We all know that technology has improved our lives, this is particularly true when it comes to our jobs. With advancements in technology, certain procedures have been streamlined to make our lives easier. Which is why many industries have embraced technology as they look for ways to save time and money on certain tasks.
For the legal industry, though, there has always been a certain hesitancy to embrace technology for fear of confidential client information being compromised. However, with increased security measures making the technology safer, the law sector is now implementing digital technology to help with workloads and efficiency.
Here are just a few of the biggest digital transforming trends now being used in the legal industry:
Mobility
These days, it’s considered unusual for someone not to have a smartphone. So, it makes sense that lawyers are now embracing mobility and using smartphones as a way to enhance and improve their procedures.
While many law firms were hesitant to embrace tools such as cloud storage in the past – mainly due to concerns over privacy and hacking – it is now considered that using a cloud storage base can actually increase security. Even better the cloud helps improve operational efficiency as lawyers can access documents from anywhere at any time.
This allows lawyers to work from anywhere, including video conferencing using their phones and the ability to access important documents at client meetings or even in court.
Machine Learning
As technology advances, it can be programmed to take over menial and often tedious tasks. This is particularly important in the legal industry, where a new client can come with a large history. This client history can include reports, testimonials, briefings and lots of other information that needs to be sifted through to find relevant points.
To make this process far easier, law firms are now investing in machine learning. Here software programmes are able to sift through large amounts of data and flag possible evidence, recognise anomalies and can even be used to compare decisions. These algorithms can save hours of work and resources in a law firm and can also be more accurate compared to humans.
Robotic Lawyers
Perhaps one of the most intriguing digital transforming trends is the idea of robotic lawyers. That is an app that can act as your lawyer to help fight cases such as parking tickets, disputes with landlords, insurance claims and spam callers, just to name a few.
One of the biggest AI apps in the legal industry is an app called No Not Pay. Originally created to help drivers ascertain whether or not they could dispute a parking ticket, it can now deal with over 1000 legal issues that people may face. This works by asking you a few questions and then educating on the rights you have to fight a claim, such as a parking ticket.
Performance Tracking
For the legal industry, performance is everything. After all, winning cases means more money and increased clients. Which is why law firms are implementing electronic performance trackers to easily see how everyone is performing in the workplace.
These trackers can also help cases to be assigned to the right lawyer, as they identify which lawyers have the most experience and – crucially – win rates in a certain area. Which gives a firm the best chance of winning that case.
These are just a few of the ways technology is helping the legal sector right now. It will be interesting to see how these develop and advance over the next few years as the technology itself improves.
