Clark, Eugene --- "Reports/Reviews" [1999] JlLawInfoSci 13; (1999) 10(2) Journal of Law, Information and Science 300

• BOOK REVIEWS
• Legal Practice in the Digital Age
• The Digital University: Reinventing the Academy
• Understanding Electronic Day Trading

BOOK REVIEWS

Legal Practice in the Digital Age

BY CHARLES CHRISTIAN

Bowerdean Publishing Company Limited, London,

ISBN: 0 906097 35 5; 1998, 126 pages

rrp: GBP: 19.99

This book should be compulsory reading for all legal practitioners. Its basic message is that for the last twenty-five years lawyers and firms have been investing in technology, but with little to show for their efforts. The fundamental problem has been the failure of most firms to focus on their customer-clients.

The author, one of the UK’s leading law office technology experts suggests that lawyers can best focus on customer-client needs by the adoption of the following strategies. First, if they haven’t done so already, lawyers must begin immediately to look at digital possibilities. It is surprising to find, for example, in Australia that some of our Law Societies do not have the capacity to email all society members and provide information services electronically. Second, lawyers must commit time to ‘learning’ about new technologies. This means reading, attending exhibitions and so on. Third, lawyers must budget for technology and be prepared to invest in their legal business, which includes, for example, the technological infrastructure which will serve the firm and its clients in the years ahead. Fourth, lawyers must do some serious strategic planning and develop a technology plan which best meets the present and future needs of the firm. Fifth, the author suggests six essential technologies in which to invest: telephony systems (ie better conventional telephone systems); electronic mail; electronic document exchange systems, direct information access systems (giving clients direct access to parts of the firm’s computer system; web site development;; and video conferencing. Sixth, firms must constantly be thinking ‘digital’ in relation to all of its communications and communication systems. For example, a number of firms now create advices on a private web page and provide the client with the uniform resource locator (URL) by which to access the advice via the internet. Seventh, firms must constantly watch for new developments. As circumstances change, so must the technology needs.

In summary, this is a useful and practical book, which also includes a law technology lexicon. Its simple and highly relevant advice should be seriously considered.

Review by Eugene Clark, Professor of Law, Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Canberra

The Digital University: Reinventing the Academy

REZA HAZEMI, STEPHEN HAILES AND STEVE WILBUR (EDS), ISBN: 1-85233-003-1, Springer-Verlag: Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1998, 307 pgs including index: $A 83.75

Most law schools and other university departments in Australia and elsewhere have been (or soon will be) giving serious attention to offering their courses electronically, especially over the Web. The Digital University brings together in one volume the salient lessons and guiding principles which are emerging from the experience of those who have led the way among Universities in the UK.

The book is divided into five sections. The first section, ‘Reinventing the Academy,’ presents a global view of the impact of technology on the teaching, research, support services, community service and administrative structures of universities. This is done within the context of the recommendations of the Dearing Committee on Higher Education. The authors contend that universities must change their mindset. Academics must move from a belief that face-to-face teaching is the best environment for learning and anything else is a compromise and awaken to the reality that different kinds of environments can support high quality learning. Secondly, universities must widen their horizons to realise that learning does not happen only when teachers interact with students in a fixed time and space. In reality, ‘learning happens in an ongoing, boundaryless way and includes what learners do independently of teachers.’ We must also rid ourselves of the stereotype that being ‘people-oriented is incompatible with using technology.’ The truth is that ‘using distance learning technology in a people-oriented way is possible and desirable.’ There is also a tendency to blame technology when the learning process breaks down. Rather, we should evaluate our teaching strategies, not just the technical tools involved. Finally, universities must realise that learning to manage distance learning is not just about learning the technology; rather, it is about understanding more about the learning process itself.

The second section (chapters 3-5) describe the challenges facing universities. The important message here is that it is the teaching strategies and styles, more than the technology, which have the greatest impact on the quality of learning which universities provide.

Section three (chapters 6-14) focus on how technology can be used to meet the challenges identified in the previous section. This is done by reflective comments from those who have used technology to bring about a change to a more flexible, interactive, higher quality learning.

The focus in Section four is on groupware for teaching and learning. This emphasis on groupware is appropriate given the need for universities to shift to a greater form of interactive learning and away from a mode where the lecturer is all knowing and engages in a one-way flow of communication (via lecture) to students who passively receive the imparted wisdom.

