Lawyers also report using social media for professional reasons in larger numbers, according to the survey. In 2012, 9 percent of lawyers blog professionally—compared to 5 percent in both 2011 and in 2010—and 3 percent spends more than 11 hours per week blogging. Seventy-eight percent of respondents use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or a similar platform, which is up 13 percentage points over 2011 and 22 points over 2010.
These numbers represent growth, but not a mass migration to social media, at least for the time being, says Ryan Calo, an assistant professor at University of Washington School of Law.
"One day technology will revolutionize the practice of law, which will become virtually unrecognizable in some areas," he says. "For now, the survey appears to suggest that lawyers are adopting technology at, if anything, a slower rate than the general population."