Embracing human skills in the era of legal tech

In this edition, Elizabeth Rimmer shares what she has learned from attending legal tech conferences. These events emphasise human-centred topics like mental health, diversity, and ethics, alongside discussions about technology. Employers now value skills like critical thinking and adaptability as much as legal knowledge. Listening is also crucial in workplaces for building trust and understanding. This reflects big changes in how legal work is done and how lawyers are trained.

Last week, I chaired Bristol Law Society’s new wellbeing group’s first in person event - a discussion on mental health and tech, from the perspective of how tech is transforming the day to day work of the delivery of legal services and the implications of this for people. I am now regularly asked to speak at legal tech conferences, whether they are small niche events hosted by tech companies for their clients or big, buzzy events that bring together thousands of people to be wowed by the power of the transformative change. Over the last couple of years have I have been to quite a few. What strikes me is how people-centred topics like mental health, culture, diversity and inclusion, ethical behaviour, legal education, and the challenges of unmet legal need are firmly woven into the fabric of legal tech conferences, sitting happily alongside the detailed sessions on the practical usefulness of technology.

I seem to bump into more familiar faces at tech related gatherings than anywhere else, and I have wondered why this is.?Perhaps they are drawn, like me, to?these inspiring environments where they feel a sense of belonging and can connect and collectively think with others about the changing legal landscape and the opportunities this brings to make day-to-day legal work better and improve service for our clients. I remember writing a LinkedIn post last year after attending my first Legal Geek conference, that I wished I could bottle up the energy, enthusiasm and passion for doing things differently that I was immersed in that day and spread it around the legal sector.

Employers are looking for people with human skills

There has been a shift in what skills employers expect of their people over the last 30 years, particularly in the last decade (see: Global employability skills in the 21st century workplace: A semi-systematic literature review ). Occupation-specific skills, such as your legal knowledge, are no longer enough. Employers are looking for skills in analytical and critical thinking, complex problem solving, active learning, creativity and initiative, trustworthiness, emotional intelligence, reasoning, adaptability, time management, leadership, and social influence. These are now becoming regarded as essential skills in the workplace – the human skills and the development of these skills is a hot topic in legal education and training. This does highlight a need for legal practice, education, and policy makers, including regulators, to work?more closely together. They must ensure that those coming into legal practice are better prepared to meet the ever evolving demands of life in practice and have successful careers as we approach the midpoint of the 21st century.

It seems remarkable to me that a by-product of the legal tech frontier and the changing way we work has brought the value of human qualities and skills into sharper focus. A discussion that is long overdue. We are in an almost dystopian era where people are using AI tools to craft their job applications, which are then reviewed by AI?tracking systems to pick out keywords, skills and qualifications to short list candidates. The known danger of this, of course, is that the unique experiences and perspectives of an individual will be missed by a biased algorithm. But what if the use of AI in recruitment is leading to ultimately is a more equitable skills based approach to hiring which will permeate across all levels of recruitment, not just those in junior roles. I expect it won’t be long before those lateral hires at senior levels or that promotion will include an assessment of human skills, and an impressive track record of billing and clients will no longer be a shoe-in for the job. ?

The importance of listening

What has struck me the most over the last month, during which I have attended probably too many in-person events, is the fundamental skill that doesn’t really get much of a look in, and that is listening. I learnt at the recent LegalTechTalk UK conference that all vertebrates have ears, but they don’t all have eyes, which is surprising that I didn’t know that considering I have a degree in zoology. From the beginning of our school days, our writing and reading capabilities are prioritised over our ability to listen and speak, yet listening is how we truly learn. It is through listening to others that we understand people and their needs, and it is how we build trust and empathy, which underpins all healthy relationships. In our workplaces, we tend to prioritise our external communications on our websites and social media channels, broadcasting what we know and our achievements, over our internal communications with our people. Here, barriers to listening like jumping to conclusions or making assumptions, can easily get in the way.

We are not only in a decade of disruption in the workplace, but we are also navigating this in an ever noisier and distracting world. Organisations that spend time just listening to colleagues and clients will be the ones that triumph.

By Elizabeth Rimmer , CEO of LawCare .

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