The ideal law firm is one that is the epitome of efficiency, where repetitive tasks are automated and measurable performance and operational data points are mapped and interpreted to improve workflows. Attorneys are left undisturbed to work on high-level legal matters, while machines are left to do what they do best .

For many law firms, however, achieving this ideal is easier said than done. According to the 2017 Aderant Business of Law and Legal Technology Survey of C-suite managers, financial staff, IT personnel and attorneys at 112 U.S. law firms, such efficiency is still a far-off goal, hindered in no small part by invoice and billing challenges.

Conducted by legal technology company Aderant, the survey found that almost all respondents (98 percent) classified the legal market as “competitive,” with 44 percent calling it “highly competitive.” For many law firms, the biggest challenge in this market was pricing pressure (43 percent) or operational efficiency (40 percent).