Engineering a rapport

Carolyn Kirby explains how a programme of change will improve communications between the Law Society and its stakeholders

Good communication is absolutely vital if the Law Society is to bring the greatest benefits to its members.

Yet the logistics of keeping in touch with solicitors, particularly about their specialist areas, has always been difficult.

When you have upwards of 100,000 individuals, practising in an array of different fields, targeting information effectively is a tricky business.

Fortunately, new technology can enable us to do this in ways never before possible.

To make the most of the sophisticated technology available today, the Society has embarked on a major project called Programme Engineer, which is intended to improve communications and service to solicitors and to the public.

It will, over the next five years, bring real benefits.

Programme Engineer was approved by the Law Society Council in April 2001 and, at that time, we were aware of a number of shortfalls in the Society's IT and communication capabilities.

So, the primary focus of Programme Engineer is to modernise the way we work, improving our services so that by 2006 we can deliver 70% of our services electronically.

Some have mistakenly thought that Programme Engineer is simply an IT project - in fact, technology is merely the tool-kit for the programme.

While keen to improve the service we provide to our members, we were also conscious that the existing software underpinning our membership registration and regulatory work was becoming obsolete and would, in any event, have to be replaced over the next five years.

We had a number of good reasons for embarking on this programme.

Nonetheless, given that we will be investing approximately 34 million in this programme over the next five years, it is important to set out exactly what we are hoping to achieve, together with some details of how our members, and the public, will benefit.

There will be various ways in which you will notice our improved customer service as a result of Programme Engineer.

A new Society Web site is scheduled to be launched in the summer as part of the programme - and this will be one of the first improvements that members will notice.

When you visit the new site you will be able to register your contact details, together with specific information relating to your areas of interest, and a request to be alerted about news on issues which concern you.

For me, one of the most significant benefits of the programme is that we will be able to target communications at those practitioners who are most likely to be interested in or to need them.

There is so much work going on in the Society - particularly in the areas of law reform and representation - that many solicitors know little or nothing about.

It is vitally important that solicitors see this work for themselves, and have the chance to contribute to it.

Over time, as Programme Engineer takes shape, this will be possible.

And with very little effort on your part, you will be able to keep up to date with your area of practice and other legal interests through the electronic receipt of news, press releases, legislative updates and so on.

You might also choose to receive specialist newsletters which are of interest to you - those relating to family law, perhaps, or criminal practice.

Solicitors will be able to receive information on professional rules and guidance and be kept informed about progress on particular issues - such as human rights, law reform or EU law.

They will be able to receive updates on the progress of parliamentary Bills - such as the Courts Bill or the Criminal Justice Bill - and request details of publications that are relevant to specific areas of expertise.

Programme Engineer will make these things possible.

To receive the requested information and updates, you will have the option of nominating an alternative e-mail address to keep these communications separate from your everyday business messages.

In relation to all of the requests for information and updates, you will be able to say how often you would prefer to receive them, whether that is daily, weekly or monthly.

Aside from the opportunities you will have to request information from the Society, there will also be opportunities, eventually, to participate in e-mail groups so that you can keep in touch with others in the profession who share your interests.

All these features, together with the others that the programme offers, will directly benefit busy practitioners, making it easier, simpler and less time-consuming to keep in touch and up to date with the issues that are central to your working life.

There has been a great deal of misinformed press coverage about Programme Engineer.

Much of the criticism has focused on the cost of the programme, inaccurately portraying the investment as wholly additional expenditure, which it is not.

Programme Engineer aims to help the Society focus much more clearly on the needs of its members.

Once the system is in place and the benefits are realised, I believe you will agree that the programme represents a valuable investment through its enhancement of the Society's ability both to regulate and provide collective support to solicitors.

Carolyn Kirby is the Law Society President