Nabarros replaces ageing IT as part of modernisation plan

Nabarro Nathanson is to spend £3m over the next 12 months on updating its computer systems across all its offices as part of its "Nabarros 2000" restructuring exercise.

The firm is to replace its word processing software Wordperfect with Microsoft Word and its operating system OS/2 with Windows 95.

At the same time it is introducing a more user-friendly e-mail system (Microsoft Exchange) and a document management system (PC DOCS) which will enable several fee earners to work on the same files, keeping track of which fee earner has done what.

Over the past two years the firm has bought 800 PCs and aims to have one for each of the fee earners by the end of the year.

The new software has already been piloted at its Reading office where fee earners had been using outdated proprietary Wang word processors which are not compatible with PCs.

The new software is aimed to be in place by the end of July, when, said Nabarros marketing manager Chris Hinze, fee-earners and secretaries would undergo a "huge" education programme with outside consultants training them on the new systems.