Firms falter on IT

IGNORANCE: profits and home working hampered

Solicitors' continuing ignorance of IT is harming productivity and hampering more home working in the profession, two separate surveys have claimed - with one finding that 27% of IT managers at top firms say their colleagues would struggle to switch their PCs on.

The survey of 300 firms, conducted by communications technology manufacturer Inter-Tel, also found that 58% of IT managers said that while lawyers' IT literacy has improved in recent years, it still has some way to go.

This was part of the reason home working was still resisted - although it lagged behind firms' corporate culture as the main barrier.

Just four of the practices surveyed have home-working capabilities in place despite greater pressure from many external sources to adopt such policies.

Managing director Chris Harris said these four firms were able to show a return on investment and 'cite a loyal and productive team who plan time with clients, time in the office and time working from home accordingly'.

The survey also found that 55% of firms claimed they 'lost' billable time because they could not accurately record how much time is spent on the telephone to clients, while just 7% of IT directors taking part in the IT investment decision-making process, which was usually in the hands of partners.

The second survey of 200 firms, by presentation and display equipment supplier Digital Message, found that nearly three-quarters of lawyers do not enjoy learning new software.

The company said this failure to embrace technology, particularly specialist case management software, could harm firms' profitability because fee-earners will waste time on non-billable administration.

The survey uncovered a strong correlation between age and people's approach to software: more than two-thirds of respondents said their dislike for learning new software began once they turned 40.

A large percentage of the lawyers also confessed to having only a basic grasp of common packages such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.