A new Thomson Reuters Institute report has shown that government legal professionals are still committed to quality work but face a familiar set of challenges and increasing uncertainty about the current direction of the judicial system in general
While many government legal professionals are still performing high-quality work, their departments still face a familiar set of challenges amid increasing uncertainty about how the current administration is going to manage the nation’s judicial system.
To explore this topic further, the Thomson Reuters Institute has published the 2025 Government Legal Department Report, which gathered the responses of 150 legal professionals from various government law departments and agencies at the federal, state, and municipal levels. Respondents included public defenders, prosecutors, attorneys general, district attorneys, and city attorneys, all of whom had been in their position for at least one year. The survey was conducted in March.
The results of the annual survey suggest that many of the chronic issues that have plagued government legal departments in the past continue to challenge the dedication and resourcefulness of government attorneys today. Nevertheless, 90% of the survey’s respondents said they felt their efforts over the past year have been successful, and 80% of agency representatives report being confident they have the tools and technology they need to do their jobs effectively.
Top challenges: Talent and budgets
Despite this high level of confidence in their work, government legal professionals at all levels report that they continue to struggle with staffing and budget issues. Attorneys also remain frustrated that the technological resources available to them are inferior to those in the private sector and even in other parts of the public sector.
Yet, when asked to name the biggest challenges facing their agency or department, three out of the top four responses were related to talent. Indeed, attracting and retaining top talent remains the most pressing challenge for government legal departments, followed by the difficulties of recruiting new talent and the loss of institutional knowledge due to retiring staff.
On the technology side, the bright spot in the report is that 42% of respondents said their government law agencies and departments saw an increase in tech investment over the past two years. Somewhat less encouraging is the fact that most government agencies are still working with outdated systems and are trying — but only partially succeeding — to upgrade their tech portfolio. In fact, the average agency wish list includes technology solutions to address matter and case management systems, document management and automation, legal research, evidence management, scheduling, discovery, contract compliance, and analytics and reporting.
As always, lean budgets and rising costs are the biggest barriers cited by respondents to the adoption of any new technology; and more than half of respondents also cited organizations’ highly bureaucratic approval processes as an additional obstacle.
Still, the report indicates that many agencies will loosen their purse strings and invest in new tech if the price, need, budget, and cost-effectiveness of the purchase are all aligned. Otherwise, approval for additional tech purchases remains frustratingly difficult to obtain.
Feeling the squeeze
In general, the report paints a picture of government legal departments that are valiantly trying to get their work done in an environment in which resources are scarce, workloads are increasing, and the volume, complexity, and variety of cases with which attorneys must deal are all on the rise.
Not surprisingly, these and other factors are contributing to a stressful work environment in which many attorneys say they are feeling squeezed from all sides. For example, more than half (51%) of survey respondents said they don’t have the time they need to adequately research novel or complex cases, and three-quarters (75%) expect their workload to increase over the next two years. Further exacerbating these issues is the fact that a majority said they do not expect to receive any additional resources over the next two years, and more than a third (37%) said they actually expect a decrease in the resources available to them.
The report also features an in-depth look at how government agencies are attempting to address their top challenges, including staffing issues and the ensuing gap in skills and resources.
To meet the talent challenge, many government agencies are being more flexible than their private-sector counterparts about offering hybrid work schedules.
As past surveys have confirmed, moving the needle on the talent issue is difficult primarily because of the pay disparity between the private and public sectors. However, more than a third (35%) of agencies said they had succeeded in adding attorney staff over the past two years. Still, more than half (57%) of respondents said they expect their staffing levels to stay the same over the next two years. Many also expressed concern about potential cuts in the future. And as a practical matter, maintaining current staffing levels basically means a continuation of the under-resourced, over-worked status quo.
To meet the talent challenge, many government agencies are being more flexible than their private-sector counterparts about offering hybrid work schedules. Federal agencies with more generous budgets also outsource more work than agencies and departments at the state or municipal levels. Indeed, 42% of respondents overall said their agencies use outside counsel at least once a year, and one in five said they rely on outside counsel every week.
Access to justice
The report also asked respondents to reflect on whether they think access to justice has increased or decreased over the past couple of years.
More than half (54%) of respondents said access to justice has been stable for the past two years, but the rest disagreed on whether access has increased or decreased. Those who thought access has increased cited support services and internet tools that have enabled more remote court attendance and legal research. Those in the decreased camp pointed to budget constraints, human rights violations, a growing disrespect for the law, and chronically over-worked attorneys who are unable to give cases the time and attention they deserve.
Government legal professionals also appear to be increasingly skeptical about the prospects for justice in the future. Last year, only 22% of federal and state attorneys thought access to justice would decline over the next two years, whereas 60% said they think that now.
An uncertain transition
The 2025 Government Legal Department Report comes at an uncertain time of transition for government attorneys, which is made more uncertain because a new administration means priorities are likely to change.
While this year’s report offers a snapshot of the challenges government legal professionals are currently facing and the strategies they are using to meet those challenges, it also makes clear that legal work at government agencies will not get more efficient or effective unless agencies are willing to invest more in new technology and talent, two areas that have gone under-resourced for a very long time.
You can download a full copy of the 2025 Government Legal Department Report here
