Shiels, Rosemary

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Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE: ATTORNEYS'USE OF COMPUTERS IN THE NATION'S500 LARGEST LAW FIRMS*ROSEMARY SHIELS**TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction .................................... 537I. Internet: Legal Research and Online Services ....... 537II. Percentage of Attorneys with Workstations on TheirD esks ..................................... 539III. Local Area Networks .......................... 539IV. Document Assembly: Document Generators ........ 540V. Online Services .............................. 541Conclusion ...................................... 542INTRODUCTIONChicago-Kent College of Law's Center for Law and Computers hasconducted a survey of computer use by attorneys in the nation's 500largest law firms since 1986. Response rate has been over twentypercent in every year. The survey is conducted annually to track theuse of technology by practitioners in large firms. The purpose of thesurvey is to identify trends and new developments within thisinfluential group of lawyers and to map the educational needs of lawstudents as they enter the workplace. This Essay presents a few of thesurvey findings.I. INTERNET: LEGAL RESEARCH AND ONLINE SERVICESThe survey captures data on a number of different applicationsincluding whether and how attorneys use computers for legal* This Essay was drawn from the complete survey results published in the 1996 Chicago-Kent Large Firm Survey. The complete survey and results are available from Chicago-KentCollege of Law, Center for Law and Computers, 565 W. Adams, Chicago, IL, 60661.** Director, Section of Law Practice Management, American Bar Association.537THE AMEmICAN UNmVRSIy LAW RmIEW [Vol. 46:537research, using online services such as LEXIS/NEXIS andWESTLAW,2 as well as CompuServe3 and Dow Jones.4  Since 1992,the survey has shown that the attorneys in these large firms also areusing the Internet for legal research. In 1992, only five percent of thefirms reported having the Internet available for attorneys' legalresearch. By 1995, that number had grown to seventy-seven percentof the firms, a significant growth in the use of this technology in justthree years.Internet:Legal Research and Online Services10080 77%60 58%4020 14%1992 1993 1994 19951. LEXIS is a commercial, full-text information service that began providing subscriberswith information in 1973. See LEXIS-NEXIS, LEXIS-NEXIS Background (visited Oct. 30, 1996)<http://wmv.lexis-nexis.com/Incc/about/background.html> (on file with The American UniversityLaw Review). The LEXIS-NEXIS databases currently contain more than 11,000 sources andprovide over 953 million documents online. See id. More than 779,000 people currentlysubscribe to LEXIS-NEXIS services. See id.2. WESTLAW is a computer-assisted legal research service containing more than9000 databases. See West Publishing: WESTLAW Information (visited Nov. 5, 1996)<http://www.westlaw.com/WLAWinfo/wlawhome.htm> (on file with TheAmerican University LawReview). WESTLAW was introduced in 1975 as the only computer-assisted legal research serviceoffering synopses, headnotes, and key numbers. See West Publishing, West Publishing Histoiy(visited Nov. 5,1996) <http://www.westlaw.com/htbin/htimage/about.con?47,240> (on file withThe American University Law Review).3. CompuServe is one of the world's largest online, network, and Internet serviceproviders. See CompuServe, Online Services from CompuServe (visited Nov. 5, 1996)<http://world.compuserve.com/world/online/index.html> (on file with TheAmerican UniversityLaw Review).4. See Dow Jones, Dow Jones Business Information Servies (visited Jan. 2, 1997)<http://bis.dowjones.com> (on file with The American University Law Review).TECHNOLOGY UPDATEII. PERCENTAGE OF ATTORNEYS WITH WORKSTATIONSON THEIR DESKSDuring the last ten years, attorneys gradually have begun to acceptthe computer as an integral part of their practice. In 1986, surveyrespondents indicated that seven percent of the attorneys themselveshad a workstation on their desks. For the most part, those"workstations" were terminals.' By 1995, that percentage had grownto eighty-eight percent and the "workstations" now were personalcomputers that delivered a number of legal and business applicationsdirectly to the attorneys' desks through the firm's local area network("LAN").6 Computers now are ubiquitous in the profession.Percentage of Attorneyswith Workstations on Their Desks100 88%83% --80 70% %69 %60 52%40 33%19%20 13 %7% ''86 '87 '88 '89 '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95III. LOCAL AREA NETWORKSLANs allow firms to deliver a number of applications and servicesto the legal services delivery team from a centralized location. Inaddition, LANs provide an environment in which attorneys can share5. A terminal is a monitor and keyboard device connected to a mainframe computerallowing the user