Press Release from Primary Research Group, Inc.

American law firms spend an estimated 7.9 percent of their annual billings on technology, including the costs of training, hardware, software and staff support.

New York, November 22, 1999: American law firms spend an estimated 7.9 percent of their annual billings on technology, including the costs of training, hardware, software and staff support, according to a new study just published by Primary Research Group, Inc. The two-volume study – The Survey of Law Firm Information Technology Usage and Acquisitions Strategies (ISBN# 1-57440-041-X) – is based on a survey of 75 randomly selected American law firms, with a mean of 39.04 partners. The study provides data both for the entire sample and broken down by number of partners per firm. For select questions, it provides data on a per partner basis.

Other findings of the study include:

All of the firms in the sample have access to the Internet. 56.94 percent of the firms use T1 connections to connect to the Internet, 19.44 percent use ISDN connections, 18.06 percent use standard phone line connections.

62.67 percent of the firms have operational web sites. Of the firms that have them, 25.42 percent employ full-time webmasters to maintain the sites.

54.29 percent of the firms use audio-based conferencing, while only 17.39 percent use videoconferencing technologies. The firms that use videoconferencing technologies conduct a mean of 11.14 videoconferences each year.

The firms maintain a mean of 103.00 phone lines and a mean of 26.70 cellular/PCS phones.

The firms employ a mean of 6.19 full-time equivalent staff positions devoted to technology functions. 62.50 percent of the firms employ full-time in-house technology directors.

The firms project that they will spend a mean of $82,170.00 on computer software in 1999, including spending on all existing licenses as well as on new software.

34.67 percent of the firms use voice recognition software. 23.81 percent believe that the use of voice recognition software will reduce staffing needs within the next year.

95.45 percent of the firms indicated that traditional seminars are still the primary source of continuing legal education, though 54.24 percent indicated that one or more of their attorneys use the Internet for continuing legal education.

The study encompasses two volumes: Volume I: Communication Technologies and Volume II: Hardware, Software and Training. Together, the two volume contain more than 225 tables, providing data on use of the Internet, intranets and extranets; audio- and video-based conferencing technologies; computer systems; storage devices; voice recognition software; and much, much more.

The Survey of Law Firm Information Technology Usage and Acquisitions Strategies is available from Primary Research Group for $183.50 (plus $7.00 shipping and handling). Individual volumes are available for $98.50 (plus $5.00 shipping and handling). To order the study, call 212-764-1579, or write to Primary Research Group, Inc./68 West 38^th Street/Suite 202/New York, NY 10018. Orders may also be faxed to 212-302-6530 or e-mailed to primarydat@mindspring.com.

For more information or to receive a review copy, call Gary Boas at 212-764-1579. For information on other publications from Primary Research Group, visit the company's web site: http://www.primaryresearch.com.

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