On Monday (August 18th) of ILTA 2014 week, we released the 2014 edition of our 9th annual ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey as part of our 11th annual ILTA Vendor Education Program. The 2014 survey set records for ILTA member participation and the results indicate a more 'sunny side' of #LegalIT spending, budgets and overall engagement (pronounce it french … sounds better :-)) when it comes to legal technology selection and purchasing. Like every year, we are more than impressed by ILTA members and their willingness and even eagerness to mention consultants who they work with (122 companies in 2014) and vendors who provide exceptional customer service (124 vendors in 2014). 

The 2014 survey, the 9th edition of this ILTA/InsideLegal collaboration, garnered a 20% response rate with 281 unique ILTA member firm responses. The 31 question web-based survey was distributed to 1,407 ILTA member law firms. 86% of all responses came from the U.S., 8% from Canada, and the remaining 6% a mix of the U.K., Europe, Australia and South America.

2014 Survey highlights include:

• 54% of all respondents, including 72% of ‘Over50’ firms, spend 2-4% of total firm revenue on technology
• 62% of all responding firms spend more than $8,000 on technology per attorney; 61% of ‘Under50’ firms spend less than $8,000 on technology per attorney
• Top technology purchases among all surveyed firms in 2014 include: laptops/notebooks (64%), desktop hardware/PCs (63%), network upgrade/servers (50%), printers/multifunctional devices (47%) and antivirus/antispam/spyware software (41%)
• Over50 firms dominated purchases in several application areas including analytics software; docketing/calendaring; electronic discovery software; HR management software; mobile device management and workflow automation
• Based on survey responses, internet research, peer recommendations and consultants are the top influences for legal IT purchasing decisions
• 76% of survey respondents have not worked with an industry/research analyst
• Big data planning: 10% of all respondents are working on formalizing their big data strategy and an additional 6% already have a big data plan in place
• 90% of respondents rely on outside consultants to assist with some aspect of firm operations, technology and infrastructure
• 91% of surveyed firms’ attorneys use tablets as part of their day-to-day work
• 86% of survey respondents indicated that they either have a formal mobile device security policy in place or are establishing one
• Outside of the IT department, attorneys (80%) most frequently request technology purchases followed by Firm Administration (53%) and Practice/Litigation Support (31%)
• Top answers to the open-ended ‘most exciting technology or trend’ question included mobility (e.g., tablets, mobile device management); cloud services, specifically –as-a-Service models including analytics, disaster recovery, security, and DMS; virtualization; and wearable technologies.

The complete survey can be downloaded at bit.ly/ILTASURVEY. We will be releasing additional 2014 Survey statistics, comparisons and content throughout the year.

For more information on the survey results, methodology and other legal market research initiatives, contact Jobst Elster at elster@InsideLegal.com.