In June, the Law Society's Law Management Section (LMS) launched its Web site at its first annual IT conference, held in London.

The site provides services to members on line, and also to be an easy vehicle through which members can keep in touch.

In addition to details of events, member discounts and newsletters, a benchmark section has been created to help members compare performance on a confidential basis.Over the last three months two on-line benchmarking services have been launched and a free download - a simple application to help firms calculate average costs - is planned for November.Performance benchmarksThe on-line service builds on benchmarks that were originally included in 'Cashflow and Improved Financial Management', published by the Law Society in 1998.

This contained a series of benchmarks drawn from the Law Society's annual panel survey and was based on data collected in 1996.

The service, which is only available to LMS members, is based on the most recent panel survey, undertaken in the autumn of 1998, and shows benchmarks for:-- the profession as a whole; and-- the more successful firms - those earning above average profits per equity partner.This is the first time data has been published on what the most successful firms are doing, and it will make interestin g reading for many managing partners - in small and large firms alike.Benchmarks are particularly useful because they can highlight where a firm is are getting things right - or might be getting things wrong.

One of the problems for law firms has always been a lack of comparative data to enable them to gauge how they are doing relative to other firms of their size.

This facility aims to plug the gap and goes farther by enabling firms to enter their own figures on-line.

This is a particularly useful feature as it allows firms to download a Word document containing the benchmarks for their size of firm, enter their own data and the document, and then it automatically calculates their own statistics.Benchmarks are provided for sole principals and firms with two to four partners, five to ten partners, 11 to 25 partners and 26 to 80 partners.

They cover a number of areas including:-- profitability;-- fee earner and staff ratios;-- revenue;-- staff and overhead cost;-- charge out rates; and-- billing periods, debtors and borrowings.Clearly, the 'headline' figure of profit per equity partner is the starting point for assessing how a firm is doing.

However, practices are likely to learn most from the underlying figures, in particular those concerning revenue and gearing.A firm's gearing is increasingly central to its profitability and the benchmarks confirm that the most successful firms have higher ratios of assistants and other fee earners to equity partners.

The ratio of support staff to fee earners is not significantly different for the more profitable firms, indeed the figures would not suggest that the most profitable firms are those with low levels of support staff.As would be expected, the most profitable firms are those enjoying high fees per equity partner, and this will be a combination of good gearing and also high fee levels achieved by the individuals concerned.

This is the most significant difference between the two sets of figures on the Web site.Firms which do not yet have Internet access - and there are still many - can refer to the 1998 cashflow guide, or the panel survey reports.

The LMS sees the Internet as an important tool to their member's profitable development and it is keen to encourage their members to go on-line.LEGAL AID FRANCHISE QUALITY ASSURANCE STANDARD AND CONTRACTING: AVERAGE COST PER CASEFrom 1 August 1999, in order to comply with the legal aid franchise quality assurance standard, firms have been required to develop systems that enable them to calculate the average cost of their cases.

From 1 January 2000, when exclusive contracts commence, it will be of real importance that practices are monitoring the cost of their advice and assistance cases, and any firm that is serious about legal aid should also be looking at average costs for their certificated work.For most firms this is a completely new area and, although the main software suppliers are well advanced developing appropriate systems, none is available yet.

Early in the summer the Law Society recognised that this was an area that many firms were going to have to tackle.

Rather than everyone re-inventing the wheel, it was decided that it should be possible to develop an Excel template or simple Access database that could be provided as a free download from the LMS Web site for firms to use to calculate their own averages.During the last three months, two LMS member firms, one in Yorkshire and the other in the Home Counties, have been piloting the software and three more members will be testing the final version at the end of September.

This will be launched in early November and will be available as a free download from the members-only section of the Web site.It has been designed to meet the needs of firms which just want to comply with the bare minimum legal aid franchise quality assurance standard requirements, and also for those which want to undertake more detailed analysis by case category.

'Cost' is defined as cost to the Legal Aid Board (LAB) and includes both profit costs and disbursements, and in some franchise categories, such as immigration or housing, the latter can be significant.

In order to calculate their averages, firms work from the remittance advice that accompanies their BACS payments and enter each payment into the software, indicating what franchise category it is and whether it is advice and assistance or is in respect of certificated work.

Firms have the option of sub-dividing certificated work by case category - and at this level meaningful average costs can be calculated.

They can also sub-divide advice and assistance by the same case categories.The LAB has worked closely with the LMS during the summer, and it is hoped that the software will include the subject matters that the LAB itself will be monitoring in due course.

Firms may well decide to change their own coding structure to fit in with these new codes.Niche west London crime firm, and LMS member, Soni & Kaur, was one of the three firms which took part in the initial pilot.

Partners Aaron Soni and Sunvir Kaur say: 'We found the software surprisingly easy to use, and that the figures generated provided an extremely useful insight into our average costs.

These were calculated separately for advice and assistance under claim 10s, advice at police station, and all work undertaken in the magistrates' court.

It highlighted weaknesses and strengths of the practice that in turn focussed our minds on the areas that required development.

Despite the software being in its early stages in relation to criminal practices, we found it a very useful tool which we would recommend to other firms'.In addition to this new application, the section has already launched a facility for firms to compare their average costs for advice and assistance work.

In this case, firms complete an on-line form to provide their own averages and a set of graphs is updated twice a month on the site.

Currently, 17 firms have provided data.The LAB is keen to emphasise that cost is only part of the equation and that in due course it will also be looking at outcomes.

It is no good being very low cost if a firm keeps losing, or securing poor results for clients.

To be the lowest cost is not necessarily an advantage.

However, as always, pertinent information is generally useful and a clue to a firm's costs relative to others is potentially a real advantage.The next area of the Web site to be developed is the discussion section.

Scheduled for launch in early October, this will provide a forum for members to discuss a variety of issues of mutual concern and interest.

It will also provide an opportunity for members to share ideas and benefit from the experiences of others, as most problems will already have been encountered by someone else.

It is intended to create a series of sub-sections such as financial management, client care, consultants and marketing, and for members to post questions under the appropriate heading.

As with benchmarking and most of the other services, this will be part of the 'members only' part of the site.Law Management SectionThe Law Management Section's services to memb ers include:-- Managing for Success - a quarterly newsletter containing articles on all aspects of practice management.-- Discounts on a range of management texts, video training programmes, management events and seminars.-- Management Skills Training - A Guide for Legal Practices - this guide sets out, step by step, how to organise cost-effective management training in-house.-- Annual Conference - Meeting the Business Challenges of the 21st Century.

This year's key management conference takes place on 25 November 99 at the Cumberland Hotel, London.-- Annual IT Forum - event focussing on key IT issues affecting the profession.These products and services create opportunity for contact, communication and sharing of best practice ensuring improved effectiveness and profitability for members.

Solicitors or anyone employed in a solicitors' practice may join - whether they are working in-house, in local government or in private practice.

The section covers the full range of management disciplines: finance, marketing, personnel/human resources, training, IT, client care and quality standards.-- For more information about the Law Management Section and other benefits offered to members visit the web site: www.lms.lawsociety.org.uk or telephone 0171 316 5736.