Top ten IT solution suppliers win places in Law Society guide

Recommendations: three new entries among firms listed in fourth publication

Ten suppliers have won a place in the Law Society's software solutions guide this year, including three new entries, it was announced this week.

The guide, now in its fourth year, will be sent to all partners in firms with ten partners or fewer and to the senior partners in larger firms.

It features packages which have been snapped up by 2,850 practices, with 45,600 users between the suppliers.

The three new entries making the grade are Axxia's PMS, DPS Software's case management, and Quill's pinpoint accounting bureau.

Quill's package uses Quillenium, a successful entry in 2000 which was not reviewed this year.

The judges recommended PMS for firms with four or more partners, complimenting its 'comprehensive range of features and sophisticated range of practice management controls'.

DPS was commended for its document automation feature, which would make it attractive to smaller firms undertaking high-volume work.

Quill would also be of benefit to smaller firms from a risk management point of view, they said.

On the list for the second year running are: Lawbyte from Edgebyte Computers; Legal Ledger FiLOS from JCS Computing Solutions; Mountain Software from Mountain Software; SOS Practice Manager from Solicitors Own Software; and Videss Legal Office from Videss.

Like last year, MSS got a mention for AlphaLAW-esprit, with AlphaLAW-vantage also highly rated this year.

Gavel & Gown, which succeeded with Amicus Attorney last year, also saw PCLaw included this year.

Scoring the highest were Edgebyte and MSS.

The panel said Lawbyte, rated 'very good' in all but two of the categories listed, was 'easy to use and logical, meeting the full range of needs of the smaller firm including excellent LSC [Legal Services Commission] reporting'.

AlphaLAW-vantage, rated 'very good' in all but four of the categories, was a 'fully featured' tool for larger firms, with AlphaLAW-esprit constituting a 'no-nonsense accounts and time recording package that is competitively priced for the smaller firm'.

Present in the guide last year but missing this year are Pracctice's Osprey, and Partner for Windows from Technology for Business.

When it came to users, DPS was a favourite with 457 firms, followed by Mountain Software with 433.

SOS had the most individual users, boasting 7,640, with Videss following with 5,580.

Law Society President David McIntosh said the guide would provide a starting point for firms when drawing up their own shortlists.

'The majority of solicitors' practices do not have their own in-house IT resources, and so the selection of software is important as the wrong choice may lead to disruption and waste time and money,' he added.

Links: www.it.lawsociety.org.uk

Paula Rohan