Andersen Consulting is teaming with e-commerce
start-up LawCommerce.com to help develop an
electronic marketplace of products, services and online technology solutions
for the legal industry.
Andersen Consulting also is acquiring an unspecified minority interest in
LawCommerce.com.
More than 30 law firms from Silicon Valley, Wall Street and across the United
States will be charter members in the LawCommerce.com e-marketplace.
Andersen said it will provide LawCommerce.com with assistance in strategic
business planning and creating the core infrastructure for the e-marketplace
from its eBusiness Dot-Com Launch Center in San Francisco.
The LawCommerce.com e-marketplace is designed to provide law firms, solo
practitioners, administrators and other members of the legal profession with
a ready-made market of goods and services tailored to their needs.
Products and services available on the site will range from legal-specific
products (legal software, forms and agreements, legal books), to legal and
business related services (online legal research, litigation support, expert
witness sourcing, temporary staffing), to various insurance and benefit
offerings (malpractice insurance, 401k services), to supplies, equipment
and materials (office supplies, computers, hardware).
“The legal industry spends an estimated $50 billion plus annually for
products and services,” said Frank D. Crocitto, a partner at Andersen
Consulting. “Industry pioneers such as LawCommerce.com are well positioned to
help reduce these costs significantly.”
LawCommerce.com will also serve as an online center for communication and
collaboration for legal professionals, enabling them to interact through
e-solutions available at the site.
These e-solutions will include new
Web-based research tools; online deal collaboration sites; online training
and continuing legal education services; Web-based recruiting services; and
application service provider (ASP) solutions.
Andersen Consulting operates 24 Dot-Com Launch Centers around the world,
designed to provide initially-funded e-commerce start-ups and spin-offs with
the tools and resources necessary to scale rapidly and become viable
businesses.
