Simon Michie: Why Legal Firms Must Embrace Technology
The legal sector is currently in a state of flux. Research1 has shown law firms are aware technology must be embraced to meet their full growth potential, but very few have taken the plunge and tackled this issue head on. Here to talk to Lawyer Monthly about this is Simon Michie, CTO at Redcentric, a leading managed services provider delivering innovative technology to businesses to improve productivity and efficiency through careful consultation.
It’s worrying that there are legal firms which haven’t realised the benefits of embracing the latest technological advances, especially when 24% of legal professionals cite enhancing operational efficiencies as a main priority. Due to the vast amount of rules and regulations in place within the sector, lawyers can spend days at a time completing admin, rather than adding value to their clients and the company as a whole. Updating the technology used to complete these tasks is now becoming critical to the future success of the business.
Recent statistics show 74% of legal firms plan on investing in new technology to address business and IT challenges over the next two years. Such investment has the potential to turn the hard work already in place within the sector into increased business growth. However, to do so law firms must implement technology with these growth goals in mind, to ensure they achieve the greatest return possible.
Which legal sectors are currently in need of the most investment in new technology to facilitate its operations? What factors/ considerations contribute to this?
While many law firms are already investing in new technology to transform their businesses, a significant number still carry out tasks with a traditional mind-set. I see senior employees and founders are often wary of implementing new technology because it’s alien to them. In reality, they are ignoring significant productivity gains. Many are put off by the necessity of training and believe it’s quicker to remain as they are, but it’s actually affecting their growth.
Those with many years’ experience in legal firms must embrace change instead and move away from their traditional methods. Only an hour learning about a new technology could save a business days and days’ worth of time taken up by laborious tasks – time which can instead be spent adding value to the clients and growing the business.
How can law firms explore new ways of operating with various new technologies? How does a law firm find out what the best way to do things is?
Law firms can explore new ways of operating with various technologies in a variety of ways. Whether it be an application, infrastructure or voice, firms can utilise trials of the systems and get hands-on experience without committing to pay an ongoing fee. Law firms can also attend workshops for different technologies, learning about what’s on offer and obtaining an in-depth understanding of how they could benefit their business.
Networking is key to investigating how effective implementing a new technology is. Often, bigger firms will use similar technology to smaller companies as a result of positive referrals from other firms. By discussing the options out there with other businesses and their customers who also use new technologies, law firms can gain an unbiased understanding of how best to strengthen their strategy.
Building a Legacy
The first step is to take stock of the technology used within a law firm and ask if it is truly fit for purpose. Systems that only meet the bare minimum requirements to carry out a task may seem perfectly viable, but legal professionals may be doing themselves and their clients a disservice due to time wasted using inefficient systems. This is shown by a staggering 42% of law firms stating their business growth plans are hampered by the legacy IT systems they have in place. Clearly, investment must be made to remedy this issue, even by firms aiming to keep expenditure low to increase profit margins.
When looking at investment, it’s clear there is a fine line between smart financial planning and removing funding from key arms of the business. Investing in new technology is the perfect example – many budget holders will be more interested in spending on recruitment to facilitate new business goals, which in turn can drive growth. However, if the technology used is hampering productivity, the business is setting itself up for failure as clients may look elsewhere for firms which offer more competitive service level agreements.
Legacy hardware will be slow running, while legacy software will fail to integrate to any new industry services or applications; from free digital storage to the latest database management tools. The time dedicated to research ahead of trials, communication with clients and even powering up hardware is exacerbated. Additional minutes spent on individual tasks quickly add up and equate to time wasted, which could be spent adding value to the business.
Do you have examples of a specific technology that is outdated and still in use, thus contributing to said disservice or time-waste?
Businesses using old hardware, from outdated PCs to servers, will inevitably suffer as time goes on. They must ensure their hardware is up to date or replaced if possible, when it’s more than five years old and beginning to slow down every day processes.
Applications must evolve to stay ahead of the game or catch up if they’re behind to avoid wasting a business’ time. If a law firm is running an on-premise infrastructure on its own hardware, the IT team must be delivering these applications and customising them so they are seamless. The workforce must be given the tools to work as efficiently as possible to see the benefits of marginal gains.
Do you have examples of technologies or strategies firms could make use of, even with a small investment budget?
The most effective strategy law firms can make use of is not a specific technology – but a service. It’s far more powerful to give an IT director a concise understanding of the IT estate than invest in the latest technology. Law firms should instead invest in understanding exactly what the business needs, how their operations are currently running and where the pain-points are. They should ask themselves ‘what actually needs upgrading?’ Is the hardware in place nearing its end? Often, legal IT teams are also understaffed – they are asked to introduce huge systems, without the necessary time. If most time is spent making the hardware work, undoubtedly this will never be done effectively.
Every Cloud has a Silver Lining
Legacy hardware is relatively easy to replace but for law firms to remain competitive, they must update their technology to ensure their services continue to evolve. Lawyers today may need to access trialcritical documents on the move, rather than just from the office. This is why it’s so important that law firms securely embrace Cloud computing and mobile devices to ensure the workforce is working as smartly as possible. If lawyers are spending tens of hours every week out of the office, accessibility to an office server becomes an essential part of their armoury.
