The Legal Tech
ECOSYSTEM
Innovation, Advancement
& the Future of Law Practice
Colin S. Levy
Lawyers and Technology Are Quickly Becoming Inseparable
“It is indisputable that technology is now playing, and will continue to play, a major role in how legal services are performed and delivered.”
TECHNOLOGY IS EVERYWHERE.
It is an inherent part of our lives. Our mobile phones have be-
come inextricably linked to each one of us. In fact, the very
term “phone” has become a bit of a misnomer because the mobile phone is less of a phone these days than it is a pocket computer. We live so intimately with technology that it is easy to forget that technology is not the end but a means to an end.
As Marc Lauritsen, president of Capstone Practice Systems and
past co-chair of the American Bar Association’s eLawyering Task Force, says, “Technology is a tool; innovation is a goal. There are other tools and other goals, but these two are among the most important at this point in history. Sometimes technology catalyzes true innovation; sometimes meaningful innovation opens the door to transformational technology. It’s a complicated relationship, like many human ones.”
There is no question that technology is dramatically affecting the practice of law. Today, to be an effective lawyer requires not just legal acumen, but business acumen and technological acumen.
The breadth and depth of the players in the legal technology
space continue to rapidly grow. Some of the fastest growing spaces include document automation, contract management, and litigation analytics.
In fact, contract management has quickly gained prominence.
These tools seek to address four key functions: storage, tracking of key provisions, searching, and reporting. Many of these tools offer alerts that an individual can set to warn stakeholders of key events, such as renewals and expirations of key provisions or entire contracts. These systems also offer ways for users to aggregate data to get a broad view of a particular trend—how many contracts have a certain type of clause, how often a certain type of case heard by a specific judge was settled, and so on.
Each system differs in its ability to handle data and how those data can be input for analysis. Some systems are better suited to small companies while others are better suited to large enterprises.
Related to this technology is contract automation, which is based on the concept of document assembly. Essentially, document assembly consists of a template with blanks for another party to complete and a process in which that party goes through the document and fills in the blanks.
Today’s technology has allowed us to move far beyond this simplistic task to create entire documents without having to type a single word. Many of these document assembly programs work with programs likely to be in use already, such as Microsoft Word or Share-Point.
Another type of legal technology is litigation analytics. Litigation analytics draws conclusions that can be acted upon from a defined set of legal data. Typically, the data themselves and the conclusions to be drawn are based on some form of statistical analysis. A prominent company in this space is Lex Machina.
The practice of law is changing quickly. Many people do not understand the interplay between legal tech and law practice (see Figure 1). It is up to each one of us—law schools, law students, lawyers, law firms, and in-house law departments—to ensure that we are delivering legal services as optimally as we can, today and in the future. It is indisputable that technology is now playing, and will continue to play, a major role in how legal services are performed and delivered.
Figure 1: A silver bullet solution... once plugged in.
Perhaps you are wondering who I am and why I wrote this book. I am a lawyer and a legal technology advocate and guide. I create content that I share on various media, including social media and via my website. I am passionate about learning, about inspiring others, and about supporting and growing the community of those seeking to better align legal services with those in need of those services.
The basis for this book is my blog. The blog started as a means for me to write about what I had learned from speaking to many different thinkers, creators, and teachers within the legal space. Many of these people are quoted in this book. The blog takes a people-first approach, as does this book—meaning that I believe that stories are best told by those who experience the stories.
When I first heard the terms “legal innovation” and “legal technology,” I had no idea what they meant. Zero idea. Back in law school, little did I know that I had already used, and was well-versed in, some technological tools used in the practice of law—such as Concordance, Relativity, and Summation. These were leading tools at the time in the electronic discovery (e-discovery) field.
Although I had always felt an attraction to technology, which led to my being part of a tech start-up in high school, it remained foggy how best to engage in this developing passion—considering I had also loved the law with its distinct approach to solving problems and its multidisciplinary nature.
