Benchmark data can prove to be invaluable when making decisions about the future of your law firm. Understanding how others in the legal profession are using technology to streamline workflows and increase revenues can make all the difference.

That’s where the recently released 2025 Legal Industry Report from AffiniPay comes in. This report, published annually, offers insight into how legal professionals from firms of all sizes and practice areas are approaching and benefiting from technology adoption. Over 2,800 legal professionals were surveyed for this year’s survey, which covers a wide range of topics, including artificial intelligence adoption, financial management software choices and the continued shift to remote and hybrid work environments.

The data reveals notable trends surrounding legal professionals’ technology choices and outcomes, including how software adoption impacts firm profitability and how remote work choices are changing the landscape of law practice.

Increased interest in AI adoption

With generative AI continuing to make headlines, it’s not surprising that the data shows that interest in it has increased since last year’s report. For example, in 2024, 31% of legal professionals reported using generative AI tools for work, up from 27% in 2023.

Interestingly, the rate of adoption varied across firm size and practice areas. Immigration practitioners led generative AI usage, with 47% incorporating it into their daily workflows. Other practice areas, such as personal injury (37%), civil litigation (36%) and criminal law (28%), also reported high usage.

Despite the individual growth rates, the survey showed that legal-specific generative AI adoption at the firm level slowed slightly. Only 21% of firms reported using AI in 2024, down from 24% in 2023. This decline is likely due to firms being in the exploratory phase—testing AI tools in specific use cases or pilot programs, rather than fully integrating the technology. The overall sentiment shows that while AI is still being explored, many firms are taking a cautious and measured approach.

At the firm level, civil litigation firms reported the highest generative AI adoption rate, at 27%, followed by personal injury and family law firms, at 20% each. Trusts and estate firms and criminal law practices had lower adoption rates, at 18% each. Immigration firms reported the lowest adoption rate, at 17%.

Overall, the data shows that for those who have adopted generative AI tools, they are relying on them quite often. Among frequent users, 45% use AI daily, and 40% use it weekly. The most common tasks accomplished with it include drafting correspondence (54%), brainstorming ideas (47%), conducting general research (46%) and summarizing documents (39%).

Financial management tools for profitability and stability

Survey data also highlights how firms are increasingly adopting financial management software to improve financial workflows. In particular, legal-specific accounting and bookkeeping software has become a key tool for many firms. Respondents indicate that 37% of their firms have legal accounting software built into their firm’s practice management system, while 16% said it’s built into their firm’s billing software. Another 11% use software that is integrated with, rather than built into, their firm’s law practice management platform, and 16% reported adoption of a stand-alone legal accounting tool.

The survey data shows that legal accounting and bookkeeping tools have notably increased efficiency, with nearly 26% of firms reporting one to five hours reclaimed per month. Another 17% reduced workloads by six to 10 hours, 7% saved 15 or more hours each month, and 4% recovered a whopping 11 to 15 hours.

Another valuable tool for improving workflows is legal billing tools. The legal professionals surveyed (80%) relied on invoicing software, with 27% saving one to five hours per month, 16% saving six to 10 hours, and 12% saving 11 or more hours. The end benefit of the time saved using legal accounting and billing tools? Significant gains in productivity and profitability.

Growth of online payment processing

The report also highlights the increasing adoption of online payment processing software, with 82% of respondents sharing that their firms accept credit and/or debit card payments in 2024, up from 78% in 2023. This adoption has resulted in time savings and financial impact. More than a third of respondents (35%) saved between one to five hours per month using online payment systems, while 14% saved six to 10 hours. Also of note is that firms accepting card payments reported improved collection rates, with 59% of firms noting that their collection rates increased “somewhat more” or “significantly more” each month.

The growing use of online payment solutions is indicative of a broader trend toward automating tedious and time-consuming administrative tasks that were previously manual. By offering more payment options, firms are not only improving their financial stability but also freeing up time to devote to more client work and firm growth.

Remote and hybrid work adoption

Finally, the report addressed remote and hybrid work, which has become a staple for many firms. About three-fourths of survey respondents reported using cloud-based remote working tools, with videoconferencing (79%), e-signatures (78%) and e-filing (76%) ranking the highest.

