Peter Kay, left, and Jonathan Leach, partners in the new company of Ware and Kay - formed from the merger of York law firms Ware & Peters and Newbald & Kay

Two of York's oldest established law firms, Ware & Peters and Newbald & Kay will merge on April 1 - and herald a huge investment in Internet technology.

The new company, called Ware & Kay - spearheaded by Jonathan Leach of Ware & Peters and Peter Kay - will invest around £250,000 in new streamlining processes and to make the relationship between solicitors and client more transparent.

Security systems will be built into programmes which will allow clients privately to track on the Internet exactly what stage their Ware & Kay solicitor has reached in their case and to monitor the costs so far.

There will also be on-line interactive services which will allow the client to respond to question-prompts in, for example, drawing up a will or obtain fee quotes for conveyancing.

Both practices will initially continue to operate from their own offices in New Street and Lendal respectively until they unite in new larger premises in the city centre for which they are now negotiating.

Whereabouts of the new prospective headquarters are being kept secret but it is said to be "a prestigious building in the city centre which will accommodate the staff of both and have room for future expansion."

The combined Ware & Kay will have a staff of 52, including eight partners, eight other fee-earners and 36 support staff. Ware & Peters' Wetherby office will be maintained under the new banner.

Ware & Peters has been a York solicitors' practice for 170 years and Newbald Kays was formed by Sir Robert Newbald Kay in 1893.

Colin Wragg, practice manager for Ware & Peters said: "We were determined to stay in the city and not move out of town to say, Clifton Moor."

With an active litigation department the combined practice will need to be close to where the action is - at York County Court.

Mr Wragg said that the merger made sense: "The philosophy of the two firms is similar and we are fusing different skills. Newbald Kay is strong on commercial aspects of law whereas we have two solicitors who specialise in mental health law, a growing area as mental health tribunals increase."

Peter Kay will oversee the introduction of the new web-based technology. He said: "We hope that the system will be up and running in a year's time.

"We will be one of few practices in the country to offer a service which allows clients to monitor what solicitors are doing and the costs involved.

"It will mean a revolution in our practices, ensuring that every letter written is automatically dated for the time it was composed and then automatically downloaded to a server. Of course we have to ensure that it is accessed only on a customer code and that it presents an image that cannot be altered.

"And we must ensure that we maintain a close personal relationship with clients who can link into individual solicitors by e-mail or by personal appointment."

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