The question facing me was how to learn about legal innovation and legal technology. I decided I’d take a risk and start to network with those working in the space. I had no idea that I would be entering, and eventually becoming embedded in, a world filled with some of the most fascinating, welcoming, and supportive folks I had ever met in my life.
Tunji Williams is one of those folks. He is a dreamer, entrepreneur, a former legal technologist, and an attorney who focused for a time on developing teams and strategies to help revolutionize deal process technology and service delivery for corporate transactions. I asked him what he would say to those who want to get into legal technology. He advised: “Ask the right questions, and then listen and observe more than you speak. There are a million challenges to be solved in this space.
When you take the time to ask practitioners and their stakeholders the right questions, they will lead you to what you need to build. The most powerful and best-loved products are born from a deep and genuine understanding of people and their problems. You gather those critical insights when you humble yourself and listen.
“Be bold and have a bias for action. Unlike legal practice, legal tech entrepreneurship and innovation are not about endless planning and having all the answers. They are about bold, efficient, and focused experimentation. Don’t be scared to learn by doing. And remember that every incremental rejection and failure comes with necessary learning.
“Surround yourself with talented and good people. It’s hard work building a legal tech company. It’s vital to have smart, relentless, and kind people to build alongside you. As smart as you may be, we all have blind spots and weak links in our chain of talents. Great partners will amplify your efforts and make the journey more joyful.”
Consider this book a tour guide in your exploration of legal technology. It will not give you specific answers, but it will share stories and lessons from those experienced in the legal tech sphere.
If you are looking for a how-to guide, this is not it. There are other books I can recommend for that purpose.1 But I hope this guide will inspire you to begin your own journey or reignite your desire to explore a fascinating world.
Notes: 1 Three books that I recommend are The Simple Guide to Legal Innovation: Basics Every Lawyer Should Know, by Lucy Bassli; Successful Innovation Outcomes in Law: A Practical Guide for Law Firms, Law Departments and Other Legal Organizations, by Dennis Kennedy; and AI for Lawyers: How Artificial Intelligence Is Adding Value, Amplifying Expertise, and Transforming Careers, by Noah Waisberg and Alexander
Hudek. See the section,“Further Reading,” for details.
A WORD ABOUT LEGAL OPERATIONS
The legal industry has undergone significant changes in recent
years, with the advent of legal technology and the emergence of legal operations as a distinct field. Legal operations and legal technology are closely related and have a symbiotic relationship, as legal technology enables legal operations to be more efficient and effective, while legal operations provides the framework for the implementation and management of legal technology.
Legal operations is the application of business and technical expertise to the legal function and its delivery of legal services. It is this expertise that allows for the legal function to ensure that the right technologies and processes are developed and followed, and it ensures that the legal function serves as an effective business partner to the rest of the business.
A primary focus of the legal operations function is on operations and administration, including, for example, specific things like budgeting, staffing, and process improvement, along with technology-vetting and implementation.
Tom Stephenson, director of legal operations for Credit Karma and a legal operations expert, notes that:
“Legal operations is often viewed as corporate architects tasked with running legal like a business through designing, implementing, and managing the systems, processes, and procedures that enable a company to achieve its goals. Critical in navigating our complex legal landscape, legal operations partners with various stakeholders to protect the company’s interests while supporting its success.”
Perhaps the most preeminent organization dedicated to legal operations is CLOC, formally known as the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium. CLOC lists 12 key functional areas that legal operations encompasses. These are financial management, business intelligence, training and development, technology, strategic planning, service delivery models, project and program management, practice operations, organization optimization and health, knowledge management, information governance, and firm and vendor management. There are many resources available on legal operations, including many found on the CLOC website.
