I have been the IT Manager at LK Shields Solicitors for 10 years, having started my career as a secretary . My story is testament to the ethos of LK Shields Solicitors - if you can do it the firm will support you and allow you to develop and grow your role. There are three people in the IT Department and we provide full IT helpdesk support to over 120 people, which includes some remote workers. At LK Shields Solicitors it has never been a case of “technology for technology’s sake” – we have always promoted the use of IT to bring real business benefits to us and to our clients, in turn enabling the firm to continually improve its services.

LK Shields Solicitors has been at the forefront of the use of technology in Irish law firms. We were one of the first firms in Dublin to go firm wide with the Windows environment (way back in 1994) and to favour MS Word as our word processing software of choice. We were the first Dublin law firm to successfully implement digital dictation on a large scale and this technology has really proved to be of enormous benefit. We have recently begun using Winscribe Speech Recognition software which again is proving to be very beneficial to us in maximising productivity and reducing turnaround times for transcriptions.

We currently use a variety of specialist programs such as Arista, Winscribe, Hummingbird, Copitrak, Workshare Deltaview/Protect, Mimecast, Interaction (CRM software). All of our Partners and Associates use Blackberrys which keeps them in touch with the office 24 hours a day from almost anywhere in the world. In addition, my team is involved in the firm's business continuity strategy, facilities planning and of course the ongoing development of the IT strategy of the firm.

Our IT Department is very busy and always working on something new. Our latest project is a document management system and we are currently working on the installation and roll out of Hummingbird’s EDocs. Some law firms have a reputation for being slow to embrace change but I would say that this firm bucks that trend. Change is a necessary part of doing business and this is recognised at LK Shields Solicitors, but it is also recognised that changes need to be made in the right way so that people have all the information and know what to do and what is expected of them.

I love my work here. It is always challenging, interesting and no two days are ever the same (you could say “never a dull moment!”). LK Shields Solicitors has a great group of people and when I need support I always get it .