Originally published on April 12, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
Last year at the LegalTech conference in New York, Andrew Adkins, founder and director of the University of Florida Levin College of Law's Legal Technology Institute Legal Technology Institute, "roamed the exhibit floor for two days talking with vendors about the legal technology industry in general and asking exhibitors and conference attendees their thoughts about the near future and how technology will impact the profession." He performed the same exercise two months later at ABA TECHSHOW. He found that lawyers and legal vendors had just as many questions for him. Thus was born the 2010 Perfect Practice Legal Technology Institute Study (PP-LTI Study).Legal vendors told Adkins that they wanted to know (1) what percentage of the legal profession uses practice management systems, (2) what barriers existed to their implementation, and (3) whether the legal profession had "reached a plateau" in adopting them. From this departure point, Adkins along with Perfect Practice and several other sponsors developed a survey, and distributed it to more than 25,000 randomly-selected lawyers, legal administrators, paralegals, and law firm IT personnel. The survey, however, did not stop there. Adkins also wanted to learn more about the legal profession's use of other technologies.
Larger Firms Lead the Way With Dual Monitors, Security
The PP-LTI Study yielded some surprising results. For example, Adkins found that small law firms by and large have failed to embrace even relatively simple technologies that address core concerns or promote important values such as efficiency, and client confidentiality.
For example, dual monitors "significantly increases efficiency," especially for those who copy and paste text between documents or use multiple applications. More than 66% of respondents, however, reported using only one monitor, and only 18% of this group indicated that they planned to add a second one within 12 months.
Large firm users were more likely to have adopted this technology, with 40% reporting that they used more than one monitor. Nonetheless, Adkins notes that neither cost nor complex integration concerns should restrict the adoption of dual monitors in smaller firms. "With costs of an extra monitor less than $200, law firms and legal departments should explore this benefit of increased productivity (and billable time)."
Also surprising were lackluster numbers with respect to the adoption of technologies that address concerns about client confidentiality and security. "While attorneys always voice concerns, we often find that they don't take advantage of technologies that can help them achieve these goals." Only 53% of respondents reported using metadata clean-up software, and only 25% said they used encryption.
Again, large firms were significantly more likely to have embraced these measures. Of the respondents who reported using metadata cleanup software, 78.2% were large firm users, while small firms lagged behind at 21.8%. Similarly, large firm practitioners were about twice as likely as their small firm counterparts to use encryption software.
Adkins Amazed by Document and Practice Management Numbers
The PP-LTI Study also revealed a surprising result about the profession's approach to document management. "It still amazes me," writes Adkins, "that law firms and legal departments have not implemented document management." A similar study, conducted in 2000, indicated that less than 50% of legal professionals did not use a document management system. A decade later, Adkins noted a marked lack of movement toward the embrace of this technology. More than half of respondents — 52% — said that they did not use a document management system. However, adoption rates were significantly higher at large firms where 80% of attorneys reported using a document management system.
With respect to the study's raison d'etre — practice management systems — Adkins found additional surprises. In 2000, only about 25% of legal professionals reported using a case management system. While Adkins "thought that number would have doubled in ten years," the 2010 survey indicated that only 32.7% of respondents were using case, matter, or practice management software. Large firms lead the way although small firms are not far behind.
Survey respondents reported several barriers to the use of a practice management system: 37% of those surveyed said that their "current method works and is not worth changing." Cost was a big concern for 34% of respondents. And, among users and non-users alike, survey respondents identified both the "total cost" and "integration into the firm or law department" as problems.
The PP-LTI Study found that lawyers who were already using a practice management system were significantly less likely to identify cost as an issue, which "seems to indicate that those firms and legal departments using a CMS understand that there is an acceptable cost for using technology," writes Adkins.
Conclusion
The PP-LTI Study provides comprehensive data on the usage of many other technologies, including SaaS, word processing, litigation support programs, and paperless workflow technologies. It also analyzes specific features of practice management system functionality such as its integration with other programs in common usage. Finally, the survey's results address the legal profession's approach to outsourcing, future technology purchases, and the allocation of technology resources within law firms and legal departments. The PP-LTI Study costs $395. You can download an executive summary and review the survey questions used for free.
Read our companion article, New Study Paints Unflattering Portrait of Small Firms.
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