The legal profession is prominent, with the industry housing over 300,000 individuals. Through the years, it has caught up with the growing advancements of technology and has revolutionized the UK legal landscape.
For instance, the automation of various legal processes has significantly influenced the way lawyers do their jobs. Paralegals and legal secretaries, among many other professionals, have become skilled at utilizing telecommunication, spreadsheet, legal research, presentation software, and database.
Technology has evidently affected every part of the legal field, from document management and corporate practice to courtroom operations. Because of this, here are five technology trends in the UK Legal Industry that have contributed to its development until now.
1. Legal Software
The use of legal software has now become a thing in the legal industry, allowing professionals to work with utmost convenience. This paved the way for increased work efficiency and profitability while allowing lawyers to simultaneously expand their client base. Law firms can also prevent data loss through such software since you can easily retrieve important documents through backups. Moreover, legal software also helps streamline various functions such as legal billing software, freeing up meaningful time for both client retention and marketing.
2. Artificial Intelligence
AI is also being utilized to automate certain tasks that lawyers have once completed traditionally. In fact, companies now use various algorithms to finish document reviews, allowing lawyers more time to concentrate on tasks that are more complex.
More than being used to perform menial tasks, AI is also beneficial in generating legal advice regarding how law firms can use it best in their practices. For one, law firms can now talk to an AI chatbot to guide them through possible casework opportunities. The chatbot will take information from different sources like social media and articles to provide a complete picture of what the client needs.
3. Cyber Security
The global financial crisis in 2008 served as an alarming call for the industry. More than ever, it highlighted the demand for regulation and transparency to protect risk and protect the consumers at the same time.
Cloud-based computing has taken over traditional desktops and paper file usage, making security among the greatest concerns for law firms and their respective clients. Governance technology now stipulates where and how long the information needs to be stored and the proper authority that can access it, which has significantly improved data security in the cloud.
4. Mobile Applications
Most people nowadays often spend the majority of their time using their phones through the applications stored in them. With over 3.2 billion mobile app users across the globe, the legal industry has recognized the benefits of launching specialized apps that will help expand client reach. Not only that, but it has also made data more accessible at any place and at any time. This allows lawyers to make their tasks more convenient since they don’t need to rely solely on desktop computers to get to work.
5. Analytics
Corporate legal departments and law firms typically expect huge amounts of data, one which consistently grows according to the length of relationship with a client or the length of the case itself.
If you consider the amount of data in court records or research services, you may realize that being able to govern and search data sets manually is not only taxing but impossible. Because of this, analytics search engines have helped lawyers manage data more efficiently and conveniently. The increased efficiency allows for a significant reduction in costs for many law firms while also motivating law professionals to depend on systems that comply with governance policies.
Technology evolves quickly, with numerous machines almost becoming dependable systems to reduce human effort. These technological trends are only some of the most widely-utilized technologies within the industry, and there’s no doubt that there are still more breakthroughs to come soon. Such trends have influenced how professional industries operate, making more room for more business opportunities and ideas.