Does your law firm or legal department have a meaningful technology stack? Is your current technology improving collaboration, knowledge management, organization, workflow processes, and customer communications? Does your firm feel stuck in the past using technology with antiquated and limited capabilities?
With the steady growth and adoption of legal technology during the past few years, legal professionals are automating routine tasks and remaking the way they work.
With exponential growth in legal technology over the last few years and many organizations now seeing the benefits of their tech stack as a competitive advantage, there should be little reason why your firm is still behind the technology 8 ball. More highly-skilled law graduates are entering legal professions armed with the necessary skillset to fully operate the technology to help the firm realize the best return on investment.
Need convincing?
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Key Figures to Convince the C-Suite to Propel Change.
To persuade upper management to commit to investing in legal technology, they (C-suite and/or General Counsel) need a resounding business case. After all, to get executives on board means they need to fully understand that, supported by data, legal technology can increase efficiency, enable sophisticated risk management, and support the organization’s strategy.
Here are a few industry-specific numbers to consider:
- The demand for investing is so considerable that in 2019 the legal technology industry generated $17 billion globally.
- The global technology research and consulting firm Gartner Predicts Legal Technology Budgets Will Increase Threefold by 2025: “Legal departments will increase spending on technology to reduce the dependency on outside counsel, address COVID-19, and satisfy a long-overdue need to modernize, digitize and automate legal work.”
- EY published a research report titled “How do you turn barriers into building blocks?” and found that:
- 61% of CEOs expected to make significant investments in data and technology.
- 59% of GCs believed technology offers a substantial potential for cost savings.
- Nonetheless, only 50% of the law departments had made greater use of technology in the past 12 months.
- One-third of the legal departments felt they did not have the needed technology.
- 97% of GCs said they faced challenges in securing a budget for investments in legal technology.
(The report included interviews with 2,000+ leaders from 17 industries and 22 countries. The survey focused on law department operations, including talent, data, technology and sourcing, contract creation, and corporate secretarial operations supporting legal entity compliance.
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How to Move Forward.
It’s clear that technology can and will play a very vital role as organizations define their strategies and commitment to digital transformation. Unfortunately, there are still too few legal departments making the required changes. And too many firms, realizing their competition is advancing, are forced to play a game of catch-up as they try to leverage the essential solutions needed to improve their operations.
Technology implementation companies developing solutions geared toward legal professionals are at the forefront of change. Specifically, their test subjects are actual in-house legal teams testing and refining solutions based on their needs.
Additional reading: Legal Tech Buyers: Make the Decision-making Process Easier
As disruption continues in various forms, including the global pandemic which pressed organizations in all industries, including legal, to move quickly to remote-work mode, the technology gap and an organization’s technology shortcomings become more apparent.
Firms need to shift thinking and become more strategic, uncover ways to accelerate their top lines and reduce expenses and implement the right tools to be better prepared to combat disruption.
An investment in technology is clearly an option that needs to be on the table when the C-suite looks at budgets, especially when considering how critical it is for combatting the pressures of competition.
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Where to Go Next.
Law firms and legal departments can realize the value of tech-savvy lawyers by collaborating with them to develop a strategy to implement solutions and train others. The immediate benefits will be appreciated including greater efficiencies and increased productivity.
Escalating technology initiatives for your firm and maximizing their effectiveness will be a challenge for any C-suite. And success will mean aligning with the firm’s overall business strategy. The growth and resilience of your organization will greatly depend on investment in technology.