8 Ways Technology is Shaping the Legal Sector

8 Ways Technology is Shaping the Legal Sector

The 8 Key LegalTech Changes

8 Ways Technology is Shaping the Legal Sector

Muhammad Abbas* Technological advancements have been massive in recent years. It has spread its wings in every field of life, including legaltech developments.

The rise of artificial intelligence and data analytics has automated many tasks that save law firms, businesses and organizations a lot of time and money. It has put new jobs in demand while replacing others. It facilitates learning in every profession, thus encouraging quick development everywhere.

The legal profession is also not excluded from the major impact of technological advancements, as this website recently reported regarding the impact of technology on the competitive landscape in the law profession.

LegalTech is the term attributed to the technology that is being used in the legal systems. Its market is estimated to be $28 billion, which is expected to increase in the coming years.

According to Bloomberg, 90 percent of attorneys report a positive impact of legal technology on their client dealing and communication. However, at the same time, there are challenges in the correct implementation of LegalTech. 

In this article, we are discussing eight ways in which technology is transforming the law profession.

  1. Ease in Continuing Law Education (CLE)

CLE is important for law professionals to keep up with modern laws and staying up to date. It helps them in expanding their legal expertise. It also helps them to learn new skills and get a step ahead of their peers. With the advancement in technology, CLE has become easier as many online platforms have been offering it. These platforms offer online courses that can be tailored according to the individual’s needs and schedule. 

CLE tracker is another beneficial advancement in the legal sector that helps firms and organizations to track the CLE credits of their employees irrespective of where they are present. It allows streamlining the workflow through automation and tracking of data, thus saving the legal sector a lot of hassle.

  1. Improvement in legal research

Legal research was a challenge in the past. Law professionals had to go through hundreds of books to find the answer to the question they were looking for. Books got replaced by computers, but it remained difficult and time-consuming to do research. 

Today, the advancement in technology has solved this problem through the creation of online databases with refined search engines that take you straight to the answer you are looking for.

Digital tools have refined this information further through data analytics that allows you to learn and understand better.

  1. E-Discovery
8 Ways Technology is Shaping the Legal Sector

Electronic discovery is electronically sought information which is a recently developed area of legal proceedings. This information includes things like audio and text messages as well as databases.

The complexities of databases and electronic information are still a major challenge for lawyers.

However, automation of E-Discovery has made it easier for lawyers to search for keywords and phrases along with speeding up the processes of sifting, organizing, and processing data which can otherwise cost a lot of money and time.

  1. Creation of new legal jobs

Like in almost every field, technology has also led to the creation of new jobs in the field of law. There is a demand for speeding up the processes along with handling the challenges.

Many jobs require technological knowledge more than legal knowledge. The roles include research and development professionals, legal process analysts, legal data scientists, and legal technologists. 

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase of 23 percent in the demand for operational analysts. Some jobs, like legal data scientist, are focused on the automation of processes, while others, like legal process analyst, are focused on keeping up with the technological world and upgrading systems. 

  1. Simplification of case management
8 Ways Technology is Shaping the Legal Sector

Case management software has increased the work efficiency of organizations as they are user friendly, allowing easy access to information. It saves law professionals from collecting bundles of information and evidence and then finding a place to store them. 

Case management software also protects the case information, preventing it from getting leaked. Such software can also provide data analyses of information and visualize trends, thus helping paralegals and legal staff to understand the information easily. It simplifies the whole case management process.

  1. Document automation

Document automation involves the management of documents through data software. Document automation in recent years has saved a lot of money for legal organizations. It has improved document security along with ease in document sharing. 

In legal practice, law professionals are now using technology not only to manage and store documents but also to create them. It allows firms to broaden their customers as document automation is also being utilized for providing legal papers online. It allows the lesser privileged public to benefit from such documents, which otherwise cost them a lot of money.

  1. Innovations in marketing

Many firms are now using artificial intelligence and technology for marketing. Marketing automation can help organizations gain more clients by raising awareness and better engagement.

Virtual assistants can help engage clients by responding to their queries and helping them. Social media marketing, along with automated emails and notifications, is a great way to stay in contact with the clients and make them feel special. 

  1. Practice management

Individual lawyers and attorneys can excel at their work by using technology for practice management. Artificial intelligence can be used to collect basic and useful information from the clients.

Matter management software allows the management of all aspects of legal practice, including documents, proceedings, invoices, client information, etc. It allows legal professionals to centralize their work and access any aspect of it whenever they want, thus creating the possibility of online work from the comfort of their homes.

Conclusion

Technology has a wide impact on the legal sector, which is expected to grow further. LegalTech, predicted to become an economy of $225 billion by 2027, has transformed the field of law drastically by aiding in legal research and education along with saving a lot of time through document, evidence, and case management.

Automation of the legal sector allows individuals to manage their practice and streamline their communication with clients while also enabling the masses to gain help from online resources. 

However, as technology improves the legal sector and brings innovations, the lack of technological acumen can lead to failures, loss of jobs, and higher implementation costs. Thus, legal professionals need to understand the technology better to gain the most from it in 2023.

Author –

8 Ways Technology is Shaping the Legal Sector

Muhammad Abbas is an enthusiastic researcher and writer with a strong interest in technology and related issues. Apart from being a passionate writer,  he is also a cricketer, researcher, and Team Leader. He has contributed to many reputed blogs and is constantly on the lookout to reach authoritative blogs for technology-related issues and trends to write about.

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