LegalTech New York Attendee Survey Shows Strong Sustained Financial Support for Technology in Law Firm and Legal Department Budgets

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – March 14, 2007 – Gone are the days of pleading with law firm partners and in-house counsel about the efficiency and ease that computers bring to a legal practice. The 2007 Survey on Technology Budgeting and Spending, conducted at LegalTech New York, shows strong sustained support for technology in law firm and legal department budgets. Edge Legal Marketing, a premier provider of marketing and public relations expertise to companies targeting the legal market, today released the results from its 2007 attendee survey conducted at the conclusion of LegalTech New York. This year’s conference was held January 29-31st and attracted 12,000 attendees from New York and around the world, including law firm and corporate attorneys, their support staff, and IT professionals, in addition to hundreds of vendors serving the needs of legal professionals.

This year’s survey results provide key indicators regarding technology spending trends for law firms and corporate legal departments. 67% of respondents said their firm or department’s technology budget is growing in 2007. Perhaps more telling, however, is the percentage of law firms and legal departments that decreased their technology budgets. Only three percent of respondents this year reported a decrease in their firm or department’s technology budget compared to more than six percent reporting a spending decline just a couple years ago.

Survey respondents attended this year’s conference for multiple reasons, with educational tracks, networking, and the exhibit hall topping the list. While visiting the exhibit hall, respondents reported data storage and imaging equipment as the hardware they researched most. Electronic discovery software was the clear leader in software researched, followed by document management, litigation support, and case management/budgeting.

When asked, “What services did you check out at LegalTech NY?” more than half (56%) of survey respondents reported electronic discovery, with other specific electronic discovery-related services (data restoration and native file review) following close behind. Litigation support services and email processing/archive loading services were also among the top five.

“Legal professionals attend LegalTech every year for many reasons, but it’s clear that electronic discovery remains a top priority for the industry,” said Amy Juers, founder and CEO of Edge Legal Marketing. “And because there are many elements involved in e-discovery, some vendors are finding success by specializing in key service areas. I expect this trend will continue over the next couple of years.”

The Survey was conducted by Edge Legal Marketing. Prospective participants were sent a link to a web-based site with the questions. For full survey results, visit www.EdgeLegalMarketing.com.

LegalTech, produced by ALM Events, is part of ALM’s Conference and Trade Show Division, one of North America’s largest producers of educational and networking events for business leaders and the legal profession. The division offers more than 300 conferences and two leading industry tradeshows, as well as conferences in Europe and Asia. Attendance at the division’s events, which span a broad range of topics including law, finance, natural resources, life sciences, multi-cultural marketing, real estate and healthcare, will exceed 40,000 executive-level decision makers this year.

About Edge Legal Marketing
Edge Legal Marketing delivers marketing and public relations expertise to service, software and hardware providers targeting the legal market. The company helps B2B businesses market and sell their products and services to corporate legal departments, law firms, federal and state courts and legal associations. Edge Legal Marketing services include strategic planning, marketing and e-marketing action plans, alliance building, Web site development, market research, public relations and advertising (concept and media plans). For more information, visit www.EdgeLegalMarketing.com

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Contact:
Carolyn Depko
Director of Media Relations
Edge Legal Marketing
732-679-1347
cdepko@EdgeLegalMarketing.com