The Eclipse Proclaim Modern Law Conveyancing Awards 2018 – shortlist

We’re delighted to announce that the shortlist for this year’s Eclipse Proclaim Modern Law Conveyancing Awards has been released!

Taking place on Thursday 12th July at The Rum Warehouse in Liverpool, the event promises to be one of the most prestigious for the conveyancing sector.

After facing a number of tough decisions to whittle down all of the high-calibre entries, the judges have created a final shortlist of firms and individuals, which can be seen below.

Congratulations to all!

Conveyancing Firm of the Year – North of England
Birchall Blackburn Law
Countrywide Conveyancing Services
Lester Campbell Solicitors
Napthens LLP
Stephensons Solicitors LLP

​Conveyancing Firm of the Year – Midlands
Brethertons LLP
Ellisons Solicitors
MJP Conveyancing Ltd
Moore & Tibbits Solicitors
PM Property Lawyers​

Conveyancing Firm of the Year – South of England
Brethertons LLP
Coffin Mew LLP
PCS Legal
The Partnership
Thomas Legal Group

Conveyancing Firm of the Year – Wales
Countrywide Conveyancing Services
Howells Legal Ltd t/a Howells Solicitors
Newbold Solicitors

​Search Provider of the Year
InfoTrack
OneSearch Direct
Searches UK
SearchFlow

Innovation of the Year
DevAssist Ltd
inCase
InfoTrack
Lawyer Checker
Perfect Portal

​Rising Star of the Year
Catherine Ann Booton – DF Legal LLP
Charlotte Still – PCS Legal
Richard Newton – Lester Campbell Solicitors
Rosie Simms – Moore & Tibbits Solicitors
Tim Hare – Countrywide Conveyancing Services

​Service Provider of the Year
DevAssist Ltd
Griffiths Allen-Stamp Duty Advisers
inCase
InfoTrack
Intuit QuickBooks (UK)
Perfect Portal

​Client Care Award
Emsleys Solicitors
Howells Legal Ltd t/a Howells Solicitors
MJP Conveyancing Ltd
Newbold Solicitors
Pinney Talfourd LLP
The Partnership

​Best Use of Technology
inCase
My Home Move
Perfect Portal
Simply Conveyancing Property Lawyers
The CS Partnership
The Partnership

​Outstanding Commitment to Training
Coffin Mew LLP
My Home Move
PCS Legal
PM Property Lawyers

​Property Team of the Year
Attwells Solicitors LLP
Clapham & Collinge LLP
Newbold Solicitors
PCS Legal
Pinney Talfourd LLP
Stephensons Solicitors LLP

​Conveyancer of the Year
Alana Northcott – Countrywide Conveyancing Services
Claire Wright – Countrywide Conveyancing Services
Jonathan Achampong – Wedlake Bell LLP
Rachel Simmonds – Moore & Tibbits Solicitors
Sidhra Ali – Lester Campbell Solicitors
Tom Janda – Countrywide Conveyancing Services

​National Conveyancing Firm of the Year
Birchall Blackburn Law
Brethertons LLP
Countrywide Conveyancing Services
Howells Legal Ltd t/a Howells Solicitors
Stephensons Solicitors LLP
The Law Practice UK Ltd

​

PG Legal selects the Proclaim Practice Management system to enhance client care and support growth

Highly regarded commercial law specialist, PG Legal, has implemented the Law Society Endorsed Proclaim Practice Management Software solution from Eclipse Legal Systems, the UK’s leading legal software provider.

Established in 2011 and specialising in commercial property transactions, PG Legal has grown to provide a range of legal services to businesses of all sizes and sectors in the North East and throughout the UK, including dispute resolution, debt recovery and employment law. Today the firm operates from its head office in Gateshead with further offices in Stockton and has a team of 24 committed to providing excellent client care.

