LPM’s Legal IT Landscapes research in 2021 suggests that, in spite of disruption caused by Covid-19, law firms believe productivity has, in fact, increased. This coincided with accelerated migration to the cloud, as law firms have been quick to react and respond to the pandemic, realising the value the cloud can bring to greater efficiency.

With “other firms like mine” seen as the dominant competitive threat this year, firms must differentiate to achieve both revenue growth and improved profitability.

This report makes it transparently clear that technology transformation is number one on everyone’s agenda for 2021. This isn’t a significant deviation from prior years.

It is interesting that some responses here have shown that pricing and profitability is considered a high priority for firms over the next 18–24 months. This tallies with our own experiences when talking to law firms: a focus on key client programmes and ensuring that the work they deliver is profitable.

People management hasn’t traditionally taken centre stage in SME law firms, but this report suggests attitudes are shifting. Asked an open-ended question about where they’d spend their LPM-gifted £100k, respondents pointed to areas such as learning and development, recruitment, resourcing, collaboration and performance management.

The Briefing Frontiers 2021 Legal IT Landscapes report’s findings suggests that, in spite of disruption caused by Covid-19, productivity has in fact increased. This is coinciding with accelerated migration to the cloud, as law firms have been quick to react and respond to the pandemic, realising the value the cloud can bring to drive greater efficiency.

Sam Nicholls, head of business development at Intelligent Office, says firms should seize the opportunity to embrace more business change in 2021, but consider the best model with care.

It was an absolute pleasure to be at this year’s LPM South, catching up with acquaintances and meeting new contacts. In our presentation, we shared our data-driven insights.

Imagine a world where adding automation to your firm could save you seven months of time per year? A bold claim you may say – but it’s entirely possible and proven.

Arguably we’re already in, or are entering, the fourth industrial revolution, defined by the World Economic Forum as ‘a new chapter in human development, enabled by extraordinary technology advances … The real opportunity is to look beyond technology and find ways to give the greatest number of people the ability to positively impact their families, organizations and communities’.

There’s no downside to cloud, right? The case for cloud computing has been set out at great length and there’s no doubt that utilizing its power and convenience – in public, private or hybrid forms – is now mainstream business practice.

Aderant’s annual Business of law survey, out later this month, reveals some interesting data concerning business continuity in the early days of Covid-19.

A recent Briefing roundtable, with Wilson Allen, considered the challenges for law firms when leveraging business development data to drive change.