Law firms and legal departments are under increased pressure to embrace technology amid a potential mass exodus of lawyers in the next year, indicating talent troubles ahead, according to a survey report by information services company Wolters Kluwer NV.

The survey says 87% of lawyers who work for corporate legal departments and 83% of firm lawyers say it is extremely important or very important to work for an organization that fully leverages technology.

Failure to embrace technology could leave a bad impression — 70% of corporate lawyers and 58% of law firm lawyers are very to somewhat likely to leave their current positions in the next year, according to the survey.

This could exacerbate the current talent shortage in the legal profession. According to the survey, 86% of legal departments and 70% of law firms report a very or somewhat significant impact from the “great resignation.”

With the threat of potential resignations looming, 62% of legal departments and 66% of law firms plan to increase their technology investments over the next three years.

The survey also shone light on the role of technology in the relationship between law firms and legal departments. Over 90% of corporate legal departments say it is important in the next three years for law firms to fully leverage technology, while 84% expect their law firm to help them with legal tech selection and implementation, according to the survey.

In 2020, the survey found that 41% of legal departments asked their law firms to describe the technology they used to be more productive and efficient. In 2022 that has jumped to 70% and is expected to hit 97% by 2025.