Digital White Papers

29 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER POTPOURRI an overall drop in confidence about their firm's risk management capabilities compared to last year's results: Overall, the 2016 numbers show that respondents were more reluctant to express anything above a baseline level of confidence ("Capable") about their firm's ability to address risk management concerns. Plans To Increase Investments The 2016 survey asked respondents, "In the next 12 months, do you expect your firm to increase its level of investment in risk management?" 85% of firms saw the need for further investment in risk management, though only a portion of those had the resources and necessary management authorization to invest at this time. Less than half (46.67%) said they would be making additional budget available for risk management. 38.33% replying that they "need to increase investment but are unable to invest due to budget constraints," and 15% reported they currently have no need for more investment. Malpractice Claims and Technology Law firms face legal malpractice claims that can cause irreparable damage. The 2016 survey asked participants whether they agree that Risk 2015 2016 Change Minimal 0.69% 5.00% +4.31% We have work to do 9.72% 13.33% +3.61% Capable 40.28% 55.00% +14.72% More than capable 39.58% 18.33% -21.25% Extremely capable 9.72% 8.33% -1.39% Risky Business: Life in Legal "[t]he risk of legal malpractice suits has gone up significantly in recent years." 39.71% agreed, 5.88% disagreed and 54.51% said they were not sure. We cannot speak to any change as this question was not asked in 2015, but nearly 40% of respondents agreeing that malpractice suits have increased shows that many firms are under strain from malpractice concerns. When respondents were asked to name the biggest underlying causes of professional malpractice claims against their firms, the top four answers were: Negligence (23.53%) Conflicts of interest (22.06%) Calendaring errors (11.76%) Missed case notifications (8.82%) 33.82% responded "Other," mainly stating either that their firm did not have ongoing malpractice cases or that they did not know. 2016 responses did not differ significantly from 2015. The negligence, conflicts of interest, calendaring errors and missed case notifications that lead to malpractice are oen the result of fatigue, stress, overloading or miscommunication among legal support staff. Mistakes can also be caused by inadequate technology training, inadequate IT configuration or faulty workflow processes. Technology can help automate repetitive or tedious tasks so important information, dates and deadlines are not missed. Over 50% of respondents conceded that a decentralized or outdated docketing system created significant risk for their firms: 55.8% agreed, 13.24% disagreed and 30.88% were not sure. Docketing systems can eliminate 1 2 3 4 A comparison of the 2016 numbers against 2015 shows the largest risk increase was in cyber threats.

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