The legal profession is rapidly evolving, and legal technology or lawtech is a major driver of this change. To inform your digital transformation roadmap and legal tech initiatives, here are some of the key stats to bear in mind:
10% of firms are currently using interactive websites to generate legal documents - SRA
20% of firms are planning to use interactive websites to generate legal documents - SRA
6% of firms are currently using chatbots or virtual assistants - SRA
14% of firms are planning to use chatbots or virtual assistants - SRA
88% of the top 100 firms have invested in e-signatures - PwC
84% or the top 100 firms have invested in Document Management Systems - PwC
81% of the top 100 firms have invested in Virtual Data Rooms - PwC
11% of the top 100 firms have invested in Expertise Automation - PwC
28% of the top 100 firms have invested in Robotic Process Automation - PwC
28% of the top 100 firms have invested in Contract Lifecycle Management - PwC
50% of law firms in England and Wales use AI lawtech - Oxford University
65% of firms have planned or already implemented website development to attract clients - LexisNexis Bellwether 2021
59% of firms planned or already developed a social media strategy to attract clients - LexisNexis Bellwether 2021
26% of firms plan to hire, or have already hired, more staff to focus on digital marketing or business development - LexisNexis Bellwether 2021
87% of law firms use video conferencing for meeting clients - SRA
72% of firms use tech to improve service quality - SRA
15% of firms are currently using online portals for matter status updates - SRA
21% of firms are planning to use online portals for matter status updates - SRA
71% of firms use tech to improve efficiency - SRA
67% of firms introducing new services also introduced new technology - SRA
Over half of firms say their use of technology has increased since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic - SRA
66% of law firms store data in the cloud - SRA
Over 50% of firms use practice management or legal research software - SRA
37% of firms use legal tech - SRA
24% of firms plan to use legal tech - SRA
The top 10 firms spend an average of 0.5% of fee income on legal tech - PwC
Investment in lawtech is estimated to reach up to £2.2bn per year by 2026 - LawtechUK
44% of firms use tech to allow staff to work more flexibly - SRA
1 - 2% of advertised legal sector jobs for regulated lawyer jobs required lawtech skills between 2014 and 2020 - SRA
15% of advertised legal sector jobs for non-regulated jobs required lawtech skills between 2014 and 2020 - SRA
Solicitors who were required to have lawtech skills were paid on average 13% more than those without lawtech skills - SRA
Paralegals who were required to have lawtech skills were paid on average 25% more than those without lawtech skills - SRA
56% of solicitors agree with the statement: “lawyers need to become familiar with multiple non-legal specialisms, such as data science, project management, and design thinking” - Oxford University
3% of solicitors have received training in software coding in the past three years - Oxford University
Data analytics is the biggest solicitors’ innovation-related skills training priority over the next three years - Oxford University
71% of firms working in conveyancing use technology to help them deliver services - SRA
54% of firms working in employment use technology to help them deliver services - SRA
53% of firms working in employment use technology to help them deliver services - SRA
71% of firms working with large corporate clients use technology to help them deliver services - SRA
Regulatory compliance has been the fastest growing segment of lawtech, at 214% over the past three years - LawtechUK
44% of firms who use legal tech say that regulatory uncertainty or barriers affect their adoption of technology - SRA
36% of firms are uncertain of the business benefits of legal tech - SRA
31% of firms do not see legal tech it as a strategic priority - SRA
27% of firms do not see the need for using technology or innovation within their business - SRA
90% of the top 100 firms are extremely or somewhat concerned about cyber risk -
15 - 31% of the top 100 firms do not know if a cyberattack has taken place -
76% of the top 100 firms suffered a cybersecurity incident in 2021 as a result of unintentional actions taken by staff - PwC
80% of the top 100 firms have a dedicated cyber security resource - PwC
46% of lawyers think it is risky to use the open web (eg Google) to search for legal answers. But despite this, Google is the most-used source for research and guidance information amongst lawyers - LexisNexis Bellwether 2021
5% of lawyers completely trust the accuracy of free legal information found on the internet - LexisNexis Bellwether 2021
For more information on law firms and new technology, visit our Planning for the future—law firms and new technology practice notes.
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