Half of law firms use practice management and legal operations platforms. However, satisfaction is falling behind, and negative sentiment may be undermining loyalty, new research has shown.
The interim results of the 2025 Agile Market Intelligence Legal Tech Review have revealed how legal professionals across Australia are engaging with legal technology. While many firms continue to operate on low-tech budgets with limited adoption, there are signs of increased investment intent moving forward.
The review is based on survey responses collected from 1,250 legal professionals across Australia, with research conducted between 4 February and 5 May 2025. The sample includes 914 professionals working in private practice and 269 in in-house roles, spanning across a range of firm sizes, locations, and practice areas.
As previously reported by Lawyers Weekly, although most law firms are planning to increase investment in legal tech over the next year, more than 50 per cent haven’t adopted any new legal tech in over five years, and demonstrations from legal tech vendors are fundamental to the decision-making process of most law firms.
Adoption of practice management solutions
According to the research, boutique law firms lead the way in the adoption of practice management and legal operations platforms.
Over three in five (62 per cent) of boutiques have adopted this category of legal tech, with usage declining as firm size increases – 56 per cent of mid-sized firms have adopted such tech, and just 29 per cent of BigLaw firms have done so.
This pattern suggests, Agile said, that smaller firms may be more motivated to adopt streamlined, off-the-shelf systems to manage time, billing, and matter workflows.
This trend aligns, the research agency noted, “with findings from the 2025 Legal Trends for Solo and Small Firms report by Clio in the UK for cloud-based practice management solutions, which reported 79–81 per cent of solo and small firms in the UK use cloud-based practice management tools compared to just 47 per cent of larger firms”.
“Similarly, the 2024 Practice Management Tech Report by the American Bar Association found adoption is highest among solo and small practices in the US. Larger firms are more likely to rely on custom workflows, legacy enterprise systems, and substantial in-house IT support, making adoption of all-in-one platforms slower and less central to their operations,” the research agency said.
Agile Market Intelligence director Michael Johnson said: “Smaller firms are more agile in adopting tech that delivers quick wins. But for larger firms, adoption depends on how well platforms plug into broader systems.
“The value has to scale with the complexity.”
What drives loyalty
Agile analysed responses from the above professionals, comparing how they rated specific aspects of their platform experience (e.g. user experience, value for money) with the Net Promoter Score (NPS) they provided, based on the question “How likely is it that you would recommend [product] to a friend or colleague?”.
This analysis gives the research agency the correlation coefficients (r), indicating the strength and direction of the relationship between each experience and their overall satisfaction. The value of r ranges from -1 to +1, with higher positive values indicating a stronger influence on NPS.
Agile’s research also showed that user experience with practice management platforms has the highest correlation with a lawyer or firm’s likelihood to recommend products or services. Other influential attributes, it found, included innovation, onboarding, and software updates.
Most platform attributes, it found, were rated between 45 per cent and 55 per cent positive, showing no clear standout. And, while advanced features like AI and other advanced features attract attention, lasting satisfaction is grounded in how platforms fit into day-to-day operations.
“Firms have limited tolerance for friction. If onboarding is poor or the interface feels dated, users disengage. Even widespread adoption can’t guarantee satisfaction,” said Johnson.
Technical gaps and persistent concerns
Elsewhere, the research showed that value for money correlates with how likely firms and lawyers are to recommend products or services, and remains low-rated, with users citing pricing concerns, and a desire for “lite” platform options.
There was praise, Agile found, for platform features that speed up workflows, while technical issues such as crashes and lag after updates were frequently mentioned.
“Open-ended feedback collected in the study highlights a strong appetite for smarter, more connected systems,” Agile said.
“Users appreciate the time-saving features and workflow automation that practice management solutions offer, particularly in billing, precedents, document management, including the fast turnaround times for high volume settlements.”
This said, pricing sensitivity and inconsistent technical delivery are dragging down satisfaction – many SME law firms, who hold most of the market share, are calling for scalability.
Legal professionals are concerned, Agile said, about increasing fees, and “express wanting ‘lite’ versions of the platforms for smaller businesses”.
“Technical issues were also voiced out across the market, mentioning crashes and slowing down due to updates,” it said.
The bar, Johnson said, is being raised.
“Legal teams are no longer just looking for digital versions of manual tasks. They want platforms that fit their ecosystem and evolve with their needs,” he said.
Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in New South Wales, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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