Our 2023 Technology & Litigation/eDiscovery Salary Guide presents data gathered and analyzed from law firms ranging from small and mid-sized law firms with a handful of legal technology professionals to AM 100 & AM 200 law firms with hundreds of technology staff. We compared our numbers, using actual salaries from our recent placements, with other national resources and determined the base salary rates from 2022.
Our data shows that AM 100/200 Law Firms increased legal technology salaries by 6.5%, eDiscovery and Litigation Support roles salaries by 5.3%, and Executive Leadership and Key Management salaries by 5.1%, while small and mid-sized firms saw legal technology and litigation salaries increase by 7.3%. Bonuses and benefits including healthcare coverage, PTO, and remote and flexible work options continue to be important for retaining and attracting legal technology talent in today’s market.
View Legal Technology and Litigation/eDiscovery Salary Guide
Retention, Attraction, and Job Satisfaction
The ongoing discussion in the media of a “pending recession” is resulting in more reluctance among technology professionals to leave their current roles. This can make it difficult to attract ideal candidates and may require that law firms looking to hire offer higher pay, a sign-on bonus, and remote work flexibility, especially for positions with low unemployment rates and high demand.
While legal technology professionals may feel wary about making a move to a new firm, 49% believe they are underpaid. Inflation is impacting businesses and individuals alike, but offering merit increases, bonuses, or other monetary incentives could go a long way toward retaining staff and increasing job satisfaction.
Work-life balance remains important to employees, with many switching employers in recent years in order to receive remote and flexible work schedules and better PTO. Promoting a healthy work-life balance culture may also look like restricting working hours, encouraging use of vacation time, and putting policies in place to protect employees from burnout.
Benefits Snapshot
The ability to work remotely has become the most-valued benefit for many workers, including for legal technology employees. While many law firms have transitioned into hybrid work models that require 2-3 days in the office, there is a large percentage of the workforce who desire to work remotely more than that. Law firms that evaluate the “why” behind employees’ desires to work remotely and use that knowledge to develop attractive policies and incentives for in-office work (which may include increasing compensation) are more likely to achieve the outcomes they desire.
Medical benefits and paid time off are next important to job seekers. Law firms that are able to keep premium costs low while providing good medical coverage will stand out from the crowd when a legal technology professional is considering a new role. A generous amount of vacation time is important to legal tech professionals, and many are unlikely to want to take a step backward when switching employers. But just as important as offering several weeks of vacation time (in addition to sick days) is creating a culture that actually encourages employees to use their PTO—the encouragement and support of managers to enable these times away from the office for their direct reports are critical for creating a culture that respects their employees’ needs and wellbeing.
High Demand and Growth Areas
In the last year, we’ve seen increased demand in the areas of User and Desktop Support, Systems and Network Engineers, eDiscovery and Litigation Support, and Technology Trainers. In addition, several positions within technology have unemployment rates below 2%, including Information Security Analyst, Database Administrator, Software Developer, Web Developer, and IT Manager.
With over twenty-six years of legal technology staffing expertise, we continue to monitor and analyze hiring trends, including compensation and benefits in this rapidly changing economy in order to best serve you.
