Cloud computing services and technology is on the cusp of mass adoption by the legal industry, according to a report from LexisNexis.

Nearly three quarters (72.4%) of firms surveyed said they were more likely to use the cloud this year, with adoption levels among attorneys in smaller firms hitting 40% – a number which is 10% higher than previous surveys.

This consensus is so grounded that, for the majority (38.7%) of the over 275 respondents, cloud systems will overtake on-premise in the legal profession within five years.

There was also a sense in the survey that a move to the cloud was inevitable. Almost a quarter of respondents believe that their employees are already using cloud tools, without the law firm’s knowledge of approval. As the report noted, this uncertainty means real usage figures would be higher.

Document storage and management services were the most popular cloud products …