Today, law firm clients live in a digital world—so they need and expect easier digital access to your firm. Do they have it today?  

Relationships with clients are built and maintained on a foundation of trust. Your law firm’s clients trust you and your colleagues to manage highly sensitive, confidential, and impactful matters on their behalf—and to keep them safe from bad actors, like hackers. Today, those bad actors are everywhere, with their ranks rising and their methods growing in sophistication and impact. It takes a modern security repertoire to fend off modern threats, and the trust and safety of your clientele depends on it. 

 As you handle such deeply sensitive and potentially life-altering matters for your clients, there’s an expectation of availability and transparency. Clients want to be able to contact your firm easily, get a quick response to inquiries, and have access to updates and information regarding their legal matters—their profit, privacy, and security are in your hands. Without a modern technology infrastructure in place, a high level of customer service is much harder to achieve.  

 Investing in IT modernization is an investment in your relationship with your clients. Because it is so rare for law firms to act swiftly when adopting new technology, modernization can even be a selling point and differentiator in the marketplace.  

Here’s how IT modernization sets your law firm up for success—and puts you ahead of the competition.  

#1: Modern IT improves legal client experience 

Enhancing your law firm’s technology allows you to provide better service to your clients in a wide range of ways. From seamless digital communications and processes to faster, more productive workflows, technology upgrades add value to your law firm, and in turn, you pass that value along to your clients.  

For many legal clients, timeliness is a large factor in overall satisfaction with your law firm. The ability to quickly and efficiently work through their cases and matters, and swift communication that provides transparency throughout the process, can be extremely impactful on a clients’ perception of your law firm. Word of mouth and establishing trust are deeply important for acquiring new legal clients, so the improvement to existing customer experience can be a powerful tool for marketing and growing your law firm. 

A technologically advanced environment makes your regular processes faster, helping you exceed expectations. You can more easily and transparently communicate with your clients—for example, hosting a client portal with messaging instead of sending multiple emails, adding AI to your workflows to speed up your productivity, and investing in easy-to-use billing and timekeeping software to make payments a breeze.  

It’s profitable to modernize. Studies show that companies who provide excellent customer experiences “can command a price premium of up to 16% on products and services.” 

These small yet powerful upgrades to the client experience are only possible when your technology infrastructure supports them. Many newer, more elite and efficient solutions require current baselines of operating system and hardware age; essentially, you can’t teach old computer new tricks. Any investment in client success and experience can pay off in dividends as business grows, and set you apart as competition fails to keep up.  

#2: Your team thrives on efficient technology 

It’s not just clients who are frustrated by a lack of modern technology options. Employees are frustrated by the stunted productivity, lack of improvements, and accumulation of nagging issues that nearly always accompany legacy technology. LogicMonitor puts it well: “All of this adds up to a drain on productivity. And it certainly doesn’t encourage positive morale when an employee has to ask colleagues or customers to bear with them because they’re working with antiquated technology.”  

According to Attorney at Work, the “hard cost” of a lawyer or administrative team member leaving your law firm, “[a]ccording to the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM)[is] about $4,700."

However, the incoming chair of the SHRM Foundation estimates that the replacement cost of employee turnover for a professional is closer to three to four times their annual salary.” 

Amidst an evolving shortage of legal talent, firms simply can’t afford to lose team members over tech frustrations—nor should technology be the “last straw,” so to speak, that lowers employee morale in an environment that’s naturally fast-paced and  

The benefits to improving employee satisfaction trickle down to clients with ease, as employees become more capable of serving clients at a high standard of efficiency and excellence.  

When you upgrade your technology environment at the base level, you make room for features that enhance client and employee satisfaction, improving your reputation and opening the door to productivity, positive reviews, and referrals. 

#3: Tech upgrades keep your law firm and your clients safe 

Old technology naturally incurs risk. Software and hardware both eventually reach an “end of life,” a deadline set by the manufacturer or provider. After that point, support and updates for the product are either reduced or altogether ceased—leaving wide open vulnerabilities in the security posture of the user.  

Take, for example, the upcoming Windows 10 end-of-life deadline in October. After this date, Windows 10 users will need to pay for security updates, which will be released only for severe security risks. Support will end, so users and their IT partners will be on their own should any problems arise.  

