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GAZETTE
JULY/AUGUST 1990
Law Society Survey of
the computerisation
of Solicitors offices
Last year the Technology Committee carried out a very detailed
survey of computerisation in solicitors' offices. Approximately one
sixth of the firms answered all of whom had computerised except
one firm whi ch intended to. The firms were on average small firms
with three secretarial staff. There were some major changes from
the previous survey. Phillips had fallen from being a leader to quite
a low position. The lead equipment had now become I BM and I BM
compatible Personal Computers, with Wang very closely behind.
The other manufacturers were widely spread, with Olivetti
emerging as a name trying to catch up with Phillips.
Operating Systems
The number of Users tied into pro-
prietary operating systems had
fallen to approximately 25%. The
majority used the personal com-
puter operating system PCD0S/
MSDOS. A good percentage had
switched to Unix/Xenix - just over
6%. The conservatism (or satis-
faction of the users) of the pro-
fession was shown by the fact that
7% of users used an operating
system (and obviously the original
equipment) that has not been
current for seven years. Networking
was also making headway with
4.5% of users.
Accounting Systems
Less than a quarter of those who
had computerised had installed
accounting systems. Of those who
had, only a third had time costing
and a quarter had payroll or spread-
sheets. Apart from the numerous
"Less than a quarter of those
who had computerised had
installed accounting systems".
enquiries to the Society, the results
show that there is obviously a need
for accounts packages to be further
developed to meet the needs of the
profession as the profession
perceives them. There appears to
be dissatisfaction or ignorance of
what is available to the smaller and
medium sized user.
Benefits to the profession
Over two thirds of those who
replied stated that they intended to
upgrade and buy new equipment
within the next few years. It would
appear that the profession is about
to go through a second phase of
computerisation. This must be
good news for suppliers who are
keenly aware that the next time
around, users are much easier to
deal w i th as they are more
computer literate, and tend to buy
a lot more equipment than the first
time. Three quarters of the users
stated that they had benefitted
from computerisation, and nearly
half of those had reduced staff
ratios as a result of it. The firms had
an average of 2.1 computers, one
computer for each 1.47 of staff.
" . . . the profession is about to
go through a second phase of
computerisation''.
The day where every member of
the staff has his own computer is
fast approaching.
Regional results
Some of the regional results were
surprising. There was a very poor
response from County Dublin;
Wicklow, Kerry, Meath, Limerick,
Wexford and Waterford (in fact
most of the seaboard counties)
being highly computerised, some
wi th one computer for every
member of staff, and some inland
counties such as Cavan, Leitrim,
Monaghan and Offaly having only
one computer to three or four
members of staff. There were two
counties that didn't appear to have
any computers at all.
Other results
The above are only some of the
result of the survey. There were
very detailed questions on training,
support, maintenance, and reli-
ability. There were also questions
on so f twa re such as case
processing, litigation support etc.
The results of the survey have been
fed into a database, and reports on
particular aspects of interest can be
generated on a national basis, and
also on a local county basis. The
suppliers who are accredited to the
Law Society can obtain these
reports on request.
•
LAWSOCIETY
LIBRARY
T h e Library has
recent ly installed
a F AX mach i ne.
T h e n umb er is
7 7 0 5 11
T h e F AX n umb er
for other depa r tmen ts
r ema i ns
7 1 0 7 04
STAMP DU TY ON NEW
LARGE HOUSES
The attention of the Revenue
Commissioners has been drawn to
a newspaper report which could
be read as suggesting that the
new stamp duty legislation affect-
ing the purchase of new large
houses will not affect people
entering into contracts prior to 1
September, 1990.
The Commissioners are con-
cerned that arising from this re-
port, people may enter into
contracts for the purchase of new
houses without being fully aware
of the implications of the new
legislation. In particular, the Com-
missioners wish to draw attention
to the fact that contracts, involv-
ing the purchase of houses in this
category, will come within the
scope of the new legislation if
they are concluded (i.e. if the sale
is closed) after 1 September ir-
respective of the date on which
the contract is signed. The
application of the new provisions
will be determined, not by the
date of the contract, but by the
date on which the conveyance of
the property is completed.
Revenue Commissioners
209