How Are Law Firms Implementing Digital Transformation?

Law firms are finally starting to embrace technology as a means to not only improve efficiency and performance, but also to reach clients through various channels. After more than two years of pandemic-driven remote work, digital transformation is taking hold in law firms as they experience its many benefits.

What Is Digital Transformation in Law Firms?

Except for the use of online document signing, client databases, and email, digital transformation has been slow in coming to the legal profession. So how are they implementing it?

Digital transformation is the process of adopting and incorporating technology throughout the organization to create more efficiency, reduce errors, improve capabilities, increase insights, and improve customer relationships.

There has been rapid growth in the LegalTech space in recent years. Specific software and platforms have been developed to enhance many elements of the legal profession. The pandemic increased innovation in technology for the secure exchange of documents, affidavits, and notarization. There is also software that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to offer lawyers new insights that positively influence the benefit of clients.

4 Ways the Legal Profession Benefits from Digital Transformation

Each law firm has a specialty and specific clients that dictate what type of digital transformation matters most to them. For example, corporations will have different requirements than family practices.

Here are four important aspects that can positively impact law firms of any type:

1) Automation

The Mckinsey Global Institute notes that 23% of the work done by lawyers could be automated. From filing documents to signing contracts to reviewing documents for errors or discrepancies, technology has been created to take these mundane tasks out of a lawyer’s day.

2) Security

This is both a benefit and a necessity. Increasing security with technology can keep information safe and provide peace of mind for customers. It is also important for law firms to prioritize security throughout the digital transformation. In the ABA’s 2022 Legal Technology Survey Report, 25% of these said they had experienced some type of data breach in the past year. Therefore, it is important that they invest in cybersecurity technology that ensures privacy compliance and that all data is secure.

3) Customer Experience (CX)

Technology offers law firms an advantage with clients. They may prefer to share documents digitally or have a videoconference instead of visiting a law firm in person. In this sense, it is important that law firms discover which elements provide the greatest benefit to clients and implement those areas of digital transformation first.

4) Intelligence

Technology can provide lawyers with information beyond what they can glean from long documents. There are solutions available that use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to “read” documents, detecting problems, discrepancies and even emotions or forgeries. The software can analyze the data to detect patterns that can reveal important information and insights.

How Law Firms Can Advance in Digital Transformation

Historically, partners have resisted adopting some technologies for fear that they would change the way they have always done business. A common concern is that technology (especially automation software) could reduce the time the company spends with certain customers, which could decrease hourly billing.

However, the overall benefits for the firm ultimately win out, as the use of technology will free up attorneys’ time to take on new clients rather than focus on administrative or manual tasks.

What Are the Most Important Steps To Move Forward with Digital Transformation?

1) Start Small

Any stakeholder wishing to transition to a digital technology should be given the opportunity to test on a small scale. Perhaps a certain type of document can be easily digitized for online notarization, or a certain case is a perfect candidate for natural language processing. With just a few tests, the team will get used to the new process and begin to see for themselves how their approach could improve on a larger scale.

2) Measure and Share the Results

Any time a new technology or online option is used, it is important to measure the value to the business. How much time was saved? How many new ideas were obtained? What level of error reduction occurred? Sharing these metrics with partners facilitates their acceptance.

3) Grow Smart

As people become more aware of the benefits of digital transformation, it will be critical to prioritize new efforts and get everyone on board before implementing another technology. Introducing too many new processes too quickly can be overwhelming and ultimately have adverse effects on this transformation.

What Are the Challenges of Digital Transformation in Law Firms?

As with any change, there is likely to be resistance from those who don’t want to change the way they work. Difficulty getting a quote for software can also be experienced, and there will inevitably be concerns about privacy, security, and the protection of important information as you move from paper to online or to a new platform.

However, those who lead the implementation of new technologies must overcome these obstacles and be proactive. For example, intensifying learning, showing colleagues the positives to keep them motivated, and sharing those successes with the whole team will ensure that everyone feels good about the work done to embrace digital transformation.