• Report by the Business Experts and Law Forum (BELF)

REPORT BY
THE BUSINESS EXPERTS
AND LAW FORUM
(BELF)
November 2008
BELF – Report November 2008
FOREWORD
The Scottish Government has set out a central purpose of increasing sustainable
economic growth. In its economic strategy 1, it identifies a supportive business
environment as one of the strategic priorities which will help to achieve that purpose,
saying that:
‘The challenge for government is to create the best possible environment for
competitive businesses, entrepreneurship and innovation to flourish.’
The strategy goes on to affirm that:
‘Effective and modern legal and criminal justice systems, underpinning a safer
and stronger Scotland, provide an essential sound basis for conducting
business and securing growth.’
One of the key sectors identified in the economic strategy is financial and business
services, with the government committed to building a critical mass of activity, and
helping to create the right environment for its competiveness and growth.
Scotland’s legal system and profession matters to our country’s economic goals
because:
‐ the profession in itself contributes around £1bn a year to Scotland’s economy;
‐ high quality legal services are a key factor in a supportive business
environment, particularly in encouraging firms to maintain head office
functions in Scotland;
‐ being able to resolve disputes as effectively as possible is an important
contributory factor to success in many areas of business.
Over the last few years, much has been done to make our legal system more
efficient and effective, including the development of Commercial Courts. The current
Civil Courts Review, led by Lord Gill, will identify further opportunities to improve
access to justice, and early resolution of disputes.
However, in the past there has been a tendency to see the needs of the justice
system and the needs of business as separate. No sustained attention has been
paid, for example, to the fact that many businesses, including major Scottish
businesses, often choose to resolve disputes in England rather than Scotland.
That is why the Justice Secretary established the Business Experts and Law Forum
with a remit to see what could be done to enable and encourage businesses, so far
as appropriate: to choose Scotland as the seat of their business and legal activities;
to look to Scottish lawyers for their advice; and to look to the Scottish courts as their
dispute resolution forum of choice.
1
The Government Economic Strategy – published 13 November 2007 – ISBN 978-0-7559-5548
2
BELF – Report November 2008
The role of the Forum was not to undertake research or present detailed proposals
for reform, but to identify the opportunities and areas of focus that will allow
Government and the legal profession to work together to ensure that Scotland’s
legal profession continues to thrive and, even more importantly, to ensure that the
legal system can help business, and therefore Scotland as a whole, to flourish.
The meetings of the Forum took place before the recent turmoil in the financial
markets, and the likely consequence of an economic downturn. These events will
have profound effects on Scottish business and on legal services. Law firms have
already been affected by the slowdown in the property market, and other forms of
legal business are likely to be adversely affected. Nonetheless, the basic message of
this report remains valid – that Scotland’s legal system has much to offer business,
but that more can be done by the profession, the Government and the courts to
maximise the contribution of the legal system to Scotland’s economic wellbeing.
3
BELF – Report November 2008
1. SCOTLAND AS A CENTRE FOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION .............................. 5
1.1 Encouraging business to use the Scottish courts and legal system. ................................ 5
1.2 Why business chooses English rather than Scots Law ....................................................... 5
1.3 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 7
1.4 Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 8
2. THE COMMERCIAL COURT OF THE COURT OF SESSION ......................... 10
2.1 How the Commercial Court Operates................................................................................... 10
2.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 10
3. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION ........................................................ 12
3.1 Development of ADR .............................................................................................................. 12
3.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 13
4. GROWING THE LEGAL MARKET ................................................................... 14
4.1 The development of niche markets ...................................................................................... 14
4.2 Commoditised legal services ................................................................................................ 15
4.3 Recommendation ................................................................................................................... 15
4.4 Intellectual property law ........................................................................................................ 15
4.5 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 16
4.6 Employment law ..................................................................................................................... 16
4.7 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 17
4.8 Technological leap-frogging ................................................................................................. 17
4.9 Recommendation ................................................................................................................... 17
4.10 Understanding the profile of the business legal market ................................................ 17
4.11 Recommendation ............................................................................................................... 18
5. SELLING SCOTLAND’S LEGAL SYSTEM AND PROFESSION ..................... 19
5.1 Improving the perceptions of the legal market ................................................................... 19
5.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 19
6. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 21
4
BELF – Report November 2008
1. SCOTLAND AS A CENTRE FOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION
1.1 Encouraging business to use the Scottish courts and legal
system.
