Getting started with legal tech #2: Where the industry stands right now
We’re continuing our ‘Getting started with legal tech’ blog series today with industry statistics showcasing current technology adoption in our sector. As explained briefly in last week’s blog, technology really can be anything you want it to be. This week’s figures show usage of systems ranging from e-signatures and e-verification, to legal research and online portals, to practice management software and virtual assistants.
Where does the legal industry currently stand with legal tech?
The SRA commissioned a report on technology and legal services from the University of Oxford. The report gave a very promising picture of the development of technology within the legal sector:
87% were using video conferencing tools to meet with clients.
66% were using cloud storage.
62% were using practice management software.
50% were using legal research software.
37% were using e-verification/e-signatures.
When asked about more specialist legal technology, a significant number of firms said they were either already using it or planned to do so in the future:
36% were using/planning to use online portals for matter status updates.
30% were using/planning to use interactive websites to generate legal documents.
50% were using/planning to use chatbots or virtual assistants.
When firms were asked why they had introduced these new technologies:
72% said it was to improve service quality.
71% said it was to improve efficiency.
44% said it was to allow staff to work more flexibly.
33% said it was to reduce the overall cost of service delivery.
22% said it was to increase security and compliance.
Additionally, 67% of those introducing new services introduced new technology at the same time.