As for some of the key areas where legal tech and legal operations overlap, six of the more evident areas are data management, e-discovery, contract management, legal research, project management, and process improvement.
a. Data Management
One of the main challenges that companies face when it comes to data is the sheer volume of it. With the explosion of digital information in recent years, organizations are struggling to keep up with the amount of data they are collecting and storing. This is especially true in the legal department, where data are often siloed and difficult to access. Legal technology can be used to collect, store, and analyze large amounts of data, such as e-discovery data or contract data.
Legal operations professionals can then use those data to identify trends and contribute to making strategic decisions pertaining to things like resource allocation and aligning personnel and expertise with business needs. The legal operations function can use data to track the performance of legal teams and service providers, which can help legal departments identify areas for improvement.
b. e-Discovery
With e-discovery, legal technology can be used to automate the process of identifying, collecting, and reviewing electronic documents that are relevant to a legal case. Legal operations professionals can then use this data to identify patterns and trends and make informed decisions. Some legal operations professionals are experts in e-discovery tools, which are digital solutions used to automate many time-consuming aspects of the e-discovery process, including data collection, processing, and review. Legal operations professionals using these solutions can help businesses reduce the expense of e-discovery as well as reduce the opportunity for error or omissions.
c. Contract Management
Legal operations can help with contract management in several ways. It can assist with the creation and negotiation of contracts, ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and manage the execution and storage of contracts. Additionally, legal operations professionals can provide insights into key contract performance metrics, such as renewal rates and dispute resolution. They can also implement technology solutions, such as contract management software, to streamline the contract management process.
These solutions are often used to automate the process of creating, reviewing, and managing contracts. Legal operations professionals can then use those data to identify patterns and trends in contract language, negotiation strategies, and performance metrics while providing data to the legal function to facilitate better legal strategies and more data-driven decision-making.
d. Legal Research
Legal research is another key space where legal technology and legal operations overlap. There exist digital solutions that can retrieve relevant legal information, identify trends in case law and litigation strategies, and accordingly provide clients with more informed advice in relation to litigating a matter.
Legal operations professionals using legal technologies also can help identify and access relevant legal resources, such as statutes, case law, and regulatory guidance. They can provide support in managing and organizing legal research by creating and maintaining research databases and protocols. They can also help in creating and maintaining legal research training programs for legal teams and other stakeholders. Legal operations can provide both strategic and operational support to help organizations effectively conduct legal research work.
Ultimately, legal operations, at its best, develops and uses both
analytics, technology, process improvement, and collaboration to enable the legal function to operate optimally and as a true business partner.
e. Project Management
Legal operations personnel play a key role in project management. Managing projects effectively is essential for ensuring that business plans, tasks, and initiatives are executed as intended and on time. To achieve this requires establishing a flexible yet consistent and transparent project management strategy that, at its core, uses analytics and processes to drive projects forward. Given the dynamics of business, embracing project management is a business imperative and legal operations helps to ensure that remains as such, alongside technological tools and expertise.
f. Process Improvement
Legal operations professionals often seek to identify pain-points in existing processes and inefficiencies, then try to develop better processes to address these bottlenecks and inefficiencies. One way to address these issues is to use legal technology. Legal technology solutions often can automate and streamline these processes, making them both more efficient and more productive.
For example, a legal department may have a manual process for tracking and managing contracts. A legal operations professional may identify this process as time-consuming and prone to errors. They would then develop a process for contract management that is more automated, data-driven, and accurate. Legal technology, such as contract management software, can be implemented to automate the new process, making it easier to track and manage contracts.
The relationship and intersection of legal operations and legal
technology continues to evolve. As it evolves, both opportunities and challenges will be presented to those within the legal space. It is quickly becoming evident that legal technology, on its own, cannot resolve some of the more intractable problems that plague the legal industry. Those focused on legal operations are poised to leverage their expertise to help resolve these problems by applying the right process improvement and project management techniques alongside the right technological solutions. Those who wholeheartedly embrace the convergence of legal operations and legal tech will be
those best positioned to succeed in the rapidly changing legal landscape.
Copyright ©2023 Colin S. Levy