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Christopher, your comments are interesting, but they seem to me to entirely miss the point. They also explain why for many people (including myself) any type of case management system is of no interest at all.

This is because I'm a professional, and I pride myself on knowing what needs to be done on a file without being reminded by a blinking cursor. I also know when clients need to be reassured and advised about what's happening, and I make sure I do it. I treat them as individuals, not as part of a `process', and they appreciate it.

The sort of stuff that's being puffed by Mr Lancaster et al is really aimed at volume conveyancers who employ lots of low-skilled and low-paid people to conduct their conveyancing. They could reasonably be described as processors, so that a `process-led' case management system is needed to tell them what to do next.

Unfortunately, I sometimes have the misfortune to be on the other side of such people, and I can only say it's as well that one of us is a professional, as I often have to sort their problem out in order to assist my client.

Any system that depends on conveyancers updating it is doomed to fail. This isn't just because they haven't got the time, but because many of them wouldn't want their client to be able to see the true picture, namely that they still haven't replied to enquiries raised two weeks ago, or have had the mortgage instructions in for 3 weeks when they've told the client they must have got lost in the post!

Conveyancers are human beings, and subject to human failures. Unfortunately, process-led software makes no allowance for this.

So while this type of system may to some extent work for the pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap conveyancing factories, who can force their workers to use it, it's extremely unlikely to catch on with solicitors who actually take a pride in what they do or their clients who are willing to pay for a genuinely professional service.

It's also very irritating to see any criticism of this type of technology dismissed as Luddite mumblings. I really appreciate technology that works well, such as the Land Registry system, and I'm only too keen to adopt it. But this is because I can actually see a genuine benefit to both my client and myself.

The bottom line is that I'm happy with the way I do my conveyancing and my clients are happy. The delays and problems that arise are nearly always due to those pesky human failings mentioned above, and I'm afraid no technology is going to cure those.