American Bar Association releases its 2017 TECHREPORT on legal technology trends

The ABA Legal Technology Resource Center (LTRC) has released its annual ABA TECHREPORT 2017, a comprehensive publication exploring how attorneys are using technology in their practices. ABA TECHREPORT 2017 combines data from the annual Legal Technology Survey Report with expert analysis, observations and predictions from leaders in the legal technology field.

Separated into 10 different articles on technology topics, TECHREPORT 2017 covers the prominent areas in technology that lawyers are facing today. Examples of statistical information included in the report are:

• More than 1 in 3 firms with 10-49 attorneys report having experienced a security breach.

• 27 percent of respondents indicated that they had a client retain their legal services directly or via referral because of their use of social networking sites for professional purposes.

• Even among lawyers who have private offices, 77 percent regularly work from home, 33 percent while traveling and 20 percent regularly work from clients’ or opposing counsel’s office or from court.

Each article is now available for free on the ABA website and as a downloadable PDF:

• Training

• Planning and Budgeting

• Security

• Litigation and TAR

• Mobile

• Cloud Computing

• Social Media and Blogging

• Solo and Small Firm

• Virtual Law Practice

• Practice Management

The annual Legal Technology Survey Report, which began more than two decades go by the ABA Law Practice Division, is recognized as the primary source for information regarding the use of technology by attorneys in private practice. The survey is based on responses by actual practicing lawyers — not consultants, vendors or IT staff.

The annual survey report is separated into six volumes and is available for sale on shopaba.org:

• Vol. I: Technology Basics & Security

• Vol. II: Law Office Technology

• Vol. III: Litigation Technology & E-Discovery

• Vol. IV: Marketing & Communication Technology

• Vol. V: Online Research

• Vol. VI: Mobile Lawyers

The ABA Legal Technology Resource Center is dedicated to helping legal professionals leverage technology to overcome obstacles, identify opportunities and improve their practices. An ABA member benefit provided by the Law Practice Division, the LTRC offers many resources, including Law Technology Today, various publications, monthly webinars, the annual Legal Technology Survey Report and more.