Next step forward

The legal IT market is maturing as firms slow down in their race to invest in IT, and this is not a bad state of affairs, writes Kieran Flatt. Firms have not lost their faith in technology as a means of improving their businesses and, as the market matures, best practice has been established and most software is being bought from a handful of suppliers, most of which are focused on selling upgrades of their systems to existing clients rather than on finding new business.

Firms have come around to the idea that more benefits can be had by integrating and refining existing software rather than in buying new software, which could have features nobody will use anyway. Electronic conveyancing is still big news in the UK and, despite being something of a damp squib, when it takes off, there will be a scramble to exploit it. In the words of one prominent lawyer, it could make property as tradable as stocks and shares.

Article on Legalweek