Survey: Lack of Stakeholder Buy-In Hampers Early Legal Tech Selection
Over 50% of UK legal departments cite poor stakeholder buy-in as a key legal tech adoption barrier.
Why it matters: Legal teams and legal ops face major hurdles when key stakeholders are not engaged early. Understanding these challenges helps improve technology adoption and budgeting alignment.
- More than 50% of UK legal departments identify stakeholder buy-in as the top challenge in adopting legal technology.
- Only 25% report resistance to change as a major obstacle, emphasizing the buy-in gap.
- A Smokeball study reveals 77% of law firms use five or fewer unique software products, reflecting cautious tech adoption.
- 61% of general counsel expect modest budget increases amid CFO tensions over costs and strategy.
A survey by Wolters Kluwer and The Lawyer found that securing stakeholder buy-in ranks as the biggest barrier for over half of UK legal departments adopting legal technology. This challenge outweighs resistance to change, which only 25% identify, showing early-stage misalignment during legal software selection.
Legal departments operate within complex structures where budgeting power plays a key role in technology decisions. Maurits Annegarn, Segment Manager at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory, explains that inadequate stakeholder involvement risks legal teams functioning like external law firms rather than integrated organizational units.
The Smokeball study indicates 77% of law firms use five or fewer unique software products, suggesting cautious adoption often motivated by budget and operational simplicity. Contract lifecycle management (CLM) software leads legal tech adoption—an ACC and Exterro report shows 65% of in-house teams use CLM, with over half rating it highly effective.
Budgeting tension remains a concern. A survey by Axiom and Wakefield Research revealed that 61% of general counsel expect a modest 5% budget increase, yet 77% face tensions with CFOs over cost control and strategic differences, according to Legal Dive.
These findings indicate that legal tech adoption challenges often originate from stakeholder dynamics and budgeting alignments rather than technology shortcomings. Legal ops and leadership must prioritize early, inclusive stakeholder engagement and align budgets with broader organizational goals to enhance tech adoption.
By the numbers:
- 50%+ — UK legal departments find stakeholder buy-in is key adoption barrier
- 77% — Law firms use five or fewer unique software products
- 61% — General counsel expect slight 5% budget increases despite CFO tensions