A NORTH-EAST company is bringing the benefits of information technology to the legal profession, law enforcement agencies and many other case investigation bodies.

Solicitors, police forces, ombudsman schemes and local authorities are all turning to Litigation Disclosure Limited (LDL) for help in the processing and management of substantial quantities of evidential paper and digital-based data.

With its specialist software, LDL has the knowhow, resources and technology available to help organisations capture, collate and analyse this data in a way that is not only fast, but far more efficient and effective than the traditional, manual methods currently employed.

The firm moved recently to the Business and Innovation Centre's new e-business centre, at Innovator House, on Sunderland Enterprise Park.

LDL is now offering a service similar to that already utilised by the FBI, Interpol and the International Court on Human Rights to investigate fraud, money laundering and other major crimes.

Headed by Chris Addison, a lawyer with more than 20 years experience, LDL provides a specialist service that helps organisations use technology to achieve in days what might normally have taken months.

Mr Addison said: "Solicitors, police and many other intelligence bodies are often faced with vast volumes of written evidence, whether on paper or PCs, when investigating a case.

"One of our clients, for example, recently had to process and prepare over 850,000 documents for submission to the Shipman Inquiry. We were able to improve their ability to rapidly match up evidence and prepare the documentation in a meaningful and usable format that satisfied the demands of the inquiry."

A similar system was used in the OJ Simpson trial in America by the defendant's lawyers to great success.

Also, as a result of the review into the system of civil justice conducted under Lord Justice Woolf some years ago, solicitors and barristers will need to use information technology to reduce the cost of litigation and meet much stricter time deadlines for the disclosure of information to opponent parties.

The overall aim of LDL is to help its legal sector clients achieve this in a cost-effective manner.

Mr Addison said: "Our solutions aren't 'boxed.' We work with our clients on a case-by-case basis analysing their real needs."