Legal Tech: Establishing, Collecting, and Analyzing Metrics for Success
Liza Pestillos‑Ocat
As legal tech vendors, we’re often asked, “What’s the ROI on your software?” Our response is familia(...)
Generative AI in litigation: Turning talk into transformation
Opus 2
In recent years, generative AI (GenAI) has captured the legal industry's attention, moving from buzz(...)
The practice of law has changed significantly over the past decade, in large part due to technological innovation. One major factor contributing to the rapid pace of change has been the rise of mobile and cloud computing. With the iPhone’s release in 2007, it was suddenly possible for lawyers to practice law and access important case-related information stored in the cloud from anywhere at anytime.
Early in my career, I worked for a major insurer who faced legislative challenges in regards to the use of credit scoring in determining auto insurance rates. I was tasked to find software that would allow insurance brokers to contact their respective state legislators with messages that would influence the legislation. The project was intense; I had to search for software vendors, issue an RFP, evaluate responses, and arrange for demonstrations. Once a vendor was selected I knew we needed to negotiate a price, but what I did not expect was the internal request to build a business case to measure the return of investment of the technology. I scrambled to try to measure the benefits of the software, had to revise the business case multiple times, and although the technology purchase was eventually approved, that process of proving value extended the purchasing process by months.
For about 15 years it has been a standard practice among law firms to skip iterations of Desktop Operating Systems—go to Windows 7 from XP, for example, or from Windows 7 to 10. As a result, desktop deployments used to be projects slated for every few years. This model, however, is no longer sustainable. With a new update schedule and a less than forgiving end-of-support timeline, skipping versions will leave firms scrambling to test, pilot, and deploy updated builds in uncomfortably small windows.
Thomson Reuters Elite held a briefing in London recently to provide updates on the Elite Enterprise Business Management Solution, which consists, at its core, of 3E for financial management, MatterSphere for client and matter management, and Business Development Premier (BDP) for business development and CRM.
The session updated a sector-experienced and influential audience on the Elite cloud strategy, on investment in the lawyer-as-a-user experience, on core product roadmaps and on progress in selling the solutions to a wide variety of firms.
Modern law firms are hives of activity with many teams carrying out myriad functions to help the organization thrive. Underpinning this collaborative work in the modern office is technology.
Technology Managed Services is the practice of outsourcing the day-to-day management of workstations and laptops, servers, and computer networks.
Israel, a country known throughout the world as the "start-up nation", prides itself on the enormous number of inventions and innovations that it has produced over 69 years since its founding – despite challenges of geography, size and diplomacy. Israeli ingenuity has brought the world drip irrigation, cherry tomato, electric car grid, Disk-on-Key, PillCam, solar windows, space camera and much more.
Israel is also the land of lawyers, with the ratio of lawyers per population reaching world record level of 1:138, compared to 1:246 in the US. Ironically, a well-known phrase, according to which "the cobbler's shoes are never fixed", would be the most appropriate to describe the state of the Israeli legal industry's involvement in innovative legal technology, at least until recently.
According to a recent study conducted by Altman Weil, Law Firms in Transition 2017, 72% of responding firms believe that change in the legal industry will continue to take place at a rapid rate. This is a significant increase from 2012, when only 61% of respondents believed the pace of change would increase.
Unfortunately, many lawyers in larger firms are refusing to change the way that they do business despite finally acknowledging that the legal profession is undergoing an industry-wide paradigm shift in ways never before seen.
Tikit has been investing a lot of time and money over the last couple of years in line with our vision of the future of legal IT. With the launch of our flagship time recording system, Carpe Diem, delivered from the Microsoft Azure cloud to the latest announcement of the choice of NetDocuments as Tikit’s preferred Document Management System provider, it is clear that this vision is underpinned by cloud technology.
While Tikit and its key partners are very optimistic about our collective future and the viability of a legal cloud (r)evolution, we must also be realistic about the joint challenge ahead and the fact that while many law firms are not ‘there’ yet, neither is the technology that necessitates a 100% cloud first/true cloud reality.
A successful migration of your document management system (DMS) not only avoids technical issues, but also improves the lives of the people who use it daily.
NetDocuments offers many features that make it an attractive option for law firms, but it has particular characteristics that must be taken into account. By being aware of the differences between NetDocuments and your current system, you can ensure a painless transition that accounts for the needs of everyone at your firm.
This year there’s been a lot of buzz about artificial intelligence and the ways that it will affect the practice of law. This happens in the legal tech space whenever a new technology emerges that has the potential to change the way that lawyers do business. As is often the case when a new type of technology emerges, there tends to be a lot of hype and speculation, which can sometimes make it difficult to separate fact from fiction. AI is no different.
Embracing technology is key to success for IP law firms
Intellectual property law firms are experts in innovation. They prosecute patents and trademarks covering leading edge technologies that we all enjoy in the products we buy and the services we use. IP firms’ clients innovate to outperform competitors, to differentiate their products or services, and to simplify business practices for flexible and efficient operations. Furthermore, as global demographics evolve into digital natives, expectations are increasing for access to continuously available information.
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