Law firms could be wasting hundreds of hours each year and miscalculating tens of thousands of billable hours due to problems with new technologies, a new report has found.
Research from Thomson Reuters has revealed that just 11 per cent of medium to large Australian firms offer formalised training for newly adopted technologies. What’s more, just 17 per cent of senior fee-earning legal practitioners said they are getting the most out of the current tools at their disposal.
Carl Olson of Thomson Reuters Legal said it’s surprising that so many firms still rely on manual processes, with so many time saving alternatives available.
“When a fee earner undercharges their hours, it’s a case of directly losing money. Firms that fail to adopt new technologies leave themselves open to being less competitive than those who do,” Olson said.
The research found that 56 per cent of professionals manually tracking billable time are generally underestimating their hours, compared to just 18 per cent of those automating the process.
The main reasons for the reluctance to adopt the new technologies are greater trust in old methods and technophobia.