In an effort to "align the development of specifications for legal data exchange with the global standards community at-large, the LegalXML standards group has joined the OASIS consortium. By migrating its work to OASIS, LegalXML secures its representation within the consortium known for setting adoptable worldwide standards for electronic business, Web services and security. The alliance brings new resources and international awareness to LegalXML's work on specifications for electronic court filing, court documents, legal citations, transcripts, criminal justice intelligence systems, and others. Under the new organizational structure, members of LegalXML will join OASIS and be eligible to contribute to all OASIS technical work. Existing OASIS members will have the option to participate in LegalXML without additional membership dues. OASIS will host open mail lists for public comment on LegalXML technical committees, and completed work will be freely available to the public without licensing or other fees."

From the announcement:

"This is an important move for LegalXML," said James I. Keane, co-chair of the eLawyering Task Force of the American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section. "Operating within OASIS, LegalXML gains close ties to the major global standards-setting bodies. Existing OASIS members, representing some of the largest and most innovative companies in the world, will now be able to actively contribute to the work of LegalXML."

"OASIS has the experience, the technology and the support environment that is essential for the successful development of XML standards," said Don Bergeron, chair of the LegalXML Steering Committee. "Being in the mainstream of OASIS, LegalXML participants take advantage of a tried-and-true technical process and track record of successful adoption. OASIS provides the infrastructure we need, so we can focus all our energies on developing standardized structures, vocabularies and data exchange tools for the legal community."

Members of the LegalXML Steering Committee within OASIS include Donald Bergeron of Lexis-Nexis, Toby Brown of the Utah State Bar, Rolly Chambers of Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP, John Greacen, Esq. of Grecean Associates, Daniel Greenwood, Esq. of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jim Keane Esq. of JKeane.Pro, Eddie O'Brien of Ringtail Solutions, and Dave Roberts of the SEARCH National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics.

LegalXML is a non-profit organization that brings legal and technical experts together to create standards for the electronic exchange of legal data. Founded in November 1998, it serves as an open forum for the legal domain to share ideas and experiences associated with XML and related core standards. LegalXML members include lawyers, developers, application vendors, government agencies and members of academia.