The Gazette 1989

DECEMBER 1989

GAZETTE

visory access by the system administrator or the Solicitors using the system. It is hard to set standards as between different users. • Networking systems have been very uneven in their application. Some have been disastrous. In the absence of guidance, the legal profession is at sea in practical terms. • The principle of the network requires that, if you need a precedent document from the system, you must first find it! If this is successful, you then copy it over from the P.C. or file server onto your own P.C. If a number of users attempt to copy a particular document at a given time this can lead to problems. There is also a heavy use of the computer system leading to slow-down or blockage. • In a network some of the users do not use up the available space on their P.C.'s, while others over- use, w i t h consequent de- gradation in the network. • If the network consists of disk- less workstations then there is the ultimate degradation result- ing from a multi-user concept in a single-user environment . . . a computer with nowhere to go. Because each user in a network tends to develop his own pre- cedent bank, there is no uni- formity. This means that a lot of material copied over on a regu- lar back up is unnecessary and there is a huge amount of duplication. Housekeeping can become an impossible problem without severe central control. Why then do solicitors buy networks? Because their accountants tell them to do so! Accountants have set up con- sultancy services to advise on computer systems. Accountants have taken to PCs heavily and believe in them. This is because the accountants work suits a PC environment, everybody doing their own special work, low central pro- cessing requirements and a multi- plicity of figure-based programs off the shelf such as Lotus 1-2-3-, Supercalc and Dbase III. Word processing and document product- ion are lower in their priorities. This suits accountants but are wholly inappropriate for solicitors

because accountants figures but solicitors process words. The sooner solicitors start advising their own the better. Conclusion This paper is a debate between multi-user and networking systems in the solicitors office. The writer plumps for multi-user systems. They are now tried and tested. They are based on the highly successful Unix operating system, which, like the solicitor of the future, has the ability to be flexible. With the development of 80386 and 80486 technology and the massive arrival of computer-giant I.B.M. into the Unix arena, Unix has a bright and established future. My conclusion is that the legal office system of the immediate future will be a Unix system, be multi functional, multi tasking, multi-user, be capable of running a Solicitors office in word processing, accounts, data base, information retrieval, external data bases, electronic mail and external com- munications etc. Such a computer is and will be the main tool in the internal organisation of the suc- cessful Solicitors office. 'Frank Lanigan is a Solicitor practising in Carlow. He is a former chairman of the Law Society's Technology Com- mittee and is Chairman of Star Com- puters (Ireland) Ltd., and Managing Director of QZRS Ltd. process FOR SPECIALIST LOSS ASSESSMENT IN ALL TYPES OF AGRICULTURAL CASES SERVICES INCLUDE: INSPECTIONS, REPORTS, PREPARATION OF ACCOUNTS. EXPERT WITNESS. CONTACT: AIDAN WALL M. Agr. SC. Agricultural Consultant. Bective Square, Kells, Co. Meath. Tel. (046) 40961 or 40647. WI NDOW LETTERING For professional and prominent Name display contact: The Window Lettering Co. Unit 10, Sth. Gt. Georges St. Dublin 2. Telephone 780086. Fax 780609.

This operating system is a single- user based system. As a result it carries inherent problems from an organisational point of view. While these may not be apparent to a network user initially, the limitations of such a system become apparent with use and when the question of development or expansion comes up. As the system was designed for single users, a network is therefore a collection of single-users with all the problems that this entails. I believe that Network systems as recommended to the legal pro- fession by consultants have serious design, specification and organisa- tional limitations because:- • The single-user, single function design of the terminals is not suitable to the multiple functions required in a solicitor's practice. The technology, being single- user in concept, is generally unproven in the legal market. • There is no easy access to the code with which the component programs are written. • The latest network word pro- cessing systems are standard- ised for general use but cannot easily be geared towards the Solicitor's specific requirements. • If the network is based on a particular word processing system such as WordPerfect, Multimate, Wordstar etc. it is tied into it. Unlike Unix, no special software such as accounts or data base can be readily integrated w i th the word processing software provided. This restricts development. • It lacks a windowing facility to enable multi-tasking to be done at any given time, e.g. accounts, word processing, data base, all on line. Therefore, moving between functions is laborious and time consuming. The organisation required by the central administration is quite complex. This means that an office administrator is required, who must be highly trained in the use of a network system, with consequent rigidity in its use and expansion. This is hardly labour-saving. If you do not have an administrator, one amateur operator could undo months of work. • In a network, each person is totally independent from the other. There is no uniformity in the information and no super-

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