Many lawyers may soon find themselves exposed to risk of liability for documents and web sites that do not meet interoperability, accessibility and security standards, according to a legal technology specialist.

Raena Lea-Shannon, administrator of the newly formed Open Legal Practice Standards Collaboration Organisation, OLPSC.ORG, and partner at the Sydney based media law Firm Frankel Lawyers, asks, "How can a Law Practice purport to own and control its documents when it cannot not read or access the code in which the documents are written?

"Law firms who fail to adopt open standards will miss the WEB 2.0 boat and will fall behind in the competition for open, accessible, interoperable services.These are just some of the issues that are likely to confront all lawyers and anyone involved in the electronic delivery of legal services including Courts and Governments," Ms Lea-Shannon says 

OLPSC.ORG, which is being launched at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in Sydney next week, offers professionals involved in the creation, storage and delivery of legal data, content and services a venue to keep abreast of developments in the open documents space.