ABA report focuses on attorney technology use

The American Bar Association Legal Technology Resource Center has released its ABA TECHREPORT 2019, a comprehensive publication exploring how attorneys are using technology in their practices.

TECHREPORT 2019 combines data from the annual Legal Technology Survey Report with expert analysis, observations and predictions from legal technology leaders.

Separated into nine different articles on technology topics, TECHREPORT 2019 covers the prominent areas in technology that lawyers are facing today.

The survey reports concentrate on issues relating to technology use, not product use.

Examples of statistical information included in the survey report are:

• Eight percent of lawyers who responded are currently using artificial intelligence-based technology tools. Firms of 100 or more lawyers are most likely to be currently using artificial intelligence-based technology tools (26 percent), followed by 5 percent from firms of 2-9 attorneys, 4 percent of solo lawyer respondents and 0 percent from firms of 10-49 attorneys (compared to 12 percent in 2018).

• Eleven percent of respondents that telecommute said they work from a public place and 10 percent from coffee shops/cafes. The numbers are down from previous years (14 percent in 2018, 16 percent in 2017 and 15 percent in 2016 for public places; and 15 percent in 2018 and 11 percent in 2017 and 2016 for coffee shops/cafes).

• More than 49 percent of respondents have used legal analytics in the past year; 35 percent cited legal analytics were used for conducting legal research, 22 percent cited developing case or matter strategy and 16 percent cited understanding judges.

Three of the nine articles — Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity and Websites & Marketing — are available for free on the ABA website and on Law Technology Today.

The other six will be released on Wednesdays through Dec. 18.

The Legal Technology Survey Report was started more two decades ago by the ABA Law Practice Division. It is based on responses by practicing lawyers — not consultants, vendors or IT staff.
The survey report is separated into five volumes, including a new category on Life & Practice, and is available for sale at shopaba.org.