Legal tech: the human factor

Welcome back to my Legal Transformation 5. I hope you’ve found this monthly digest useful so far. If you’ve got any suggestions to make it even better, just let me know. ?

This month’s theme is the human factor. All too often, when we (lawyers and techies) talk about legal transformation, technology and innovation, we talk about how a process or piece of kit can improve another process or deliver a result without any reference to the humans it also impacts.?

Ultimately, the key driver for change (big and small) has to be?that it has a positive impact on people. Whether it makes life easier for a lawyer, helps other people within your organisation do they need to do or, most importantly, gives individuals access to justice, it’s the human factor that decides whether it’s a desirable change.?

The resources below all touch on the human factor. From the need for legal tech companies to take a more empathy-driven approach, to the tools that can make a difference for people outside of your legal team and how success should be measured by the positive impact it has humans. ?

Read on...

1: Challenges and opportunities in the legal tech space?

I’m kicking off with a snapshot of where we are now. This article by Andrew Wingfield at Off Road Legal shares takeaways from the team’s investigations in the legal technology space. Off Road Legal are change and transformation experts, who specialise in?improving performance in legal services. ?

Andrew’s point about empathy resonates very strongly with me. As he says, legal technology "is not at all about ‘function’ or ‘features’ it is purely about the users and their very human needs." ?

I’ve seen a few examples where legal teams have been sold a dream that they just can’t realise. The technology has all the functions and features needed to transform their working lives for the better, but it doesn’t factor in the human element of how they’re going to correctly deploy, configure and use it. A more empathetic approach is obviously needed in some areas.

Read Andrew’s insightful article here.?

This neatly segues into my second recommendation...?

2: Legal tech is not plug and play, and it probably never will be?

In a perfect world you could take a legal workflow or process that’s time-consuming, low value but necessary, and perhaps prone to errors; identify some technology that will do the job for you at the right price; plug it in and away you go.?

Unfortunately, as this article by yours truly explores, the complexity of legal workflows and the critical nature of many of them, means that plug and play solutions are unlikely to be a reality any time soon – if ever.?

That said, it’s not all doom and gloom. I believe there are ways to make legal tech accessible to all, and overcome the deployment, configuration and adoption challenges many legal teams experience.?

To learn about different approaches, please have a look at the article here.?

3. Showing value when working in-house?

Many inhouse legal teams adopt new tech or implement transformation projects so they can become more of a business enabler; a strategic partner that helps other people within the organisation rather than a cost centre. However, as Sarah Ouis from Law But How? reminds us, it’s really important to demonstrate value as otherwise it can go unrecognised.?

Sarah creates and shares lots of useful infographics, including the one above and below, to simplify concepts and communicate ideas more effectively. You won't be surprised to hear she's a legal design expert.

This post made me think about my engagements with inhouse legal folk and how I often talk about?ROI because that’s what we do in the technology space. Data is what powers legal tech solutions and this is also what legal teams need to show their value. But this can be new way of thinking for legal teams, who usually think in terms of risk and exposure.

A large part of my job is to help lawyers identify solutions that will deliver the value they need (reducing risk and making life easier), and then get buy-in from other business leaders (CFOs, CTOs, etc.) who are more interested in ROI. ?I’m sure we can all help each other out in this area, helping legal teams communicate confidently about their ROI in economic terms and overall business benefits.

4. Why a smart content repository drives greater business benefits?

Talking about ROI and the value legal can bring to other humans in your organisation and the business overall, here’s a post from Sarvarth Misra at ContractPodAi exploring how content or document repositories can help. ?

As he explains a?smart content repository offers “rapid powerful search and discovery functionality” which can help the business as a whole. Contracts contain key data about every transaction the company has made, which is invaluable for sales, finance teams and business leaders. So the tech does more than just help you - legal teams -?track contracts and manage risk, it can provide data that helps others in the organisation make better decisions.?

What does a smart content repository look like? Find out here.?

5. Don’t bugger it up! The secret to your success?

Number 5 this month is the latest edition of Technology in Law Law Land, a bi-monthly roundtable discussion chaired by The Naked Lawyer, Chrissie Lightfoot.?

This issue?explores success, and by default failure, including how we measure success and ROI. One of the questions posed by Chrissie was about 'what are you [legal tech company] doing to help your customers [lawyers and law firms, legal departments, consumers /businesses] be successful in using your technology?'

I think this is what we should all be asking when we design and build solutions, recommend or select technology, and review or transform processes; how does it help the humans be successful??

Read Technology in Law Law Land here.?

As always, your thoughts on the theme and content above are very welcome. Also, if you have any suggestions for next month’s edition, let me know using the comments below.?