Lawyers' reluctance to use PCs slows IT take-up

Solicitors' personal reluctance to use computers is holding back universal desktop PC access at small and mid-sized law firms, a major survey has revealed.

It also indicated that the potential of e-mail is not yet being exploited.

The survey of 602 firms of one to ten partners by the Law Society found that in 51% of them, there are fee-earners without PC access at their desks, and in a third of firms, there are fee-earners who do not use word-processing software.

Individuals' preference not to use PCs is the main reason, followed by a perceived lack of need.

Partners are the most likely not to have PCs.

Overall, however, just 17 of the firms surveyed have no PCs, and they are all sole practitioners, mainly citing a lack of knowledge about IT.

The survey found that uptake and use of PCs and Internet technologies was lowest for sole practitioners and highest with firms of five to ten partners.

Word processing is the main fee-earner use for PCs (87% of firms), followed by databases (62%), legal research on CD-ROM (55%), practice management software (48%), financial management packages (46%) and case management software (33%).

On average, 93% of firms with PCs had Internet access, of which 40% used e-mail for internal communication and 92% for external.

E-mail is used by a large majority of firms in communicating with private clients and other lawyers, but half or less of the lawyers used it to contact organisations such as banks, estate agents, the Land Registry and Inland Revenue, the survey found.

'The data reveals that the potential of e-mail is not being fully utilised,' the survey concluded.

'This is a situation which will have to change in order for firms of this size to meet the forthcoming challenges.'

Forty-two per cent of firms with Internet access have a Web site, while 20% plan to have one in the next year.

They are mainly brochure sites, with only a fifth of firms offering some form of interactive function.

Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva said: 'Many small and medium-sized law firms are moving with the times and have realised the benefits of using IT.

Consumers of legal services now expect firms to have instant and modern communication technology and this demand will increase with the advance of e-conveyancing.'

She added that the Society is now conducting further research so as to decide how best to target support for the profession.

Neil Rose