Additionally, the data showed that the hybrid work model has gained traction in the legal profession. According to the survey results, 28% of firms operate fully in office, while 21% use hybrid schedules for all team members. Another 19% of firms are fully remote, and 18% adopt hybrid schedules for some staff members.

Just as remote and hybrid work continued post-pandemic, so too did participation in virtual court proceedings, with 34% of respondents attending virtual hearings a few times per month, 21% a few times per week and 5% every day.

Even so, preferences for in-person appearances remain strong, especially for certain types of proceedings. Half of respondents prefer to avoid virtual hearings, followed by jury trials (45%), bench trials (43%) and motion arguments (39%). However, practice areas significantly impacted these results.

For example, trust and estate professionals were more likely than the overall average to prefer virtual litigation proceedings, with only 36% opting for in-person jury trials, followed by bench trials (35%) and motion arguments and depositions (at 30% each).

In contrast, civil litigation and personal injury lawyers showed a stronger preference for in-person proceedings, with 56% each favoring jury trials, and 46% and 49%, respectively, choosing in-person depositions. Similarly, criminal law practitioners also leaned toward in-person proceedings, with 59% preferring hearings, 58% jury trials, 55% bench trials and 49% motion arguments.

Immigration lawyers, on the other hand, were less likely to prefer in-person litigation, with below-average preferences for motion arguments (26%), status conferences (22%) and depositions (19%).

In conclusion

The AffiniPay 2025 Legal Industry Report highlights a range of preferences and trends within the legal profession. While generative AI remains a focus, the data shows that firms are also adopting proven cloud-based technologies for billing, payments and remote work, highlighting an increasing reliance on specialized tools that enhance efficiency, save time and improve financial outcomes.

---

Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York-based attorney, author and journalist, and she is the principal legal insight strategist at MyCase, a company that offers legal practice management software for small firms. She is the nationally recognized author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers and is co-author of Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier, both published by the American Bar Association. She writes regular columns for ABAJournal.com and Above the Law, has authored hundreds of articles for other publications, and regularly speaks at conferences regarding the intersection of law and emerging technologies. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @nikiblack, or she can be reached at [email protected].

---

This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Alaa Pasha, the CEO of Maptician, a cloud-based workplace management software company and an end-to-end solution for law firm hybrid operations.

They discussed the current state of remote and hybrid work in law firms, strategies that firms are using to maximize their workspaces, mistakes that they are making in managing and training their teams, and the future of firm operations given the rise of generative artificial intelligence.

Ari Kaplan: Tell us about your background and your role at Maptician.

Alaa Pasha: I have been a technology executive building business-to-business tools in multiple industries for over 20 years. I came to Maptician about two years ago, and as the CEO, I am responsible for setting the company’s strategy and direction, including our focus on supporting law firms.

Ari Kaplan: Maptician won ALM’s 2024 Legalweek Leaders in Tech Award in the Tech-Enabled Hybrid Work Environment category. How would you characterize the current state of remote and hybrid work in law firms?

Alaa Pasha: This category recognizes companies that are making it possible for law firms to enable or change their culture through technology by empowering their employees to perform some of their work outside the office regularly. We submitted a case study with a law firm that leveraged our solution to successfully transition its 700 attorneys and 1,200 total professionals on 32 floors throughout nine offices into a hybrid schedule. The firm’s chief innovation officer advised us that transforming into a hybrid organization was one of the largest innovation projects taking place at the time. They tried to leverage Microsoft Outlook, which is a great platform, but was not purpose-built to solve this specific use case. They lacked the visibility to see who was in the office or working remotely, which we call presence, not to punish or reward people but to drive more effective collaboration and efficiencies. We are delighted to be working with this client, and this recognition of our partnership was just icing on the cake.

Ari Kaplan: What strategies are law firms using to maximize their workspaces?

Alaa Pasha: First, understand how your space is being used to establish a strategy that helps to maximize it. In the past, everyone had a desk. Today, a dedicated desk is an option, but it is not mandatory. Second, consolidate your workplace management applications, such as visitor entry data, conference room reservations and catering orders. Third, use technology to better understand the habits of your team to enhance their output. Knowing the days that different team members are in the office can help craft a strategy that increases productivity and enhances interaction.

Ari Kaplan: What challenges do law firms use Maptician to overcome?

