Consilio Survey Finds 60% of Legal, Risk and Compliance Professionals Currently Prioritizing Operational Reinventions to Address Increasing Workload Challenges
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Law firms and corporate law departments are focused on short-term solutions to combat high work volume
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 14 2025 – Despite growing appetite to leverage large-scale innovations in the legal industry, six in ten (60%) legal, risk and compliance professionals are prioritizing smaller, operational reinventions to bring about process improvements that combat their ever-escalating workload. This is according to new research from Consilio, the global leader in legal technology solutions and enterprise services. The survey found that under relentless pressure, legal professionals globally are focused on addressing near-term increasing workload challenges by prioritizing four key areas: contract management, regulatory compliance and risk management, information governance and records retention, and legal project management solutions. In doing so, legal teams can free up bandwidth for longer-term, larger-scale transformative innovation.
The fifth annual global survey, “Beyond the Gridlock: Overcoming the Challenges of Modern Legal Work,” found that nearly half (48%) of respondents ranked overwhelming work volume as the biggest challenge they face. Amid this heavy workload, legal professionals also cite growing budgetary restraints, rising eDiscovery costs, global complexities, and headcount freezes as additional headwinds.
“We’ve continued to see the sheer scale of workload forcing many legal professionals to focus on fixing the here-and-now, which our research quantitatively reinforces,” said Michael Pontrelli, Managing Director, Global Strategic Client Experience at Consilio. “To enable them to allocate their efforts and resources toward innovative new technologies that can one day lessen their workload, right now respondents are focused on smaller reinventions of how they structure their daily work. Effective regulatory compliance, risk management, and information governance navigation are critical to unlocking bandwidth so that teams can focus on long-term transformation down the line.”
Overwhelming Work Volume
In four out of the last five years, survey respondents have found managing and prioritizing the volume of work to be their biggest challenge. This is due to increasing data volumes and complexity, whilst more stringent regulation and global data standards have added to the challenge.
Further, 31% of respondents ranked improving operational efficiency as a top challenge, reflecting an ongoing need for streamlined workflow processes. Some respondents noted that technology solutions meant to alleviate workloads can actually add layers of complexity, especially when they are not fully integrated into existing workflows or optimized for current processes.
Many legal professionals believe that technology has the potential to increase efficiency, particularly in contract management (67%), compliance and risk management (40%), and information governance and records retention (38%). As legal teams face increased work, focusing on these areas offers the best opportunity to command near-term technology-driven operational efficiencies.
AI Integration
Looking at AI, almost half (46%) of respondents acknowledged that it will shape the future of the legal industry. However, only 32% of law firms and 20% of in-house legal teams are actively piloting, planning to deploy, or currently deploying AI solutions.
“While the promise of incorporating AI into a company has many potential benefits, it can be overwhelming to get started,” said Pontrelli. “However, it’s important to not get stuck in decision paralysis. Humans will not be able to keep up with the growing workload volume much longer. To keep pace, legal departments and law firms must develop a strategy for incorporating AI. By reinventing internal workflows, processes, and procedures, they can create the space needed for all-encompassing transformative AI solutions.”
Data & Jurisdictional Challenges
At the same time, the growth and complexity of data continues to drive intensity for both eDiscovery and broader information governance efforts. Almost one-third (32%) of respondents identified document review quality and efficiency as their biggest data challenge, while over a quarter (28%) cited management of Privacy / Personal Identifiable Information (PII) as a concern. Balancing speed, accuracy, cost, visibility, and security in data management and analysis procedures will continue to be a challenge for legal professionals as the volume and variety of data expands exponentially.
Amid globalization, law firms and in-house corporate legal teams alike have been forced to become adept at navigating multijurisdictional work, which presents another set of challenges, including:
- Compliance and legal regulations (43%)
- Working across different time zones (27%)
- Managing cross-border data privacy and security (22%)
- Variation of operational procedures (18%)
For the full survey results and report, click here.
Survey Methodology
The survey of 212 legal, risk, and compliance professionals in corporate law departments and law firms from Asia and the Middle East, Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe, and the United States was conducted between July-August 2024.
About Consilio
Consilio stands as the global leader in eDiscovery, document review, flexible legal talent, and legal advisory & transformation consulting services. With its Consilio Complete suite of capabilities, the company empowers multinational law firms and corporations using innovative software, cost-effective managed services, and deep legal and regulatory industry expertise. Renowned for its expertise in litigation, HSR second requests, internal and regulatory investigations, eDiscovery, document review, information governance, compliance risk assessments, cybersecurity, law department management, and contracts management, Consilio also excels in legal staffing and recruitment through its Lawyers On Demand division. The division was acquired in 2023. Consilio globally employs leading professionals in the industry, applying defensible workflows with patented and industry-proven technology across all phases of the eDiscovery and risk management lifecycle. ISO\IEC 27001:2022 certified, the company operates offices, document review, and data centers across Europe, Asia, and North America. Discover more about Consilio’s commitment to legal excellence and innovation at www.consilio.com.
