Eclipse announces 'Compact' - the new case and practice management software solution for small law firms

Eclipse Legal Systems – the UK’s leading legal software provider – has announced the launch of Eclipse Compact, a new solution designed to cater for the needs of small law firms.

Built using Eclipse’s existing Law Society Endorsed ‘Proclaim’ case and practice management platform, Compact streamlines the overall functionality suite to provide a core set of tools enabling smaller organisations to benefit from many of those contained in the market-leading system.

Compact is a securely hosted solution aimed at law firms of between 1 and 10 users. Featuring no up-front costs, Compact can be rapidly rolled out for a standard ‘per user, per month’ price. To ensure consistency and zero IT disruption as law firms grow, a pre-defined upgrade path to the full Proclaim product is available for firms beyond 10 users or whose requirements dictate enhanced functionality.

Eclipse Compact is available immediately and can be taken as a pure case management solution for specific work areas, or an integrated practice management system with SAR-compliant finance tools.

Eclipse’s marketing director, Darren Gower (pictured), explains further:

“Our Proclaim solution has always been extremely popular with small law firms, new startups, and sole practitioners – and we are proud of our position as the go-to supplier for this market. We are acutely aware though of a number of firms that require a different pricing model and do not yet need a full suite of workflow, administrative, and customer contact tools.

“Rather than those practices adopting technologies which are unproven, contain hidden service costs, and provide no upgrade path, we wanted to open up the Proclaim world. Our new Compact solution allows an even broader range of law firms to experience a selected set of Proclaim’s market-leading functionality.”

Eclipse Legal Systems turns 30 as Proclaim's user base soars to 25,000

Eclipse Legal Systems, the sole Law Society Endorsed legal software provider, today announced that the user base for its Proclaim software has hit 25,000 individuals, in the same year as its 30th birthday.

The company was founded in May 1987 and has gone on to become the market's leading legal software vendor. Eclipse initially started life as a specialist in high volume case management systems, and its expertise has expanded to encompass the full range of legal services and matter management. The last 30 years have seen a host of successes including constant innovations; expansion outside of the UK; industry award wins; acquisition by Capita; and most recently, Law Society Endorsement.

Specifically, over the last 12 months the firm has seen a continued surge of new client wins, with the total number of end users for its Proclaim Case and Practice Management system increasing by over 2,000, taking the total number of individual system users to 25,000.

In this time, Eclipse has also expanded its global coverage; including to Canada, implementing its Proclaim solution at leading personal injury firm, Litwiniuk and Company; and most recently to Scotland, working in conjunction with heavyweight Scottish firm, Drummond Miller, to create a system that can accommodate the legislative requirements of Scottish law.

Darren Gower (pictured), Eclipse's Marketing Director, comments:

"It's a fantastic achievement to be celebrating two substantial milestones in one year, and an incredibly proud time for all of us at Eclipse. One of the key drivers behind our success has been the sheer flexibility of Proclaim, and this has played a crucial role in winning and retaining clients. Whether it's firm-wide implementations, departmental rollouts, or boutique start-ups, Proclaim effortlessly meets the ongoing requirements of the legal sector.

"To have 25,000 individuals using our solution - which is an integrated product on a single technology platform - is unmatched in the UK legal technology marketplace. Here's to 25,000 more!"

Eclipse Legal Systems selected as an Approved G-Cloud supplier

Eclipse Legal Systems, the sole Law Society Endorsed legal software provider, today announced it has been approved as a supplier on the latest version of the Crown Commercial Services' (CCS) procurement framework, G-Cloud 9.

G-Cloud 9 is a Government initiative targeted at easing procurement for public sector organisations and departments across the UK, enabling them to seamlessly search for businesses that offer infrastructure, software and cloud services, via a secure online store, the Digital Marketplace.

As an approved supplier, Eclipse now has the opportunity to promote its Proclaim Case and Practice Management Software solutions within the Digital Marketplace, directly to organisations within the public sector, facilitating a more streamlined procurement process.

Eclipse's Marketing Director, Darren Gower (pictured), comments:

"We are thrilled to have been selected as an approved supplier, and to be supporting the Government's initiative to further drive online services via its Digital Marketplace.

"This opportunity will not only serve to enhance Proclaim's reputation as the market-leading software solution of its type, but will also provide public sector bodies with more immediate access to an unequalled set of efficiency and productivity tools."

Protecting against fraud in the legal sector

Following the high profile Mishcon de Reya case, Eclipse spoke to Modern Law Magazine to discuss how law firms can protect themselves against fraud. 

The Mishcon de Reya case has major implications for the legal profession as a whole, proving not only relevant to solicitors that deal with property transactions, but to any matters where funds are held in a client account for an intended transaction.

Regrettably fraud - and in particular property fraud - is on the rise within the legal sector. According to the NatWest 2017 Legal Benchmarking Report, of 269 firms surveyed 24% have been hit by cyber-crime or fraud within the last year, which could be a result of an increased pressure to reduce due diligence activities in order to cater for higher volumes of work.

Although fraud is a rapidly growing trend within the industry, there are a few fundamental steps to mitigate the risks:

• Workflow technology Unfortunately, and perhaps unfairly, solicitor negligence is often blamed for being the biggest fraud risk by lenders. Using the right legal software will provide the control required over working processes and practices - with minimal manual input from the team, and therefore a reduced risk of human error.

• ID, AML and KYC checks As part of any client inception process, reliable and accurate ID/AML checking needs to be carried out.
  
  Despite increased pressures, it's important that this isn't looked at as a 'tick-box' exercise - good case management software, such as Proclaim, will have the required integration with ID checking software, enabling buy solicitors to seamlessly conduct checks and receive instant verification of documents. 

• Lawyer Checker Following the above, verifying details of the law firm on the other side of the transaction - particularly when purchasing a property for a client - is a crucial step.
  
  This can be done via a number of databases, but perhaps the most thorough method is through Lawyer Checker. The online service allows a purchase conveyancer to gather information on the seller's conveyancer - specifically whether the bank details provided have a track record of use in conveyancing.
  
  Seamlessly integrated within Eclipse's Proclaim legal software solution, it enables searches at the click of a button.

• Educate your clients
  Clients don't always realise their actions aren't secure, yet it's law firms that are at risk of blame if clients' details are exposed. Firms therefore need to thoroughly 'train' clients on methods of communication and how best to use them. 

Unfortunately, the sophistication of fraud is ever-evolving and the repercussions to law firms are often disastrous. The greatest risks, however, can usually be eradicated by taking straightforward preventative measures and exercising extreme vigilance.