Published in the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers, July 2000

A comparative review of the various CPR products and services by Nick Holmes

The introduction last year of a completely new code of procedure for the civil courts prompted the publication of a number of new practice manuals from the law publishers. Whereas previously Sweet & Maxwell’s Supreme Court Practice and Butterworths’ County Court Practice had been the twin standard works, now both have issued completely revised and republished civil practice works and Blackstone and Jordans have also aggressively entered the market. These publications are all now available in CD-Rom versions. The publication on the internet of the new Rules, PDs and Protocols by the Lord Chancellor’s Department and the Forms by the Court Service and the contemporaneous Crown Copyright concessions allowing such materials to be freely republished without permission also quickly spawned a number of added value electronic versions on the internet (Beagle and Roger Horne) and on CD (infolaw). The Lord Chancellor’s Department version of the Rules, available on the internet and in hardcopy since implementation, is now also available in a CD-Rom version from The Stationery Office (TSO).

This article compares the CD-Rom versions from the various publishers in some detail and also the web services available.

CD-Rom services

The table below compares the CD-Rom versions of these products, in the versions available at the end of May, according to objective criteria. Although decisions will still often be based on the utility of the hard copy manuals, it is felt that at present the CD-Rom versions offer the better comparison. While all the publishers offer some form of internet service, most are not yet full services and in some cases the services are tied to the CD-Rom subscription.

Installation and basic features

I started, as a typical user might, by simply removing the CD from its case and trying it, without reference to any documentation.

All products install from a Setup program on the CD, apart from the TSO version which runs automatically when the CD is inserted (or can be started from the Index file).

All products can be run from the CD (with only the control software installed) or installed to hard disk, though it is not clear how the TSO version should be installed to hard disk if that is what’s required.

Most of the publishers have chosen FolioViews as the publishing platform (ie the control software which displays the product and provides all the basic functions). Folio has been widely used by law (and other) publishers worldwide for many years, providing a sophisticated and rich environment for the development of electronic product. It provides as standard a dynamic contents list and reference (context) window; full or split screen viewing; full hypertext features; full text searching, either simple or with boolean operators; and other features.

Butterworths uses its own proprietary Books on Screen (BOS) interface. This has broadly similar features to Folio and will of course be familiar to those already using Butterworths CD product.

TSO has chosen to adopt web browser technology. A recent Java-enabled web browser is required – Internet Explorer 4.0 or above or Netscape 4.05 or above. The main difference here is that as web technology is page based, browsing and searching is not as precise as in Folio or BOS which are record based (generally a record is a paragraph, but in the White Book a numbered paragraph unit).

Although the software places various standard navigation and hypertext abilities at their disposal, the various publishers implement them to varying extents and often in distinctly different ways. It is beyond the scope of this review to cover the functionality of the products in any detail. The following example is, however, illustrative. Instances in the CPR of terms defined in the interpretation rule (rule 2.3) are not marked up in the Butterworths or TSO version; in the White Book there are hypertext (jump) links to a separate table of definitions which sets out the definitions from rule 2.3; in Jordans there are jump links to the appropriate paragraph in rule 2.3; in infolaw and Blackstone the appropriate paragraph of rule 2.3 pops up in-line in a window.

A final point on functionality is that some products enable the user to add their own annotations such as sticky notes, highlighters and bookmarks. These are maintained in a ‘shadow’ file and can thus be carried forward when updated versions are installed.

Structure and content

All but the infolaw CD are published also in hard copy versions and largely mirror those versions in terms of structure. With the larger works from Butterworths and Sweet & Maxwell it is probably worth first familiarising yourself with the layout of the print version as, without the comfort of headers and footers and a tangible physical location, it is easy to feel lost. The publishers’ section and paragraph numbering schemes which are essential for cross-reference purposes in the hard copy versions do also tend to intrude as there are enough paragraph numbering schemes employed in the various source materials.

The source materials are annotated with commentary on a rule-by-rule basis in the White and Green Books and Jordans; Blackstone presents the commentary as the body of the work with source materials in appendices.

The Rules and Practice Directions are presented in separate sections in some products, with the PDs following the Parts to which they relate in others. There would seem to be no significant advantage of one approach over the other in the CD version.

All products include the Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence pre-action protocols. The White Book also includes the draft Road Traffic Claims protocol.

A number of the products include the specialist court guides for the Commercial Court, Chancery and Mercantile Courts. The Patents Court Guide is also included in the infolaw and Blackstone products.

Three of the publishers include the official set of forms published by the Court Service in their products. These fillable forms presented in Adobe Acrobat’s PDF format (portable document format). To view, fill in and print these, the Acrobat Reader is required, which can be installed from the CD if needed. Butterworths employ their own form display and viewing software. The Butterworths forms are all scanned images and consequently of relatively inferior quality. Butterworths and Blackstones also include as text many practice forms which may be cut and pasted to your word processor. Sweet & Maxwell present the fixed forms as fillable Microsoft Word forms. They have by far the largest library of forms, including around 150 practice forms, though the latter are low quality scanned images. TSO have incorporated HotDocs versions of the forms. The most common forms are automated (may be filled in via a question and answer session). The forms can either be accessed from within the product as needed or installed for separate use.

