A description of the PLC Commercial service.
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PLC Commercial is an innovative web-based service that:
Keeps commercial lawyers abreast of the developments in their area and the practical implications of the changes, without deluging them with information about irrelevant cases.
Provides access to a bank of practice notes, standard documents and drafting notes that are constantly updated to reflect the latest changes in law and practice.
PLC Commercial gives commercial lawyers a level of support that was previously available only to those firms with dedicated professional support lawyers. The service is also valuable to firms with PSLs because it allows them to concentrate their internal resources where the greatest return lies.
The service is designed and run by Practical Law Company's team of commercial law specialists, who have extensive experience of commercial law in practice, though they are currently not practising. They are supported by a consultation board of leading professional experts.
The service covers the following areas of UK law:
Developments in related practice areas (such as tax, competition, employment, insolvency and intellectual property) are covered to the extent that they have a significant impact on commercial transactions.
PLC Commercial comprises:
The updating service is delivered by e-mail, which you can choose to receive weekly or monthly, and via the website. The most recent items feature on the PLC Commercial homepage and past updates are accessible from a fully searchable archive. The updates include:
Proposed, draft and new UK and EC legislation and regulations.
Significant new cases (both UK and ECJ).
Changes in market practice.
Consultation papers from the EC, UK government and other relevant bodies.
The service also aims to alert users to any major developments that would affect a commercial practitioner in the areas such as tax, competition and intellectual property.
Updates are written by our professional support team, who monitor and review all relevant sources daily to identify developments that are of practical significance to practitioners. Unlike other legal know how providers, PLC Commercial does not simply pass on raw information. Our updates tell the practitioner about the practical implications of that decision or development. We pass on only those developments that are of practical significance to the busy commercial law practitioner.
Updates always start with a summary, include relevant background information where necessary and analyse the practical impact of developments.
Updates are complete in themselves, but include hypertext links to source materials (including transcripts for new cases), other updates and practice notes, where appropriate.
Our practice notes and standard documents are also updated as developments occur.
The updates can be integrated with subscribers' internal briefings and marketing materials.
Practice notes contain concise, practical explanations of commercial law and transactions and discuss the practical application of the law to particular transactions or sectors. For experienced lawyers, they provide up-to-date and reliable statements of law and practice, while junior lawyers can use them to gain an understanding of relevant areas not yet acquired through practice.
Practice notes are continuously maintained by our specialist and experienced professional support team as the relevant law and practice change.
The service includes a library of standard documents, standard clauses and checklists for use in commercial transactions. All standard documents and standard clauses are accompanied by drafting notes that give detailed guidance on the relevant legal, drafting and negotiating issues.
Standard documents and drafting notes are continuously maintained by our professional support team as the relevant law and practice change. The standard documents are available in Microsoft 6.0 format. They include logical styles and automated numbering, table of contents and cross-referencing (see How do I use the PLC Word template? (www.practicallaw.com/0-101-3271)).
Practical Law Company has developed an application allowing Practical Law Company standard documents to be downloaded in a firm's own style, saving substantial time for fee-earners and secretaries. For more information, see PLC FirmStyle (www.practicallaw.com/8-376-4510).
The service also gives access to a number of user-friendly and checklists. These act as an aide memoir to ensure important points of practice and procedure are followed and can easily be converted into training materials.
PLC Commercial provides access to all commercial-related content published in PLC Magazine since its launch in 1990. Articles can be read on screen in simple text or PDF format, complete with graphics. PLC Commercial also publishes finance-related articles from PLC Cross-border Quarterly (www.practicallaw.com/3-103-2126).
The service is delivered through a web site using advanced technology specifically developed by Practical Law Company to provide a seamless source of managed know-how to the practitioner in an easy to access form. Its features include:
Searching. All the text is fully searchable. Searches can be done across all material or restricted to selected types of material (for example, standard documents only) or to a specified time period.
Index. Alternatively information can be accessed via the core topic headings on the PLC commercial homepage or via the PLC Commercial index.
Links. Frequent hypertext links guide users to further Practical Law Company materials and external sources.
Integration. Subscribers can integrate their own know-how materials closely with those of the service, while maintaining confidentiality. For further information, please contact your account manager, or call the PLC helpline (www.practicallaw.com/7-102-1343).
The Practical Law Company professional support team comprises over 100 experienced former practitioners covering a wide range of law, to view their profiles see PLC professional support team (www.practicallaw.com/4-103-0546). For details of the members of the team with experience relevant to the Commercial service, see PLC Commercial professional support team (www.practicallaw.com/0-383-3150).
The service has a consultation board of leading experts. They advise on the direction of the service and are used as a sounding board on points of commercial law and practice. To view members of the consultation board, see Consultation board (www.practicallaw.com/9-383-9223).
The service is a cost-effective tool for any commercial lawyer. It is also beneficial to other professionals working along side lawyers in commercial transactions.
It helps:
Save lawyers' time and enhance their capacity to do fee-earning or client-related work.
Improve the quality, speed and accuracy of the service to clients.
Bring trainees and recently qualified staff up to speed quickly and effectively. PLC Commercial publishes a guide for new joiners and trainees with training materials and tips on how to use the service (see Practice note, PLC Commercial: Training materials for new joiners (www.practicallaw.com/5-502-9821)).
Allow firms and legal departments with professional support lawyers to focus resources and time on firm and client specific know-how, and finding innovative solutions to new transaction problems instead of routine information gathering.
Concentrate more attention on using know-how for marketing purposes and making the practice more competitive.
Attract, maintain and motivate good lawyers.
For further information, please contact our sales department on the Practical Law Company helpline (www.practicallaw.com/7-102-1343).
