Legal Technology Trends Gathering Steam in 2019
/6 game-changing technologies law firms and legal departments should consider
To compete in today’s fiercely competitive market, law firms and legal departments must strive to be future-proof. That means they must always be ready to adapt to changes in the legal industry, from new regulations to emerging technologies.
Law is conservative by nature, and tends to be slower than other industries to adopt digital transformation trends. But more and more attorneys are realizing that if they don’t incorporate new technology that will save time and money—and improve case outcomes—they may get left behind.
Eventually, they also may have no choice. A 2012 update to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct makes it clear that lawyers have a duty to be competent not only in the law and its practice, but also in applicable technology. And beginning in 2019, North Carolina followed Florida’s example to became the second state to mandate continuing technology education for attorneys.
For the law firm and legal department of the future, mitigating risk and seizing opportunities are inextricably linked to technology. Let’s take a look at six legal technology trends shaping the legal industry in 2019.
1. Data analytics are becoming key to practicing law. Advanced analytics are arguably the technology that’s having the biggest impact on practicing law. Legal teams need to analyze data and process it quickly to make it actionable. Whether lawyers are working on a case or trying to develop a legal strategy, collecting and interpreting the massive amount of information available today—while it continues to expand exponentially—is nearly impossible without the right tools.
A new generation of data analytics solutions took the market by storm last summer, enabling lawyers to quickly convert reams of data into strategic insights that inform decisions. Leading the charge is LexisNexis, which grabbed headlines in July with the launch of Lexis Analytics, a suite of tools that combines its recent string of analytics acquisitions with its own products into litigation, regulatory, and transactional solutions.
Other big players are also trying to claim the legal analytics market. The same month, Thomson Reuters debuted Westlaw Edge, a new incarnation of its popular research platform that adds docket analytics to its capabilities, and Fastcase released Analytics Workbench, marketed as enabling legal professionals to build their own bespoke litigation analytics.
2. The law profession gets smarter about AI. Nearly every legal task is being transformed by artificial intelligence (AI), from reviewing and approving documents to monitoring patents to predicting legal outcomes. It’s automating the aforementioned analytics and legal research—scouring millions of pages within seconds to find the exact passage a lawyer needs. And AI-based e-discovery tools are accelerating arbitration and litigation proceedings by quickly processing the massive volume of digital data that’s now open for analysis, including emails, texts, voicemails, and electronic calendars.
Law firms and departments that are embracing AI technology are more productive and waste significantly less time on mundane activities. And individual clients are reaping the benefits as well, potentially saving thousands of dollars on time that was previously charged for manual research and other tedious tasks.
In October, Harvard Law’s Caselaw Access Project completed its three-year mission to digitize all U.S. case law dating back to 1658—making full electronic access a reality and AI-powered legal research more valuable than ever before. Of the record $1 billion invested in legal technology firms in 2018, $362 million went to companies whose products use AI. In contrast, the total investment in legal technology was only $233 million the year before.
3. The rise of agile work. The law profession has hesitated to embrace cloud computing, with slightly more than half of firms adopting cloud technologies by the end of 2018, according to the ABA. Between 2017 and 2018, the association reports that cloud usage grew by only 4 percent.
But the potential for agile work environments to improve the way lawyers work is vast—creating a fast and scalable way to use advanced legal tools without the need for a substantial upfront investment in hardware, software, and support services. And as the cloud becomes more widely accepted, the legal industry is relinquishing its initial fears about control and security.
In a nutshell, cloud technology is the use of software or services over the Internet via a browser or mobile app. Since data is stored on remote servers rather than on a local computer or hard drive, cloud computing enables lawyers to work from anywhere and have the information they need instantly available on any device. Information and tasks can be updated in real-time while on the go, and then picked up from where they were left off back in the office. Shifting some processes or applications to the cloud also allows firms to scale their IT infrastructure up and down as needed, tightening their overhead while improving service for clients.
