Survey: Data sovereignty and privacy top lawyers’ cloud concerns

Global News

30
Mar
2016

Editor

While the cloud is fast gaining traction as the filing cabinet of the future, the legal profession continues to have concerns about data sovereignty and data privacy. A new survey conducted by InfoTrack and InPlace Solutions has found that 56.7 per cent of respondents cited data sovereignty as their primary concern and 46.7 per cent cited data privacy.

“These are legitimate concerns but they can definitely be overcome,” says InfoTrack chief executive John Ahern.  “Most importantly, firms need to ensure that their data and information is held in Australia so it is protected by the Australian regulatory framework and not exposed to those in other jurisdictions, some of which have far more stringent powers than we have in Australia.” 

And despite improving lawyer efficiency being the priority for the majority of respondents, the survey confirmed that many in the profession remain technology agnostic. 60 per cent of respondents claimed that the biggest hurdle to overcome in achieving greater efficiencies is the resistance of lawyers to adopting tools that will not only help them become more productive but will also mitigate risk. “All firms will be able to tell you about IT projects that have ultimately failed to meet expectations because lawyers, whatever the reason, fail to use the tools they have been provided with,” claims John Duckett, Director of InPlace Solutions

An infographic about this survey is available here

Demand for mobile working continues to spiral with 97 per cent experiencing greater demand and of these respondents’, 90 per cent are prepared to match this with a great investment in technology.  Nor is the profession under any illusions as to clients’ expectation, with 93 per cent believing that increasingly clients are expecting ‘real time’ integration of data and analytics relating to their matter.

On the down side, 30 per cent of respondents said that their firm’s current technology platform is not capable of meeting growing demands.

“The technology juggernaut continues to redefine the profession.  Firms that embrace the technology and tools that enable them to deliver a better service more cost efficiently will prosper.  Those that don’t probably won’t survive to tell the tale,” Mr Ahern concluded.