in August.

Litera Microsystems plans to offer a digital version of the publication with the same name that will be continuously refreshed with new content.

But Litera Microsystems also announced it is going one step further. It plans to offer a digital version of the publication with the same name that will be continuously refreshed with new content. This publication is accessible as an interactive microsite and a downloadable PDF. Litera Microsystems plans to offer more general content about “the changing landscape of the legal profession and trends impacting the future of law firms”, according to the Litera Microsystems’ announcement of the blog in late February. New articles will be coming out in the digital version monthly.

Its interesting that Litera Microsystems obviously plans to offer content directed toward the law profession itself and not just the products and services or strictly substantive content. By doing so, it hopes to create more innovative thinking in the space and offer a collaborative tool for lawyers and legal technologists. Litera Microsystems willingness to comment holistically on the very industry its products is in many respects fundamentally changing, is a bit unique among legal tech vendors and the publication could in short order become a significant voice.

Morgan, who by the way speaks with a charming British accent, told me the Litera Microsystems feels it has a responsibility as a legal tech vendor to do more than just sell and market its products. Instead, says Morgan, it wants to be considered as more of a thought leader on the significant issues facing lawyers and law firms (Litera Microsystems’ primary market). Litera Microsystems, according to Morgan, wants to become a repository for ideas and a forum for robust discussions of sometimes controversial issues that may have little to do with the products it is offering.

In doing so, says Morgan, Litera Microsystems’ goal is to establish itself as a credible, noteworthy and valuable player . Of course, Litera Microsystems’ interest is not entirely eleemosynary: it also hopes to gain credibility and name recognition through the blog which will then open doors for it with potential customers, and ultimately increase sales. Litera Microsystems also hopes to use the publication as a learning tool for future product development. According to Morgan, “for us to provide our customers with the best solutions, we must have a real understanding of their organizational challenges they face, and the changing dynamics within their firms.”

Morgan also told me Litera Microsystems plans to continue with its present product blog as well so there will still be a source of information for those whose primary interest is in the products themselves. And Morgan realizes the challenges associated with a blog like this: a blog is worthless without good and continuous content. Litera Microsystems has committed to utilizing a bona fide journalist for most of the content so there will be both consistency of content and to insure that the digital version does not become a marketing piece. Morgan realizes though there are lots of legal innovation and tech blogs and differentiating itself will be a challenge.

While there are lots of blogs and digital publications out there, few offer the kind of commercial backing of Litera Microsystems. This backing will hopefully lead to great content and discussions

While the offerings of Litera Microsystems and Fastcase could not be more different in design and intent, they both represent ventures by tech providers into providing their own content which I think is exciting. While there are lots of blogs and digital publications out there, few offer the kind of commercial backing of Litera Microsystems and Fastcase. This backing will hopefully lead to great content and discussions that many individual bloggers and writers can’t afford to do on their own. It will also lead to more timely and relevant content. As Ed Walters of Fastcase put it in a quote for a recent article appearing in the ABA Journal: “For the future, we needed to make the Netflix kind of move,… We will be our own publisher with our own content…we can publish treatises targeted to people’s interest.” Same is true of Litera Microsystems albeit in with a different focus and type of offering.

Knowing the leaders at both of these companies, I have no doubt that they will both be offering quality and thought provoking content in an industry that sorely needs it.

If successful, Litera Microsystems could indeed further differentiate itself in the legal and legal tech community. And its nice to see legal tech companies with forward thinking believing they have a responsibility to offer this service and making the commitment to do so.

So, here’s to Litera Microsystems and its success.