We couldn’t wait to bid adieu to 2020 and find out what was in store for us in 2021; there is no doubt the coronavirus pandemic and how law firms have had to adjust to ensure their clients get justice has changed what 2021 will look like. The pandemic is driving firms to adopt new technology and forcing them to change their age-old ways in an incredibly swift fashion. So what are the legal technology trends of 2021?
The covid-19 crisis has dramatically accelerated digital transformation and has had a huge impact on the legal technology trends of 2021. Businesses worldwide are in a hurry to implement new technology capabilities to build resilience and retool the post-pandemic world.
Law firms need to re-imagine their workspaces, from ways to collaborate to ways to increase productivity while working remotely, to client services, to building a virtual law firm. Today, we will talk about the legal technology trends for 2021 that will shape how law firms will operate in the post-pandemic world. We’ve done the due diligence for you and found the top 5 technologies you should be considering.
Working and collaborating remotely
When employees were under lockdown, law firms had to change and adapt to remote work quickly. With office real estate being rethought as it looks like staff will be working from home for the foreseeable future, law firms will need to think about how they can recapture the benefits that come with having shared space to collaborate and communicate.
Keeping that in mind, law firms need to find intuitive ways of combining technology with leadership skills, not just to increase productivity. Still, help staff collaborates the way they did before.
Equip your team with the proper collaboration tools like Zoom, Teams, G-suit, along with the collaboration tools available within your cloud-based case management, which allows them to collaborate seamlessly without constant emails.
Next-gen matter management software will have natively integrated video conferencing capabilities in the near future so that your attorneys don’t just collaborate remotely but also conduct depositions right from your case management software.
Client-centric technology
Customer service is quickly becoming a vital factor, especially for personal injury lawyers in the United States, because their clients need them by their side more than ever. It is an uncertain time for everyone right now, and for this practice area, the baseline of heightened emotions makes a personal injury case even more worrying.
Your law firm must be client-centric.
Every choice you make—from who your clients are, how they find your services, how you communicate and collaborate with them, how you serve them from the time they walk in the door to the closure of their case and beyond—must be from the perspective of your client.
This client-centric approach will contain numerous areas. Consider everything: law case management solutions, client intake, e-discovery, tech in the courtroom, diversity and inclusion, how the case information is shared, marketing, blogging and videos, and more.
Remember, the principles of representing your clients may never change. But the methods of engaging with your clients will constantly be evolving. Use the latest legal tech apps tools to make your legal practice the best at client services without additional workloads—work smarter, not harder with the latest in legal technology.
Data security
The shift to remote work necessitates law firms to think about their data security architecture, with increased emphasis on secure access to the case information and extending protection across networks will heighten the need for comprehensive security to mitigate the rising risk of a data breach.
To enable this data security, law firms will need cloud platforms built on sophisticated cloud backbones such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services, which collectively own the largest share of the global cloud market.
These industry leaders have invested billions in developing expertise, security infrastructure, disaster recovery contingencies, data backup plans, Geo-Redundancy (multiple mirror locations) and hold compliance certificates from around the world, all of which any “regional data center”, “local IT provider,” or a “hosted case management provider” simply cannot match.
Automation
Efficiency and productivity are now a competitive advantage, primarily when employees work from home; the faster you process cases, the faster you get paid.
Law firms in 2021 need automation. More precisely, you need a case management software platform that includes automation directly within it. An all-encompassing software will automate admin, repetitive tasks, and document automation, and free up your legal professionals to focus on legal services and increase case completion times.
Artificial intelligence
The massive amount of digital data (emails, texts, notes, calendars) is now open for deep analysis in the legal industry. And lawyers need help managing, processing, and analyzing all of that information quickly. Today’s AI is continuously innovating and evolving to make that process much more accessible and user-friendly, and this will become a growing niche industry in 2021. This technology could soon be a vital part of your legal department, performing basic legal research, analysis, and much more.
While the legal industry isn’t necessarily known for adopting digital transformation and trends in legal technology, it is looking to increase existing efficiency and productivity by incorporating new technology in law that will save time and money and improve case outcomes. This will grow exponentially in the years to come.
Do you want your personal injury law firm to be at the forefront of legal trends in 2021? Schedule a demo of CloudLex, the Next-Gen Legal Cloud, and we’ll show you how you can be a leader in the new year and beyond.
