Lawyers Suffer from a 7 Year Itch: Stop Scratching. Start Sniffing …

Recently I was inundated with an overwhelming amount of ‘heads-up’ from connections in social networking streams alerting me to a BBC Business News article[1] with a strikingly controversial title: “Would you let a robot lawyer defend you?”

Although I restrained myself from getting drawn in at first, ignoring the first 40 or so pokes (I kid you not), The Naked Lawyer eventually lost her rag as the pings continued. I simply HAD to respond, if only to placate The Naked Lawyer’s annoyance as she had far better things to do with her time than get involved in an ‘old-hat-same-same’ discussion all over again. Simply put, this was NOT ‘news’. Too late. I was suckered in. Typical.

After pacing my balcony like a caged cougar searching for the right tone with tempered wording, I calmly replied to my learned thoughtful friend on his LinkedIn post[2] with:

“I’m sure you may be aware I posed this very same question back in 2014 when my book “Tomorrow’s Naked Lawyer: NewTech, NewHuman, NewLaw - How to be successful 2015-2045” was published. There’s nothing of real ‘news’ or deep substance in this article imho that most of us in Law Law Land are not already aware of. Glad to see the BBC ‘News’ has caught up with us. However, call me cynical, but maybe this is simply the mainstream press now ‘gently’ dropping muse bombs to now prepare the mass public as to what will inevitably come to pass. It’s timely imho. Talking about such things 7 years ago was shocking. Talking about it now, much less so and more acceptable, obviously, due to the gradual acceptance in most areas of law. Now it’s about educating the public, raising awareness, and then achieving acceptance.”

Yes, it may have sounded improbable and totally far-fetched 7 years ago to legal professionals (and beyond), that artificial intelligence (AI) software systems - computer programs that can update, learn and create by themselves - would increasingly be used by the legal, business and lay community today. Not surprisingly back then, the vast majority of human lawyers feared AI encroaching on their turf and determinedly blocked early-stage adoption. I can personally vouch for said behaviour.

But nowa(covid)days some (I won’t go so far as to say ‘most’ as that would be a big fat porky lie) are actively welcoming lawyer ambassadors of the Legaltech and LawTech march and are actually falling over themselves to use software / machines to quickly trawl through and sort vast quantities of data; an absolute time-saving and labour-intensive averting godsend in relation to case document work, case research, contract review and analysis etc.

Lawyers’ behaviour toward LegalTech and LawTech is EXACTLY the same as their approach to social media and social networking was 7 years prior to the 7 year LegalTech cycle. I experienced and watched this unfold having beaten both the social media drum and LegalTech drum 2007>2014 then 2014>2021 respectively. It appears there is an itch to be scratched every 7 years, perhaps? What next in the cycle, I wonder… and ponder …

Maybe, just maybe, it resides in SCIENCE. The latest buzz, hype and mantra doing the rounds in the mainstream media and across many sectors is to look to science for solutions to our problems. Whether it be the COVID crisis, climate crisis, water shortage crisis, 5G/Quantum/Crypto environmental impact and/or cyber-security crisis, safe commercial Space travel and/or future Space repatriation on the moon or Mars, we are absolutely science mad. Mad, mad, mad. Totally bonkers and raving nuts in fact.

So, I reckon, the itch yet to be scratched in Law Law Land is the ultimate Data Science challenge and to triumph in this realm magnanimously in the next 7 years. Not just in the form of Data Science surrounding AI, high performance computing and Quantum computing I hasten to point out, but in the simpler forms of Data Science appreciation alongside CRM systems, digital marketing, website performance and SEO (google algorithm mastering) combined with the human ‘touchy feely’ element of the client / customer journey and client / customer engagement process. For this will remain at the heart of GREAT lawyering. No, that’s an understatement. OUTSTANDING lawyering, actually.