Media Contact
Gabrielle Simon
gsimon@prosek.com
Law firms and corporate law departments are focused on short-term solutions to combat high work volume
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 14 2025 – Despite growing appetite to leverage large-scale innovations in the legal industry, six in ten (60%) legal, risk and compliance professionals are prioritizing smaller, operational reinventions to bring about process improvements that combat their ever-escalating workload. This is according to new research from Consilio, the global leader in legal technology solutions and enterprise services. The survey found that under relentless pressure, legal professionals globally are focused on addressing near-term increasing workload challenges by prioritizing four key areas: contract management, regulatory compliance and risk management, information governance and records retention, and legal project management solutions. In doing so, legal teams can free up bandwidth for longer-term, larger-scale transformative innovation.
The fifth annual global survey, “Beyond the Gridlock: Overcoming the Challenges of Modern Legal Work,” found that nearly half (48%) of respondents ranked overwhelming work volume as the biggest challenge they face. Amid this heavy workload, legal professionals also cite growing budgetary restraints, rising eDiscovery costs, global complexities, and headcount freezes as additional headwinds.
“We’ve continued to see the sheer scale of workload forcing many legal professionals to focus on fixing the here-and-now, which our research quantitatively reinforces,” said Michael Pontrelli, Managing Director, Global Strategic Client Experience at Consilio. “To enable them to allocate their efforts and resources toward innovative new technologies that can one day lessen their workload, right now respondents are focused on smaller reinventions of how they structure their daily work. Effective regulatory compliance, risk management, and information governance navigation are critical to unlocking bandwidth so that teams can focus on long-term transformation down the line.”
Overwhelming Work Volume
In four out of the last five years, survey respondents have found managing and prioritizing the volume of work to be their biggest challenge. This is due to increasing data volumes and complexity, whilst more stringent regulation and global data standards have added to the challenge.
Further, 31% of respondents ranked improving operational efficiency as a top challenge, reflecting an ongoing need for streamlined workflow processes. Some respondents noted that technology solutions meant to alleviate workloads can actually add layers of complexity, especially when they are not fully integrated into existing workflows or optimized for current processes.
Many legal professionals believe that technology has the potential to increase efficiency, particularly in contract management (67%), compliance and risk management (40%), and information governance and records retention (38%). As legal teams face increased work, focusing on these areas offers the best opportunity to command near-term technology-driven operational efficiencies.
AI Integration
Looking at AI, almost half (46%) of respondents acknowledged that it will shape the future of the legal industry. However, only 32% of law firms and 20% of in-house legal teams are actively piloting, planning to deploy, or currently deploying AI solutions.
“While the promise of incorporating AI into a company has many potential benefits, it can be overwhelming to get started,” said Pontrelli. “However, it’s important to not get stuck in decision paralysis. Humans will not be able to keep up with the growing workload volume much longer. To keep pace, legal departments and law firms must develop a strategy for incorporating AI. By reinventing internal workflows, processes, and procedures, they can create the space needed for all-encompassing transformative AI solutions.”
Data & Jurisdictional Challenges
At the same time, the growth and complexity of data continues to drive intensity for both eDiscovery and broader information governance efforts. Almost one-third (32%) of respondents identified document review quality and efficiency as their biggest data challenge, while over a quarter (28%) cited management of Privacy / Personal Identifiable Information (PII) as a concern. Balancing speed, accuracy, cost, visibility, and security in data management and analysis procedures will continue to be a challenge for legal professionals as the volume and variety of data expands exponentially.
Amid globalization, law firms and in-house corporate legal teams alike have been forced to become adept at navigating multijurisdictional work, which presents another set of challenges, including:
- Compliance and legal regulations (43%)
- Working across different time zones (27%)
- Managing cross-border data privacy and security (22%)
- Variation of operational procedures (18%)
For the full survey results and report, click here.
Survey Methodology
The survey of 212 legal, risk, and compliance professionals in corporate law departments and law firms from Asia and the Middle East, Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe, and the United States was conducted between July-August 2024.
About Consilio
Consilio stands as the global leader in eDiscovery, document review, flexible legal talent, and legal advisory & transformation consulting services. With its Consilio Complete suite of capabilities, the company empowers multinational law firms and corporations using innovative software, cost-effective managed services, and deep legal and regulatory industry expertise. Renowned for its expertise in litigation, HSR second requests, internal and regulatory investigations, eDiscovery, document review, information governance, compliance risk assessments, cybersecurity, law department management, and contracts management, Consilio also excels in legal staffing and recruitment through its Lawyers On Demand division. The division was acquired in 2023. Consilio globally employs leading professionals in the industry, applying defensible workflows with patented and industry-proven technology across all phases of the eDiscovery and risk management lifecycle. ISO\IEC 27001:2022 certified, the company operates offices, document review, and data centers across Europe, Asia, and North America. Discover more about Consilio’s commitment to legal excellence and innovation at www.consilio.com.
Media Contact
Gabrielle Simon
gsimon@prosek.com
