Legal Technology Journal

Iris Legal Business has come under renewed scrutiny after announcing earlier this week that managing director Arlene Adams has left the company and been replaced by former Cable & Wireless International board member Tony Bromfield.

The practice management systems specialist announced Adams’ resignation to its clients and LTJ’s online news service on 24 November (click here to view the article), coinciding with Bromfield’s first day in his new role.

Adam’s  was originally hired in May 2007 by Computer Software Group (CS Group) before it was acquired by Iris only one month later. Following the acquisition she was put in charge of drawing together a new legal business unit for Iris, which involved integrating a number of companies including AIM, Videss, Laserform and Mountain; all recent acquisitions of the CS Group.

Iris's chief executive Martin Leuw told LTJ that the project is now complete and that Adams had successfully put together a management team for the legal division, helping to set the product strategy for the business going forward.

“What Arlene did really well was to effect change but the job requirement now is for someone much more operationally focussed to continue to build the business.

"With any business there is a lifecycle and different phases in its development and the phase we are in now is building on the strategy and moving from old products to new and continuing the enhancement of our products,” he said.  “Tony is committed to our plans which continue building upon the strong position we have within this market and will ensure that those plans are uninterrupted.”

Whilst rivals may point to the loss of the heads of all the companies taken over by CS Group as a continual change of leadership, clients remain confident.

Michael Peel, practice director at Ison Harrison solicitors said: “I’ve just signed up to a new product that will take us on for the next seven to eight years and I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t have confidence in them.

“I’m not worried about the change in management, life has to move on,” he added.

Iris’s legal division also came under criticism earlier this year after apparently changing its strategy from supporting all four product lines to only taking forward two – Videss and Mountain.

The business development director of a further rival conceded that continuing with all four potentially competing products was unworkable.

Leuw said: “We realised that in the medium to long term it didn’t make sense and it was better to focus on two products, both of which had already started to work on their next generation, and use them as a platform for the new product range.”

This latest development has put the company under the spotlight as to whether a change at the top will mean further changes for legal division clients. Bromfield does not have a legal background but has dealt with IT and professional services from running Cable & Wireless’s Caribbean businesses.

Despite recent changes Iris says it has a 95% customer retention rate - one of the highest in the industry – and sales have grown from £21.2m in 2005 to £94.9m in 2008. It is forecast that group revenues will grow to £120m this financial year.