LawTech: Big deal or a lot of hot air?

The tech sector has always been awash with buzz words and acronyms. The next big thing to revolutionise a particular industry, or perhaps even the world, is constantly just over the horizon.

In keeping with this tradition most people working in the legal or technology sector as well as those with even a passing interest in them will have heard the term LawTech at some stage. Most firms should at least have a sense that they need to ‘do something about it' even if they do not know quite what. Of course, the well informed and prepared may have been early adopters and be far advanced in terms of their strategy.

However, as this month's Lawtech Adoption Research report form the Law Society of England and Wales shows, the hype is not necessarily translating into actual change at the coal face.

The report brought together the views of LawTech vendors, legal service providers, and other stakeholder groups (including investors) and the overwhelming message was:

"Recent years have seen a rise in the number of lawtech companies, but not an acceleration in the rate of lawtech adoption among legal practitioners."

What kind of LawTech is there?

Technology and the tech sector is a broad church and LawTech is no different. Whether it is algorithms in the justice system, or the proliferation of mobile apps launched by certain firms LawTech is already well and truly with us and being used to improve quality, speed and accessibility of service.

Interestingly though the term is increasingly coming to really refer to the services and packages designed to help law firms either with their client service or employee value proposition.

Indeed, a number of products on the market already allow lawyers to analyse thousands of documents in a short space of time and be presented with specified data in the way they want it. Rather than wasting time on reading endless pages of contracts real value can be added by the lawyer actually focussing on the interpretation of the results provider to them.

Compliance assistance, guidance information, document translation and even portals allowing clients to generate their own documents are also increasingly becoming par for the course. Clients enjoy the ability to access information when and how they need it and often at a fraction of the previous cost.

Inevitably, wherever there is a set or formulaic legal process there is the possibility to increase margin with efficiency. Automation through technology can often provide a solution. As such, conveyancing, PI and due diligence exercises have seen much of the early adoption and change.

So, no more lawyers then?

Despite the various ways in which LawTech is already impacting on the legal sector and the potential for more and more disciplines and topics to be penetrated, I still think any suggestion that human lawyers are an endangered species is vastly exaggerated.

As was the case with each leap forward in industry I accept that the role of some legal advisors and some roles will change but actual human interaction and experience will inevitably remain an important part of most relationships between clients and law firms. In addition, managing, implementing and adapting the LawTech each firm utilises will increasingly require talent in the law but also in the technology which presents exciting opportunities.

In addition, I am confident in this prediction because the Law Society's report has clearly concluded that the pace of change is not as fast as many would assume.

What's the problem then?

The critical view is probably that lawyers and law firms are naturally risk adverse so want to fully understand products and their impact before adopting. As they are often dealing with valuable and confidential client information this is to some extent understandable.

In addition, the law itself has been slow to keep apace with developments in industry as shown by the raft of case law arising from employee status in the gig economy. However, this is actually no excuse as where there is uncertainty there is always opportunity for lawyers.

Potentially the structure of many firms may also not be conducive to early adoption or new technologies. Where heavy investment is needed having a diverse partnership with different personal agenda's and plans can make agreeing on the best way forward hard. The fact that there are so many products on the market now all promising different solutions and services also does not help as there can be a feeling of either not knowing where to start or potentially missing out.

In some cases, by the time testing and vendor due diligence has been carried out a newer shinier product has come on the market or the precise need may have subtly changed meaning it is back to the drawing board.

As anyone who has been through an upgrade of their IT system will know, changes in this area can be significant and disruptive to implement. So, fear of getting it wrong can lead to paralysis.

The future must include LawTech

As I have mentioned, I cannot envisage a time (yet!) when interaction with an actual lawyer will no longer be a crucial part of legal service. Whether buying as an individual or a business, personal relationships are key.

However, the firms that can retain this personal and human touch and combine it with the right LawTech for it and its target market will have a significant advantage.

Client experience will be exponentially improved by greater access to real time information and by cost efficiencies. Staff will be able to focus on more rewarding tasks and creative solutions.

To achieve this personally I think firms cannot just focus on sticking a single LawTech solution onto a particular problem. Instead they need to think big and identify broader themes and challenges they need to overcome to thrive and then build a package of solutions around that.

With non-traditional providers of legal services increasingly seeing a change to move into heart land law firm territory through the use of Lawtech it may ultimately be evolve or die.

Leon Deakin, Partner and Head of Employment, and member of the tech team, Coffin Mew