b'Local Government Lawyer 8Another head of legal predicted thatrespondents using it.of legal agree it can boost productivity. Yet, smaller councils will need to look to share,Workflow mapping technology is the fourthinvestment in tech solutions is declining, with but added: It is always difficulttwo clients,most-used technology at 30% of respondents84% citing budget as the primary barrier. two sets of rules, two sets of meetings andalready usingand is on the shopping list forIn other words, councils believe that members. many departments, as 37% said they plan ontechnology could ease the pressure, but Ultimately, it seems the initial energyintroducing it in the next 12 months.financial constraints mean they cannot afford behind the approach, which was fuelled byThe least popular technology,to invest in the very tools that could save austerity, is faltering.meanwhile, is proofreading software. Justthem money in the long run.As one head of legal put it: They seem on2% of departments are using it and 91% ofLocal government as a sector has been the decline latelycouncils want their ownrespondents have no plans to introduce it infinding efficiencies since austerity began to service to respond to them first and foremost,the future.bite in 2011.even ones who were gung-ho for merging aEdiscovery technology is almost equally asBut after more than a decade of efficiency decade ago. unpopular, with 7% of respondents using itdrives, could it be that council departments Another area that has seen a slight drop isand the vast majority (84%) having no plans toin general have now hit the ceiling in terms of the adoption of new legal technology, whichadopt it. doing more for less?fell from 47% of respondents using it to helpSo what about Artificial Intelligence? OnlyCouncils need legal teams to function boost productivity in 2019 to 39% now. 5% of respondents reported that they wereeffectively, but without the funding to hire This may be because the adoption of somealready using the emerging technology. staff or invest in technology, departments technologies is already quite highbut alsoHowever, 18% said their department planslook to have moved to a reactive, rather than because departments cannot find the budgetto implement AI soon and a further 61%strategic, approach to legal work. to invest.said they will likely deploy it at some point inThe question is no longer just about doing Almost 90% of respondents said theirthe future. (See AI article on page 24). more for lessits about whether legal departments are already using legal researchOne thing is obvious: departments wantdepartments can continue to do enough to tools, and 59% have some kind of documentto deploy more legal technology but cannotcope. management software (See table 7).afford to.Document automation technology wasLegal technology is widely seen as aAdam Carey is a reporter at Local the third most-used software with 37% ofway to improve efficiency94% of headsGovernment Lawyer.'