This is where the opportunity and next frontier lies, I reckon, and the ‘Data Science Drum’ will be the one The Naked Lawyer and I will be bashing going forward, because we now (unequivocally) live in a full-on Data Science world where ‘the science’ permeates every walk of life, including business and law. Conundrums of all kinds can, and will be solved, using (data) science underpinned by a plethora of smart tech. FACT. The proof is that mankind has already achieved so much in developing support and solutions by applying Data Science to global problems; even the fight to control wildfires and flooding and find people buried in rubble from earthquakes or other man-made disasters is underpinned by AI and data science, for example.

At the micro level, I pity those who are at the start of the Data Science cycle. In Law Law Land, finding the ideal legal representation, at the right time, and where the quality of those client legal services and products are fundamental to either a lay or business person - it frustrates and pains me to continually read reports that solicitors’ firms consistently ignore the importance of the science involved in digital marketing, including website performance and search engine optimisation (SEO) - algorithms working behind the scenes - in conjunction with their human-to-human relationship marketing etc.

A quick dive into the latest law firm performance reports and subsequent articles are enlightening btw. I encourage you to do a quick google search for recent material on the subject of law firm results tables and PEP etc[3]. Join the dots and you will come to realise that there is a distinct correlation between high performers / performance / results where machine / software / AI / LegalTech / LawTech and Data Science methods, processes, techniques have been deployed.

Early-adopters of LegalTech and Data Science techniques related to digital marketing are no doubt laughing their B***ocks off right now. Instead of trousering ￡1m pa PEP they are now trousering ￡2m.[4] ?Go figure. How did that happen? Err, maybe a little slap here with LegalTech. A little tickle there with LawTech. Ooh and a scratch everywhere with Data Science in website performance and SEO thrown in for good measure ?? … One can almost envision the exotic dance of the ecstatic jubilant entrepreneurial lawyers at one end of the Data Science continuum in contrast to the limp shuffle of their less adventurous ‘penny foolish pound wise’ colleagues suffering with an inconsolable soul and moth-eaten purse at the other.

I’m going to take a wild guess and suggest that many a lawyer in private, and/or propping up the bar at their local watering hole with their Doubting Thomas colleagues will be muttering “F***, why didn’t we do that sooner?”

Btw, if best-selling author Caitlin Moran, a regular pundit on BBC News Review who also reviews the early morning newspapers and writes a weekly feature in The Times magazine can confidently use the ‘F’ word in her column then I’m convinced most of you will not be offended by my using the same … or ****ocks for that matter ??

Speaking of best-sellers, reflecting on my first book The Naked Lawyer: How to Market, Brand and Sell YOU!, that is, its substance, content and advice, I was wrong btw. Well, sort of. Maybe I was right at that time, back in 2010 (which was ahead of its time). But the world has moved on you see. Even the science of algorithms has moved on, understandably. My own thinking on this subject has been influenced due to the passing of time and progress too, understandably.

It’s fair to say I purposely focused primarily in this book on the ‘soft’ marketing elements and only touched a teeny-weeny bit on the ‘hard’ Data Science / digital marketing, failing miserably to credit a major part of the book to it. Doofus. I missed a trick there. Anyhow, go check it out here if you’re curious btw – The Naked Lawyer 1 - because it’s still highly relevant today and certainly not too late as the present and the future is all about the AND, and not the OR; that is, the human relationship marketing alongside the Data Science marketing.

However, it comes as no shock to me therefore when I read, listen, talk and consult with many digital marketing experts, SEO specialists and ambitious lawyers, to learn that law firms are still not investing enough time or money on SEO and digital marketing. I know from my own experience when I used to wear my lawyer / BD / marketing hat many years ago as a trainee solicitor assisting the marketing manager in the law firm with online digital marketing including SEO and content marketing tricks.?

The reality is it takes time and may be relatively expensive to get the Data Science (in relation to the digital marketing eco-system) right because it needs ’working’ over time. It’s going to take 8-10 days for 6 months and then a continued commitment thereafter around 4 days a month. BUT the reward speaks for itself. The potential to double your PEP, I suppose?

