Re: [legalxml-ms] A bright future for the LegalXML Member Section

[Robin.Gibson@courts.mo.gov]

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 <jcabral@mtgmc.com>
To:      
 "legalxml-ms@lists.oasis-open.org"
<legalxml-ms@lists.oasis-open.org>, "legalxml-courtfiling@lists.oasis-open.org"
<legalxml-courtfiling@lists.oasis-open.org>
Cc:      
 "legalxml-sc@lists.oasis-open.org"
<legalxml-sc@lists.oasis-open.org>
Date:      
 11/18/2011 10:03 AM
Subject:    
   [legalxml-ms]
A bright future for the LegalXML Member Section
Sent by:    
   <legalxml-ms@lists.oasis-open.org>

---

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

jcabral@mtgmc.com

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