Some industries are ripe for modern technology, while others are slow to adapt to innovative solutions. Broadly speaking, the healthcare sector, hospitality sector, construction industry, and agriculture industry are some of the largest sectors of the economy with the lowest adoption rates of modern technology.
You could argue that the legal community, while not quite as rudimentary as some of those other sectors, also has a general case of technophobia. Law firms have relied on traditional workflows involving pen and paper or Microsoft Office files to manage client information. To this day, many firms still adhere to the old ways, potentially placing themselves at a competitive disadvantage.
It begs the question: what lies at the root of these technophobic fears, and how can they be overcome? What do legal professionals need to understand about how technology can simplify their lives so that it increases adoption rates? Let’s look into that and outline answers to those pressing questions.
Legal teams understand that legal technology is a growing trend
According to the Wolters Kluwer Future Ready Lawyer Survey, which was disseminated to 751 professionals across North America and Europe, the top three trends cited by respondents are:
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Growing importance of legal technology in legal workflows
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Managing increasingly complex information
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Adapting to new or evolving client needs
The findings show that 79% of survey participants cited these three key areas as the biggest trends impacting the legal industry. At the same time, only 36% of respondents believe their firm or organization is prepared to address these growing trends.
Growing client demand for tech-powered firms
In the same study, participants were asked how they evaluate a potential partnering firm’s use of legal technology, and what impact that has on their decision to enter into business with the firm.
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In 2022, up to 70% of respondents said that how a prospective firm uses legal technology influences whether they enter into a working relationship with that firm.
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The response rate is up from 41% in 2020 and 52% in 2021.
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By 2025, client interest in legal technology is expected to reach 97%.
This particular finding corresponds with other industry studies that show the influence of technology on business operations. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, 77% of business owners admit they want more flexible options to access important files.
These findings should serve as a wake-up call for technophobic law firms. Clients want to work with legal professionals who support their desire for flexible meetings and file access management. Failing to incorporate innovative solutions could result in lost business and missed opportunities to boost Legal Recurring Revenue.
Why are firms reluctant to embrace legal technology
Broadly speaking, companies in most industries struggle to embrace technology out of fear that it will corrupt their use of data. Data lies at the heart of any effective business strategy. However, if that data isn’t clean or organized, it makes it difficult to interpret any insights and feed a business growth strategy.
When looking specifically at the adoption of legal technology, here are the three main reasons law firms are resistant to modern technology.
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Mistaken idea that managing legal technology is very time consuming
In the legal community, time really does equate to money. Legal professionals are always looking for ways to increase billable hours so they can boost inbound Legal Recurring Revenue for the firm. As a consequence, many legal minds are under the misguided belief that every minute not used for billable hours is a sunk cost.
Unfortunately, legal teams that fall into this line of thinking risk leaving their operations less efficient and productive than they otherwise could be with legal technology. The amount of time spent on administrative or clerical tasks remains stubbornly high without an innovative solution to streamline all these laborious tasks.
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Legal technology is costly and deemed too expensive for the budget
This is the biggest reason why firms refuse to adopt modern legal technology. Without a tangible economic benefit from investing in legal technology, firms don’t see the value in carving out portions of their budget for such investments.
When legal teams fall into this line of thinking, they forget one of the fundamental rules of any business: the cost of doing business. Any company must invest in certain expenditures to maintain and improve operations. Legal technology is one of those expenditures that pays off in the form of time savings and efficient workflows.
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Concerns that legal technology will slow things down and create lags
Similar to the time efficiency argument, some law firms believe that legal technology will slow down their rate of operations. They worry that there will be lags in productivity, diminishing the firm’s potential for growth.
The counterargument here is that legal technology is designed to introduce efficiencies to established workflows. Rather than slow things down, legal technology actually speeds things up by reducing the time professionals spend on non-revenue generating tasks.
Why entity management software is the secret to overcoming legal technophobia
Having debunked misguided beliefs about legal technology, what is the optimal solution to improve legal workflows and overcome skeptical feelings towards legal technology? The answer is entity management software, which is designed by legal minds for legal minds.
Entity management software is a form of legal technology developed by legal professionals who represent law firms, legal departments, general counsel, and compliance professionals. It simplifies the complex aspects of entity management and streamlines operations into a workflow that’s efficient, relatable, and even fun.
Entity management software enables legal teams to create one centralized location for all client minute book records. The process of inputting, filing, sorting, and tagging minute book data is complete in a matter of minutes. This is in stark contrast to the time consuming administrative tasks conducted outside of an entity management system. Investing in entity management solutions will help your legal team, particularly your paralegals avoid feelings of burnout.
Teams that use entity management software save invaluable hours on clerical duties that can be reallocated to growing the interests of the firm. It also helps with talent acquisition, as many rising legal professionals understand the value of entity management technology. Use your firm’s adoption of entity management systems in your HR strategy. This will encourage the brightest legal minds to join your team and increase Legal Recurring Revenue for your firm.
