You've probably asked this question before: what is “legal tech” and where is it going? One thing's for sure: legal tech news has been dynamic as of late. The last two years have been a whirlwind for the planet due to COVID-19 and its effect on legal technology, or “legal tech” for short. With the pandemic subsiding and things slowly returning to normal, it's clear that there will be at least a partial return to more traditional legal activities. However, we firmly expect some of the innovations of the last few years to remain in place. In short: legal tech news is not all grim!
A variety of legal tech startups are pushing a large variety of legal tech software. It can be overwhelming in these rapidly changing times, but hopefully, we'll be able to point you to some great solutions later on in the article!
Legal technology is a collection of companies, software, and hardware that helps drive the legal industry. The focus is generally on legal tech software, which many legal tech startups are looking to innovate on. This software can include case management, billing and tracking, documentation management, automation services, and the processing of online payments.
All of these solutions help attorneys and law firms in their daily activities. The less busy work these professionals have, the more time they can spend reviewing more serious cases, and the more these firms can save on payroll.
Many firms employ entire suites of programs called legal software systems. These further facilitate the legal process through the utilization of e-signatures, legal accounting programs, appointment scheduling, and data storage.
It's obvious to see that legal tech covers a wide array of software options. There is a ton of room for further innovation, and many firms are still trying to catch up! There are a lot of great opportunities for legal tech startups to capitalize on the legal tech industry. Legal tech jobs for lawyers are in abundance, and legal tech trends look promising. More on this later.
The pandemic has had a severe effect on the legal industry. Many court hearings were moved to the digital space, but a lot of law firms had to work remotely as well. This underscored the need for robust software systems and further automation. Uncertainty continues to exist because we have grown to appreciate many of the customs we established during the pandemic.
Remote work is here to stay, as are the lean automated systems that many industries, including the legal tech industry, have established. The benefits and efficiency of office work can be combined with the convenience of remote working to create a hybrid system. We are likely to see more of this in the future.
What does this mean for legal tech? Well, the legal tech trends are in uncharted waters. We simply do not know for certain. Lawyers are continuing to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape. The tech bubble has begun to burst in some sectors, leading to many mergers and acquisitions. This consolidation of power may sound doom and gloom, but all it takes is the right legal tech startup capitalizing on the right legal tech trends to make it big. Expect huge innovations in the coming years!
Another thing to keep in mind is that law is a very risk-averse profession: attorneys and associated professions tend to be quite traditional and conservative in personality due to their sensitive line of work, which may lead to slower change or a reversion to more comfortable and safe protocols. This may lead to a slow adaptation of more progressive technology like AI and blockchains. By their very nature, lawyers will be unlikely to trust AI with more than simple automation tasks. Change on that front will be slow.
This doesn't mean that legal technology will stagnate, though, as legal software is already widely adapted and can always be improved upon. Most experts seem to agree that AI will not take over the legal sector any time soon, and most innovation will be relegated to streamlining software suites in the short term.
One thing's for certain, though: legal technology is here to stay because the pandemic underscored how useful it can be. Expect innovation to increase as these larger firms invest more in legal tech and the smaller firms try to capitalize on the industry.
You should also expect the demand for legal technology to increase further as the debt bubble continues to balloon and the impending economic downturn is likely to see an increase in collection activities. The future, while not set in stone, appears to indicate that legal technology will continue to grow and innovate beyond the pandemic.
Be sure to follow the latest legal tech trends, legal tech news, and legal tech startups if you want to know more about this evolving industry! Legal tech jobs for lawyers are in abundance at the moment as well, so attorneys should be on the lookout for fantastic opportunities.
We wouldn't want to depart without some suggestions on how to solve your legal tech problems. There are many innovative and groundbreaking legal tech software suites available in the legal tech industry due to the pandemic and other recent legal tech trends. One of these is CoraLegal, a secure communications client and portal for teams. Made by the digital storage wizards at CoralTree, CoraLegal aims to be at the forefront of the legal tech revolution.
If your firm needs secure legal document sharing, then CoraLegal offers solutions for that as well. Its legal tech software suite offers cloud collaboration for attorneys and paralegals, who can utilize the platform to transmit and manage documents in a secure cloud environment. CoraLegal's digital organization tools will help with normal day-to-day tasks to aid with time management. The suite also offers robust e-signature and e-notarization tools gone are the days of having to chase down parties in the flesh!
The pricing, as outlined on this page, is extremely competitive by legal tech software standards.