Partners in crime develop legal aid IT help

Case management: Tuckers and Solicitec join forces to promote flexible working criminal law system

A leading criminal law firm is pioneering a unique IT system which is designed to combat the problems associated with taking on legal aid work, with the further aim of promoting flexible working practices.Tuckers, which has offices in Manchester, Birmingham and London, has joined forces with Solicitec, provider of case management systems, with a view to eventually making the tailor-made set up available to other criminal legal aid firms.Brian Craig, Tuckers' business manager, said the firm chose Solicitec - after a six-month tender process that also looked at more than 30 other case management systems - because it has worked with the Legal Services Commission on IT projects, and so was more aware of the firm's needs.'Because we are a criminal law firm, our solicitors are often working from outside the office, and we had problems with tracking the work done, putting it on the system and sorting out the billing,' he explained.

'Previous systems were not capable of catering to the mandatory requirements under criminal contracting, and this caused immense problems.'The new system is now in the final throes of development, Mr Craig added, and the firm hopes it will go live early in the new year.'Everyone who has seen it develop is sold on it,' Mr Craig said.

'It is very "Windowsy", so solicitors who are familiar with packages like Word will find it easy to get used to.' Mr Craig added that the system's database is focused on client matters rather than events, which means that solicitors can work on more than one matter in a single file, with all the relevant information available at the touch of a button.The system also integrates the firm's accounts and case management, and features a digital dictation facility so that solicitors can work away from the office.

Mr Craig said this fits in well with Tuckers' long-term vision of allowing more staff to work from home.

Solicitec managing director Mark Woodward said that Tuckers was the ideal 'partner in crime' to pioneer the system with.

'As the system will be developed and tested in a large legal aid firm, clients can be confident that it will meet their needs with a minimum of tailoring,' he explained.Paula Rohan