White Papers | ABA Survey Sheds Light On Lawyers’ Limited Strategic Use Of Technology
The 2004-2005 American Bar Association Legal Technology Survey indicates that legal technology is changing the way attorneys do their jobs and connect with clients. However, law firms still have a long way to go to realize the greatest value from technology to support their business strategies.
The survey of 1,500 ABA lawyer members in private practice in the United States, is an annual project of the ABA's Legal Technology Resource Center (LTRC). It offers a comprehensive look at how the legal profession uses technology.
The survey found that America’s attorneys are increasingly using technology to connect with clients and colleagues while away from the office. In fact, the number of lawyers who say they use wireless technology to connect to the Internet away from the office has more than doubled since 2003.
Currently, 19 percent of respondents are using wireless technology to access the Internet away from the office, up more than eight percent from the previous survey.
The survey found that legal technology has reached a state of maturity and attorneys are integrating the use of technologies into their daily routines.
- Ninety-eight percent of lawyers who responded to the survey use computers at work;
- While every respondent age 49 and under uses a computer at work, the majority of those who don’t are age 60 or over;
- Eighty-eight percent of those who responded to the survey have Internet access away from the office;
- More than half of respondents who say they have Internet access away from the office have high bandwidth connections – either using cable modems or DSL;
- Only about one in four respondents who have Internet access away from the office uses a dialup modem; and
- While anti-virus software availability has remained consistent with past surveys at 92 percent, firewall software availability has risen to nearly 66 percent from 43 percent in 2002.
One of the more interesting findings is the greater emphasis on security. It clearly reflects heightened concerns about hacking and distributed denial of service attacks. Law firms are taking action, with availability of encryption software up to 24 percent, which is a good start. However, it’s pretty amazing that only about half of respondents are using encryption.
Additional findings include:
- Almost half of the law firms responding to the survey had no policies regarding acceptable use of office computers, Internet and e-mail; and
- Nearly 60 percent had no disaster recovery or business continuity plans that they know of, despite an increased awareness of the vulnerabilities of natural disaster, terrorism and other threats.
Overall, the study findings indicate that technology is playing a more central role in helping attorneys do their jobs and connect with clients more effectively. It’s not nearly as clear that law firms are implementing technology to support their business strategies. At Rafte & Company, it is our firm belief that technology investments can provide a tangible and measurable return when they are aligned with a firm’s strategy and culture. But that doesn’t happen without leadership and persistence.
Realizing the greatest return on investment from legal technology investments requires the active involvement of firm leadership to foster a shared vision and a focus on the client while encouraging a proactive mindset for the firm. You can read more about how closely aligning technology investments with a clear business strategy can help to level the playing field or give the firm a competitive advantage at “Business Strategy + Technology = Competitive Advantage.”
Kudos to the ABA LTRC for gathering this comprehensive look into how law firms are using technology. The survey is an annual project of the ABA LTRC, a specialized unit providing lawyers, bar associations, law schools, and other legal organizations with information on technology and its use in the practice of law. The executive summary is available here for $150. The complete five-volume set (Law Office Technology, Litigation and Courtroom Technology, Web and Communication Technology, Online Research, Mobile Lawyers) is available here for $2,225.
