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Legal Research

: Slaw.ca

Macs in Law Offices: A Rising Trend?

By Jack Newton

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At last week’s second annual MILOfest, the official Macs In Law Offices conference, I was pleased to have the opportunity to share the results of Clio’s inaugural Apple in Law Offices Survey.

The Apple in Law Offices survey was undertaken as an attempt to quantify what seems to be a rising trend of using Macs, iPads, iPhones, and other Apple products in law offices. While the number of anecdotes of PC users switching to Macs, BlackBerry users opting for iPhones, and iPads being embraced is no doubt on the rise, there is a lack of hard data to track these trends against. The Apple in Law Offices survey aims to address this by providing an annual survey to keep a pulse on the adoption of Macs, iPhones, iPads, and future Apple products in law offices.

The full survey results are available on the Clio Blog; here are some of the highlights:

835 respondents completed the survey, and were composed of the following demographic:

49% practiced in a small firm (1-10 attorneys)
8% practiced in a medium-sized firm (11-50 attorneys)
17 % practiced in a large firm (>50 attorneys)
10% were law students
3% were in-house counsel

Lawyers Respondents

55% of lawyers responding to the survey currently use Macs
18% of Mac-using lawyers have been using a Mac for less than 1 year, 41% between 1 and 3 years, and 41% for more than 3 years

Why Mac?

46% of respondents indicated that their decision to use Macs instead of PCs was because Apple technology is more reliable and secure; 32% of respondents indicated their decision was motivated by Mac’s usability.

iPads in Law Offices

26% of respondents currently use iPads in their law office
42% of respondents that currently do not use iPads in their law office are considering purchasing an iPad in the next year

iPhones in Law Offices

50.3% of respondents currently use iPhones as their primary device. 27.3% use BlackBerries; 9.8% use Android-based devices; 2.3% use Palm devices
27% of respondents plan on switching their primary mobile device in the next year,
Of those planning to switch devices, 65% plan on switching to an iPhone; 21% plan on switching to an Android device; only 7% plan on switching to BlackBerry

Switching

19% of respondents that are currently PC users indicated they are considering switching to Macs in the next year

Satisfaction

Of law offices currently using Macs in their law office, 98.4% would choose to use Macs again.

Cloud-based Apps used by Mac Law Firms

The most widely-used cloud-based application was Google Apps, with over 30% of respondents indicating they use Google’s web-based productivity suite
The next most widely-used cloud-based app was Clio, at 9.7% usage, followed by QuickBooks Online, at 7.4%

Desktop Apps used by Mac Law Firms

The most widely-used app in law offices was Microsoft Office, with 37% of offices indicating they use Microsoft’s productivity suite
iWork was second place with 19% usage.
Parallels was 3rd at 11.3%

Student Respondents

63% of law students that responded are Mac users
Only 10% of law students that responded are currently iPad users, but 70% of them plan on purchasing one in the next year
63% of law students that responded plan to use Macs for their law office’s IT needs when they graduate

The inaugural Apple in Law Offices survey provides several high-level takeaways.

First, Apple products are being used widely in law offices, and their usage appears to be on the rise. 20% of PC-using law firms are considering making the switch to Macs in the next year, and the next generation of lawyers – current law students – are primarily using Macs.

Second, the iPhone is, without question, gaining huge traction in the legal space. Over 50% of respondents currently use iPhones, and of those planning on switching mobile devices in the next year, 65% plan on switching to an iPhone. While Android-based devices appear to also be gaining momentum, things are not looking good for RIM.

Third, the widely-held notion that Mac users select their products based on superficial design qualities is disproved by the survey results: over 46% of respondents indicated they chose Macs instead of PCs was because Apple technology is more reliable and secure, and 32% of respondents indicated their decision was motivated by Mac’s usability.

Finally, Apple-using law offices love Apple products, and over 98% would make the decision to use Apple products in their law offices again.

What do you think of the survey results? What would you like to see asked in next year’s survey? Let me know in the comments.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on November 15, 2010 (boomark / email).