1.1.1 For the majority of businesses, legal disputes are an expensive
and time-consuming distraction from their main business objectives.
When turning to a court for adjudication of those disputes, businesses
generally want that court to deliver a service that is:
• quick and efficient;
• predictable (so far as possible) both in terms of outcome and costs;
• provided by judges with relevant skills and experience; and
• comprehensible and accessible.
1.1.2 Businesses with a choice over jurisdiction will be deterred from
using a civil justice system if that system is perceived to be performing
less well in some or all of these objectives than other jurisdictions.
1.2 Why business chooses English rather than Scots Law
1.2.1 The reasons why businesses may choose English rather than
Scots law in contracts, and litigate in the English rather than Scottish
courts, may include:
• Harmonisation: Paradoxically increasing harmonisation of Scots
and English Law (driven, in part, by EU harmonisation) makes it
more difficult to “sell” Scots Law where there is a choice between
the systems.
• Size: Because England is a significantly larger jurisdiction than
Scotland, its lawyers and judiciary will often have greater breadth of
experience, born of scale, in specific areas of law.
• Global recognition: A legacy of the British Empire is that English
law has been successfully exported and embedded across the
world, giving it unique global recognition.
• Geographical/ logistical barriers: Parties may be reluctant to commit
to a case being heard “up North” with the perceived inconvenience
of logistical issues such as travel and lack of familiarity.
5
BELF – Report November 2008
• Delays: Perceived delays (whether actual or not) in obtaining dates
for debates and proofs and in receiving judgments were identified by
businesses as a particular concern and an area in which Scotland
compares unfavourably to some other jurisdictions. 2
• Specialisation: Although many commercial disputes are now heard
by specialist Commercial Court judges and sheriffs, other disputes
involving businesses will still be heard by judges and sheriffs who
may have little or no expertise in the legal fields involved, at least in
the first instance.
• Case management: The level of case management applied to
commercial cases may vary between courts, but the effective use of
case management has been identified by businesses as a key
factor in ensuring that cases are driven forward to an outcome
efficiently and with reasonable speed.
• Language: The procedural terms used by the Scottish courts are
distinctive and historic, but arguably alienate those unfamiliar with
Scots law. They may hinder the creation of an impression among
businesses (both local and international) of the Scottish courts as
modern, accessible and user-friendly. The fact that Scotland is an
English language jurisdiction should give it a competitive advantage
over many other international jurisdictions as a dispute resolution
forum; retaining archaic procedural terminology could limit this
potential advantage.
• Costs: The levels of cost recovery available in Scotland are in many
cases lower than those available in England, creating a financial
disincentive to litigating in Scotland.
• Mediation: Although mediation is available in Scotland, it is still not
as regularly utilised in commercial disputes as in other jurisdictions
(eg England) and receives only ad hoc judicial support.
• Arbitration: Many commercial contracts contain provision for
arbitration, but except in construction disputes, comparatively little
commercial arbitration takes place in Scotland.
2
In the Commercial Court of the Court of Session (in contrast with the Ordinary Roll in the Outer
House) the time taken to bring a case to debate or proof is, we understand, generally quite short and
probably compares favourably with (for example) London. It is normally possible to avoid long
continuations if a case runs beyond its anticipated duration. However, problems do arise with long
cases clogging up the system by blocking out dates for quick hearings on other matters. Lack of
judicial resource appears to be the main contributing factor. There are also concerns regarding the
delay sometimes experienced between a Commercial Court decision and the hearing before (and
decision of) the Inner House, if there is an appeal.
6
BELF – Report November 2008
1.3 Conclusions
1.3.1 In summary, the combination of scale, harmonisation, and
global recognition makes it difficult for Scottish lawyers to persuade
clients to choose Scots Law over English Law. That said, of the factors
listed above, only the first four might be said to be beyond our control –
there is much that Scotland can do.
