Chapman Tripp “Dataspace” Launch

Legal Veterans Set Future Precedent With “Dataspace” Launch

Lower transaction costs and faster global access to information are just two of the benefits clients can expect with a unique new e-commerce product launched by Chapman Tripp last night at their 125th Anniversary celebrations at the Auckland Town Hall.

Called Dataspace, the new technology is a first for New Zealand’s legal business, and is designed to revolutionise the way clients access and examine business information in commercial and legal projects.

Dataspace can be used by any participant in a due diligence during mergers, acquisitions, public floats, and takeovers. It also adds value in litigation cases. The user-friendly service involves a secure extranet site to host documents, which have been scanned to a superior quality, so they can be accessed and updated 24 hours a day.

Chapman Tripp’s Chief Executive Alastair Carruthers, says that Dataspace can save clients and interested parties hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in a transaction.

“Essentially it eliminates the need to visit a data room and wade through mountains of paper to produce documents that then need constant reproduction and amendments. As there is no need for the physical presence of a solicitor, or associated fee, costs and time taken are both reduced.

“There are huge costs attached when documents are being reproduced in different versions, many times over. This way a master document can be updated, or viewed by multiple parties from anywhere in the world who have authorisation to do so.

“It makes the way we have traditionally managed large projects a thing of the past,” says Mr Carruthers.

Dataspace has already been successfully trialed by one New Zealand company. Carter Holt Harvey was recently offered the opportunity to trial the service. Carter Holt Harvey’s Manager, Corporate Development, Ewen Anderson, said the company used Dataspace for due diligence in two significant transactions recently.

“Dataspace is a fast, efficient tool that was easy to use when we wanted to conduct some recent divestment due diligence exercises. It was a particularly good time-saver for interested parties based outside of New Zealand.

When you have a large number of confidential documents to be viewed here and overseas, Dataspace would be the fastest, most secure option for people to sight them simultaneously. It was also very professional way of presenting due diligence information to potential buyers.

The development of Dataspace coincides with Chapman Tripp’s 125th Anniversary and was launched at a black tie dinner in Auckland last night.

“We’re celebrating 125 years of pioneering legal practice in New Zealand, so it’s fitting we launch a new product that will enhance future client service at a function to celebrate our heritage,” says Mr Carruthers.

“Chapman Tripp has been involved with key commercial and legal milestones in New Zealand’s history. As a results-driven firm, we have gained a reputation for innovative solutions, which works internally as well as externally.

“When Chapman Tripp’s Auckland office opened in the 1960s for example, our Partners were researching the merits of investing in its first computer. That was the first computer installed in a New Zealand law firm back then, and now Dataspace is the first e-commerce product of its kind in local practice.

“For 125 years we have worked alongside our clients and grasped the opportunities technology presents, as they have. Dataspace is another example of the innovation that the firm has practised for so long.”

Ends.

Released on behalf of Chapman Tripp by Network Communications. For further information, please contact:

Alastair Carruthers Clare Scannell
Chief Executive Officer Snr. Account Manager
Chapman Tripp Sheffield Young Network Communications
Ph: (09) 357 9037 Ph: (09) 306 5808
Mob: 025 201 3004 Mob: 025 485 755

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