to access and run programs on that mainframe. See Greg K. Notess, On theNets: Telnet, the Forgotten Internet Too4 ONLINE,July 17, 1996, available in 1996 WL 8447855.6. A Local Area Network ("LAN") connects numerous computers using a variety ofsoftware and hardware and operates at a high speed over distances of up to a few thousandmeters. See BRENDAN P. KEHOE, ZEN AND THE ART OF THE INTERNET 221 (4th ed. 1996).1996]THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 46:537documents and can communicate electronically with colleagues insideand outside the office and with their clients. It is no surprise that thenation's largest firms have had internal networks for many years. In1990, the survey respondents reported that fifty-six percent of thefirms had a LAN. By 1995, that number had grown to ninety-ninepercent. Virtually all of the firms are networked.Local Area Networks120100 900 96% 96% 99%84%8060 56%4020 - -0 I1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995IV. DOCUMENT ASSEMBLY: DOCUMENT GENERATORSThe firms provide a number of sophisticated applications forattorneys to use in their practices. For example, automated documentassembly programs capture attorney expertise and provide a vehiclefor attorneys to reuse that expertise electronically.7 Some firms usesimple word processing features, such as merge8 and macro9 fea-tures, to automate their practices. An increasing number of firms usesophisticated automated document assembly programs to instruct thecomputer to choose appropriate text for a specific client, to retainanswers for use with the same client at a later time, and to build7. A number of document assembly programs are available to lawyers including HotDocs,Expertext, and FastDraft. The ABA Legal Technology Resource Center maintains informationon a wide range of law-related technology products, including document assembly programs.8. A merge feature allows a user to write a form document and to have the computerquickly fill in the blanks using information from a database. See ALAN SIMPSON, MASTERINGWORDPERFEGT 6.1 FOR WINDOWS 680 (1995).9. A macro feature allows a user to execute repetitive functions quickly, such as assigningcommonly used words or phrases or performing multiple menu selections. SeeALAN SIMPSON,MASTERING WORDPERFEGr 5.1, at 432 (1990).540TECHNOLOGY UPDATEclient databases for gathering and reporting on client information.Some of these sophisticated document assembly programs selectdocuments and clauses with programmed logic that resemblesartificial intelligence. In 1990, only about fourteen percent of thefirms reported using these sophisticated document generators. By1995, that number had grown to thirty-three percent, a significantincrease in the use of these complex packages.Document Assembly.Document Generators100806040 28% 29% 33%20 14% 15% [1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995V. ONLINE SERVICESFor some time, the large firms have reported providing a numberof online services for their attorneys' use in legal research. Theseservices have included commercial services such as CompuServe"°and Dow Jones." In recent years, though, the survey shows asignificant increase in the use of private communications services such10. See CompuServe, supra note 3.11. See DowJones, supra note 4.1996]THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 46:537as Counsel Connect, an exclusive attorneys-only service1 2 used forelectronic communications, marketing, and online continuing legaleducation. In 1992, only a handful of firms were using CounselConnect. By 1995, that number was almost eighty percent. Thesignificant investment in a private service such as Counsel Connect isevidence of the importance of these services in the profession.Online Services'90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95CONCLUSIONIn conclusion, attorneys and law firms are using computers andadvanced electronic communications throughout the profession;computer use is ubiquitous. In the coming years, expect to seeadvances in how attorneys use technology to redefine law practice.The presence and integration of high-level technology will openopportunities for reaching clients and for making the practice of lawmore efficient.12. "Counsel Connect is the largest online service exclusively for lawyers." CounselConnect, Inside Counsel Connect (visited July 28, 1996) <http://www.counsel.com/inside/about.html> (on file with The American University Law Review). Counsel Connect's featuresinclude a searchable Internet directory of all Counsel Connect members, more than 200practice-specific discussion groups, monthly online seminars, and e-mail. See id.542

Technology Update: Attorneys\u27 Use of Computers in the Nation\u27s 500 Largest Law Firms

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Technology Update: Attorneys\u27 Use of Computers in the Nation\u27s 500 Largest Law Firms

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