1.3.2 The Forum considered whether, as a general principle, Scots
law should be aligned with English law, both in terms of substance and
language, unless there is good reason to be different. There is an
argument that this policy of alignment, combined with a
communications strategy, could mitigate the negative perceptions of
Scotland as a difficult place in which to do legal business. The
counter-argument was that it was important that Scots Law should
develop in a way which was right for Scotland, rather than be overly
influenced by another jurisdiction which has its own limitations and
defects.
1.3.3 This issue may be something for the Scottish Law Commission
to consider, alongside other possible ways to make Scots law clearer
and more accessible to potential users, such as codification.
1.3.4 However, in terms of opportunity, the more important issue is
“choice of jurisdiction”. Whilst a contract may not be governed by Scots
law, there may be opportunities to persuade parties that they should,
nonetheless, bring their disputes to Scotland for resolution. There are
examples of Scottish arbitrators being used as neutral arbitrators in
disputes between international parties.
1.3.5 We see potential for Scotland’s dispute resolution system to be
developed and marketed as a just, integrated and efficient neutral
system that runs like clockwork – the “Switzerland of dispute
resolution”. However, this would require significant change to both the
culture and procedures of the courts. We set out in our
recommendations below suggestions as to the priorities for change.
7
BELF – Report November 2008
1.4 Recommendations
1.4.1 The Scottish Government should develop a coherent strategy
to present Scotland as a centre of excellence for the full spectrum
of dispute resolution processes. The Unique Selling Proposition
(USP) of the strategy will be that each type of dispute resolution is
represented, providing users with access to a quality service across the
spectrum of dispute resolution processes.
1.4.2 The Scottish Government and Scottish Court Service should
consider widening the pool of temporary judicial resource available,
thus freeing up court time and truncating litigation timescales 3.
1.4.3 The Lord President should consider mirroring or expanding the
“Commercial Court” model at Court of Session and Sheriff Court
level to include additional specialism of relevance to business e.g.
construction law and intellectual property. This could enable Scotland
to develop its reputation in those specialist legal markets while
providing an enhanced dispute resolution service to businesses in
Scotland 4.
3
One of the problems in the Commercial Court in the Court of Session is that of late settlements – the
Court diary is filled and a case then settles too late for the time thereby released to be used for other
cases. One solution is to double book cases e.g. fix work for three or more Judges when only two
regular Commercial Judges are available, in the confident expectation (or hope) that one or more of
the cases may settle. This is done to some extent, but the concern is always: what happens if none
of the cases settle?
The availability of a pool of temporary judicial back-up – whether “ticketed” Outer House Judges or
temporary Judges – would make this more manageable, leading to wider use of double booking and a
resulting benefit to court users in terms of their being given earlier dates for hearings etc.
As to the use of temporary Judges with the requisite experience, it may be that there is some
reluctance amongst Advocates to accept appointments as temporary Judges out of concern that it
might (wrongly) send out a signal that they are winding down their practice.
One option that could be explored which would avoid this problem, would be to mirror the “Assistant
Recorder” process in England and invite all newly appointed QCs (and possibly existing QCs) to apply
for appointment as temporary Judges/Sheriffs. They might be expected to be available to sit, if
required, for up to a certain number of weeks a year. From the resulting larger pool of resources, the
Commercial Courts, whether Court of Session or Sheriff Court, could find a person of the requisite
experience to sit as a temporary Judge/Sheriff on a one-off basis for such longer periods as were
necessary to meet the particular resource problem.
4
At present in the Court of Session intellectual property cases are heard by nominated specialist
intellectual property judges, and the applicable Rules of Court provide for a form of case management
(though less intensively “hands on” than that applicable to commercial cases). Construction cases are
dealt with within the Commercial Court. Construction cases tend to be long and complex. Because of
that they can impose a heavy resource demand and have a disruptive effect on the work of the
Commercial Court, but they often raise issues of law which are appropriate for resolution within the
Commercial Court.
8
BELF – Report November 2008
1.4.4 The Lord President and Rules Councils should undertake a full
review of costs recovery rules including comparative analysis with
other jurisdictions. This should include consideration of all areas of fee
recovery and the possibility of using a "summary assessment of costs"
as a means of achieving interim payments.
1.4.5 The Lord President should establish a working party to review
the procedural terminology of the Scottish civil courts and consider
whether adoption of “simple English” terminology might provide the
courts with a more accessible, user-friendly image to present to local
and international users. As one small example, some businesses
questioned the use of the term ‘taxation’ to refer to the assessment of
fees.
