Legal technology tips #1: Software’s evolving role in law firm management
We kick start our ‘Legal technology tips’ blog series today, adapted from our ‘Leading the legal technology change’ white paper, by introducing the concept of changing technology trends and explaining what ‘legal technology’ means to our sector.
A sea change in the legal software space
There have been significantly shifting patterns of IT adoption in the legal industry over the past decade.
To set the scene, rewind to 2011. Big upfront capital expenditure upon installation, costly perpetual licences thereafter, bulky on-premise servers, time-intensive face-to-face training sessions and widespread cloud reluctance were the norm. The combination of these factors meant that only law firms with strong budgets, generous office space and IT personnel could afford to invest in new legal technology and undergo software change projects. As a result, the sector was becoming highly competitive and SME-sized practices were getting left behind.
Frustratingly, it’s these same SME businesses who have the ability to make changes more readily and speedily due to their smaller size, and having less complex infrastructures and technology needs, less data to migrate and less layers of management to break through.
Fast forward to 2021. Today’s technology trends comprise affordable one-off expense for data migration support, software-as-a-service (SaaS) pricing to suit even modest budgets, remote training that’s time and cost effective, and almost-universal embracing of cloud systems. This sea change has levelled the playing field so that High Street practices can compete on equal terms with their Magic Circle counterparts.
However, this transformation has not been without its challenges. It’s because of these challenges that Jayva was born. Since our establishment, we’ve devoted ourselves wholly to helping law firms overcome these challenges in all of their myriad forms.
In other words, InQuo is leading the technology change.
In this blog series, read more about evolving IT trends, the reasons for and benefits of change, InQuo’s well-timed inception, and the vital role performed by independent consultancy and training providers like ourselves.
What’s legal technology, anyway?
Before we progress any further, let’s first clarify exactly what’s meant by the term ‘legal technology’. Some readers may think it’s the basic process of switching from paper to electronic legal forms whereas others might consider it on mightier terms such as automated workflow tools. In truth, it’s both of these systems plus everything in between. Every piece of software, however seemingly small, is transformational in its own right.
Wikipedia provides a useful definition: ‘Legal technology refers to the use of software to provide legal services and support the legal industry. Different approaches and technologies have been used for legal tasks.’
According to this source of truth, options range from the traditional – ‘practice management, document automation, document storage, billing, accounting and electronic discovery’ – to newer disruptive technologies – ‘reducing or in some case eliminating the need to consult a lawyer or by connecting people with lawyers more efficiently through online marketplaces and lawyer-matching websites’.
In sum, legal technology is wide ranging. Any application that assists lawyers and consumers in the giving and receiving of legal services – that’s legal tech.