COVID-19's economic disruption has upended law firms' financial security, and in response, many are now reining in their IT budgets to prepare for a more difficult market. "People are putting me off for a couple of months," postponing tech projects and consultancy until fall 2021, says consultant Brett Burney of Burney Consultants. "I saw a lot of the same thing in 2008 [and] 2009."

There is, however, one big difference: Burney says current IT budget cuts aren't as severe as the ones he saw during the Great Recession. A part of the reason for that may be that in 2020, technology isn't just essential to a law firm's business, but also its ability to continue operating through a pandemic. Indeed, IT budgets have been redirected to a new pressing priority: transitioning to a remote workforce.

Of course, as a result, many previously planned projects have fallen off firms' radars. According to the 2020 LTN Law Firm Tech Survey, 79% of the 40 law firm respondents said they readjusted their tech budget due to the coronavirus. But despite smaller budgets, the industry's tech evolution hasn't slowed down. In fact, the need to quickly shift to a remote workforce has made firms more tech-forward than ever. "We've evolved 10 years in six weeks, I don't mean my firm, but the market. That's how dramatic of an effect it's had. We want to keep up and we want to keep this moving," says Benesch CIO Jerry Justice, who participated in the LTN survey.