Wolters Kluwer just released the results of its 2024 Future Ready Lawyer Survey and it contains interesting findings about a variety of legal tech trends.

The results of the 2024 Future Ready Lawyer Survey reflects insights from 700 lawyers in law firms and corporate legal departments across the U.S. and nine European countries. Here are some of the notable results from the survey:

• 76% of legal professionals in corporate legal departments use GenAI at least once a week, as do 68% of their counterparts in law firms; over a third use it daily
• 58% of law firms and 73% of corporate legal departments plan to increase their investment in AI over the next three years
• 73% of respondents say their staff is required to work in the office for four or more days a week, with legal departments (77%) a bit higher than law firms (69%)
• Only 29% of law firms and 41% corporate legal departments indicated that they were “very prepared” to address the surge in demand for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) expertise
• 72% of respondents overall believe promoting diversity and inclusion in the work environment is essential

And here’s one that might surprise you: No less than 60% of all respondents believe that AI-driven efficiencies will have an impact on the prevalence of the billable hour, while 20% even foresee a significant impact (highest score on a 5-point scale). Overall, corporate legal departments convey a more pronounced expectation than law firms that GenAI will impact the prevalence of the billable hour as a business model, but not by that much – 67% versus 55%.

Wow.

I’m also surprised that the number of respondents planning to increase their investment in AI isn’t higher, and that the number of respondents whose organizations require almost full-time work in the office isn’t lower. So much for the pandemic effect on remote work!

The 18-page 2024 Future Ready Lawyer Survey report, chock-full of results and graphics, is available here.

So, what do you think? Will AI have an impact on the prevalence of the billable hour? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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