Infographic: Snapshot of Law Firm Tech in 2015 and Beyond

“So far history has been on the side of the sceptics,” wrote Michael Cross, a news editor with the UK-based Law Society Gazette. “For all the hype about a revolution in legal services since the 2007 Legal Services Act came into force, we have yet to see a technology-enabled new entrant disrupt the sector along the lines of Amazon or Uber.”

His comments come in the form of a blog post, published by the custom publishing firm, Raconteur and titled:  New Technologies Disrupting the Legal Sector.  Disruption as a term in legal tech may well have jumped the shark in 2015, but Mr. Cross points to two technologies as strong contenders:  unified technologies and artificial intelligence (AI).

Unified technology, especially when inclusive of mobile, will “change the way firms are organised and especially how they relate to their clients,” he says using Queen’s English.  The promise of AI he reports, is to reliably sift through mounds of data, save attorney’s time and make litigation “more accessible.”

Snapshot of Law Firm Tech in 2015

His reporting is accompanied by an infographic with snapshots of several legal tech studies conducted throughout the year, including some of which, we’ve covered here.  The combination of statistics presents visual feel for the state of legal technology today, and where the industry is headed in 2015.

Here are three highlights from the infographic:

1. Tech with Law Firm Impact. Citing a survey by eFax Corporate, the infographic lists five technologies with the “biggest impact on law firms in the last five years.” These technologies are:

• Virtual office technologies (45%)
• Document workflow / archive solutions (39%)
• Electronic signatures (34%)
• Online security tools (32%)
• Cloud services replacing PCs (28%)

2. Top Tech Challenges Facing Law Firms. Citing the 2015 InsideLegal and ILTA Purchasing Survey, the infographic identifies the “biggest technology issue or challenge facing law firms.” These challenges include:

• Security management (59%)
• Email management (48%)
• Information governance (40%)
• Risk management and compliance (33%)
• Change management (22%)
• BYOD (22%)
• Cloud-related security risks (22%)
• Lack of budget (20%)

3. Law firm challenges for the next 10 years. Reaching back to 2014, the infographic reviews the landmark ILTA study titled Legal Technology Future Horizons.  This study provides a long view of the challenges to come, and the infographic points to the “top 10 priorities for management of IT in law firms over the next decade.”  These priorities are:

• Balancing security with mobility (68%)
• Aligning IT solutions with business needs (64%)
• Supporting a mobile workforce (57%)
• Educating stakeholders on changes to the tech landscape (49%)
• Educating the business on the strategic potential of IT (49%)
• Increasing the focus on risk management and security (49%)
• Facilitating business innovation (38%)
• Delivering value-adding applications (35%)
• Rapid ID and assessment of emerging tech (29%)
• Integrating with client systems (28%)

The full infographic is embedded nearby and is this week’s Friday Share.

click here or image for higher resolution

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Photo credit:  Raconteur Infographic; ILTA/Legal Technology Future Horizons Study