Over the past month, we’ve be asking lawyers and legal professionals about the kinds of technologies they are using in their firms in our annual Apple in Law Offices survey. We’ve now closed the survey, which attracted almost 800 respondents (789 to be exact). If you’re one of those kind folks who participated, we thank you. While we’ve just started to pour through the data, we’re so intrigued by some of the early insights and results, we just had to share.
Although we call this the “Apple in Law Offices” study, the truth is it is really a study of technologies used in law offices. Numerous trends have emerged in recent years, but here we’ll focus on two of interest: smartphones and wearables. Mobile phones (smartphones in particular) have changed the practice of law and continue to do so. So will wearable tech be the next practice changer? Let’s dive in deeper and also weigh some of the implications of personal devices being brought into law offices.
Mobile Phones
When we first launched the annual study in 2010, the iPhone was establishing its dominance as the mobile phone device of choice in law offices—60.1% of respondents reported using iPhones. Flash ahead to our 2014 study, and the iPhone is even more dominant: 79.8% of respondents carry one with them.
Back in 2010, Android phones were just beginning to crack the market, with 11.7% of law offices reporting using such a device. Today, you’ll find Android phones being used by 30.6% of those in law offices responding to our survey.
Other phones being used in 2014? Windows phones are being used by 3.3% of respondents, and BlackBerry devices, once the darling of the legal set (32.6% back in 2010), scored so low that it is statistically insignificant to even mention the number.
Of course, if you are doing the math, you’ll see these numbers don’t add up to 100% which is a clear indicator that many law offices are using more than one brand of device. But the math is clear on this: iOS and Android phones rule the roost for mobile phone device use in law offices in 2014. Much of that four-year growth for Apple and Android devices has been at BlackBerry’s expense (and demise).
Whichever brand of phone they are using, however, most are happy with what they’ve got today. When asked if they plan on switching smartphone devices in the coming year, an overwhelming majority (80%) said NO!
But of those that are planning on switching, nearly two-thirds (63%) are going to pick up an Apple iPhone while just under a third (30%) will be going the Android route. The remaining 7% planning to change are going to go with other options.
Wearable Tech
Some interesting and exciting product announcements made in the past year or so have captured headlines and attracted a lot of chatter about wearable technologies—such as Google Glass or the iWatch. They certainly sound like devices that you’d find in a James Bond movie, and while they’ve shaken up the tech industry, what kind of feelings have they stirred in the legal community?
When asked if they were interested or planning on purchasing wearable technology in 2015 such as an iWatch or Google Glass, only one in five (20%) respondents said they were planning to do so. The remaining 80% said they weren’t. Perhaps they’re waiting for Clio Glass? April follies aside, the appetite for wearable technology may appear low, but we definitely expect to see it as an emerging force in the months and years ahead.
Imagine being able to do more with a watch than just tracking time! It is imminent and when you think about it, 20% means that a lot of law offices are interested in being early adopters to a technology that is only just beginning.
Bring Your Own Device
It’s almost 2015…and despite the lack of hoverboards, yes, McFly, we’re living in the future. Almost everyone has a mobile device, if not more than one. Our study certainly shows this to be true in law offices. It also means that individuals are bringing their own devices into the office with them.
We asked our survey respondents about bringing their own devices into the office—if their firms encourage it and if they have policies in place. When it comes to the topic of “bring your own device” (BYOD) to work, there is an apparent disconnect between what firms encourage and whether they have an established policy.
Of our survey respondents, 61.2% said that their firms encourage them to bring their own devices into the office, 28.6% said they do not, and the rest (10.2%) said they don’t know.
However, what is most surprising is that 71.5% of respondents reported that their firms DO NOT have a BYOD policy in place. Only 19.3% reported that their firms actually have one. And 9.2 just didn’t know what their firm’s stance is. What this means is that as many as 80% of employees in law offices could be putting their firm at some sort of risk.
As Brian Focht told us back in August and again at the Clio Cloud Conference, a BYOD policy is vital in today’s law offices, and crafting one is not an excruciating process.
More to Come
These are just some of the initial findings of our 2014 survey, with many more revelations to come. We’ll be sifting through the data, checking out the results, and assessing the trends. So watch our blog and social channels for more insights into how today’s lawyers are using tech (from hardware to software) to get more out of their practice. Stay tuned!
Originally posted by Tim Travis on the Clio Blog | November 24, 2014
Tim Travis 