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December 14, 2023

ABA to release TechReport 2023 survey on legal tech trends

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2023 — The American Bar Association Legal Technology Resource Center will begin releasing its ABA TechReport 2023, a comprehensive online series of articles exploring how attorneys are using technology in their practices, on Dec. 18 in Law Technology Today. TechReport 2023 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 2023 covers the prominent areas in technology that lawyers face today, focusing on issues relating to technology use, not product use.

Examples of statistical information included in the annual survey report are:

  • Fifty-six percent of all respondents regularly use fee-based internet/online services for legal research and 21% occasionally use this resource. Twelve percent of respondents report that they never use fee-based online services for legal research. Among the respondents that report regularly using free internet/online services for legal research, 60% are from firms of 100 or more attorneys, 70% are from firms of 10-49 attorneys, 37% are from solo firms and 58% are from firms of 2-9 attorneys.
  • Sixty-four percent of firms budget for technology (compared with 65% in 2022 and 2021, and 62% in 2020). As in prior years, this percentage increases with firm size: 51% of solo respondents, 52% from firms of 2-9 attorneys, 74% from firms of 10-49 attorneys (compared with 65% in 2022, 69% in 2021 and 78% in 2020), and 86% from firms of 100 or more attorneys. Overall, 11% indicated they did not know if their firms budget for technology.
  • During the past four years, there has been a downtrend in the percentage of respondents using a desktop as their primary computer. Forty percent of all respondents (compared to 41% in 2022, 44% in 2021, and 49% in 2020) report using a desktop as their primary computer. Fifty-four percent of all respondents (compared to 56% in 2022, 53% in 2021, and 47% in 2020) report laptops as their primary computer, including 42% using a laptop computer docked with one or more monitors, keyboard, mouse and/or other accessories and 12% using a laptop computer on its own.
  • Respondents who report describing their practice as a virtual law practice (11% overall) were asked what they consider to be the defining characteristics of their virtual law practice. A majority of respondents chose “ability to travel and work from anywhere” (76%), “ability to work outside of normal business hours” (67%), “better work-life balance” (64%), “minimal in-person contact with clients” (60%) and “lack of traditional physical office” (53%).

The TechReport articles will begin posting on Law Technology Today on Dec. 18 and will post each Monday through February 2024. Topics include:

  • Litigation and TAR
  • Technology training
  • Websites and marketing
  • Budgeting and planning
  • Practice management
  • Solo and small firm
  • Cloud computing
  • Cybersecurity
  • AI

The Legal Technology Survey Report, launched more than two decades ago by the ABA Law Practice Division, is recognized as the primary source for information regarding the use of technology by attorneys in private practice. It is based on responses by practicing lawyers — not consultants, vendors or IT staff.

The survey report is separated into five volumes, including a combined edition, and is available for sale at shopaba.org:

The ABA Legal Technology Resource Center is dedicated to helping legal professionals leverage technology to overcome obstacles, identify opportunities and improve their practices. An ABA member benefit provided by the Law Practice Division, the LTRC offers many resources, including Law Technology Today, monthly webinars, the annual Legal Technology Survey Report and more.

The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law. View our privacy statement online. Follow the latest ABA news at www.americanbar.org/news and on X (formerly Twitter) @ABANews.