An expanding legal IT supplier has achieved record results for the second consecutive year as its continues to expand and recruit staff.

Eclipse Legal Systems, the UK’s largest independently owned legal IT supplier, increased turnover to 9.3 Million in the year to June 30, from £8.3 million the year before.

The company, based in Little Germany, now employs more than 150 staff after recruiting more than 40 extra people during the year and expects to take on another dozen in the near future in roles including software developers, sales and training as well as technical apprentices.

Eclipse, which over the past 25 years has grown from a one man band, won more than 100 new clients during the year and nearly 19,000 professionals now use its Proclaim case and practice management software.

Proclaim integrates all case management, accounting, document management, reporting, time recording, task and diary functions, and can be web-enabled to allow clients and referrers to securely view their live case files online.

Eclipse has supplied leading legal firms such as Eversheds Solicitors, Co-operative Legal Services, Quality Solicitors along with Move with Us and LV and the Howard League for Penal Reform.

New clients include Carillion Advice Services, part of FTSE250 company, Carillion, which employs 40,000 people and generates global revenues of more than £4 billion.

Multi-disciplinary law firms such as Tollers Solicitors, Government bodies, including Derry City Council, and insurer-backed Autonet Law.

The firm has also won new business internationally with clients in counties including Ireland, Switzerland, Latvia, Australia, Nigeria and Zambia.

Steve Ough, the company’s founder and chief software architect, said: “To announce such strong results in challenging market times is testament to the appeal and flexibility of Proclaim.

“The variety of organisations we serve is unmatched in the marketplace; we are seeing more and more full-service ‘practice management’ wins alongside our growing Alternative Business Structures and commercial presence. Proclaim is seen not just as a legal management solution, but increasingly as a wider business, client and customer management solution.”

Darren Gower, who was recently promoted to the firm’s six-strong board as marketing director, said that, while developing and supplying legal software remained the core business, Eclipse was also developing new products for a wider range of end-users.

He said: “We continue to see growing demand for out software solutions across a wider range of organisations which mans we will continue to need more people in future and I’d expect we’ll need around a dozen more people in the near future.

“We don’t just sell software and walk away – a key part of our business is providing training to end-users along with implementation and ongoing support.”