2019 is sharpening the legal industry’s focus on Software as a Service and other cloud-based mobile services that improve accessibility. Many core legal applications like Smart Advocate or iManage Work 10 are either migrating to the cloud or highlighting a cloud-based option. But perhaps nothing is more telling about the cloud’s emerging acceptance than the recent announcement that Hogan Lovells, one of the five largest law firms in the world, has moved to cloud-based NetDocuments as its document management platform.
4. Client portals create a competitive edge. Until now, an unavoidable downside to practicing law is impatient clients who grow dissatisfied if they can’t receive instant answers to simple questions. Fortunately, the growing acceptance of cloud technology is paving the way for client portals that provide secure, 24/7, instant access to case information.
Large law firms are racing to establish portals, using them for consultations, hosting fillable forms that simplify intake and information-gathering, scheduling appointments, and delivering messages and status updates. These portals make invoicing and bill-paying a breeze plus offer document creation and sharing tools. They also eliminate the tedious process of cobbling together information from emails, texts, and other sources by creating a single place for client interactions.
Client portals not only drive efficiencies and reduce frustration, they also give law firms a competitive edge by differentiating their practice through better service and value. While nearly 60 percent of large firms now offer client portals, only 8 percent of small and solo firms are taking advantage of the practice.
5. Cybersecurity is a front-and-center concern. The ABA reports that one in five law firms experienced a data breach in 2018, making cybersecurity a top priority. As the majority of firms replace paper documents and physical storage with digital data environments, clever hackers are realizing an easier path to infiltrating companies is through their law firms, which traditionally have fewer stringent cybersecurity measures.
ABA rules stipulate that lawyers have an ethical duty to take “competent and reasonable measures” to safeguard client information, as well as any personally identifiable data like health and financial records. Groundbreaking data privacy regulations in California and the European Union also leave law firms facing hefty fines if they don’t protect personal data.
Many attorneys lack training and experience with cybersecurity best practices, and poor data management leaves law firms and many companies vulnerable to potentially devastating cyber-threats such as phishing campaigns, ransomware, and man-in-the middle attacks. The 2016 Panama Papers incident is still fresh in the minds of many firms and clients, during which financial and reputational damage destroyed the once-thriving law firm of Mossack Fonseca after hackers stole and released 11.5 million sensitive documents.
Implementing best cybersecurity practices is a critical focus of the legal industry in 2019. Many attorneys are grasping their lack of technology expertise and seeking qualified assistance to protect client information. Nearly 30 percent of law firms reported that they have hired outside cybersecurity experts to assess their vulnerabilities within the past year, according to an Above the Law report.
Stronger password, physical, and hardware protections are being implemented throughout the industry. Interestingly, after initial concerns about cloud security, more than 30 percent of law firms said better security was the main reason they are moving from premise-based software to software in the cloud, Above the Law reports.
6. Legal podcasts explode. Legal podcasts are suddenly everywhere on social media, making legal issues more accessible and providing insight and advice about trends and technologies. They have become so prevalent that the ABA Journal devoted part of its Web 100 to the best law podcasts.
Several factors are influencing this trend. Not only do many lawyers find podcasts personally fulfilling, but they can be great marketing—enabling attorneys to demonstrate their expertise and connect with potential clients in a more personal way than social media or blogging. There’s also a growing audience thanks to the emergence of in-car technologies that make on-demand listening as easy as tuning into the radio. The podcast app that comes standard on all iPhones is also driving the trend, making it more likely that people will subscribe to shows and listen when they are notified that there’s a new episode.
The legal industry is often resistant to change, so it’s no surprise that it’s been slow to jump on digital transformation trends. But this tradition-bound profession is adapting. Successful law firms and in-house departments will be driven by technologies that optimize efficiencies, improve processes, reduce costs, and predict and mitigate risks for attorneys and their clients.
Carrington Legal Search is devoted to finding the ideal candidates for our clients’ recruitment needs. We have particular expertise in the Financial Services (banking, insurance, investment management, etc.) and Technology verticals. To make our nationwide network work for you, get in touch at 512-627-7467 or email carrie@carringtonlegal.com.