More than 80 per cent of the participants in a surveyfrom accountancy firm and business adviser BDO pointed to technology as the factor most likely to have the greatest effect on their practice. Managing partners and senior partners of 63 top Scottish, UK and international law firms were surveyed in the report which highlighted that only one of the Scottish law firm leaders questioned thought that artificial intelligence would have the greatest impact, compared with a fifth of respondents in other parts of the UK.

Larger firms first movers

The research also determined that many of the larger and global firms were more likely to be pioneering new technologies to stay ahead of the competition. However, there were as many firms who wanted to monitor the competition before investing in new technology systems.

Stark differences north and south of the border

When asked what the greatest challenge their firms faced in keeping up with the pace of technological change was, 50 per cent of Scottish respondents said that time and resources were the greatest hurdle compared with 13 per cent across the rest of the UK.