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LOGICFORCE, a legal IT (Information Technology) consultancy, recently published the results of a survey of mid-sized law firms designed to assess the current state of law firms' use of technology, as well as their protocols            

This year's report by LOGICFORCE focuses on the broader IT practices of mid-sized law firms. In addition to cybersecurity, which has been a priority for firms during the pandemic, the research assesses new technology demands and IT-related capabilities and infrastructure.

As part of the study, LOGICFORCE calculates an industry score that reflects the health of IT practices across the legal sector. This year's industry score is 66.7%, reflecting strong practices overall, but with room for improvement in critical areas. 

The data shown in this report highlights the importance for law firms to develop technology strategies that find solutions to the cybersecurity paradigm, employee training, cloud storage, in order to streamline the work process and make firms more secure.

The conclusions are alarming: only 30% of law firms use document management systems specific to the legal sector and based in the cloud. 

Document management systems are vital for lawyers to efficiently access case documents and other information. Legal document management systems, such as iManage and NetDocuments, offer integrated organisational systems. Key functions important to lawyers include limiting access to specific members of the firm, document versioning and audit logging. 

In relation to email services, the study recommends using Office365 over Gmail because it integrates better with legal-specific software. Given the increase in remote working over the last year, it is not surprising that there is a heavy reliance on the cloud. 

To access the full report, click here.