Top nine solutions for technology at work ;LAW SOCIETYS SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS GUIDE: The cream of legal IT companies uncovered ;Nine legal IT companies have made it through the selection process for inclusion in the 2001 edition of the Law Societys Software Solutions guide.

;The guide has been sent to the managing partners of all firms with 10 partners or fewer some 9,500 copies.

Last year, eight suppliers made it into the guide, including the five who were featured in the guides first edition the year before.

;Between them, the nine products are used by 2,350 law firms and more than 22,000 users.

;Legal Office by Videss and AlphaLAW-esprit by MSS are the new entries to the guide; Quillennium is the only product from last year not featured this year after maker Quill decided not to enter it.

;Lawbyte by Edgebyte Computers and Osprey from Pracctice garnered the highest ratings from the guides editorial board.

Lawbytes only low rating was for its e-commerce potential.

The boards verdict was that Lawbyte represents excellent value for money for the smaller firm, while Osprey was said to have probably the best diary and scheduling system of all products seen.

;Legal Ledger FILOS received the highest ratings in the customer satisfaction research undertaken for each product.

It received a very good rating in all but one of the eight categories tested, with only value from maintenance contract rated as good.

;Of the two new entrants to the guide, AlphaLAW-esprit was described as a straightforward and well integrated accounting and time recording package with good document management and production.

It is not a full case management system a fact reflected in its price.

;Legal Office was said to be a powerful and flexible system, with some good features for handling conditional fees and excellent contract management reporting for LSC [Legal Services Commission] reporting.

;The other products in the guide are: Amicus Attorney from Gavel & Gown; Mountain Software from Mountain Software; SOS Practice Manager from Solicitors Own Software; and Partner for Windows from Technology for Business.

;Of the nine, Amicus Attorney is the most widely used, with 450 firms; Osprey is next with 350 law firm users.

Partner for Windows one of the most sophisticated products in the guide has the most users (5,000) by virtue of its popularity with larger firms.

;Thirteen companies submitted products for the guide, a significant fall on the first year when the stringent criteria for entry were first put to the test.

Canon UK sponsored the guide.

;LINKS The guide is on-line at www.it.lawsociety.org.uk ;Neil Rose