1.4.6 The Scottish Government, the Lord President and Judicial
Appointments Board should review whether greater specialisation
could be encouraged in the appointment and deployment of
sheriffs and in the Court of Session.
1.4.7 The Scottish Government should commission a detailed study
to identify, from comparison with other jurisdictions of a broadly
similar size and nature (such as Norway), other ways in which
Scottish Civil Court procedures might be made more attractive to
business.
9
BELF – Report November 2008
2. THE COMMERCIAL COURT OF THE COURT OF SESSION
2.1 How the Commercial Court Operates
2.1.1 As the forum designed to hear Scotland’s major commercial
disputes, the Commercial Court has brought many benefits for litigants.
In recent years, there have been uncertainties and concerns over the
application of the pre-action protocol and concerns about delays.
However, action has already been taken to reduce delays both in fixing
hearings and in producing judgements. Concerns about the protocol
have also been alleviated to a large extent. Recent figures show that
the case-load within the Commercial Court is picking up. This suggests
that the court is again attracting work from within the business
community in Scotland, though more needs to be done if it is to attract
commercial work from outside that community.
2.1.2 The principles and procedures upon which the Court was
established remain sound and it remains a potential flagship in
attracting businesses to use Scotland’s civil court system. The Forum
concluded, however, that a number of steps could be taken to enhance
the service that the Court offers to businesses.
2.1.3 We suggest below some ways in which this might be achieved.
The Forum was not able to conduct a detailed review of the operation of
the Court and its rules, but the key principle is that, while retaining its
judicial authority, the Court should operate in the way that successful
businesses operate – flexibly and responding to the needs of those who
use the service.
2.1.4 The issues discussed in Chapter 1 are also relevant, since
Commercial Courts are dependent on efficient operation of the whole
system. For example, it is important that cases are not only dealt with
quickly in the Commercial Court itself, but that any appeals and
reclaiming motions arising from the Court are dealt with speedily.
2.2 Recommendations
2.2.1 The Commercial Court should consider the development of
pilot schemes for new initiatives designed to speed-up/improve
case management e.g. to identify cases where parties could be
informally encouraged to consider ADR. If these proved successful,
they could then be referred to the Rules Council for possible wider
application.
2.2.2 Commercial Court judges should continue to explore how,
within existing cost constraints, technology might be better utilised
to achieve efficiency savings and to free up court time. Measures
already taken in the Glasgow Sheriff Court Commercial Court illustrate
10
BELF – Report November 2008
some possibilities, including greater use of email, electronic document
submission and use of conference calls for routine procedural
hearings 5.
2.2.3 The Faculty of Advocates should review its Code of Conduct
to identify ways of increasing user-friendliness and client focus.
One example of this could be relaxing the current rules that constrain
Counsel from speaking to witnesses in advance of proof, thus removing
a perceived “distance” between Counsel and client and creating greater
accessibility.
2.2.4 To address any continuing misconceptions over the effect of the
pre-action protocol and to enable the court to respond flexibly to issues
as they arise, the Commercial Court should issue informal practice
statements from time to time about issues of practice in the court.
5
The Forum is aware of the concerns of the Inner House in the case of Jackson v Hughes Dowdall
(8th July 2008) reporting possible ECHR issues with some of these procedures, but would hope
nonetheless that pragmatic solutions can be found to resolve any such concerns.
11
BELF – Report November 2008
3. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
3.1 Development of ADR
3.1.1 The Arbitration (Scotland) Bill, if passed by Parliament, will
reform and consolidate the currently outdated and incomplete Scots law
of arbitration. By putting the vast majority of the general Scots law of
arbitration into a single statute, in future anyone in Scotland, or anyone
seeking to do business in Scotland, will be able to find in one place the
principles governing the law of arbitration in Scotland in language which
can be readily understood.
3.1.2 To complement the new Bill, the Forum considered whether
additional steps could be taken which would enhance the uptake of
arbitration in Scotland generally. It was agreed that although most
arbitration in Scotland takes place between those actually doing
business in Scotland, Scotland should also be aiming to market itself
internationally as a forum for arbitration that can offer high quality
arbiters, facilities and legal support. There is in fact no need for the
arbiter to be Scottish. For example, it would be quite feasible for a non-
Scottish arbiter to sit in Scotland and hear arguments presented by both
Scottish, English and/or other counsel (this happens routinely in the
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitrations in England and
other countries, where the arbiters and lawyers are often drawn from
different jurisdictions).
