Corporate legal departments are increasingly evaluating outside counsel based on technology performance, and many law firms are failing the test. A new report from managed IT and AI services provider Integris, based on a survey of 416 law firm decision-makers and 600 clients, documents a widening gap between what firms deliver and what clients now expect in terms of security, reliability, and AI transparency.
The gap in numbers
The report's key findings paint a clear picture of misalignment. 33% of law firm decision-makers cite IT budget and roadmap issues as their top challenge, with 23% specifically pointing to high IT costs. Meanwhile, 63% of firms report experiencing a significant email-based security breach in the past 12 months. On the client side, 83% say a firm's technology sophistication affects their confidence, and 35% have switched firms or seriously considered doing so due to technology or operational failures—including billing errors, delays, poor communication, or security concerns.
What clients actually want
Clients prioritize reliability over novelty. According to the report, secure client portals and strong cybersecurity rank significantly higher than emerging tools like AI-powered research or predictive analytics. The message is practical: clients want systems that work consistently and keep their data safe, not necessarily the latest experimental feature.
At the same time, transparency around AI use is becoming a baseline expectation. Most clients surveyed say firms should disclose when AI is used in legal work. This suggests that even as firms adopt AI tools, failing to communicate that use openly could erode trust.
The risk to revenue
The report notes that clients are increasingly bypassing traditional firms for cloud-native alternative legal service providers, putting an estimated $4.2 billion in annual client tech stipends at risk. Kyle Wewe, chief revenue officer at Integris, framed the issue bluntly: "The firms that can get their technology planning right will be the ones that keep those clients. The ones that can't will lose them, even if the legal work is strong."
Bottom line
The Integris report suggests that technology performance is no longer a back-office concern for law firms—it is a client retention issue. Firms that treat IT as a strategic function, invest in secure client portals, and adopt clear AI disclosure policies are likely to hold onto business. Those that continue relying on on-prem document management systems and manual processes risk losing clients to more tech-savvy competitors, regardless of legal expertise.