Tight budgets and lack of knowledge are hindering the legal industry's ability to leverage the latest technologies, according to Bloomberg Law's Legal Operations & Technology survey of 128 legal departments and 359 law firms. Most of those surveyed were either general counsel or law firm partners.

Only 23% of respondents said they are currently using AI or machine-learning tools, though an additional 24% were unsure whether such technology was being deployed in their law firm or legal department.

Molly Huie, team lead, Data Analytics and Surveys at Bloomberg Law, noted that the high rate of uncertainty around AI usage “reflects a knowledge gap—perhaps the tech they have is using AI.” She added that it is possible that AI usage, therefore, may be higher.

Among those using AI, almost half leveraged it in document review, while 41% specifically singled out e-discovery. What's more, around one-third, 31%, said they also used AI in legal research, while around 23% deployed it in litigation analytics and document drafting.

The situation was a little different within small legal departments. The most prevalent use for AI among in-house teams with 50 attorneys or less was both legal research and document review, while in legal departments with 51 attorneys or more, it was solely document review.

A majority of respondents in the survey noted that AI and legal technology would help their services become more efficient, which was a chief expectation among clients. But not all legal teams were able or eager to adopt new technologies. A majority of in-house respondents (55%), for example, said they don't have the budget to acquire or develop new technology.

Huie noted that this barrier presents “a catch-22,” because while legal departments are striving to become leaner operations, “without those new technologies, they aren't seeing those efficiencies and cost savings.”

Cost, however, wasn't the only barrier to tech adoption. Almost half of in-house respondents and a third of law firm respondents also noted they were too busy to learn new technologies. What's more, around 30% of both in-house and law firm respondents said they don't know enough about new technologies to buy them, and were comfortable using their current tools.

Of course, there are other ways for law firms and legal departments to drive efficiencies.  Almost all respondents, 89%, noted having a legal ops function in their office. For around 45% of respondents, the scope of that function included records and vendor management, while for around 40%, it further included training and procurement. Slightly more than a third, 36%, also had their legal ops handle knowledge management within their offices.