Proactive IT is safe IT, and taking care to replace obsolete or near-obsolete technologies helps your law firm avoid both a degradation of productivity and of security. Hackers are aware of these end-of-life deadlines and the reduced security that accompanies them, and many begin working to subvert the system so that they may strike on outdated technology at a time when your law firm will be most vulnerable. They specifically target law firms due to the high volume of sensitive data housed in your systems, which can be exploited, sold, or held for ransom.  

The effect of a cyberattack can rock your law firm’s trust with clients, reputation in the industry, and internal operations. It can also be extremely expensive and, depending on the severity and the response, could be impossible to fully recover from. Investing in newer, safer technology can be a fraction of the short-term and long-term costs of a data breach, and it’s best to do so before the problem arises.  

Ready to say goodbye to Windows 10?

Windows 10 reaches its end of life on October 14th, 2025. Is your law firm prepared? Click the button below to speak with our experts about your transition. 

Get Windows 10 Help

#4: Innovate and grow with the evolving legal landscape  

 New technologies are within reach for your law firm—are you taking advantage of them yet? Take, for example, Artificial Intelligence.  

According to Thomson Reuters,  while 79% of law firms surveyed believe that AI will hold a “high or transformational impact” on their work over the next five years, only 31% of lawyers and 21% of law firms are using AI today. 

New AI solutions specifically tailored to the legal community are popping up just about everywhere today—and many are met with warm reception and great successes. But, it takes a certain base of technology to be able to support these and other emerging technologies. Think of your technology environment as a house—an old, crumbling foundation could never support a new addition! Similarly, old devices, operating systems, and software tools just can’t support these new and exciting add-ons. Your old legacy technology may be the barrier that keeps your law firm out of the AI boom. 

In the highly competitive legal market, continued success and growth takes adaptation and a willingness to embrace new technologies. Many law firms are willing, if not excited, to try out tools like AI, but are disappointed to learn that their existing technology is incompatible.  

To become or remain an industry innovator, you’ll need to consider upgrading your core technology foundations in order to support the exciting tools of the future.  

#5: Modernization is a differentiator in your market  

It’s no secret: law firms can be slower to adopt new technologies than other industries. Part of this stems from a culture of skepticism and carefulness when it comes to investing in IT, and part from the fast pace of their work—many law firm teams simply don't find the time to undergo IT projects or train on new tools.  

Because this is such a common part of law firm IT culture, making the time and investment to upgrade your technology is a huge differentiator for your law firm.  

A law firm utilizing modern tech tools to drive efficiency and client experience can become a rarity in their marketplace, especially for small and medium-sized firms, for whom adoption of emerging technologies (including AI and cloud-based solutions) is lowest compared to their larger peers.  

For law firms, a tech-savvy customer experience system is not only profitable, but a key differentiator in their crowded marketplace—making IT modernization investments a strong decision for raising profits. It also positions your people to grow and thrive professionally, leading to the overall stability and growth of your firm.  

Though IT projects do take time to complete, a skilled partner with legal industry expertise knows how to plan projects effectively, minimizing downtime and ensuring a smooth integration process. Your law firm shouldn’t be greatly burdened or bogged down by your tech transitions—most upgrades requiring downtime take place on non working hours, and are segmented to avoid a total network outage.  

Progress is the payoff—newer technology positions you highly in the marketplace while preventing drains on profitability, like downtime and recurring, costly maintenance on old products.  

Law firms looking to lead should begin with assessing how their technology is affecting the client experience. Through this lens, you may just find that an upgrade can be a massive asset in your marketing, CX, and growth endeavors. You’ll be one of the few hitting the market with this value in-hand.  

Your Partner for Safe, Efficient, and Profitable IT Upgrades  

At Strategic Technology Solutions, we’re always looking forward to your law firm’s future. We know that the proactivity of your IT provider has a direct impact on the profitability of your law firm.  

We have a saying, here: “Business and people first, technology second.” This is a testament to our ability to make IT work for your business goals and design solutions that boost productivity and profitability.  

STS has helped hundreds of legal professionals make transitions to the cloud, procure modern devices, and integrate cutting-edge new solutions.  

Whether you need to leave Windows 10 behind ahead of the deadline, take iManage to the cloud, or upgrade your systems and hardware top to bottom, our team has the legal IT expertise you need and the partnership you want. 

Get in touch below, or visit our website for more information.