In-house: teams value document and message management

A document and e-mail management system is the highest priority for in-house legal departments when it comes to IT expenditure, research has revealed.


Half the 32 departments polled in a survey conducted by IT consultancy Ascertus placed it top; 29% thought adopting a case management system was most important, and 18% favoured e-billing and legal spend management software.


The survey revealed that nearly one-third of the departments polled spent more than £100,000 on IT in the last fiscal year, with a further 29% shelling out between £50,000 and £100,000.


The decision over what systems the team should use is largely taken by the general counsel or head of legal (50%) or another member of the legal department (25%). Only in one in ten companies is it up to the IT department.


Despite the high levels of expenditure and the fact that 68% of respondents claimed IT is critical to their success, more than one-third (39%) admitted that they had never reviewed their workflow or collaborative processes.


Respondents gave a mixed reaction to law firm extranets, with 29% saying they would like to do away with extranets altogether and have all work product sent to them by e-mail. A further 21% called for a single 'global' extranet for all law firms to use.


Roy Russell, director and principal consultant at Ascertus, said: 'Considering the disproportionate amount of risk and expenditure that in-house lawyers manage, it is ridiculous in this day and age to expect them to be as productive as their law firm counterparts with only a word processor and e-mail system to hand.


'Corporate legal departments have suffered from a lack of investment in professional software tools and a lack of interest from their own IT departments. There is a long way to catch up but the survey results show that there is a rise in awareness and certainly a desire to adopt new technologies.'


Link: www.ascertus.com