Growing a firm with a Cloud-based infrastructure ensures lawyers can easily work on upcoming cases securely while travelling. If technology is utilised well, the ability to work from any location with an internet connection will see law firm productivity increase noticeably.
The law firm’s IT team will also have a clearer view over the entire system, as updates can be efficiently deployed over a Cloud infrastructure, rather than tackling devices separately. There is absolute peace of mind that each and every corporate device, whether it be a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone, will be secure and users have access to business critical files and applications. The IT team can then invest its time in adding value to the business, rather than constantly fighting against issues caused by legacy systems.
Do you think firms stray clear of Cloud based systems due to privacy or security concerns? How can this stigma be addressed?
Cloud computing is one of the fastest growing segments of the IT industry. Only last year, there was said to be a steep increase in the rate of adoption of cloud computing applications, with some of the biggest movers found in the government and regulated industries.
However, many law firms are staying clear of implementing Cloud-based systems due to privacy or security concerns. Law firms must decide which operational architecture best suits their business in order to thrive in the long-run – and if this involves the Cloud, they must shake off their doubts and worries. Understandably, in-house systems provide visibility and control while there is still a stigma to Cloudbased systems, where security is considered a problem.
Businesses must ensure they are fully aware of the risks of data breaches with the Cloud and be vigilant at all times once they are in place. If the workforce is knowledgeable and prepared from the out-set, there is no real reason they cannot introduce a Cloud-based strategy to immediately transform their business. Wary firms should also consider a hybrid-approach, where data storage is shared between MSPs and on-premise systems, further calming security fears.
What is your forecast for the proliferation of Cloud based systems for various operations, based on current growth of this technology and the correlating increased need for it in the legal industry?
Technology is growing and advancing all the time. The growth of mid-tier law firms is often driven by acquisitions and this approach would be far more successful if they used Cloud-based systems as well due to the scalable nature of this technology. The M&A process inevitably results in additional employees and new working environments – working on the cloud means these new elements of the business can be aligned in no time at all. Those who are not embracing this approach may thrive due to a positive reputation in the sector, but won’t have the same level of growth or potential than if they did implement a more flexible system. As more and more of their clients become media-savvy, law firms must meet their expectations and ensure they are utilising technology to add value to the business. While many firms are still hesitant to leave behind traditional methods, the time will come when only businesses truly implementing new technologies will be able to survive in the competitive industry. Law firms will be forced to embrace technology to survive and will reap the rewards as a result.
Embracing New Technology
Once a law firm has embraced the Cloud, it is in a position to build on its competitive advantage. Productivity gains will be clear once a remote server is available, but applying emerging technology on top of this will further increase business efficiency.
An example of this is the AI technology which is revolutionising the way lawyers conduct research into previous cases and legal precedents ahead of trials. Traditionally, this saw lawyers spending hours pouring over text books and journals with very little steer as to where the information they need is located. New technology enables lawyers to simply type a question into an app and the required information will be available in a matter of seconds. Reducing the research process from days to hours or potentially even minutes is having a vast impact on legal firms which have already adopted this technology, enabling them to take on more cases and increase the scale of their growth plans. The competitive advantage which can be gained through technology will then become apparent.
The UK’s legal firms are at a pivotal fork in the road, down one path are mediocrity and a continued reliance on legacy IT and age-old processes, while the other path increases productivity and facilitates business growth. Clearly, the time has come to invest in technology and revolutionise the legal sector for the better. Those who fail to do so will be left behind by their competitors and quite simply won’t survive to tell the tale.
As you believe lawyers are easily able to find answers on legal matters with a few clicks nowadays, does this mean self-representation could consequently grow in frequency in future?
While lawyers are easily able to find answers on legal matters with only a few clicks, I don’t believe technology will truly enable selfrepresentation or impact on it growing in frequency. People will always require specialist advice which law firms can readily and expertly provide. However, advancing artificial intelligence (AI) is making workplace processes faster and more efficient, as seen by the work carried out by Blue Prism in creating an AI customer services workforce. The efficiency gains this use of AI offers highlights the amount of time lawyers will save to then spend on other critical processes, such as the potential outcomes of a trial. Technology will therefore become a firm’s unique selling point rather than resulting in increased self-representation.
The skills of lawyers will remain key to the success of the firm and technology will enhance this. Their productivity levels will increase, driving a more cost-effective firm.
If law firms adapt from the lengthy and attentive methods of the past, and cases become solvable in little time, leaving space for more clientele, would the public not pick up on this and be dissatisfied with the potential lack of detail and care gone into the service provided to them?
New technologies enable lawyers to drill down to the detail of a case much quicker and deliver faster, more accurate services which in turn, costs less for their clients. Lawyers will have access to detailed real-time information to support better and smarter decision making overall. Firms must embrace technology to aid and create efficiencies in their own work. This will eliminate human error and have a beneficial knock-on effect to their clients as a result.
