Tech survey reveals trends

Jan. 29, 1999

The State Bar conducted its third Law Firm Technology Survey in October 1998 to look at how Wisconsin firms use computer technology. For the second year in a row, law firm access to the Internet increased substantially, from 50 percent in 1997 to nearly 72 percent this year. WordPerfect continues to be the most preferred word processing software among law firms, and legal research on the Internet tops the list of desired hands-on training topics.

Computer Equipment

Most firms use IBM-compatible PCs, while only 5 percent said they used Macintosh computers and 2 percent indicated that they used another type of computer. These figures are unchanged from 1997. One-fifth of all firms use portable laptop or notebook computers. Seven in 10 (73 percent) of the firms now use one or more Pentium-based machines, with an average of 8.3 and a median of 2.0 per office.

Types of computers used vary by firm size. Pentium-based machines account for a relatively higher percentage of the computers owned by larger firms (74 percent). Macintosh and 386-based machines are owned primarily by sole and small firms. While 17 percent plan to buy a Pentium-based and 8 percent plan to purchase a portable machine, only 1 percent said they will buy a 486 or Macintosh in the next twelve months.

Operating System

A much higher proportion of firms said they now use the Windows 95 operating system than last year (70 percent vs. 46 percent). The number using DOS and Windows 3.X is rapidly declining, although 22 percent said they still use Windows 3.X and 33 percent use DOS. Windows 95 is the preferred alternative for those who will be switching in the future; however, 6 percent plan to use Windows 98 next. The Macintosh system is still used mainly in single attorney firms. Adoption of Windows 95 is highest among firms with 6 or more attorneys.

Networks

Roughly one in five firms use networks. A breakdown by firm size reveals that 57 percent of firms with six or more attorneys and 19 percent of firms with two to five attorneys use a LAN. Only 9 percent of sole practitioners use a LAN, consistent with the hypothesis that firms with few attorneys and/or support staff see little use for a network.

Software Applications

Word processing continues to be the most common task performed on law firm computers. The most commonly used word processing software was WordPerfect (60 percent used some version). Microsoft Word is currently used by 28 percent of respondents, up from only 12 percent in 1996. One-fourth of the firms plan to switch or upgrade their word processing package in the next 12 months. Of this number, slightly more plan to use MS Word (31 percent) than WordPerfect (27 percent).

After word processing, computer software applications most frequently used include time and billing (4.3), document assembly (4.1) and accounting (4.0). These applications show slight increases over 1997, while research on-line is gaining momentum (3.2 vs. 2.9). Top ranking tasks that firms plan to computerize in the next 12 months include optical character recognition (9 percent), Internet access (8 percent) and voice recognition (8 percent). Plans for OCR scanning are the same as last year, while interest in voice recognition is higher. Firms with 6 or more attorneys are more likely than smaller ones to make high usage of accounting, client information, conflict checking, E-mail within the firm, time and billing, and word processing software. Single attorney firms were just as likely to make medium usage of E-mail outside the firm, and more usage of voice recognition software than the largest firms.

Internet Usage

Internet usage rated higher among computerized tasks this year than last (3.3 vs. 3.0). Nearly three-fourths of the firms now have Internet access, up from one-half last year. Most connect by dialing up via a modem (80 percent) or a shared modem on a network (10 percent). Firms with 6 or more attorneys are more likely to use a shared modem. The most common modem speeds given were 56.6 bps (35 percent), 28.8 bps (28 percent) and 33.6 bps (24 percent). Netscape Navigator is used by more than one-half (53 percent) of the offices, down from two-thirds in 1997. MS Internet Explorer is now used by 38 percent.

More than one-half (55 percent) of all respondents and 70 percent of those with Internet access reported that they had visited WisBar, which is up from 33 percent of all respondents in 1997. Most (53 percent) of those with access indicated that they had visited it several times per month. Firms with 2 or more attorneys indicate they visit WisBar more often than single attorney firms.

Problems Using/Adopting Computer Technology

Lack of time to research and implement the technology (54 percent), lack of training (38 percent), financial constraints (35 percent), lack of technical information tailored to law firms (35 percent) and lack of in-house knowledge about technology (34 percent) were named as the most common barriers to technology use and adoption. Lack of training replaced financial constraints as the second most important problem compared with the 1997 results. Likewise, lack of technical information replaced lack of in-house knowledge as the fourth most important problem. Single attorney firms were more likely to point to lack of financial resources, while lack of training was more often cited by those with 6 or more attorneys.

Comments

In the comments solicited at the end of the questionnaire, sole practitioners pointed to the benefits derived from technology and time constraints related to keeping abreast ofsoftware. While all size firms seem to be looking to the Bar and others for technical and training support, the largest firms are particularly interested in networking and use of voice recognition software.

Who responded to the survey

A total of 1,780 questionnaires were mailed to a representative sample of law firms, and 654 were returned for a 37 percent response rate. Of those responding to the survey, 52 percent worked in law firms with only one attorney, while 34 percent said their offices had two to five attorneys and 15 percent indicated their firms had six or more attorneys.

As might be expected, most of the respondents were located in populous counties, including Milwaukee (27 percent), Dane (15 percent) and Waukesha (8 percent). Likewise, most (41 percent) of the respondents were located in communities with a population of 100,000 or more. Conversely, 34 percent of the firms reported having their primary office in towns with populations under 25,000.