The fees orders are included in all but the TSO version and other legislation is included in most products. The Green and White Books also contain substantial sections covering specialist jurisdictions, etc, and the Green and White Books and Jordans include court directories.

The deciding factor for many prospective purchasers may well be the amount and utility of the authored commentary provided by the eminent panels of editors. The White and Green Books and Jordans provide annotations and notes on a rule-by-rule basis and procedural tables. In Jordans notes are coloured blue to distinguish them clearly from the source text. Blackstone takes a different approach with the substantial commentary presented as the main text of the work. infolaw and TSO do not provide commentary.

Judging by the extent of the text and list of contents of the works (and the weight of the print versions!), it can be said that the White Book is the most substantial, followed by the Green Book, Blackstone and Jordans in that order.

Pricing and service

The table summarises the updating service and pricing of each product. In some cases the CD version cannot be purchased without the book. There are different scales for network licensing – a 5 user licence is chosen for comparison purposes at that level only.

Web update services for CD subscribers

Butterworths provide a forms updating service only.

Sweet & Maxwell and Jordans both provide up-to-date versions of the Rules and PDs plus other update information on web update pages available to CD-Rom subscribers. Sweet & Maxwell is due to launch a full online Civil Procedure service soon, though no details are presently available.

Blackstone do not provide a web update facility.

infolaw provides free access to its Civil Procedure update page which links to all new and in prospect amendments to the Rules, PDs and Protocols.

TSO do not themselves provide a web service connected with their CD-Rom. However, the Lord Chancellor’s Department (authors of the TSO version) provide free access to a complete and up-to-date version of the Rules, PDs and Pre-Action Protocols on their website in effectively the same format as that published on the TSO CD-Rom and an up-to-date set of Civil Court forms in Adobe PDF format is maintained on the Court Service website. See further Web services – Official services below.

Web services

There is a wealth of CPR materials on the web, both primary sources and commentary, and much of it is available for free access.

While all the commercial publishers offer some form of internet service, most are not yet full services and in some cases the services are tied to a CD-Rom subscription (see above).

Official services

The only official version of the CPR, it is said, is HMSO’s printed version of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 and subsequent amending SIs. HMSO publish these on the web for free access at www.hmso.gov.uk/legis.htm. However, as the texts are in unconsolidated form, they are of limited use.

The Lord Chancellor’s Department broke new ground in publishing the CPR, PDs and Protocols on the web as they were made, and provides a substantial service in maintaining these in an up-to-date form (often ahead of the published SI) and also providing links to discussion papers, drafts and other related documents at www.lcd.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/cprocfr.htm. The court forms are published and maintained by the Court Service in Adobe Acrobat PDF format at www.courtservice.gov.uk/fandl/forms_home.htm.

Other free versions

Two other free access web versions of the Rules deserve mention: Roger Horne’s Yet Another Woolf Site at opal.he.net/~hrothgar/YAWS/index/text.htm and the Beagle site at www.beagle.org.uk/cpr/. Both these sites provide up-to-date value-added versions of the Rules, PDs, Protocols and other materials, including details of decided cases.

Butterworths

Butterworths’ Civil Procedure Online is described as is the complete online reference source on the latest civil court practice and procedure, including access to the full text of the Green Book (see CD-Rom section above for contents) and supporting materials. These include News, Comment, Legislation, Cases, Forms, Precedents and Links. The core materials are presented using Butterworths standard NetBOS ineterface. A subscription to Civil Procedure Online costs £350 p.a. single user, £650 p.a. for a 5-user network licence.

Lawtel

Lawtel’s Civil Procedure Interactive at www.lawtel.co.uk is currently included in the Lawtel subscription and includes a fully searchable database of the Rules, PDs and Protocols, with practical commentary from Simmons & Simmons, plus court guides, reference tables and a glossary of new terms. All commentary is linked to cited Rules, case law and legislation. The service is updated every 24 hours.

Lawtel is also producing an online version of Blackstone’s Civil Practice 2000, which will sit as a separate product within this specialist centre.

An annual subscription to Lawtel costs £720 (sole practitioner), £2,000 (5 partner firm). Blackstone’s Civil Practice will incur a supplementary charge.

Commentary sites

Many sites provide useful free commentary on the CPR, including the following:

• Simmons & Simmons: The Woolf Reforms at www.simmons-simmons.com/dispute/woolf/index.html – provides a succinct commentary.
• 2 Temple Gardens: Woolf Commentary at www.2templegardens.co.uk/woolf/1index.htm – another good commentary site.
• The Civil Justice Council at www.open.gov.uk/civjustice/ – established under the Civil Procedure Act 1997, the Council’s remit is to: keep the civil justice system under review; consider how to make the civil justice system more accessible, fair and efficient; and advise the Lord Chancellor and the judiciary.
• Laurie West-Knights’ LawOnLine at www.LawOnLine.cc – provides a wealth of commentary on the effect and application of the CPR; updated frequently; registration required.
• Watmores: The Woolf Reforms at www.watmores.co.uk/woolf.htm – provides guidance for insurers on the Woolf reforms.

CPR CD-Rom services