Law firm tech chiefs have a lot to talk about, judging from the results of The American Lawyer’s annual technology survey. Mobile devices continue to gain traction. The cloud is seeing increased use beyond e-discovery and noncore functions. And while there is still pressure to do more with less, the clasps on the pocketbooks seem to be loosening, at least a bit. Nearly half of the 74 Am Law 200 firms responding to our survey say their 2014 capital budget was up from 2013, while even more, 65 percent, saw their operating budgets rise.
Yet one topic dominates the discussion. In response to our question asking technology directors about their biggest challenges, 55 percent cited security, by far the most frequent answer. And overall, 74 percent of the chiefs say they are more concerned about security now than they were two years ago. Their clients are concerned too. While security was a leading topic on last year’s survey, the focus has only become more intense—and more time- and budget-consuming.
