Ari Kaplan Advisors LLC and American LegalNet Inc. released a benchmarking report revealing the lasting impact of the pandemic on the litigation landscape, risk management and dispute resolution.
The report, “The Future of Litigation Workflow: Reimagining Technology and Process in the Next Decade,” reveals priorities for law firms post-pandemic, including investment in secure cloud-based technologies. Notably, while firms adapted to digital and remote work, security risks and errors increased. Partners reported an increase in administrative errors and challenges in managing deadlines.
“This report provides deep insights into the changing litigation workflow landscape, and the existing and future challenges law firms face with managing a volatile environment,” said Erez Bustan, founder and CEO of American LegalNet.
Based on interviews with 33 partners at large law firms, the report provides insights on remote training, building cohesive and collaborative multidisciplinary teams, leveraging technology to enhance litigation processes and outcomes and law practice in the next decade.
“The report captures the perspectives of many of the leading litigators in the U.S. to offer an inside look at how dispute resolution changed during the pandemic and what organizations can expect moving forward,” said legal industry analyst Ari Kaplan, principal of Ari Kaplan Advisors.
Key findings:
- 52 percent noted that, while the biggest challenge of 2020, remote working environments provide more freedom to build better teams
- 55 percent are moving more litigation management to the cloud; 67 percent of those cited the pandemic for the move
- 70 percent changed behavior to account for an increase in cyber-attacks while working remotely
- 79 percent agreed the pandemic transformed the way litigators approach their work
- 91 percent reported benefits from remote litigation
The pandemic forced lawyers to reassess litigation from a distance resulting in technology updates to help organizations lower their risk and increase their productivity from any location. This shift in access to the courts is more convenient for commercial transactions and individual concerns and is driving changes in how litigators manage their practices.
“This report makes clear the future is all about the cloud and mobility and that risk management and error reduction through better use of technology will give firms a competitive edge while continuing to enable flexibility for litigation teams,” Bustan says.
