Solicitors told to do IT as admin piles up

Solicitors told to do IT as admin piles up

As much as 80% of lawyers' work is administrative packaging and more routine than they want to admit, leading IT specialists told delegates.However, Mark Ford, strategic research manager at Clifford Chance, complained that solicitors reject technology which will handle that 80% of work because it does not do the final 20% also.Quentin Solt, head of the corporate technology practice at City firm Berwin Leighton Paisner, agreed that '80% of what we do is inefficient'.

This work can be commoditised and automated, enhancing quality assurance, he argued.'The client knows he's paying far too much because I can't do the other 20% without the 80%,' he said, adding that automating much of the work made staff happier because they can concentrate on that 20% of the work which they were trained to deal with.Mr Solt also called on solicitors to be less sceptical about IT, noting that once they actually see the possibilities of technology, solicitors then feel threatened by it.

'Technology helps human interaction, but doesn't replace it,' he said.Mr Ford said that on-line legal services would lead to a change in firms' charging structures.

'Prices will be based on how much the information is worth, not how long it took to produce,' he said.Orlando Conetta, chief extranet architect for Linklaters, told solicitors that they should concentrate on building their internal systems first.

If they get these right, it becomes 'easy to externalise' the system to clients.'You don't have to spend millions,' he said.

'IT is becoming ubiquitous, and so easier and cheaper to implement.' He pointed to suppliers such as Axxia, Pilgrim and Solicitec for offering easily applied products.

Neil Rose