Cardiff & District Law Society’s LawTech Committee and Legal News Wales is launching a survey for the legal sector in Wales, to gain a better understanding of how law firms and legal entities use technology, any associated challenges to Lawtech, what problems the legal sector would like to overcome, if technology can help and visions for the future.

We also aim to understand the gaps in the provision of technology and supporting facilities (such as broadband speeds) within the sector, any current limitations, and if and how law firms access knowledge, advice and development support.

It may be that you’ve invested in new laptops, telecommunications, broadband and cyber security advice in the last 12 months, or that you’ve had to shelve new investments. You may have moved or closed offices, have more staff working remotely in the longer term or need to improve the way you service your clients. Some firms may currently be in the process of developing tools and processes to support both internal operations and client care, while others may be starting out on their technology / cloud-based journey and yet to explore its full potential.

What’s involved?

Whatever the scale, cost or scope of the technology you use, we’d encourage you to complete this simple and anonymised survey which will be phased into three parts over the next 3-4 months:

Part 1: Where are we now?

What technology do law firms and sole practitioners currently use, how do they use it, where and when? What are the current limitations? Scroll down to take part!

Part 2: Where do we want to be?

What problems would you like to overcome to support your business / practice? Do you know if / how / what technology might be able to help?

 Part 3: How do we get there?

What do you need? What’s missing? Who can help?

Why have we launched this survey now?

The legal sector is a focus sector for the Welsh Government and other stakeholders, in light of both the economic development of Wales post Brexit, post-pandemic and in light of the Justice Commission for Wales recommendations published in 2019. Law is a pillar of our society and technology is now widely accepted as playing an important part in the growth, diversity and accessibility of legal services in Wales.

We also suspect that the Law Council for Wales (forming later this year as one of the Counsel General for Wales’ and the Commission’s recommendations) will also look at LawTech amongst other areas affecting legal services across the country so this is a great opportunity to set the narrative and ensure any satellite conversations remain relevant and helpful to your practice.

There have been a number of legal sector surveys but none (to our knowledge) focusing on Wales. We feel it’s important to dig into the situation here as there is and will be increased focus on the sector over the coming months and feel it’s an ideal opportunity to raise the profile of what the sector is doing, its challenges and its needs in terms of the use of technology.

Working in partnership with organisations across the legal sector, the project aims to support the growth and sustainability of a vibrant LawTech economy, improve access to justice, transform the delivery of legal services in Wales and beyond, and help grow an open, inclusive and collaborative LawTech community.

Who should respond?

Part 1 of our survey may well be best suited to partners, managing directors, practice / operation managers, sole practitioners or IT departments. Scroll down to take part!

However, anyone working in the legal sector can take ownership of their firm / practice response. If you’re unsure, perhaps there’s someone you can ask to ensure your business is represented and – in time – can benefit from the support and signposting we hope to offer depending on what the data shows.

Parts 2 and 3 can and should be responded to by anyone working in the legal sector as your views on the challenges you face in daily practice, how to support clients, improve access to justice, communicate, profile your firm and more may well be different to those in more senior roles.

We’d like all views represented – perhaps inspiring ideas and LawTech solutions and contacts that can help firms of all shapes and sizes and legal practitioners across Wales.

Good to know

• All the information you share with us is anonymised.
• We’ve kept the survey as brief as possible. There are some ‘setting the scene’ questions but we hope they won’t be too onerous.
• We’ve used jargon-free questions and the vast majority are multiple choice. There are no wrong answers!
• We’ll share the results of each stage of the survey within 2-3 weeks of launching each phase to drive the momentum and keep you informed.
• We won’t ask you for your name or contact details – unless you’d like to subscribe to the Legal News Wales mailing list. If you do opt in (to be the first to read the results) Legal News Wales won’t share your data with any third parties.

Who’s influenced the survey?

The idea was borne from members of the Cardiff & District Law Society (CDLS) LawTech committee (which includes practitioners from firms of all sizes and the Law Society Wales office) and the survey has been hosted in partnership by Legal News Wales to ensure the reach expands across Wales and that it’s accessible for all.

The survey also has the support of the Legal Innovation Lab Wales (LILW) project (part of Swansea University) as it’s keen to understand the problems law firms face, your goals and how it can help in the long-term.

The Legal Innovation Lab Wales is funded through the European Regional Development Fund and is based within Swansea University’s Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law.

This survey will provide an accurate overview of the current situation within the legal sector, explore the aspirations of businesses, and help to identify the type of support required to achieve those ambitions.

This will ensure the CDLS LawTech group and the LILW and others who find the results of use, can focus resources on the technological interventions and support which will have a maximum positive impact on the Welsh legal sector.

As a collaborative partner and a platform with a Wales-wide community, Legal News Wales is hosting the survey which allows us to make this a national initiative and we welcome you to join us to help make it as representative as possible.

We’re really looking forward to hearing your views and thank you in advance for taking some time out of your day to do so.

Take part here

Contact us

If you’d like to speak to us about the survey and how we’ll use the data, please contact Emma Waddingham, Editor, Legal News Wales (emma@legalnewswales.com) or Cardiff & District Law Society (yourvoice@cardifflaw.org).