Lawyers increasingly use PDFs and PDAs,
According to 2007 Legal Technology Survey

When the ABA Legal Technology Resources Center conducted its annual survey, it uncovered some interesting facts.

According to the annual Legal Technology Survey report, 91 percent of survey respondents said that PDF creation software is available at their firms, up from 82 percent, in 2006.  And, the use of the real-time email function in PDAs has increased significantly, up 14 percent from last year.

The study itself is a comprehensive look at how legal practitioners use technology.  For this year's report, more than 1,800 ABA lawyer members in private practice answered some 150 questions about law office technology, litigation and courtroom technology, web and communication technology, and online research and mobile technology.  The survey focused on technology use, not product use.

The study also found that:

• Slightly more than one quarter (28 percent) of respondent firms have e-discovery initiatives; however, 71 percent of large firms (more than 100 attorneys) have electronic discovery initiatives.
• The number of lawyers making electronic discovery requests on behalf of their clients has substantially increased in the past year.  Only 26 percent of lawyers responding to the survey say they never made electronic discovery, compared to 69 percent in the 2006 survey.
• Organizing and filtering e-mail remains a challenge for everyone responding to the survey.  Two-thirds of respondents (67 percent) create file folders and direct their e-mail to designated folders; 64 percent use anti-spam software. However, only 16 percent of respondents use filtering software.
• More respondents (55 percent in this year's survey) have smartphones or BlackBerrys available than last year (49 percent in the 2006 survey).
• Despite the lessons of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters, recovery planning held steady at 54 percent.  Large firms are more likely than others to have a disaster recovery plan in place (66 percent), followed by solo practitioners (51 percent).
• Respondents receive information about technology from varied sources, including print publications (71 percent), Web sites (54 percent), peers (49 percent), their staff (36 percent), e-mail newsletters (29 percent), and education conferences and continuing education programs (27 percent), among others.
• Many lawyers would like to have access to better educational outreach in the technology area:  34 percent of respondents indicated they have no technology training available.

In terms of those responding to the survey, litigators comprised the largest group by practice area of those responding.  Other information about respondents includes:

• More than half of the survey respondents in 2007 are either solo practitioners (24 percent) or attorneys at small firms of two to nine lawyers (28 percent).
• More than three quarters of the respondents (76 percent) are male.  The gender gap is closing, however, and among younger lawyers (under 40 years of age), the split is even (51 percent male; 49 percent female).
• The majority of this year's respondents (57 percent) practice in a courtroom.
• The top practice group among solo practitioners and small firm respondents is estates, and wills and trusts (37 percent and 42 percent, respectively), while for larger firm group sizes, the top practice group is litigation (52 percent for firms with 10 to 49 lawyers).

According to Catherine Sanders Reach, Director of the LTRC, "Practicing lawyers use what works.  While we have not seen drastic increases in the usage of some of the types of technology, lawyers are finding new ways use of existing technologies that work for them, such as the Internet." Sanders continued, "Continuing our efforts to educate lawyers and firms will lead to steady increases in usage.”

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