In-House Legal Tip: Understand Legal Technology

If you do not recognize something  – chances are you cannot use it or see how it can be used. This is absolutely the case with “Legal Technology”. The legal press, predominantly fueled by vendor-funded content, has made something quite simple seem very complex.  

Legal technology is almost always presented in a way that it is synonymous with software, platforms, and systems. By so doing, there is a real risk that the upside of what a true technology agenda can deliver to most in-house legal teams will be missed.  

Here is about the best definition of “Legal Technology” that we have seen that was not written by GLS:  

“Legal Technology allows legal departments to streamline processes in order to improve efficiency. Types of legal technology can be leveraged by in-house counsel and law firms and can include billing technology, matter management platforms, contract management platforms, e-Signature, and timekeeping software, to name a few. Some might argue that there’s no such thing as legal tech, but instead, tech that’s been adopted to the legal field.” 

 This comes from the team over at www.simplelegal.com. 

 The problem with this definition, like most others, is that it prioritizes:

• Software led solutions 
• Things that typically require budget 
• The need for procurement processes 
• The need for tech-sourcing expertise 
• An efficiency focal point 

Granted, the various example platforms that are cited are all examples of legal technology … but many/most legal teams don’t have the budget and/or expertise for any of the above. 

 “We cannot afford it” or “We are not in a position to consider it” frequently leads in-house legal teams to abstain from focusing on developing a practical legal technology agenda. 

At GLSwe have re-defined how we view “technology”– we have done it in a way to make it more accessible, more manageable, and more relevant to all in-house legal teams.  

For us, technology is “anything that increases the unity of productivity of an in-house lawyer, per unit of effort.”  

So, forget about legal tech just being about expensive, difficult-to-procure and use software, systems, or platforms. A whiteboard, a checklist, a Team’s Channel, and a template embedded with Guidance Notes – are all fabulous forms of technology accessible to any in-house legal team.  

The point is this - just about everything inside the in-house legal team can be re-imagined and approached in a slightly different way to help alleviate the stress that team faces to meet increasing workloads with finite resources.  

Not only are they cheap to produce, but they can also easily be prepared to be “context-specific” – that is, crafted to match the exact needs of your in-house legal team.  

If you wanted to learn more – consider reaching out to us for a complimentary chat on what you are doing to enhance the performance of your in-house legal team with your existing resource set.

To find out more, you can book a complimentary consultation with a lawyer here