Social media grows - new survey show more acceptance of technology among lawyers
The results of an American Bar Association survey show more acceptance of technology among lawyers, says Catherine Sanders Reach
September 08, 2010 at 04:47 AM
4 minute read
The results of an American Bar Association survey show more acceptance of technology among lawyers, says Catherine Sanders Reach
Each year the American Bar Association's (ABA) Legal Technology Resource Centre surveys ABA member lawyers in private practice about the technology in use at their firms. This year's poll was conducted from January to May. Electronic invitations were sent, generating 4,996 completed questionnaires. These are the results of the survey.
E-book readers
Ten percent of respondents reported the availability of e-book readers at their firms. Solo respondents were most likely to report their availability (16%) and large firm respondents were the least likely (4%). Twelve percent of respondents reported personal use of e-book readers. Among respondents who provided brand names, Amazon's Kindle was cited most often (83%), followed by the Sony Reader (9%) and Barnes & Noble Nook (8%).
Courtroom technology
Respondents were asked who is primarily responsible for operating courtroom technology when appearing in court. Of those who use technology in court, almost one-third (31%) of respondents reported that they personally are primarily responsible for operation, followed by a paralegal or litigation support consultant (10% each), another attorney from their firm or an in-house litigation support specialist (8% each) and court personnel (4%). Research notebook software
Respondents were asked about use of research notebook software, such as Microsoft OneNote, Evernote and Circus Ponies Notebook. Twenty-two percent reported that research notebook software is available at their firms. Large firm respondents were most likely to report availability (42%), followed by 16% from firms of 10-49 attorneys, 16% from firms of 2-9 attorneys and 13% of solo respondents.
Litigation support software
Fifty-nine percent of respondents reported that litigation support software is available at their firms. Availability generally increases as firm size increases: 94% of large firm respondents, 67% from firms of 10-49 attorneys, 37% from firms of 2-9 attorneys and 34% of solo respondents.
Respondents were asked which features of litigation support software they find most useful. The highest percentage of respondents reported that they find full text search most useful (45%), followed by document review/viewing (35%), Bates stamping (30%), OCR (20%) and trial presentation features (18%), among other features.
Online social networks
Respondents were asked whether they personally maintain a presence in an online community/social network such as Facebook, LinkedIn, LawLink or Legal OnRamp. Overall, 56% of respondents answered affirmatively, compared with 43% in the 2009 survey and 15% in the 2008 survey.
Large firm respondents were the most likely to report personally maintaining a presence in an online community/social network (63%). The highest percentage of respondents reported maintaining a presence in LinkedIn (83%), followed by Facebook (68%), Plaxo (18%), martindale.com Connected (4%), LawLink (2%), Twitter (2%), Avvo, LegalOnRamp, and LegallyMinded (1% each) and 4% other social networking websites.
The most common reason cited for maintaining a presence was for professional networking (76%), socialising (62%), client development (42%), career development (17%), case investigation (6%) and other (3%).
Respondents were asked whether they have ever had a client retain their legal services as a result of use of certain web 2.0/social media technologies.
Ten percent reported that they have had a client retain their services as a result of use of online communities/social networking while 80% have not. Ten percent reported they don't know. Thirteen percent of respondents from firms of 10-49 attorneys and 12% of solo respondents reported that they have had a client retain their services as a result of use of online communities/social networking.
Mobile lawyers
Respondents were asked what percentage of time they work away from their main office setting (eg at home, client offices, courtrooms, airports, hotels, etc).
Forty six percent said they spend 10%-24% of their time working away from their main office setting, but 23% said they only spend 1%-9% of their time working away from the office, and only 1% said they always work out of the office.
Catherine Sanders Reach is director of the ABA's Legal Technology Resource Centre. A version of this article first appeared in Law Technology News, a Legal Week sister title.
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