Since the previous column in this series, two more law firms have gone public on the returns they are enjoying on their investments in technology. One is Minter Ellison Adelaide, part of a global top 100 practice, and the other is Butcher Andrews, a 20-lawyer firm based in the north Norfolk town of Fakenham.

Minter Ellison has now been running Axxia case management software in its workers' compensation and debt recovery departments (the software has subsequently been rolled out to other departments) for slightly more than a year. However, according to the firm's Ian Thompson (originally a solicitor with Morton Fraser in Edinburgh, who helped Minter Ellison with the implementation) 'even though the technology is only in its first year of operation, the financial rewards have been considerable and we anticipate this to improve significantly in the coming year'.


He explained: 'To give two examples, our workers' compensation team has exceeded full- year net-profit budget for the first time. They are now a contributor to the overall profit pool for partners in the firm and have significantly increased their file capacity while reducing staff from eight to six people. They have shown a 32% improvement in net margin.


'And, our debt recovery team has also experienced positive returns. Prior to implementing case management at the end of 2003, the team had achieved only 73% of budget. Now they are achieving 113% of budget year to date and this is after a 20% increase on their fee target in the current year.'


Meanwhile in Fakenham, Mike O'Kane of Butcher Andrews reported that thanks to an integrated client/matter database and the use of case management on every file (the firm runs Select Legal Systems software), over the past five years the firm has increased from eight to 20 lawyers, with no increase in support staff - most of whom are part-time and include just seven secretaries. He added: 'Our last nine fee-earning appointments have been made without any additional support staff.'


Mr O'Kane estimated the firm's savings on secretarial staff exceed over £100,000 a year and added that 'fundamental savings and much more are possible by strategic use of IT as part of a business plan. Getting lawyers to use keyboards and IT is where real savings are to be had - though it is also a major management challenge.' However, he also warned that while getting lawyers to use digital dictation may be easy, it can also be a retrograde step if they start using it to dictate their e-mail messages.


Charles Christian is an independent adviser to the Law Society's Software Solutions guide