The final section brings things together and focuses on a collaborative vision whereby this new type of learning, aided by technology, can be realised. The message is that to make flexible learning a reality requires a new form of university management. This is an important message. If flexible delivery/learning is to be successful, the university must develop a fully integrated ‘system’ which includes admissions , administrative support, library support, IT support, marketing, sound pedagogy, evaluation, and so on. If there is a serious weakness in any of these areas, an otherwise excellent program may still fail.

The Digital University makes a valuable contribution to showing us how the modern university can best cope with existing funding problems and increased demand and at the same time provide a quality learning experience for students.

Review by Eugene Clark, Professor of Law, Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Canberra

Understanding Electronic Day Trading

BY CAROL TROY

$US 21.95. NY, McGraw-Hill (www.books.mcgraw-hill.com), 298 pages including index, plus other material provided online

There seems little doubt that the growth of electronic day trading has, more than any other phenomenon, opened the sharemarket to small mum and dad investors all over the world. Troy's book is an invaluable A-Z guide for the small investor who wants to be a front line player in one of the newest games in town--online trading.

The introductory chapter points out that the major differences between online trading and traditional trading through a brokerage are: 1) the virtual elimination of the middle person and their brokerage fee; 2) the low start up costs, eg as little as $1000 in an online account versus $50,000 to $150,000 to open a professional electronic trading brokerage; and 3) the fact that the small individual trader can control and track their own investment. Importantly, too, the author speaks from her own experience in researching, setting up and successfully operating her own online trading account through a couple of hours of online trading a day and while still maintaining her regular full-time job.

In Chapter 1, the author sketches her own background highlighting the fact that she is an ordinary person, not a computer wizard and with no pervious experience on the share market. Troy also presents her T3 formula which she claims has enabled her to take much of the risk out of online trading. To give readers a feel for the practical style of this book, the three tips are:

1. Limit order: Know how to place a limit order when buying stock. No surprises. You buy only at the exact price you specify usually somewhere between the bid and ask price on your screen.
2. Stop-loss market order. After you buy, immediately turn around and place a stop-loss market sell order with your online broker (or hold it mentally with EDAT trading). This 30-second act of typing a symbol, price, shares , and the time period during which you want this order in place will automatically sell your stock later, at the price you have predetermined, if the market suddenly plummets.
3. Sell order. Decide on the price at which you'd like to sell--don't get greedy--and keep it written on a piece of paper next to your computer. If the stock zooms up further, you can always buy back in for $8 or $10 or $30 commission--better than getting greedy and losing your entire investment. Then circle back through steps 1, 2, and 3.

Chapter two contrasts the world of electronic day trading where you make a few trades a day over the internet, say before breakfast, and the hectic, cowboy world of electronic direct access trading using a dedicated line that guarantees instantaneous access to cybermakets. To make money in this arena you have to monitor developments constantly, place hundreds, even thousands of orders a day, and be prepared to live dangerously.

Chapters three and four provide an interesting history of the market from its beginnings in 1792 till the emergence today of the new cybermarket.

Chapter five gets down to basics. It assumes you know little about computers and takes you from getting a computer, arranging an internet connection through an ISP. The author also describes, step-by-step, how she does her online homework in preparation for electronic day trading.

Chapter six discusses and evaluates a host of online resources for those engaged in online trading, while chapter 7 tells you how to 'drill down into an industry', ie conduct research on a particular industry in order to assess its investment potential. Chapter 8 tells you how to choose an online broker and again provides a rating of the major ones. Chapter 9 tells you how to use chatrooms and SEC filings and other information to find out about those companies which have potential problems which are likely to impact upon their share value.

The final chapter, entitled, 'The Future is Now' concludes that the Internet and other IT developments have blurred the line between professional institutional investors and the individual day trader. The game is now open, the rules have been explained and the author invites the individual investor, to join in what has previously been an activity for the select few.

Understanding Electronic Day Trading has many useful features. It is full of practical advice, points readers to online resources and is written in a user-friendly style with many illustrations. The book also includes excerpts of interviews with key people in the industry, including Alfred R Berkeley III, president of NASDAQ and Jim Lee, founder of Momentum Securities.

I'd like to write more, but I have to check the net to see how my shares did today.

Review by Eugene Clark, Professor of Law, Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Canberra