For the past few years I’ve been working on a book about being a tech enabled lawyer. It’s a practical guide for lawyers who want to make more use of the tech they already have and work out what tech they need.
Both of which are easier said than done when you are running a busy practice plus juggling your team, family, friends, getting some exercise, eating healthy, paying the bills… There just isn’t much time left to try out new things that might not work straight away, even if you know it will be better in the long run.
I’ve watched the software demos, gone to the conferences and talked to people inside and outside the legal industry. I’m picking out the highlights of everything I've learned and am putting it in one accessible place. The book will be something you can turn to for inspiration and information so you can get started right away.
The book is now available and is called "The Tech Enabled Lawyer".
What is a tech enabled lawyer?
Mark Cohen often refers to lawyers becoming tech enabled - see his article “What’s a lawyer now?”
"Because law—like so many industries—is undergoing a tectonic shift. It is morphing from a lawyer dominated, practice-centric, labor-intensive guild to a tech-enabled, process and data-driven, multi-disciplinary global industry. The career paths, skills, and expectations of lawyers are changing. So too are how, when, and on what financial terms they are engaged; with whom and from what delivery models they work; their performance metrics, and the resources—human and machine—they collaborate with. Legal practice is shrinking and the business of delivering legal services is expanding rapidly."
Mark Cohen
For me, a tech enabled lawyer does these five things:
makes the most of capacity in existing tools and low-cost, easy to implement solutions
is generally aware of tech developments that could assist how they work
has a process for assessing whether to adopt new tech tools
looks out for tools that will help them serve their clients better
has a long term plan to implement those tools
Lets get clear on what a tech enabled lawyer does not do.
A tech enabled lawyer does not have to know how to code
Some people enjoy coding and creating intricate computer programs. But you can be a proficient tech user without it. You are a lawyer, not an IT specialist. You don’t have time to become an expert in network programming to make better use of tech tools. You can work with IT consultants who have expertise and will set things up for you.
Concentrate on understanding how to make the tools work for you, rather than trying to learn how they work.
A tech enabled lawyer doesn’t automate everything
A tech enabled lawyer uses the right tool, for the right job at the right time. You can be tech enabled but still use some manual processes. You don’t need to automate everything at once. There are good reasons for testing, tweaking and getting your process right before you invest a lot of time and effort in automating it. If you only do a task a few times a year, the cost of automation may not be justified.
A tech enabled lawyer doesn’t spend a lot on tech
A tech enabled lawyer doesn’t necessarily have all of the latest tech toys. You may not need to do anything as dramatic as replacing your practice management system. You may be able to do a lot more with the existing capacity in your current software.
You may find that you can save money by getting rid of stand alone solutions that duplicate functionality. And that some cheap cloud solutions can provide a viable workaround until you are ready to invest in new software.
The rate that new products are being released means there will never be enough time to try all of the new things. Keeping up could be a full time job if you let it, let alone testing and implementing the tools. And your job is to provide legal services.
A tech enabled lawyer keeps across new developments but is comfortable to let some cool new things go. They have a considered plan for what tech they need and can assess whether a new tool is worth trying.
A tech enabled lawyer is confident that when they do invest, they are buying the right software for a good strategic reason and they have a plan for successful implementation.
A tech enabled lawyer doesn’t delegate “getting online”
Having someone in the team who loves tinkering with the tech tools is fantastic. It’s tempting just to get them to set things up for you. But what if you knew enough to be able to work with them. If you could add some informed suggestions or challenge some of the ambitious projects they seem to not be making much progress on.
Two minds are better than one. You want the way the firm works to be a collaborative project, not dependent on the personal preference of the person who knows the most about computers.
A tech enabled lawyer doesn’t wait for others to get onboard
A tech enabled lawyer is able to select and use tools that assist them to work. They find ways to make the most of the tools available. Attitudes to using tech may differ across the organisation. They don’t use other people's cautious attitudes as an excuse to avoid doing the work to educate themselves about what tech tools are available.
And a tech enabled lawyer doesn’t waste too much time and effort trying to persuade the unwilling. They seek out and find other champions who are making better use of tech. They spend more time talking to them about what is possible now and what might be possible soon.
They don’t waste time listening to endless reasons of why it can’t be done.
"Whatever you're meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible"
Doris Lessing
I'd love to but my firm/department is too small, or too big, or too busy...
You can practice being a tech enabled lawyer in any environment. There is no point waiting for the right time - the conditions will always be impossible. Instead, spend some time getting clear on why you want to become tech enabled. And just take one first achievable step.
I share ideas on how to start in the book Tech Enabled lawyer.
Or you can watch this video from the Centre for Legal Innovation where I shared a helpful framework on getting started with legal tech projects.