Prior to implementing Proclaim, PG Legal had outgrown its incumbent software systems which no longer provided the functionality needed to cement the firm as the first choice for businesses looking for legal solutions. To strengthen its market position, PG Legal chose an easy to use Proclaim Practice Management solution bringing case and practice management together into one central, secure platform.

As part of the implementation of Proclaim, Eclipse conducted a data migration of both case and accounting data from the practice’s incumbent systems.

To establish a solid approach to managing prospective clients, the firm has implemented Proclaim’s New Business Enquiries toolset to streamline enquiry management and file opening procedures. The firm is also benefitting from Eclipse’s integrated Credit Control Centre tool which provides increased efficiencies through complete management and analysis of key payments information.

Jonathan Fletcher (pictured), Director at PG Legal comments:

“We see implementing Proclaim as a vital part of our future strategy to drive the practice forward whilst staying true to our core value of providing an excellent, comfortable and transparent customer experience. The inbuilt scalability and flexibility of Proclaim will prove invaluable as our operations and client base continue to expand.”

Eclipse announces new functionality to cater for the Precedent S Electronic Bill of Costs

Eclipse Legal Systems, the Law Society’s endorsed legal IT provider, has announced updated functionality in its Proclaim solution to enable firms to utilise the new Electronic Bill of Costs.

In April 2018 a new format was introduced for the billing of personal injury matters, mandated for completion via the new ‘Precedent S’ electronic bill. The intention is that electronic bills will provide greater transparency regarding the value of costs being claimed, be easier to compile, and less expensive to prepare by using automated calculations. It is also intended that costs incurred in a claim will be easier to understand (especially where there has been a costs budget agreed).

Eclipse’s Proclaim case and practice management solutions have been updated to enable the management of these changes to time recording, as well as providing users with the ability to produce the new Precedent S Electronic Bill from the history of the digital file. All data is arranged into the relevant mandated categories of phase, task and activity.

Tracy Blencowe (pictured), business solutions director at Eclipse, comments:

“Mandated changes to existing ways of working are always a challenge for practitioners, and we see our role as enabling them to adapt to change as smoothly and as easily as possible. Our new Precedent S solution is already rolled out to those clients of ours that have requested it, allowing for a minimum of disruption for them to transition to the new electronic bill. To make our solution as widely available as possible, we can even provide three different ways of implementing the enhancement in order to suit firms of all shapes, sizes, and complexity of caseload.”

The Eclipse Proclaim Modern Law Conveyancing Awards 2018 – nominations open!

The Eclipse Proclaim Modern Law Conveyancing Awards are taking place on 12th July at The Rum Warehouse, Liverpool.

Eclipse is proud to be headline sponsor of the event, which celebrates excellence in client care, and will recognise those taking the lead in innovation; those who have achieved successes as teams or individuals; and those championing client care.

The winners will be chosen by an esteemed panel of judges, who have been carefully selected based upon their knowledge and experience within the industry.

Click here for a full list of the award categories, and to make your nominations before the deadline of Friday 27th April!

MJV & Co effortlessly increases efficiency with Eclipse’s Compact practice management system

Established family-run law firm, MJV & Co, is implementing the new Compact solution from Eclipse Legal Systems, the UK’s leading legal software provider.

Based in Blackpool, MJV & Co boasts 50 years’ combined experience across a range of legal services for both private and commercial clients. The firm prides itself on its ability to offer a truly tailored service, often providing out of hours’ appointments, home visits, business visits and a fixed fee pricing structure to suit client requirements. 

Due to an increased workload, MJV & Co recognised the need for a robust practice management system to efficiently manage all incoming cases and deliver an enhanced client service.

After researching the market, the Compact solution was selected and will be implemented to provide MJV & Co with the core functions of Eclipse’s Law Society Endorsed Proclaim Practice Management system. Of specific importance for the boutique firm was task management, and with Compact’s ability to link tasks with all case activities and provide automated reminders, the team at MJV & Co can ensure important deadlines and events are not overlooked.

