OpenText, the global leader in Enterprise Information Management (EIM), today announced findings from a new report indicating two thirds of legal professionals believe spending on artificial intelligence (AI) will increase in 2019. Survey results, previewed at Legaltech 2019 in conjunction with Ari Kaplan Advisors, demonstrate the convergence of multiple disciplines and the expanding responsibilities of corporate legal operations professionals. Today’s corporate legal leaders are shaping IT strategy with an eye towards litigation-readiness and partnering with security teams on data breach response plans.
The rise of the cloud and the emergence of AI represent progress, but technology adoption will be a long-term endeavor, and this study highlights the willingness to adopt new technologies. With discussions increasingly focused on innovation, efficiency and the next generation of legal practice, legal operations leaders are at the forefront of piloting new technology, executing strategic initiatives, and helping senior leadership navigate the evolving risk and compliance landscape.
Key findings from the survey include:
- Movement toward the cloud continues: The majority of respondents, 83 percent, rated their organization’s current use of cloud-based tools at a three or above on a 1-5 scale. Further, an impressive 94 percent rated their company’s openness to implementing cloud solutions in the coming year at three or higher.
- The use of AI is growing: Within legal departments, 34 percent of respondents currently use AI (up from 23 percent in 2017). However, 66 percent of respondents believe that spending on AI solutions will increase in 2019.
- Focus on security is strong, but sensitive: A full 91 percent reported the legal department’s influence on information security decisions has increased, with 49 percent claiming the legal team is much more involved in information security. Having a seat at the table is significant as 91 percent of respondents also reported they have data security concerns around distributing electronically stored information to multiple discovery vendors and law firms.
- The GDPR is driving major eDiscovery, privacy and security changes: With 80 percent of respondents advising data privacy concerns are affecting how they handle discovery and investigations, the impacts of regulations such as GDPR are starting to be realized by legal professionals. 49 percent of respondents reported the volume of government or regulatory investigations has grown over the past 12 months.
- ECM joins the legal tech development conversation: 74 percent of participants reported if their ECM systems were integrated with their eDiscovery systems, it would be beneficial for the legal department.
OpenText provides the legal market with a broad and diverse set of solutions for enterprise-grade eDiscovery, forensic data collection, legal documents management, AI-assisted search, contract analysis, and more. OpenText continues to invest in the legal sector and on January 31, 2019 announced the acquisition of Catalyst Repository Systems, Inc. (Catalyst), a leading provider of eDiscovery solutions for corporate legal departments and top law firms. Catalyst will be integrated into OpenText’s Discovery Solutions, helping customers further leverage their technology investments and benefit from OpenText’s continued investments in innovation.
Integrated products and services from OpenText support the business practices, information management, electronic discovery reference model (EDRM) needs, and proactive compliance requirements of the legal industry. For more information visit: https://www.opentext.com/products-and-solutions/industries/legal.
Research methodology
Ari Kaplan Advisors interviewed 35 legal operations leaders with Fortune 500 and 1000 companies between July and August 2018 (17 of whom were interviewed for the 2017 report). Eighty percent served as their organization’s director of legal operations (or in an equally senior role). Most had traditional responsibilities for outside counsel and vendor management, legal technology administration and budgeting, while others participated in or led initiatives related to e-Discovery, advanced strategic planning, talent utilization and business process improvements. Forty-nine percent were from companies with revenues of more than $10 billion and 83 percent were with organizations with revenues of more than $5 billion. Two-thirds were at companies with more than 10,000 employees and 91 percent were with organizations maintaining more than 5,000 employees.