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The rise of profession-specific technological development, like Legal Technology, Financial Technology, Insurance Technology amongst others, represents an industry-wide trend in the technology landscape. Today, many technological advancements are being tailored narrowly to suit the needs of specific professions. Innovators are attempting to adapt relevant technological developments and breakthroughs to address a unique need within a particular profession.
“Legal technology” essentially means the use of technology and software to provide and aid legal services. The developments present an opportunity for numerous reputable firms to try to improve their overall efficiency to adapt to a progressively popular agile working environment.[1] Virtually every lawyer uses email and other electronic aids as staples in their daily practices. However, the industry is now seeing the growing importance for legal practitioners to understand certain information technology (IT) skills to thrive in the digital world. Technology evolves every day hence, the need for lawyers to keep up with the trend to better meet the ever insatiable needs of clients.
Computers, since their early development after World War II following Alan Turing´s work, have gradually changed the way we approach law, the way we practice it, the way we do business and, at the crossroad of these trends, computers have begun to change the way we practice law. The use of technology by Lawyers might not be too obvious these days because of the seamless integration of the two. From the use of typewriters to the use of
Photostat machines to the use of Artificial intelligence (AI), these days we must agree that both have come a long way.
In 1995, the first-ever information technology law seminar was held for lawyers by a team led by Oladipo Bali, a Nigerian legal practitioner who in 1997 launched what was probably the first-ever legal tech in Nigeria, a digest of law reports (Digest Law Reports), on CD-ROM (Compulaw, 2011). This suggests how far back some law firms started using computers though there are no evidence that they had websites, or were accessing the internet for resources at that time. Sometime in the 2000s, Compulaw, a searchable database of legal materials ranging from statutes through case law to a law dictionary, was launched on CDROM and online by Mr. Oladipo’s team (Compulaw, 2011).
The most relatable of these trends in Nigeria can be seen at the beginning of this century. GSM was a new thing and computers were becoming more mobile. The internet started becoming a thing with google and yahoo as the big players. The wake of this decade properly introduced Information Communication Technology (ICT) in law. At this time Law firms saw the importance of employing ICT in their business and basic IT skills became a must for Lawyers. The knowledge of Microsoft software became a must for Lawyers and this became the gateway to exploring many other things that Microsoft (one of the biggest Technology Firms we have today), Google, and several others have to offer.
Certain legal technologies are designed to help law firms acquire more clients. Some of these technologies help law firms serve their clients better, by helping the firm operate and provide legal services more efficiently. Some trends within these areas includes; cloud storage (cloud computing), social networking, eDiscovery and online resources, Big Data, Machine Learning, smart contracts, etc. Legal Tech also includes certain technological advancements, like Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence, which are being identified as technologies that many experts predict will disrupt the legal profession in an unprecedented way.
As technology becomes a key enabler to the successful legal organization – from how firms and departments are organized, staffed and led to how lawyers work, advice and serve clients – understanding technology is essential for establishing a clear strategic vision and roadmap, preparing for change and prioritizing investments.
Technology investments are on the rise across the legal industry, with investment in the legal platforms estimated to have reached a record-setting $1 billion in 2018. Legal organizations are increasingly interested in leveraging these platforms, looking to streamline and automate processes, more effectively manage their organizations and better serve clients and customers
The foundational expectation these days, is for lawyers to possess IT skills and for firms to take steps in improving their ICT facility. This sets the bedrock for further development. The next step automatically, is to invest in the firm’s online presence both on social media and the internet generally. In Nigeria and for the most parts of the world, this is a maiden area of practice for lawyers that has evolved in recent times to reshape the conservative methods of professional service delivery by lawyers, hence this fact accounts for the rarity of judicial decisions in this respect and while there is hitherto no pronouncement on Legal tech in our jurisdiction, a foreign case on this subject could fit into the equation of this discourse. In the case of NATIONAL ECONOMIC RESEARCH ASSOCIATES INC. et al. v. EVANS et al. No. 04-2618-BLS2, 2006, the court ruled that: “A man who used a Web-based e-mail service to communicate with his lawyer did not forfeit attorney-client privilege in those messages just because they were automatically copied to his company-owned laptop computer when he viewed them”.
Research conducted recently in London Law Firms (for instance) revealed that 48% are already using AI and a further 41% will start doing same shortly. The investigation revealed that the most common uses of AI reckon legal documentation, generation and review, e-discovery, due diligence, research, and administrative support & compliance. However, the investment in technology is lower in the legal sector than in other professional service sectors, and according to experts, it will take a lot of convincing to integrate the same. But ultimately firms will put themselves in difficulty when trying to compete as clients increasingly expect them to utilize innovative technologies.
