The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

MIWH NOVEMBER1993

T E C H N 0 L 0 G Y

N O T E S

Lawlink is Up and Running

by John Furlong, Solicitor

LAWLINK, the ambitious communications project initiated by the Technology Committee of the Law Society in 1989 is to begin pilot testing at a number of sites from this October. LAWLINK will allow for direct access to a range of databases and to an electronic mail system especially designed for the legal profession. Practitioners will be able to make inquiries across a communications gateway to a range of databases includ- ing the Land Registry and Companies Registration Office (CRO) directly from their own PC. Initially, access will be available to the Dublin region of the Land Registry allowing users to make direct inquiries of the names index and to print inspection copies of folios in their own offices. With over 190,000 folios available in the Dublin region alone, the service is sure to enhance the efficiency of practices particularly those involved in conveyancing, debt collection and credit monitoring etc. Access will also be available through LAWLINK to the CRO on a gateway similar to the existing CROLINE service. This also allows direct access for inquiry purposes; printouts of company details and the automatic ordering of company documentation from the CRO image database. Later in the project, it is envisaged that access will also be provided to other public databases. It is hoped that this will include the Registry of Deeds and the Probate Office at an early stage. LAWLINK Limited, the company operating the service, was established by the Technology Committee of the Law Society in 1989 and has been in negotiation with various bodies since then. Earlier this year, the company received funding from the Telematique LAWLINK Limited

L-r: Frank Lanigan, Chairman, Lawlink Limited and Joe Thompson, General Manager, Eirtrade, signing the contract for the X400 link.

Project of the European Communities and this funding has enabled the initial phase of the project to proceed. Chairman Frank Lanigan says "Lawlink represents a major breakthrough for the legal profession. This new service will mean that access to information held on certain public databases will be facilitated and will also provide a more efficient method for solicitors to submit their search requests. The whole process can be operated from the office with a minimum of fuss and time delays." The system will operate across an X400 link provided under contract by Eirtrade, the data communications arm of Telecom Eireann. Eirtrade is a network service which acts as a data clearing house. Instead of having to establish many connections between different subscribers, only one link to Eirtrade is needed for each. The network also overcomes the inherent problems of different computer types communicating with each other as a single protocol (X400) is used throughout and it caters for all popular makes. Since the network is nationwide it does not matter where a subscriber is located. Eirtrade are constructing the Communications

communications, billing and auditing elements of the LAWLINK system in both the Companies Office and the Land Registry Office. To avail of the service, is envisaged that users will register with LAWLINK and on payment of a small registration fee will be provided with the necessary access codes and passwords. Hardware required at the user site will include a modem, a suitable PC and a printer. The appropriate communications software will also be installed. LAWLINK will provide the necessary communications software. Users will then have direct access to the database as they come on- line. The fee to bq charged for each search made promises to be extremely attractive given the speed and currency of the information which will be obtained. While the system is being developed by LAWLINK Limited and targeted specifically at members of the Incorporated Law Society, it will be available to other users such as banks, building societies, law searchers etc. Electronic Mail LAWLINK subscribers will automatically have access to EIRMAIL

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