Want to find out what law firm professionals are thinking about eDiscovery trends? Get the 2023 State of Law Firm Industry Report by IPRO!
In partnership with ACEDS, IPRO surveyed 182 law firm professionals to explore their perceptions on the key challenges their teams are likely to face in 2023, the expectations and priorities they set for 2023, and how they see technology supporting their practices in achieving the set goals.
The result is the 2023 State of Law Firm Industry Report released earlier today! It reflects law firm professionals’ perceptions on topics including:
- Most pressing eDiscovery challenges for law firms in 2023.
- Their expectations and priorities for 2023.
- The respondents’ current data collection practices and improvement points for 2023.
- Actions law firms plan to take to remain competitive in 2023.
- And lastly, the perceptions and use of AI-driven eDiscovery technology among law firm professionals.
The survey reveals that a stunning 80% of law firm professionals believe AI-driven eDiscovery technology can help their firm improve operational efficiency, lower costs and reduce the time it takes to conduct document inquiries. Notably, the survey was conducted in December – just as the implications of the breakthroughs in Open AI’s ChatGPT model were becoming clear. Or at least clearer.
The survey of law firm professionals was conducted in tandem with a survey of in-house legal professionals released earlier this year (covered by us here). That survey revealed budget constraints are expected to be the biggest challenge for legal professionals in 2023.
Here are some other key findings from the 2023 State of Law Firm Industry Report:
- 69% of surveyed law firm professionals said they use AI-powered eDiscovery technology the most when conducting any form of civil litigation. ‘Technology Assisted Review’ and ‘classification of documents’ features were most widely used to respond to an inquiry or litigation last year.
- However, over 30% of surveyed respondents see potential for improvement with how their firms use AI-driven eDiscovery technology on a daily basis.
- More than 50% of survey respondents highlighted new client acquisition as the main challenge they foresee in 2023.
- 54% of survey respondents said that they tend to collect data from 3 to 5 sources on average per case.
- 47% of law firm respondents emphasized the lack of internal efficiency as the most prevailing factor to enforce the biggest challenges for them in 2023. This finding, in turn, correlates with law firms spending too much time and budget per task/case (pointed out by 40%).
- Almost 60% of law firm professionals said they can quickly find relevant information within their clients’ datasets.
Those are just a few of the findings in the 2023 State of Law Firm Industry Report. You can get the full, comprehensive 23-page report here! And a detailed discussion of 4 key takeaways you should know from the report here!
So, what do you think? Are you surprised by any of the key findings mentioned above? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.
Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.