Four in Five Legal Firms Looking to Invest in Speech Recognition

By Lawyer Monthly

A full 82% of legal firms aim to invest in speech recognition technology going forward, according to a research report from Nuance Communications Inc.

Censuswide was commissioned to conduct a survey of 1,000 legal professionals and 20 IT decision-makers in the UK, which was carried out from 23 June to 25 June. Respondents were asked questions regarding their use of technology after the government recommended that offices close earlier this year, and whether they felt properly equipped to work remotely.

25% of legal professionals did not feel properly equipped for remote work when the government advice came down earlier this year. When asked in the Censuswide survey, 56% of respondents reported that they lacked the adequate productivity tools to do their jobs as effectively from home as they could in the office.

However, 80% of respondents who used speech recognition technology for document creation in some form during this period said that they felt properly equipped.

It was also discovered that, in cases where they did not utilise voice recognition software tools, 67% of legal professionals reportedly spent between 2 and 4 hours a day typing. Only 19% made use of internal typists, and 5% used external transcription services on a regular basis.

82% of organisations surveyed said that they were looking to invest further in voice recognition technology going forward, and 62% of legal professionals who were not currently using them said that they would in future.

“The pandemic has accelerated a trend that was already underway, as many modern legal firms move to embrace new ways of working and make the most of digitalisation. In this time of economic uncertainty, legal professionals are under more pressure than ever to deliver high quality outputs – including documents – at speed, all whilst upholding the highest standards of data security,” said Ed McGuiggan, General Manager at Nuance Communications.

McGuiggan noted that speech recognition was likely to become an essential tool in order to cope with the legal profession’s new demands. “While it is undeniable that recent months have brought challenges for the legal sector, they have also presented an opportunity to further reform some outdated methods and attitudes,” he said.