Legal
Transformation
The traditional legal ways of working – with a large dependency on office work, paper documents, manual processes, and local desktop computing and storage - is transforming to the Law Firm of the Future which is multi-channel, hybrid working, uses intelligent processes & AI, and does business digitally.
Multi-channel Engagement
Enabling digital business
Customer expectations are set by BigTech. Digital business has been a long-term trend, COIVD-19 has accelerated this. 59% of firms ranked managing client communications and expectations as their biggest challenge this year.
Law firms need to interact with their customers in a digital way. Client collaboration tools were identified by 44% of firms as the top priority for tech investment.
Delivering digital business will require the integration of networking, cloud, digital workplace, data and security.
Hybrid Working
Agile, resilient & secure
Legal firms have been slowly shifting to agile working but COVID-19 has made it imperative to operate in a hybrid way.
Flexible working has increased dramatically in the legal profession. 63% now want to work flexible hours, compared to 22% pre-pandemic. On average, they want to work in a hybrid manner, with 2.1 days at home moving forwards – up from 0.6 previously.
Up to 80% of the workforce may become hybrid working in the new normal. Firms must now provide a digitally enabled, flexible and collaborative moving beyond the fast reactions required to achieve a lockdown.
A digital workplace will enable employees to work effectively from anywhere.
Digital Legal Ecosystem
Connected & secure
The court system is digitising changing the way the industry interacts with its self. Investment in LawTech exceeds $1bn. In addition we may soon see an explosion in smart legal contract following confirmation by the Law Commission that these are legally sound. Smart contracts are legally binding contracts in which some or all of the contractual obligations are defined in and/or performed automatically by a computer program. They are usually secured by blockchain encryption.
To drive productivity and efficiency law firms will leverage LawTechs services and will evolve the digital interaction with the legal system and other suppliers.
One-to-many API connectivity with industry players, is key. Drives cloud, data analytics and security.
Intelligent Operations
Automation & insight
The volume of information is growing fast and law firms will leverage technology to drive efficiency and mine critical insights. An LPM survey discovered that 43% of firms believe choosing/ optimising back-office technology for business efficiency was the organisational challenge that caused them the most concern.
Information is fragmented across multiple IT systems leading to operational risks and inefficiencies.
Law firms will focus on automation for efficiency. AI will help allow lawyers to shift to higher-value work
Data management, digitisation, robotic process automation and AI will work with a secure digital workplace.