On Lawyers, Future of Work, and Legal Tech Tools
The 21st-century in its early years, has seen, and continues to see, critical advance in tech thoughts. Every aspect of human life is involved, and thus, the legal profession, in all its conservative nobility, did not get out alive. In legal jurisdictions, 21st-century lawyers are taking to legal tech as the new way to liberalise law practice, and deliver value to clients via bespoke legal services.
Lawyers though, still have a slow adoption attitude when it comes to legal tech. Telling this is a 116-page report by a Law Society of late, which urged lawyers to maximise the power of automation in law practice. It advocates that robots and bots should have the "brunt work", while human lawyers get to debrief them.
Legal Tech Tools are the New Cool
Automated law practice smells like heaven, as the lawyer is relieved, and could thus tend to other stuff. How is it achieved, this sort of law practice? The suggested new tech tools to the rescue are Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, practice management software, automated law firm website et al. These legal tech tools could achieve hands-free law practice in the new legal economy. The blockchain and the smart contracts are the final destination of the future law practice. Things are best left unsaid right now. These legal tech tools mentioned are the new cool, for a law firm to "remain competitive and relevant in the modern legal marketplace".
It is quite obvious that the ubiquitous tech innovation reflected in other professions must as well be captured in the profession and practice of law. Tech can only enhance practice, but it is also not a be-all and end-all. This is evident in the practice of many lawyers who are barely tech-savvy, but still carry on robust practice. This happens in spite of being near legal techno-dumbos. Their practice looks wry and dry, not having legal tech presence, especially the interwebs. It is pretty strange, but there are lawyers in the 21st-century new legal economy who practise sans law firm websites. Though they maintain social media presence themselves, they deny their practice the same opportunity to be projected to the world. This way, a fair legal market share of clients and legal services online elude them.
Smart Law Firms Blog
Smart offline law firms these days, also maintain constant online presence by blogging with different niches in mind. Using a law firm website for blogging on its legal service areas is obviously the most effective way to engage with potential clients. The audience who make up the law firm web traffic always come back for more, when legal contents are engaging, and add value to them. Like a bee to honey, they always come back. Like Oliver Twist, they ask for more. Thus, before sundown, audience becomes clients. And not only that, audience who become clients also sell your legal service products. It’s simple. When you satisfy them, they tell others about you.
The New Lawyer
The notion exists that 21st-century lawyers in the new legal economy must acquire digital competencies. Law firms acquire tech tools, but mere legal tech acquisition does not a practice fortune make. Lawyers & law firms should look beyond, and acquire digital competencies so that they do not have to pay devs and others involved in the tech world everytime to do stuff for them. If the legal ethics that seeks to preserve the conservative nobility of the profession can be circumvented, a consummate tech lawyer can moonlight. Whatever advances the course of practice, and enthrones gentlemanly professional fortune and success is a given. Even a lawyer who practises the law, and moonlights, using their tech know-how passes the test for legal tech maximisation.
Dr. Tara Chittenden on Future Law Firms
In the Law Society report first cited above, author Dr. Tara Chittenden expressed the belief that future law firms "will grow both interest and enthusiasm about development in machine learning, AI, and the potential to automate workflow processes".
Noteworthy is the fact that lawyers, in spite of the near wallflower attitude, have adopted legal tech "beyond workload management" in certain jurisdictions.
People in the legal industry have argued that in spite of the legal tech hoopla, to maintain "the human touch" in law practice is essential as ever. Dr. Chittenden maintained that understanding, improving processes and knowing when to add legal tech is required of a lawyer. He, however softened the view, and said this does not require that a lawyer must be a process improvement expert, project manager or a technologist. Well, in some quarters, certain legal tech enthusiasts maintain that a consummate 21st-century lawyer must be all of these things.
During an online lecture and interview in Law Ethics & Practice (LEaP), some of the lawyers shared the view that a future lawyer must be a coder. Does a lawyer writing a programming language sound strange enough? Some lawyers do. And that’s the way of the future law firm—the future of work.
In the final analysis and conclusion on Dr. Chittenden’s report, a lawyer must become conversant with the "tools of the trade", retain “the human touch” through empathy with coded colleagues, whenever legal services call for full digitisation.
Legal Tech on Legal Thoughts
That legal tech supports and enhances a lawyer’s legal thought processes and delivery is obvious. Legal idea conception, analysis, strategies, arguments, and practice, are well-seated with the new legal tech tools. Legal Analytics, a law practice management software of LawPavilion is a testimony to this. During a legal marketing session in the LEaP community, the rep said lawyers, jurists and judges have criticised the legal practice software as one that makes lazy lawyers. According to him, he always maintains that a lawyer does not have to have work hard. All they need do is work smart.
Twitter: @BoulevardLP