Artificial Intelligence is not a threat to Law as much as Computers were. It is apparent when it comes to transformational technologies – technologies such as AI and machine learning that will truly transform how organizations work. 73% of technology leaders say they are at least somewhat prepared to identify the potential benefits of transformational technologies (technologies that deliver demonstrable new business results. Such technologies include AI, Machine Learning, predictive analytics, and Blockchain).
Legal Technology has its remarkably numerous benefits which if fully taken advantage of by goal-oriented law firms, it will stand out differently from others who are yet to plunge into the technology arena. Some of which are examined thus;
There exist multiple software applications within reach for law firms to use in automating divergent areas of their business that requires management. For example, setting up scheduled meetings, document management, online dispute resolution, tasks, as well as legal time and billing can all be automated, and the result? It would come in handy in reducing the essential amount of time lawyers spend on these official chores and in addition, it goes to cut the cost expended in hiring an assistant or office manager to accomplish these tasks.
In such a fast-pace global economy, there is no gainsaying that a law firm must strive to always keep their clients happy. Customer satisfaction is therefore a top priority for any law firm worth its salt and legal technology makes this much easier. Software that is programmed in email marketing helps you to reach out
to your client and keep them in tow. A live chat feature on the firm’s website can also help increase customer satisfaction and translate website visitors to clients.
This cannot be overstressed, in that even though lawyers have adapted to the internet and have included it to their research methodology, a large chunk of lawyers still use print products on quotidian intervals. Meanwhile, some of these print products take up a whole while to be updated, and the law is ever dynamic, hence, productivity can better be enhanced if online legal research platforms are resorted to, this could help lawyers to stay on course with the law and could provide tools that are otherwise unavailable in print form. Computers have provided resources for lawyers to access specific case-laws and decisions in a short period of time from online resources such as Lexis Nexis, Law pavilion and Westlaw.
Some Courts, particularly Federal Courts in some jurisdictions, have utilized electronic court filing for years now, and a few countries are joining the trend, Nigeria may not be far behind on this queue. In foresight, there may come a time when electronic court filing becomes mandatory and to help ease this transition, lawyers and law firms should start using litigation support software. This aims to assist lawyers in the process of litigation and document review. Other benefits of Legal technology ranges from Improved Knowledge Database, speedy and efficient delivery, cost savings, convenience to improved access to Justice.
Electronic filing has changed how documents are received from the courts and filed. Lawyers in Lagos have recently been instructed by the new practice directions to file their cases online too. A welcoming move by the courts to gradually eliminate the process of physical filing and build a powerful database of case files and documents that are easily traceable. Paragraphs 6-11 of the Draft Practice Direction for Remote Hearing of Cases in Lagos State Judiciary issued by the Chief Judge on the 21st day of April, 2020 offers a detailed step by step method of electronic filing of processes, this a good swerve into the lane of technology in legal practice.
The challenges to enjoying these benefits on the other hand, are considered hereunder;
While lawyers may begin to recognize that the sector has to change and fast too, the problem that awaits them is too much technology. There has been an explosion of innovation in the field of technology in recent times, previously law firms deal with a relatively small group of medium to large providers of specialist legal software, but at present, they are facing a constellation of small providers. The size of the sector is hard to pin down – a list compiled by Stanford University features nearly 1,250 legal technology companies. Firms therefore face a tyranny of choice.
Another challenge that legal technology presents to firms is the difficulty of being agile enough to keep tools up to date. It is not just the inundating number of service providers – from document management to e-discovery tools and online dispute resolution – that causes problems for firms; lawyers also face a specific challenge because of the sensitivity of the data they handle, for example, while innovation has been cloud-based, some clients, especially in the financial sector, have disagreed to their data being transferred to legal tech providers in the cloud without express consent, this has constituted a clog in the wheel of adoption by firms.
Other challenges are poverty, poor internet facilities, poor electricity, cybersecurity issues, lack of investment in technology and lack of basic Information Technology skills.
It is therefore recommended as follows:
Lawyers are one of the most important professionals and technology has grown to be an essential tool of the Legal profession, knowing that a lawyer is up to date with all the current technological and digital trend can be a significant encouragement for a client to hire a lawyer, it shows that their lawyer is committed to doing their best to represent their clients with all the assets and facilities at their disposal. The benefits of Legal technology far outweigh its challenges in Nigeria. The trends are easy and interesting to follow; however, the lawyer must learn basic IT skills, hence becoming savvy in its operation, to be able to compete in our domestic space.
Written by: O. M. Atoyebi, SAN