Solicitors are keying into the benefits offered by the Net and e-mail but many still need persuading that technological advances can make them more efficient, reports Mark Smulian

There were probably solicitors 60 or 70 years ago who did not see any need to install the new telephone technology in their office because, if they wanted to communicate urgently with someone, a messenger could be sent on foot.

But technology never stands still.

A Law Society survey last year of 602 small and medium-sized firms found that only 17 did not use a computer, and these were almost all sole practitioners.

More than 90% of firms used e-mail, though less often in communications with the courts and government.

Three-quarters of fee-earners conducted research on the Internet, although only 40% of firms maintained a Web site.

And of these, many are mere 'brochure' sites, offering the user no interactivity.

This all suggests that IT is becoming as much a part of most solicitors' offices as is the telephone.

The Law Society is about to issue guidance to help solicitors use e-mail effectively in legal transactions and communications.

It will include a best practice e-mail policy, covering solicitors' professional undertakings, copyright, data protection and the importance of abiding by regulations that govern any monitoring of staff e-mails.

Meanwhile, Whitehall's e-government initiative is scheduled to reach fruition in 2005 when - at least in theory - it will be possible to conduct most business with government on-line, the Court Service included.

Over at the Bar Council, Peter Susman QC of Henderson Chambers, vice-chairman of its IT panel is pressing for facilities in courts to enable barristers to use laptops, access the Internet for statutes and precedents, and to e-mail clients and solicitors.

Wireless 'hot spots' may be provided for judges and he hopes that barristers will be able to use them too.

It is hard to predict IT developments.

As one specialist told the survey: 'It is extremely difficult to look even five years ahead to what might happen.

That is an IT lifetime.' However, it seems safe to assume that new devices will both speed up working processes and change working culture.

The Society for Computers and Law (SCL) promotes the use of IT and researches legal areas associated with its use.

Joint chairman Nigel Miller, a commerce and technology partner at City firm Fox Williams, says one change to the way lawyers work is the advent of devices such as the BlackBerry, 'always on' e-mail services that keep their owners in contact with messages when they are out of the office.

Mr Miller sees this as a boon, up to a point.

'It is a change for the better but it means that you are never out of contact with your office.

'It raises issues with clients who will realise that you can stay in touch with them no matter where you are, and lawyers who are able to do that may be more attractive to clients, even if they have a miserable working life as a result of never getting away.'

He also maintains there will be a move away from the traditional solicitor's office lined with impressive legal tomes.

'There are some people who are still wedded to books, but if I want a precedent, I get it on-line without even leaving my chair,' says Mr Miller.

And, of course, if lawyers can get legal information on-line, so too can their clients, or anyone else.

Mr Miller foresees the rise of the 'informed client', who will not want basic legal information but a higher-level specialised service.

'There is an opportunity there to educate clients, so they are better able to understand when they should instruct us, and so there may be less lower-end work,' he suggests.

The SCL's other joint chairman, John Yates, has a particular interest in the cultural issues of IT.

He is chief executive of v-lex, a niche technology law firm based near Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

All of its clients are in London and the south-east - and only IT makes this arrangement possible.

Law firms have, he suspects, 'wasted millions if not tens of millions of pounds' on software that works perfectly in a technological sense but which they cannot use productively.

He says: 'One of the biggest issues with IT is people.

Generally, people do not like change because new technology disrupts the way people work.

Their priority is fee-earning and anything that disrupts that is viewed negatively.'

An example is to be found in customer relationship manage-ment systems.

Before law firms plunge into them, Mr Yates advises that they should remember they 'run very contrary to the way that lawyers traditionally work'.

This is because lawyers in large firms tend to work in small teams and take little interest in what other departments are doing, he says, whereas customer relationship management is about capturing information on clients, managing those relationships and using the knowledge derived to win more business.

Such systems are geared to sales forces, while lawyers have traditionally depended more on personal contact.

A reluctance to fill in forms and maintain databases that appear only to take time away from fee-earning leads lawyers to resent or ignore this relationship-management work, which can leave the software ineffectively used.

Mr Yates says v-lex is 'fanatical about account management, and it is not rocket science'.

He explains: 'We track client spending very carefully and if a client spent X with us one year and X-Y the next, we would look to see whether it is a factor in his business or whether we are not offering enough.'

The remnants of Philip Hamer's video-conferencing system stand as a reminder of what can go wrong with IT investment.

Mr Hamer, a partner with Hull-based Hamers and a Law Society Council member for Yorkshire, installed this system 'because we thought it was going to be the thing of the future'.

'But there were problems with patching it through to desks and we abandoned it because it only worked within our own office,' he recalls.

Undaunted, Mr Hamer, an enthusiast for new technology, says the time will soon come when lawyers will have no choice but to embrace it fully.

He cites as an example what happened to the 30% of financial advisers who could not meet the Financial Services Authority's requirement for electronic registration.

They were simply told they had one year to get it done.

'I have been arguing that the Law Society needs to formally encourage solicitors to get and use Internet access and warn them that they might not be able to continue in practice in the longer term if they do not,' Mr Hamer says.

'It sounds obvious, but has not been formally stated in terms.'

As a start, he would like to see electronic renewal of practising certificates, with a reduction in cost for those that use it.

However he is doubtful about claims made for 'do-it-yourself' legal work on-line by the public.

'People can download wills and divorce forms but they find them quite difficult to use and most would still rather consult a solicitor,' he says.

'There may be some highly educated people who can do it all themselves, but they generally can well afford to pay a solicitor, just as they are probably clever enough to do their own wiring, but that does not mean they no longer employ electricians.'

Mr Hamer says that in adversarial cases, 'people generally feel it is best to have a lawyer between you and the other party with whom you have already fallen out'.

Electronic arbitration may work technically, but 'most people would rather have a solicitor to guide them on where to pitch bids'.

He says: 'The real revolution is in broadband, which means enormous documents can be sent and I can work on them at home if I want to, although there is a time-management issue.

'One could have a virtual office, though that is not for everyone.'

Less than ten years ago, the Internet was the preserve of enthusiastic anoraks.

Ten years from now, who knows how IT may have further changed lawyers' working lives?

Mark Smulian is a freelance journalist