A bright future for the LegalXML Member Section

Jim,

Three cheers to you and the steering
 committee!!!

Thank you all for your efforts in this
 area, and to keep us vital.  It is greatly appreciated.

Robin

Robin Gibson, PMP

Court Automation Manager

Information Technology Services

Office of State Courts Administrator

573-751-4377
From:
    James E Cabral <>
To:
    ""
 <>, ""
 <>
Cc:
    ""
 <>
Date:
    11/18/2011 10:03 AM
Subject:
      [legalxml-ms]
 A bright future for the LegalXML Member Section

Sent by:
      <>

LegalXML Member Section,



The previous chair of the LegalXML Member Section Steering
 Committee, George Knecht, reported to the Member Section in late 2010 that
 the OASIS Board of Directors had suspended the Steering Committee’s authority
 to approve future funding expenditures due to concerns about the viability
 of the Member Section and the lack of an approved spending plan.
 Since reconstituting the Member Section Steering Committee, the Steering
 Committee has made the following progress in mapping out the future for
 LegalXML:



1. Met monthly (Sep 26, Oct 3, Nov 9) with 100% attendance
 and elected a chair.  The minutes are available at
http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/legalxml-sc/documents.php

2. Considered the options to merge with e-gov or to allow
 TCs to continue without the LegalXML Member Section.  Both options
 were rejected as not in the best interest of past, current and future LegalXML
 TCs.

3. Developed a program for growing the Member Section
 including proposed charters for 2 new TCs (LegalRuleML, LegalDocumentXML).

4. Approved a spending plan for the remainder of 2011.

5. Proposed a spending plan for 2012 with timelines and
 probabilities including ideas for 2013.

6. Presented at the Court Technology Conference (CTC)
 and the RuleML 2011 conference to generate interest in joining OASIS and
 LegalXML.  (This does not include a presentation at the NIEM National
 Training Event in August).

7. Started outreach to the ABA and EDRM to generate interest
 in a new e-discovery TC.



This does not include the progress that the ECF TC has
 made in the last year towards proposing ECF 4.01 core specification as
 a candidate OASIS standard or the definition of a scope for ECF 4.1 and
 beyond at the Oct 3 F2F.



I am very happy to report that, after reviewing the recent
 progress of the Member Section, the OASIS Board of Directors agreed yesterday
 to restore the Steering Committee’s spending authority.



Moving forward, I see 3 immediate challenges for the Member
 Section:



1.       We need to recruit
 participation in the LegalRuleML and LegalDocumentXML to ensure a successful
 launch of each TC.

2.       We need to improve
 future communications across the Member Section and with the rest of OASIS.
 As chair of the Steering Committee, I plan to update the Member Section
 with emails such as this at least quarterly and the Steering Committee
 will be communicating with the Board regularly.

3.       We need to ensure
 that there is sufficient representation in the governance of the LegalXML.
 While the Steering Committee currently includes only 3 representatives,
 the attendance at the ECF TC F2F on Oct 3 demonstrates that interest in
 the future of LegalXML extends well beyond the current representatives.
 Once the new LegalXML TCs are launched, it is my hope to add a Steering
 Committee representative from each of the new TCs to share in the governance
 planning and decision making.



Now that the issues regarding the authority and direction
 of the Member Section are resolved, it is my sincere hope that we can all
 get back to doing what we are here to do - developing and promoting open
 standards for the legal community.



I appreciate your participation in our common effort.



  Thanks,



James E. Cabral Jr., Senior Manager

MTG Management Consultants, L.L.C.

1111 Third Avenue, Suite 3010

Seattle, Washington 98101-3292

www.mtgmc.com

(206) 442-5010  Phone

(502) 509-4532  Mobile

(206) 442-5011  Fax


Helping our clients make a difference in the lives
 of the people they serve.



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