Alaa Pasha: The most common challenge that law firms use our technology to overcome is to determine the total amount of space they need on a given day, as well as in general, especially in lease negotiations. It also drives collaboration because it instantly highlights who is in the office and which office for firms that have multiple sites. In some cases, it is even more important to know who is in the office the next day or in the next week to gauge the services that might be necessary, such as food and administrative support. And firms want to consolidate their suite of applications.

Ari Kaplan: Why do firms need dedicated technology for this when widely available scheduling tools or a spreadsheet could provide a solution?

Alaa Pasha: We prefer to work with prospects who try this approach first because we need not persuade them that a purpose-built tool is more effective and efficient. Email and calendaring tools are helpful, but they cannot adequately give a firm or individual sufficient data to determine whether and when they are or will be in the office. We display this information visually and give users the tools to encourage conversation and collaboration. Some firms who are trying to do it themselves are not seeing sufficient levels of collaboration or the in-office presence that supports it.

Ari Kaplan: In a hybrid work environment, what mistakes are law firms making in managing their teams and training their employees?

Alaa Pasha: There is no one-size-fits-all, so we provide analytics to incorporate a firm’s feedback from what it has already tried and tweak its process. The mistake is to apply the same strategy to all types of organizations. After all, there are often differences in how firms operate in certain locations, such as in a small town where people live close to the office and a large city that requires a long commute. The in-office requirements and strategies may vary between practices. Some cities could be different, as well. It is also important to lead by example. When the managing partner and practice group leaders encourage the use of technology to empower teams working on a hybrid schedule, it enhances communication, culture and mentoring, and the application sees broad adoption. Firms that deploy it for the associates first and wait to give the partners access based on the feedback of their peers see less usage.

Ari Kaplan: Do you expect that most law firms will be in the office fewer than five days per week permanently?

Alaa Pasha: I am biased, but I do, especially for midsize to large firms because the pandemic proved that legal professionals have the technology and the maturity to be very productive while working remotely. This does not mean firms will shut down all of their offices and send everyone home because that would eliminate the culture of the organization and limit mentoring. But it does give leaders the freedom to lower their overhead by reducing office space, which they can reinvest in more luxurious offices, better technology and higher-level training. It is also important to have a physical presence for teaching new professionals, as it is harder and less effective to learn certain skills remotely.

Ari Kaplan: What do you think the future of how and where law firms operate will look like, particularly given the rise of generative AI?

Alaa Pasha: I am a computer engineer by profession and think we should all be focusing on artificial intelligence very seriously to leverage its potential for self-improvement, communication and productivity. While it will not eliminate jobs, AI is causing major disruptions in the market. Law firms seem to recognize this and the ways that it is changing the expectations for how people work. That said, it will always be crucial to maintain some type of face-to-face interaction and mentoring.

---

Listen to the complete interview at Reinventing Professionals.

Ari Kaplan regularly interviews leaders in the legal industry and in the broader professional services community to share perspective, highlight transformative change and introduce new technology at his blog and on iTunes.

---

This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home and communicating and collaborating via real-time communication tools has become the norm for many law firms and offices.

The benefits of such arrangements are obvious. People can be safe and secure in their homes while maintaining their productivity and availability. Plus, no more lengthy commutes means that people get back hours of their day that they would otherwise lose being stuck in traffic or sitting on a train. Some firms and offices even took the opportunity to decrease their real estate footprint, saving them money in the long run. Many experts and even firm leaders figured that there was no going back, and that virtual or hybrid arrangements were here to stay.

However, some firms, including several of the largest in the country, have begged to differ. Citing a need to maintain or preserve office culture and strengthen personal connections, these firms are now mandating at least four days in the office per week.

Several other sectors, particularly the finance industry, are doing the same. Even Zoom, one of the key pieces of technology that allowed so many industries to go virtual, has demanded that its employees return to the office, according to the New York Times.

So is it only a matter of time before we’re back to being physically present in the office at least five times per week? Or will the virtual or hybrid arrangements that have taken hold be as resilient as the billable hour?

In this episode of the Legal Rebels Podcast, Mark Klender, vice president of client engagement at Harbor Global (formerly HBR Consulting) talks with the ABA Journal’s Victor Li about the future of remote working, how firms can promote and maintain their culture if large numbers of their lawyers aren’t coming to the office, and other changes that have taken hold in the legal industry.