We have already looked at integrated case management systems.

However, there are two other permutations to consider: stand-alone and 'best of breed' solutions.

The stand-alone system, as the name implies, is a case management application that will run by itself and, typically, will have either been developed from scratch or 'decoupled' from an integrated system.

The key point is it does not require the billing or database resources of an accompanying practice management system to function properly.

Given my previous comments about the value of an integrated system being precisely this - that if you have a common client/matter database, when information is changed in one part of the system, it automatically updates all other records relating to that client or matter without the need to rekey the data - it may seem odd that anyone should want a stand-alone system.

However, they come into their own in practices that are running some operations, such as volume conveyancing or debt recovery work, on a departmental basis, almost as a separate business within the firm, and the choice of the application overrules the issue of compatibility with any accounts software.

Similarly, stand-alone case management is very much the rule among local authority legal departments, which rarely run full-blown legal accounting systems.

Most modern case management systems can produce data, and in some instances time records, that can be exported into legal accounts systems.

This means that smaller firms with limited budgets may maintain that it makes more commercial sense to invest in case management software - in effect, a system that will help them earn more beans - than in a new accounts system, which is only going to help them count those beans.

Once again there is no shortage of suppliers.

They include: Amicus Attorney (01780 480 764), Axxia Systems (0118 960 2602), Civica (0121 359 4861), DPS Software (020 8804 1022), Eclipse Legal Systems (01274 704100), EMIS Legal (08701 225525), Laserform/LFM (01925 750000), Peapod Solutions (0870 380 1122), Pericom (01908 265533), Pilgrim Systems (0131 555 9700), Pracctice (0870 443 6300) - also available through Oyez Legal Software (020 7556 3200) and Solicitec (0113 226 2000).

Several suppliers, such as Anya Designs (01225 420194), with its CaseKeeper software for legal aid practitioners, and Linetime (0113 250 0020), with its Debtime product, can provide stand-alone systems for more niche sectors of the market.

Charles Christian is an independent adviser to the Law Society's Software Solutions guide