ZERO Announces Key Industry Findings on State of Automation in Legal

Over 80% of Respondents Feel Automation Technologies Are Not Prioritized at Their Workplace

CAMPBELL, Calif., Aug. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ZERO, a leading provider of productivity automation for professional services firms, today announced the results of a survey on the state of automation in the legal industry that showed how non-automated company processes like time entry are impeding legal services productivity and results.  The survey, The State of Automation in Legal: Identifying Opportunities to Improve the Practice and Business of Law, polled both timekeepers (i.e. lawyers, paralegals, etc.) and administrators (i.e. HR, IT, Finance, etc.) on how they recorded their projects and associated time entry.

The survey revealed that nearly 75% of timekeepers don't think their firms equip them with the automation tools they need to do their jobs effectively. Unsurprisingly, more than 80% of respondents believe that non-billable work is an impediment to achieving their deliverables and goals.

"According to our survey that polled a combination of legal staff including lawyers, partners and paralegals, a majority of respondents who identified as billable employees feel that workplace automation in the legal industry is slow to adopt technologies that can boost productivity, increase billable time and cut down on mundane administrative tasks that take up more of their workday than necessary," said Alex Babin, ZERO co-founder and CEO. "What we discovered is that the legal industry is still ripe for technological improvements at the most basic level of an organization, which can have a profound effect on not only the welfare of staff but also the productivity and profitability of the business."

Key takeaways:

Timekeepers

• Over 40% of timekeepers spend more than 35% of their time on non-billable work (28% each spend 10-19% and 20-34%). That equates to at least 700 hours a year, or $200K in potential billable time, for a modestly billing lawyer.
• 65% don't think their firms provide the tools they need to reduce non-billable time. Nearly the same percentage of respondents feel they are working too hard.
• Over 80% of timekeepers don't think automation is a firm priority or don't know if it is. This can be a black mark on firms not equipping their employees or not demonstrating to their legal teams that they are innovative and want to equip them. To underscore this point, almost 50% aren't aware if their firm is looking to add automation tools.
• Even when offered, email management, time entry and workflow automation tools are each underutilized according to 60% of timekeepers surveyed.

Administrators

• Based on survey responses, administrators are frequently unaware of the extent of nonbillable tasks or of timekeepers' perceptions about the availability, utilization, or need for tools.
• According to respondents, law firms need better solutions to alleviate the burden of low-value nonbillable tasks, especially in email management and time entry.

A complete report on the entirety of the survey, along with additional statistics, is available online.

ABOUT ZERO
ZERO is a leader in Productivity Automation with products engineered to help professional services firms achieve operational excellence. ZERO's applications enable lawyers to be more productive and generate more revenue by automating and streamlining onerous administrative tasks such as email management and mobile time capture. Law firms around the world rely on ZERO to minimize revenue leakage, increase email compliance, and improve the lives of their lawyers. Learn more at www.zerosystems.com

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jessi Adler
Plat4orm
jessi@plat4orm.com

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SOURCE ZERO