2009: The Year of Hunkering Down in Legal Technology

In the ABA's Law Practice Today, Dennis Kennedy identifies eight key trends in legal technology for 2009. His forecast is grim. Kennedy writes, "I’m actually quite pessimistic about what we’ll see in legal technology, even though I’ve tried to take a more positive outlook in this article than what I might say to you in private."

Kennedy's Legal Technology Trends for 2009

1. Technology budgets get decimated
2. Making do with what you have or doing more with less
3. The mobile phone as platform
4. Looking to the cloud
5. Using tech to get the word out and the money in
6. Focus on client-focused technology
7. E-Discovery in still waters
8. The perfect storm for collaboration

Kennedy's conclusion: "while many hunker down with eyes closed and narrow their perspectives, big changes will be taking place under the surface and this is the year to take some time and think some bigger thoughts. Hunker down, but keep your eyes and ears, and your mind, open." [JH]