2023 Bright Insight: The 2023 National Legal Sector Benchmark Survey Results

Investment in technology is projected to increase 150 basis points (bps) in 2024 on average. Am Law 50 firms stand to increase their investment in technology the most, increasing technology spend as a percentage of gross annual revenue by 250 bps to 8.0% in 2024.

Segmenting firms by attorney headcount reveals that firms with headcounts from 101-500 are the most aggressive in their investment in technology at 6.1% and 6.9% of gross annual revenue in 2022, respectively. In 2024, firms with 101 250 attorneys expect to increase their investment to 8.3% of gross annual revenue while firms with 251-500 attorneys expect to invest 8.4%. Smaller firms, with 100 or fewer attorneys, spent the smallest percentage of their gross annual revenue on technology in 2022 and expect to do the same in 2024 .

Law firms overwhelmingly value investment in IT security the most with 82% of respondents planning to invest in the area which is up from 75% in 2022. Interest in AI investment has grown considerably with 53% of firms anticipating greater spend on the technology in the future; in 2021, only 23% were planning on upping investments in the space. In fact, desire to invest in major technology areas increased YoY for every category listed except communication/ collaboration tools and network/remote working capabilities. 14

Technology Spend as Share of Revenue Expected to Increase Regardless of Firm Size

2022 2024

8.3% 8.4%

Anticipated Areas of Greater Technology Spend in Future Years

IT security

82%

6.7%

6.5%

6.5%

6.9%

Artificial intelligence

53%

5.6%

6.1%

Knowledge management

50%

5.3%

Network/remote working capabilities

47%

5.0%

4.8%

IT staffing

38%

4.0%

Communication/collaboration tools

33%

Robotic work process automation

19%

Under 50 attorneys

51 to 100

101 to 250

251 to 500

501 to 1,000

1,001+ attorneys

Other

2%

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Research

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Research

14 Cushman & Wakefield 2022 Legal Sector Bright Insight report

THE 2023 NATIONAL LEGAL SECTOR BENCHMARK SURVEY RESULTS | 25