Law firms lag behind in race to go on-line

Internet: Only 20% of solicitors have Web sites

Eighty per cent of law firms in England and Wales do not have a Web site, putting them behind barristers and Scottish solicitors, research has revealed.

According to legal portal Infolaw, which produces a 'Lawyers on the Web' directory, 1,695 out of 8,306 firms have a Web presence.

It found that 5% of the top 500 firms are still without an Internet presence.Barristers appear to be more technologically adept than solicitors, with with more than a third (36%) of the 595 barristers' chambers having their own Web site.Some 370 of 1,250 firms in Scotland (30%), and 57 of 450 firms in Northern Ireland (13%) have a Web site listed.Nick Holmes, managing director of Infolaw, said: 'A lot of firms are still rather sceptical about the Internet and its potential to help their business.' Many solicitors also suffer from a lack of knowledge about the Web, he said.

'If a firm does not really understand Internet processes, and they read the news headlines about dot-com companies collapsing, they can end up with a distorted attitude towards Web sites and an antipathy towards creating one of their own,' said Mr Holmes.

'In reality, firms lose nothing from setting up a Web site.

Basic sites cost no more than a magazine advertisement, and they give clients and potential clients a sense of professionalism,' he added.Even if the Web site consists of just a holding page with contact details, Mr Holmes maintains that this will pay dividends.

'More than 50% of the UK is now connected to the Internet, and the time will soon come when potential clients will not walk down their high street to find a local solicitor, but will look on the Web,' he said.LINKS: www.infolaw.co.uk

Victoria MacCallum