Blog Post
Back to all blog posts
TheSpotlight

Legal Tech and the Changing Legal Services Industry

Weekly Update - May 15

Posted in Artificial Intelligence

A. Quote of the Week

“Remarkably, despite this impressive showing, we remain in the early days of legal department innovation. During the opening session, CLOC’s CEO Connie Brenton acknowledged that 1/3 of the Fortune 500 was present, leaving 2/3 as future members. Further, a substantial subset of corporate legal department attendees were there to learn how to do the basics of data, process, and technology... We are barely scratching the surface of future change. The potential is staggering.” (Bill Henderson)

B. Articles to Read

 
1. Differing Perspectives on Legal Innovation – An Explanation

Confusing Conversations about Clients (Bill Henderson)

Key Quote:

“Lawyers and law professors may snicker at the lack of perfection in a LegalZoom form, but there is zero doubt this company understands lifetime customer value better than anyone else in the legal market. LegalZoom’s influence is growing like an oak.” 

Why it Matters:

In this excellent article, Bill Henderson looks at six different client types to help explain the differing perspectives on the importance of legal innovation amongst lawyers. Presently, the greatest growth in one-to-many legal services has been in services targeting individuals (LegalZoom being an example). While the majority of legal services delivered by BigLaw firms are one-to-one (i.e. the traditional way), the future of BigLaw legal services will involve far more one-to-many solutions than at present, especially as their clients (who, in many cases, are not early adopters) gain a greater understanding of alternative ways to deliver legal services.

2. The Engagement Challenge – How to Get Lawyers to Actually Use Legal Tech

The Most Important Word in Legal Tech: Engagement (Jake Heller)

Key Quote:

“There are particular challenges in getting technology adopted by lawyers… We’ve hosted trainings at some offices where nobody was even aware they had access to the technology before we came! Also, most attorneys still bill by the hour, and learning new technology isn’t billable.”

Why it Matters:

While this article has some great advice for legal tech founders who are looking to drive adoption of their product, it’s also a great reminder of the need for internal champions at firms/legal departments to actively drive engagement. Getting lawyers to use the technology that their firms/departments have purchased is a challenge, and this can be complicated by the fact that in many cases, the person pushing for increased technology usage is a practicing lawyer juggling a full plate of traditional legal work. It is little surprise that some firms have been hiring lawyers who are not expected to bill hours and who can focus their time on driving adoption of technology and process improvements.

C. Upcoming Event

Event  Details  Cost and Registration 
 

Webinar - Legal Innovation: What's Here, What's Near and What's Further Away

Join Randy Williamson and Aaron Baer, along with Melissa LaFlair, as they discuss the current state of legal innovation and help separate aspirations from reality.

  

June 7, 2018

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

CPD: 1 Professionalism Hour

  

Free 

Click here for more information and to register.

 

D. Who to Follow

Interested in learning more about Legal Tech?

Consider following Bill Henderson, a professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Bill is also the editor of Legal Evolution, an online publication that focuses on the changing legal industry.


Blog Posts