The legal profession, especially solo practitioners and small firms, have long been considered laggards in the implementation of technology — stubbornly sticking to paper-based methods and generally wary of change.
However, there’s growing evidence that more and more small law firms are beginning to embrace technology. In particular, firms are reporting that — as the price of key pieces of law-firm hardware and software start to fall, and the utility of tools such as matter management programs and PDF editors becomes clearer — the case for not investing is diminishing.
In what ways are small firm tech budgets changing, though? And what are these firms spending their money on? Here we summarize the key solo and small firm findings from three recent tech surveys.
Read more: Why tech competence is becoming a “must have legal skill” >>
Clearly, firms are beginning to respond to technological changes such as increased client pressure for online communication and court’s requiring electronic filing.
As these demands grow, it will be crucial for firms to invest in the right pieces of equipment (such as scanners) and software (such as programs for creating and editing PDFs). Such investment may have high initial costs, but evidence shows that over time, the benefits can be substantial.
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