3.1.3 It was agreed that lessons should be learned from England,
which has a leading reputation as a world centre for arbitration and
which boasts many QCs with specialist expertise in particular practice
areas practising as arbitrators.
3.1.4 Mediation, while not a universal panacea, is also a key dispute
resolution option for businesses and should form an essential part of
any modern civil justice system. Although some disputes will always
require judicial determination through litigation or arbitration, a great
many commercial disputes currently proceeding through the courts
could be resolved by mediation, saving businesses considerable time,
expense and uncertainty and freeing up court time for cases that truly
require full judicial analysis.
3.1.5 Although mediation is widely available in Scotland, it has not yet
been fully incorporated into the Scottish civil justice system as an option
for routine consideration in every dispute. In this respect Scotland is
not on an equal footing with other jurisdictions, including England and
the United States. Reasons for this may include residual suspicion or
scepticism amongst lawyers, general lack of awareness amongst
businesses and inconsistency of endorsement (formal or informal) from
the judiciary.
12
BELF – Report November 2008
3.2 Recommendations
3.2.1 Scottish courts should be encouraged formally to
acknowledge the role that mediation can play in resolving
disputes, to incorporate consideration of it as an option into standard
case management processes and to routinely recommend it to litigants
in cases that may appear to the court to be suitable for it. (The stage at
which it is recommended by the court should be decided by the court
having regard to the particular circumstances of each case.)
3.2.2 The Scottish Government should, in collaboration with business
interests and ADR communities, develop firm proposals for a Dispute
Resolution Centre in Scotland, offering facilities for users of
arbitration and other forms of ADR, including mediation.
3.2.3 The Scottish Government should reiterate publicly its support
for mediation as a dispute resolution option for businesses and
develop a proactive communications strategy to promote its wider
use by the business community.
3.2.4 The Faculty of Advocates should consider ways in which
advocates with particular expertise could be encouraged to
practise as arbiters – perhaps by forming training links with relevant
colleagues in England.
3.2.5 To increase the marketability and visibility of Scots lawyers in the
arbitration arena, the Faculty of Advocates and Law Society of Scotland
should consider adopting a programme of certifying their members
as “appropriate to act as arbiters” through having requisite
experience and knowledge in a particular field.
13
BELF – Report November 2008
4. GROWING THE LEGAL MARKET
4.1 The development of niche markets
4.1.1 The issue of how we compete effectively with England applies
equally to non-contentious legal work as it does to litigation. There are
areas where Scots law has advantages over English law, and the
Scottish government should prioritise reforms to civil law which can
develop those advantages, but the quicker win is likely to come from
encouraging greater use of Scots lawyers, rather than Scots law.
4.1.2 In doing this, we need to accept that Scotland may not be able
(subject to some exceptions) to offer the same degree of specialisation
which can be offered by some of the English bar and in the ‘magic
circle’ solicitors firms. The competitive advantages we have include:
• we can offer a more rounded, more personal service – because our
commercial lawyers do not specialise to the same degree as the
large English firms, the teams can be smaller and more flexible
• we are used to operating in multi-jurisdiction environments – i.e. we
know more about English law than the English know about Scots
law
• in a relatively small country we can work very closely with other
professionals such as corporate financiers, accountants, surveyors
etc which offers similar benefits to multi disciplinary practices
• we can carry out major commercial work more cheaply than our
English competitors
4.1.3 The ‘pitch’ for the Scottish profession is, in short, that we are
like England (we have the closeness to England to understand and use
English law) but not England (we can be quicker, less bureaucratic and
give better value for money).
4.1.4 That message needs to be worked up more fully into a coherent
marketing strategy for Scottish legal services.
4.1.5 That said, there are specific niche areas where Scotland may
have particular potential for development.