So, if we take SEO / website performance as an example of where small steps can be taken towards embracing ‘the science’ and making incremental improvement over time, it would be a giant leap in reaching the 89% of people who begin their buying process with a search engine.[5] Btw more than 80% of potential clients start searching for solicitors online. I’ve always been an advocate for lawyers to rely on recommendations from friends, family, colleagues and existing clients etc BUT that 11% - 20% net is extremely limited, as you can see by the 89% and 80% statistics.

*Whiz-bang* *Whoosh* *Zing* *Splat*!!! The Naked Lawyer hurled a muse bomb which caught me full pelt on my forehead. OUCH! …

The old grey matter now stimulated like a neurograin working overtime in a brain-factory got me thinking … Hmmm … I guess this just points to how meaningful an impact a website underpinned and embedded with Data Science – as the first point of contact – could have.[6] … Hmmm ... Why limit your window to the world? Instead of a lattice opt for the bay. With Data Science smarts you can reach those that wouldn’t know to recommend you. Why limit your digital marketing to a small market rather than the entire market? Data Science techniques, methods and processes will certainly help you niche micro to macro. ??

The good news is that it’s not too late to start or to review one’s Data Science / digital marketing efforts. I know I will be!?Actually, I already have. I’m scratching that itch having sniffed out the right man to help me. I recently sat down to have a chat with Sam Borrett, one of the Tech Ambassadors on the Technology in Law Law Land board of Modern Law magazine who mentioned he offers a 1 hour consultancy service to advise on website performance (the Data Science behind it all) aka the things you need to fix to get it performing better and/or the strategy to get it to perform better. With Sam’s impressive track-record it was a no-brainer choice for me to spend a quality hour with him.

He did not disappoint. It was the best hour I invested in myself and my company since I can remember. It was a quick way to get golden nuggets of value on my website performance and to learn and understand more about the Data Science behind it all. Sam identified half a dozen issues that needed to be resolved and sorted immediately. I was surprised that even though I’d been using an agent on my website there were still many flaws that required rectifying.

I guess just having a different set of eyes brought a completely independent impartial view (looking at it critically); having that ‘sense checking’ with where I was at, was particularly helpful as I try to do a lot of the heavy-lifting myself wherever possible. I’m a Yorkshire lass, after all, and I don’t part with my hard-earned pennies easily. I was sooooooooo chuffed that Sam didn’t suggest I sign up to a retainer either. The fact that going forward I can simply book ad-hoc appointments at my convenience and have as many, or as few, sessions as I may need rang a huge bell.

As Eddy Merckx, a champion and legend in the cycling world once said: “Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” With my own Data Science journey, I’m going to nick Eddy’s mantra and replace ‘ride’ with ‘Data Science’. And THEN I’m going to pedal like a sewing machine!

My parting words of advice… If you’re a lawyer who suffers from the 7-year itch, before you scratch, start sniffing ??.

By Chrissie Lightfoot - an Independent Non-Executive Director and Advisor, a global multi-award winning Legal Futurist, Consultant, Entrepreneur, Lawyer, AI LawTech Pioneer, Strategist, Marketeer, Brand builder, best-selling Author and Keynote Speaker. Founder and CEO of EntrepreneurLawyer Ltd.?Chief Tech Advisor and Writer to Modern Law (Chair of the ‘Technology in Law Law Land’ roundtable).

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58158820

[2] https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/dsayce_would-you-let-a-robot-lawyer-defend-you-activity-6833027856122167296-4AVd

[3] https://legmark.com/top-200-law-firm-websites/

[4] https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/top-50-financial-results-table-updated-live/5109085.article - the Top 50 financial results table.

[5] https://www.vividfish.co.uk/blog/89-of-customers-begin-their-buying-process-with-a-search-engine-source-fleishman-hillard

[6] https://legmark.com/top-200-law-firm-websites ?