If you are in legal tech, change is constant. This means staying on top of emerging trends (yes, even beyond the latest ChatGPT craze) is vital — not because you need to sign up for every new, shiny thing, but because you want to harness the advantages technology creates and prepare your organization for the future. That’s why tech-savvy practitioners will soon be heading to the ABA TECHSHOW (see everything NetDocuments has planned).
As you head into conference-mode to dig into the latest in legal technology at TECHSHOW, our team thought this is the perfect time to share trends and industry insights to give you some food for thought and areas to investigate at the show.
Last year, we shared 10 legal tech trends driving success in the legal industry. Because what we shared was so well received, we’ve expanded the content with our latest report, 23 Legal Technology Insights for 2023, which includes thoughtful analysis of major trends, comments from industry experts, and tips to help you make the most of the tech in your organization. Here’s a snapshot of some of the key technology trends for 2023.
The age-old question of, “Should lawyers code?” will finally be answered as low-/no-code tools enable the rise of lawyers and other legal professionals as “citizen developers.”
With adaptable, scalable, configurable automation, low-/no-code platforms increase efficiency without the need for IT support, enabling legal teams to automate their low-value, repeatable work quickly and easily.
Not only does this help remove the innovation burden from IT, it also empowers lawyers and staff to replicate and automate their organization’s documents, templates, workflows, and processes so they can focus on client service and other strategic objectives. Lawyers can create and manage their own solutions in less time and at a lower cost than ever before while presenting more modern client-facing solutions.
A wave of legal professionals still using on-premises technologies will finally turn to the cloud.
While many organizations will continue to use a hybrid-cloud system, those that want to position themselves ideally for the future are seeking cloud-native solutions. That’s because cloud-native solutions take optimal advantage of the cloud’s elasticity and scalability and reduce dependency on infrastructure while providing more user-friendly “work from anywhere” capabilities on any platform or device.
Craig Bayer, Document Management Consultant at Optiable, has guided thousands of small and midsize law firms on their legal technology journey to the cloud.
“Customers are moving from on-prem to the cloud because it enables lawyers, assistants, or anyone else to work and not have to worry about where they are. They don’t have to drive into the office on Saturday to complete a request. Organizations can truly future-proof their operations with the flexible solutions top talent and younger generations expect and the security you require.”
Modernization efforts will require the implementation of technologies that connect to M365, Teams, and other daily productivity applications.
M365 and Microsoft Teams are the core places that people get work done when they are online. Having a consistent experience within each of these platforms helps users avoid the disruption of reorienting to a new way of working every time they transition to a new task. This is why seamless integrations are so powerful and should be considered critical components of any successful desktop configuration.
Technology offers great promise to law firms, legal teams, and the public sector. Higher productivity and profitability, better collaboration, increased security, more satisfied team members… and so much more. We look forward to seeing these promises become a reality as more teams harness these trends and take advantage of all legal tech has to offer.
There’s a lot more to come in 2023. Get the full story — plus all the insights, stats, analysis, and tips — in 23 Legal Technology Insights for 2023.
During TECHSHOW, stop by booth #522 to talk insights and trends with our Chief Product Officer Dan Hauck and Chief Technology Officer John Motz. And sit in on my session with Craig Bayer from Optiable Friday, March 3 at 7:45am on the Expo Hall Stage to learn more about Practice Management + Document Management: Improving the Legal Document Lifecycle.
See you in Chicago!
By: Michelle Spencer, Lead Product Marketing Manager, NetDocuments