Although the largest U.S. law firms have average annual technology operating budgets of over $11 million—almost $33,000 per lawyer—according to the latest AmLaw Tech Survey of Am Law 200 law firms, market penetration by most legal software products is still surprisingly moderate. Simply put, many lawyers are still without the technologies they need to do their jobs well. That was one of the most, well, shocking findings in the recently-published Legal Technology Market Assessment Study, conducted by Cogent Research and published by ALM Research.

The study looked at five areas of legal technologies: case/practice management, document management, electronic discovery, client development/CRM, and online research. Nearly 1,400 lawyers across the U.S. participated in the study, weighing in with ratings for every aspect of their use of these technologies, from basic satisfaction to brand loyalty.

As the survey found, only 52% of responding attorneys have access to case management software; even fewer—32% —have access to document management tools, a mere 12% have access to EDD products, and very few—9% —have access to CRM software. However, the market for online research services is basically saturated.

A full chapter is devoted to the depth of market penetration for a wide variety of brands in each of the five areas, as well as projected future purchases, budgets, and what drives purchase decisions. The survey also captured some interesting information about how respondents use the Web for free legal information searches, and how Microsoft has become a major player in the legal technology market.

The study is now available through ALM Research Publishing. For more information, contact Charles Lowry at 212-592-4932 or clowry@alm.com.