Peer to Peer Magazine

46 in their efforts to address risk, but this year that number had fallen to 13%. Still, the awareness to address risk is there, even if the budget is not. Those investing and those who know they need to invest (but do not have the budget), account for 72% of the responses. Malpractice stakes are higher than ever, but many do not know where it might emerge When asked if "the risk of legal malpractice suits has gone up significantly in recent years," half of respondents agreed—only 3 percent did not. Awareness of malpractice risk is obviously high, but more importantly how does a firm protect itself from potential causes? Additionally, the survey asked, "What are the most likely underlying causes of potential professional malpractice claims against your firm?" The answers were varied, but the fact that "I don't know" topped the list should be cause for concern. Fully 39% of those surveyed chose this response. Docketing matters Docketing is one of the mission critical functions of a law firm. American LegalNet is a leader in calendaring docketing, and part of the survey focused on this area. One of the questions asked was whether a "decentralized or outdated docketing system create significant risk for my firm." Respondents overwhelming agreed: 71% said yes, 23% were unsure, while only 6% disagreed. The number of respondents who agreed rose from 66% last year—5 full percentage points. The follow-up to this question was whether the firm had a centralized docketing solution in place. Only a bit more than half had centralized docketing (56%), which was decrease from last year when 62% did. Decentralized tools accounted for 23% of answers, while 15% had no docketing solution at all. Docketing seems to be lagging a bit from a technical perspective. Only 12% of firms had any type of cloud-based docketing R I S K 2 0 1 5 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 7 2 0 1 8 Minimal 1% 5% 3% 0% We have work to do 10% 13% 20% 14% H O W W O U L D Y O U R AT E Y O U R F I R M ' S O V E R A L L C A P A B I L I T Y T O A D D R E S S A N D M I T I G AT E R I S K ? C A P A B L E R E S P O N S E S 2 0 1 5 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 7 2 0 1 8 Capable 40% 55% 40% 44% More than capable 40% 18% 26% 30% Extremely capable 10% 8% 10% 13% CAPABLE TOTALS 90% 81% 76% 87% A B O U T T H E S U R V E Y The 2018 ILTA Risk Management Survey has been conducted for four consecutive years. Respondents were composed of a diverse group that included legal IT, general counsel, risk and compliance, and practice support professionals. The 2018 survey had 61% IT Department (Manager, Director, CIO) respondents, an increase over last year's results of 44%. The largest 2018 survey majorities responded from the biggest firms with 500+ attorneys (26%) and from firms with 101-250 attorneys (23%) and accounted for nearly one-half of respondents. There was a slight decrease in the 500+ attorney law firms (-3 points) and an increase in the 251-500 attorney firm segment (+5 points) for a total of 17% of respondents. www.alncorp.com/

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