Helen Sage reports
Many legal firms are not capitalising on the technology revolution and are consequently not as profitable as they could be, according to David Higdon, computer consultancy partner with chartered accountants James & Cowper.
He told a recent seminar, attended by Thames Valley solicitors, that computer strategy needed to dovetail into the practice's business objectives. "Big city firms have taken IT to their hearts, but small to middle-sized firms, which do not have the internal resources or the inclination to make IT part of practice life, aren't using it sufficiently," he said.
Higdon said small to medium-sized firms give IT development a low priority. He added: "Partners wrongly believe there are more profitable ways to spend their time."
The seminar was held in conjunction with an IT survey carried out earlier this year by James & Cowper and Lawnet, the computer organisation for lawyers. Higdon said the survey, the seminar and the discussions afterwards had all drawn the same conclusions.