Furthermore, Compact’s integration with Eclipse’s practice accounting solution means MJV & Co will benefit from instant access to live financial data, serving to provide a detailed analysis of the firm’s operations and boost efficiency.

Michael Vincent (pictured), Co-founder and Partner at MJV & Co, comments:

“We needed our core practice management software system to be as efficient as possible and it was clear from the outset that Eclipse offered the best solution, enabling us to build upon our existing reputation of excellence. Compact will mean that not only are we able to continue providing a high standard of service, but we can do this effortlessly, and without the need to increase staff numbers or hours.”

Legend Solicitors selects market-leading Proclaim Case Management Software solution to replace its current system

London law firm, Legend Solicitors, is implementing the Proclaim Case Management Software solution from Eclipse Legal Systems, the sole Law Society Endorsed legal software provider.

Legend Solicitors boasts an experienced team of solicitors that specialises in immigration, conveyancing and personal injury. Operating from its East Ham office, the firm offers a professional, friendly and reliable client service, and has earnt a reputation of expertise within the local community.

After an extensive selection process, a range of in-depth demonstrations and a number of meetings, Legend Solicitors saw Eclipse’s Proclaim Case Management system as the best on the market. Initially, the firm decided to implement another system based upon costs, but quickly realised that it was not fit for purpose and following this, selected the Proclaim software solution to cover its conveyancing, immigration and personal injury work areas.

Once implemented, Proclaim will provide all departments with a centralised and consistent desktop application, whilst enabling the firm to streamline its processes and significantly reduce administrative overheads. As a result, fee earners’ time will be freed up to focus on exceptional client service. Additionally, thanks to Proclaim’s flexibility, Legend Solicitors will be able to seamlessly integrate the financial accounting and practice management system in a staged roll-out.

To further drive efficiencies within the personal injury department, Legend Solicitors has opted to implement Eclipse’s full A2A (Application-to-Application) software integration with the MoJ Claims Portal, which will provide the team with a seamless method of submitting claims and eliminating duplicate data entry.

Aravind Sreevalsalan, director of Legend Solicitors, comments:

“Eclipse is the clear market-leader when it comes to legal software and its Proclaim system stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of functionality and adaptability.

“Overall, Proclaim will help us to streamline our case progression, and reduce the time we spend processing cases, therefore helping us to maintain our enviable reputation with our clients.”

Eclipse launches Subject Access Requests workflow to aid law firm GDPR compliance

Eclipse Legal Systems, the Law Society’s sole endorsed software provider, has announced the release of a dedicated Subject Access Requests (SARs) workflow system.

As of May 2018, all organisations will be required to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the new legal framework which seeks to strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the EU. More wide-reaching and onerous than the existing Data Protection Act, GDPR also carries the threat of severe financial penalties for firms found to be in breach, with maximum fines being 20 million Euros, or 4% of the firm’s global turnover – whichever is higher.

Under GDPR, the process around SARs – the mechanism by which individuals can request from an organisation what data is held about them and why – is set to change, with organisations expected to respond quicker and waive any charges they may have once made. As a result, SARs are expected to grow in volume and create an administrative overhead.

Eclipse has created a dedicated SARs workflow solution, seamlessly integrated into its market-leading Proclaim case and practice management software system. The new SARs workflow is available either standalone for non-Eclipse customers, or as a unified toolset for current customers. The SARs workflow will manage requests and automate their handling, reducing cost and aiding compliance with ongoing legislation.

Eclipse’s business solutions director, Tracy Blencowe (pictured), comments:

“GDPR needs to be taken seriously, and existing processes need to be engineered around ensuring that law firms are compliant. We are dedicated to helping law firms make this transition as painlessly as possible, by providing ready-made tools that make compliance a much less onerous task. The SARs workflow joins our recently-released ‘Information Asset Register’ tool and together they provide a robust and scalable platform to enable law firms to enter the new GDPR era with confidence.”