14
BELF – Report November 2008
4.2 Commoditised legal services
4.2.1 One of the major changes in the legal services market over the
next few years is likely to be the further development of commoditised
legal services – using technology and business re-engineering to
deliver high volume legal processes (such as re-mortgaging and debt
recovery) more efficiently and on a large scale. Lower property and
salary costs than some other parts of the UK, combined with a skilled
workforce and a concentration of legal skills, make Scotland a potential
beneficiary of this shift, if the opportunity is grasped.
4.2.2 A key enabler is likely to be the development of alternative
business structures (ABS) in the legal services market, allowing access
to external investment. The UK government has already legislated to
allow ABS, but full implementation of the legislation is still some way off.
The Scottish Government has announced legislation in its current
Programme which will allow ABS in Scotland. If Scotland acts quickly, it
can keep pace with and even overtake England in developing a
framework for ABS in the delivery of services by solicitors, which
maintains our current, cost effective regulatory environment. That cost
effective regulatory environment is in itself an important factor in
maintaining the attractiveness of Scotland as a base for legal business.
4.3 Recommendation
4.3.1 The Government should ensure that the forthcoming
legislation on the regulation of legal services provides a flexible
and proportionate regulatory regime which will allow the Scottish
legal profession compete internationally, and should aim for
implementation at least in step, and preferably ahead, of the
implementation in England and Wales of the Legal Services Act 2007.
4.4 Intellectual property law
4.4.1 Development of this area of the law could bring with it synergies
if the Scottish Government is intending to focus on areas such as
sustainable energy sources, biotechnology, and microelectronics – and,
indeed, any other area of fast technological development. Businesses
looking to develop in these areas need to be confident that:
• there are laws in place to protect their work;
• the legal skills are in place to advise and, if need be, rule on the
application of those laws;
• the legal infrastructure is in place to administer the rights provided
by the laws (eg skilled solicitors, Patent agents); and
• the jurisprudence favours the innovative development of legal
principles to support ground-breaking concepts in technology.
15
BELF – Report November 2008
4.5 Recommendations
4.5.1 The Government should conduct a study into the legal needs
of the industries which rely on the support of intellectual property
law - to understand better what those needs are, and how they might
best be met.
4.5.2 The Joint Standing Committee on Legal Education should
encourage the enhancement of intellectual property law expertise
at Scottish universities (e.g. combined law and technology
qualifications) – for the purpose of:
• encouraging a new generation of lawyers specialising in this area;
and
• promoting innovation in intellectual property law to keep abreast of –
and anticipate – the fast pace of change in the industries that rely on
that area of the law.
4.5.3 Identify areas where legal administration could facilitate
business in the protection of their intellectual property e.g. registration.
4.6 Employment law
4.6.1 Employment law can have a significant impact on the
attractiveness of a jurisdiction to business. Employment law is currently
reserved to the UK Government, and in some respects is derived from
EU legislation, although the approach to implementing EU Directives
may differ in different jurisdictions.
4.6.2 A sub-group discussed the possibility that employment law be
devolved to the Scottish Government. This possibility is one which
goes beyond the immediate focus of BELF, but could allow a distinctive
approach to be developed, which might be attractive to business,
including inward investors.
4.6.3 Less radically, there may be ways to improve the operation of
employment law in Scotland, to make employment disputes less of a
drain on business, and indeed employees. The current reform to UK
Tribunals, and the need to consider a Scottish response (as discussed
in the recent report by the Scottish Consumer Council 6) presents an
opportunity to consider the benefits of a distinctively Scottish approach.
6
Options for the Future Administration and Supervision of Tribunals In Scotland: A report by the
administrative justice steering group, chaired by the Rt. Hon Lord Philip
16
BELF – Report November 2008
4.7 Recommendations
4.7.1 The Tribunal Service should invest in Employment Tribunal
infrastructure and training to expedite the resolution of employment
disputes.
4.7.2 The Government should consider a greater role for mediation
(and other forms of dispute resolution) in employment dispute
resolution. This might address the perception that the relationship
between employer and employee is too frequently escalated into a
legalistic, polarised process which discourages mutually constructive
dialogue.
4.8 Technological leap-frogging
4.8.1 A theme throughout the Forum’s discussions was the logistical
problems (actual and perceived) associated with Scotland’s remote
geography – both for attracting legal business into Scotland, and for
administering existing business. Existing technologies such as
video-conferencing can help but, to date, have often been