Will Remote Work Change Law Departments’ Tech Priorities?
This year's Legal Ops benchmarking survey could reveal some major shifts.
One of the questions we’ve asked every year as part of the Law Department Operations Survey is: “Are there plans to update, evaluate, or implement any of the following technologies in the next 12 months?”
The economy was strong in 2019, and so were the responses. The survey uncovered 10 tools that are up for consideration by more than 25% of respondents, and a handful under consideration by more than 50%.
It seems unlikely that these numbers will hold for 2020, with law departments under increasing financial pressure. There are, however, a few technologies to watch.
More than 57% of respondents said they had document management under evaluation; that’s a very large number for such mature technology. It may have been the tool’s low effectiveness rating that was pushing LDO professionals — it rated only a 6.6 out of 10 on our effectiveness scale — but DMS is more critical than ever now, as it is a necessary tool for collaboration among a remote workforce. So we wonder: Will law departments be reluctant to upgrade due to cost issues, or be ready to do so for the functionality?
An even more interesting technology today is electronic signature. A year ago, many considered e-signature simply a nice-to-have for contract management and M&A. Today, however, it is nearly impossible to execute agreements without an e-signature tool. It will be interesting to see how many of the 28% that were looking into this technology pulled the trigger — and how many of the 57% who were not interested then are now.
This question and many more will be answered in the 13th Annual Law Department Operations Survey. If you’re an in-house legal ops professional, all you have to do is take the survey, and we will deliver the answers, along with 300+ additional data points, back to you at no charge.
