The market for legal technology products will continue to grow over the coming year in all areas but for one — online legal research. So says a study released today by ALM Research and Cogent Research, which concludes that the online legal research market “is approaching saturation.” I have not seen the full study, but I received an announcement that says this about it:

“The study measured user satisfaction, market penetration and brand loyalty to technology products in five legal technology areas: case/practice management, document management, electronic discovery, client development/CRM and online research.

“Online research tools proved to be the most widely available and used technologies at law firms, while the other technology products were available to no more than half of the attorneys surveyed. Moderate growth is projected in each of these categories over the next year, with the exception of online legal research which is approaching saturation.

“The study documents the proliferation of free legal information on the Web. The average respondent spends about 40 percent of his or her research time using search engines such as Google to find free, basic information.

“The study also found that Microsoft is a major player in the legal market. Many attorneys, especially younger lawyers, tend to use Microsoft Office as their primary means to perform a broad range of front-office functions.”

The full study in hard copy can be purchased via the ALM Research site. It will set you back $4,999.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.