Last week I went to my bank for a personal loan. As a new account manager, I have to represent myself, and I tell her quite proudly that I’m the founder of LegalProd, a startup that develops totally innovative management software for law firms. Well, I admit I got a bit of a slap in the face when she said, “Software for lawyers? But they’re still using paper and dictaphone! (She must have been reading Les Fourberies de Scapin while on vacation…)”.
At first, I didn’t want to argue, she thinks what she wants, but I know lawyers and my products sell. And then after a few seconds, I said to myself, “No! You need to explain to him why innovation and technology have their place in the firm – it’s your loan that’s at stake!
So yes, the legal profession isn’t the most digitized, but the important thing once we’ve posed that fact and the famous “Why?” question.
Because lawyers are too old? No, statistics show that the population is getting younger.
Because they quickly get lost when using technology? No, on the contrary, go and hang out in the law firms and you’ll see all the lawyers, phone to their ear or chatting with their contacts on Whatsapp and with a laptop under their arm.
Because technology has no place in the legal profession? On the contrary! Technology is a real source of development for firms.
Software designed for businesses does not necessarily meet the needs of a law firm. Case management, access to information, and communication with clients require tailored features. A tool’s suitability should therefore be judged based on these specific needs, rather than solely on its promise of modernity. The available tools and the firm’s practices must work together to facilitate day-to-day work.
So what’s changed today?
For several years now, LegalTech has been focusing on the real needs of lawyers in all their activities: HRIS, translation, drafting assistance, EDM, file management, law firm administration… and now Artificial Intelligence…
Law firms began to digitize around ten years ago, and although they are still relatively under-equipped, they have fully understood the benefits of equipping themselves with such tools. Without making an exhaustive study of all that digitalization can bring to a practice, we can focus on two key elements.
Putting the customer back at the heart of law firms
You’re bound to tell me that technology is dehumanizing relationships between people, that interactions are becoming less personal and human relationships more distant. Although these stereotypes are hard to dispel, the reality is quite different! Technologies and innovations are in fact catalysts for human relationships.
For some twenty years now, consumers have no longer been passive consumers, but have become attentive and increasingly demanding players. They want to know what they are buying, what products are used in the production process, where their purchases come from… In short, they are becoming more and more demanding and demand transparency. The consumption of services is no exception to this rule.
Companies, for their part, have no choice but to adapt, as consumers now have powerful weapons at their disposal to make or break a product, a service or a brand name. With the Internet, buyers rate, evaluate and use social networks to express their dissatisfaction to anyone who will listen. Law firms, like any other business, have to face up to this new phenomenon.
The other factor to take into account is the change in consumption patterns. With the Internet, you can decide what to buy online, order online and track your order online. The advent of telecommuting has only speeded things up. More and more lawyers are telling me that they see less and less of their clients!
Law firms are hard hit by these changes, and have to face up to them. This is where technology becomes a lifeline.
To sum up, lawyers’ clients want :
- Become a player in their case,
- Be kept informed in real time of developments and of the work done by their lawyer,
- Communicate easily with them at any time and from any distance.
To meet these needs, lawyers can rely on technology to provide easy remote access via an intranet, or use a secure chat system, for example.
In these examples, technology reduces the distance between lawyer and client.
A suitable messaging system can facilitate remote communication between an attorney and their client, but simply labeling it “secure” does not eliminate the risk of disclosure. In particular, the law firm must protect accounts, verify recipients, and control access to case information. The client can submit a question without having to visit the office, though this does not imply an immediate response from their attorney.
A customer portal can allow users to track certain stages of a case and submit documents remotely. The security of these exchanges depends, in particular, on user authentication, the permissions granted, and the security measures in place for the document repository; it does not stem solely from the presence of a digital “vault.”
These two examples clearly show that technology, when used properly, reduces the distance between a client and his or her lawyer, and even more so, reinforces the notion of trust that is so vital to a lawyer’s work.
Implementing such tools puts the customer back at the center of the relationship, who no longer sees himself as a mere number, but as a singular person to whom we pay attention. And you know what else? That’s exactly what these new consumers are waiting for! That’s what customer relations are all about!
Create synergies within the firm
It no longer needs to be shown that the added value of a group must exceed the sum of the value of the individuals making up that group. Law firms are well aware of this, and at least my clients are asking me more and more about it.
By facilitating communication among partners, a firm can foster synergies: sharing feedback, identifying complementary skills, or coordinating a project. These benefits depend on how communication is organized and on everyone’s participation; they do not automatically result from an increase in interactions. Technology can complement informal discussions and meetings by providing a framework for sharing information.
And yet, law firms are sitting on a goldmine that has yet to be fully exploited: the internal network!
It’s this network that we need to work on as a priority, but it’s not enough just to say so, or to want to. If everyone knows this and everyone agrees, why isn’t it being implemented? Because there are obstacles that technology can overcome quite easily.
The main obstacle comes from asymmetries of information: “If I give a contact to one of my associates, will he do the same?”, “How can I be sure of being remunerated for a business contribution?”, “If I give one of my productions to an associate, how can I put a value on it?
These are valid questions. A tool can make it easier to track exchanges, but sharing permissions and any compensation arrangements are governed by rules established separately within the firm.
A CRM can help organize the sharing of contacts within a firm, provided that access rights are defined according to roles. Hiding a person’s name or contact information from certain partners does not constitute anonymization if the person remains identifiable or can be reidentified. The choice of tool alone does not resolve issues related to authorization to share information or compensation associated with bringing in business.
For example, I know that my Associate has a HR contact in such-and-such a company, but I don’t know who he is, so I have to ask him for authorization to access other information such as first and last name, telephone number, e-mail address….
This process can make contact sharing more transparent: the partner requesting a contact identifies the relevant person within the firm, and the partner sharing the contact keeps a record of the exchange. This can foster cooperation, without making it automatic. Any compensation or account assignment depends on the applicable agreements and rules; it does not result from the mere use of the CRM.
Another fundamental tool within a law firm is an EDM, which will enable the whole firm to find precedents or production models. But once again, we’re talking about an EDM that meets the needs of lawyers!
Let’s take the example of a document template prepared by a partner and reused in another case. An EDM system can facilitate searching for and adapting the template, subject to access rights and the protection of the first client’s information. The document must be adapted to the new case and reviewed. Any time saved does not determine either the compensation among partners or the fees billed to the client: these matters remain separate from the storage and sharing of the document.
And yes! As you can see, to collaborate, each party must have an advantage in doing so, and prevent free-rider behavior.
So no, lawyers are not anti-techno! On the contrary, the delay in digitization that law firms are experiencing today is simply due to software publishers who have not deemed it necessary to invest in this market. Fortunately, those days are over! Legaltechs have emerged to develop specialized products aimed exclusively at lawyers.
At the sight of these explanations, I could feel my business manager laughing! I guess you could say I’ve done my job, as they say. A few days later, the good news came – I got my loan!
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