This year's solicitors and legal office exhibition gave a clear demonstration that the legal profession is emerging from recession.Law Society President Rodger Pannone, giving the opening address, was looking to the future: 'This is a crucial time of development for law firms,' he said.

'Practice management standards mean quality is the name of the game.

It is also essential for lawyers to reduce the unit cost of production.

To meet these challenges computer technology is now essential.'Attendances for all three days were up on figures for 1993.

The event, held at the Barbican and once again sponsored by the Law Society's Gazette, attracted 5882 visitors over the three-day period, a 4% increase on the previous record achieved in 1993.

It was not only the quantity of visitors that was impressive but also their intentions.

Michael Belas, of Avenue Legal Systems, said: 'This was our best ever Barbican.

We reckon we obtained twice as many serious leads as we did last year.' This view was echoed by Peter Caldwell of MSS, the new chairman of the Association of Legal Technology Suppliers: 'Exhibitions always attract a number of "tyre kickers" but this year solicitors were not asking: "Shall I buy?" but: "What shall I buy?" The legal technology market is taking off again.'Although it usually takes several months to convert sales leads into firm orders, many exhibitors reported that those who visited their stands at the beginning of the exhibition were returning on subsequent days with their senior partners, cashiers and IT advisers.

Angela Kelly, of legal systems suppliers Sanderson GA, put this surge in enthusiasm down to an increasing appreciation of the importance of technology.

Stuart Holden of Kienzle Systems, whose company is currently winning new orders at a rate 26% up on the same period for 1993, suggested: 'With PMS and legal aid franchising, many firms identified the need for new computer systems last year but it has only been this year that they have begun to feel financially confident enough to take the plunge and make the necessary investments.'This year Windows were everywhere, with Microsoft's graphical user interface fast becoming the rule rather than the exception.

Indeed, it was noticeable that exhibitors who could only offer the more old-fashioned, character-based computer systems were attracting far fewer visitors than those with Windows.Conversely, probably the most popular option was for an open systems approach that could offer a choice of both Windows and/or character-based terminals, so firms could continue to run their existing hardware while investing in easy-to-use Windows products for partners and fee-earners.On the applications front, with look-alike products being demonstrated on half-a-dozen stands, voice recognition systems continued to attract attention but not the show-stopping crowds of previous exhibitions.

Perhaps it was a sign of the times that most visitors seemed more interested in workhorse applications such as financial/practice management and case management/fee-earner support systems that will help lawyers with their legal work and to run their practices in a more businesslike manner.As for the quality of the equipment on display, Stoy Hayward computer consultant Andrew Levison was enthusiastic, saying he could not understand why it was the fashion among some firms to favour US products when the domestic market was so strong.This year's exhibition also saw the announcement of one item of news which should come as a relief to a number o f practices and local government legal departments.

Publicly-quoted Admiral Software, which recently entered the legal market with the Amicus practice management system, has purchased the rights to the Tracpac and Logit products of Hay Logic, which recently went into voluntary liquidation.Admiral's managing director, Ceri James, commented: 'Hay Logic is a company whose customer loyalty gave us the confidence to proceed with this opportunity.

The market for small legal practices is not fully supported and Admiral feels the sector warrants this investment to ensure these practices get the support they need to run an efficient business.' At the same time, Admiral also announced it had acquired a controlling interest in Sumlock Legal, which originally developed the Amicus product and whose original Advocate system is still used by a number of law firms.The solicitors and legal office exhibition returns to the Barbican in 1995 (6 to 8 June).

Its ever-increasing popularity can be gauged from the fact that, at the close of the 1994 exhibition, only four out of a total of 160 stand sites remained unsold.