Evaluating New Legal Tech Products: Spotting Value

By Anand Upadhye

It’s budget season. Right now, most law firms are deciding which legal technology products they want to purchase and roll out in 2018. There are several promising tools for firms to consider, but what’s the best way to decide?

In an ARK webinar that will be available on November 16, I speak with Meredith Williams, chief knowledge management officer at Baker Donelson, and Evan J. Shenkman, Senior Manager of Knowledge Management Counsel at Ogletree Deakins, about best practices in assessing cutting-edge legal technology. “How to Effectively Evaluate New Legal Technology Products” discusses:

• What to look for in a product pitch;
• Best practices for a product trial;
• Criteria to decide whether a product trial was successful; and
• The right questions to ask trial participants.

You’ll hear from Williams and Shenkman about who should be involved in evaluating new technology, how to determine if the product solves a business problem at the firm, and how to ultimately decide whether to buy one product over another.

“Any time we’re doing a trial, we always include leadership from that practice area, even if they’re not going to actually participate in the day-to-day; we want to keep them involved in the process, because at the end of the day, they have to buy into the purchase aspect as much as anyone else,” Williams said.

You’ll also learn why it can be advantageous for firms to partner with a newer legal tech player.

“If it’s a new or unestablished vendor, there is often additional value that can come with being an early adopter versus working with a more well-known player. It also allows law firms to collaborate with newer technology providers who will be responsive to client feedback, and tweak their product to implement suggestions,” Shenkman said.

Shenkman added, “Sometimes it’s beneficial for you to give them a very careful look because their benefits, from either a “price” perspective, or “how the tool works” perspective, are worth taking advantage of.”

To learn more about evaluating emerging legal tech products, click here to register for the webinar.

Anand Upadhye is Casetext’s Vice President of Business Development. Before Casetext, he practiced law for six years, first as a prosecutor and then as a litigator at a large firm.