More than a third of in-house lawyers are unhappy with the technology used by their law firms, according to new research.

A recent LexisNexis report, Legal Technology: Looking Past the Hype, which was based on 130 responses, including 20 in-depth interviews with GCs, asked in-house lawyers how satisfied they were with the technology used by law firms.

Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied, while just over one in two (52%) said they were satisfied, with 14% neutral.

The report also reveals that 37% of respondents did not know what technology their law firm is using and that 60% lack understanding when it comes to the suitability of technology for their organisation.  

When assessing the problems with in-house legal departments, 68% of respondents said they do not have the tools to record contract data, 53% said they spend too much time on repetitive tasks, 39% said they have little visibility of work done by their law firm, and 34% said they spend too much time reviewing documents.

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The report also notes that there is often a "bewildering array" of technological instruments, including various insight tools, document drafting and document management devices, and process management programs. One in five respondents were able to point to a piece of recently installed technology that had low or zero usage. 

Ben Foat, group legal director at the Post Office, states in the report: "You must get your own house in order first. Don't just get a piece of legal technology; you need to understand your business first and foremost. Then you can start to interrogate where technology can make a difference."

On the plus side, the report finds that 85% of GCs surveyed have introduced multiple technology types and are most comfortable using tried-and-tested legal insight tools. Some 57% believe that technology investments have already increased their efficiency, and 60% believe that legal technology will further improve the accuracy of legal work during the next three to five years – with 72% expecting technology to enable new data insights during that time.

Milton Keynes Council head of legal services Paul Cummins comments: "Always use technology as a change agent. If you say to the board, CEO and your team that you have a new technology and promise its impact, and then it doesn't work, you are in a difficult position. It is key to engage your IT services early on to make sure the technology fits into your infrastructure."