Legal Tech is a new industry that enables in-house counsel to use technologies and innovations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their work. Legal technologies can automate data and documents that must be processed during the process and can also lower costs by reducing the number of (in-house) legal lawyers required per project.
In this article, we shall take a look at some emerging Legal Tech examples. One of the most important components of Legal Tech is the software that is used by in-house counsel to simplify their daily tasks. Legal Tech examples include, among others, electronic document systems, automated contract reviews, cloud solutions, or legal research.
Legal Tech examples: How technology is revolutionizing the legal sector
The rising costs and the growing complexity of the legal system is making it increasingly difficult to effectively serve small and medium-sized companies. Legal Tech is a rapidly developing technology that supports companies in meeting these challenges. Below are some examples and benefits of Legal Tech:
- Time savings
The use of Legal Tech helps users to save time and improve cost efficiency, especially through the use of cloud-based solutions. This allows companies to safely store and manage their data and documents from any location without having to provide expensive IT infrastructure.
Another advantage of Legal Tech is the ability to provide legal services and processes digitally and in real time. Companies can thus respond quickly to legal challenges and complete processes fast and efficiently. It can also contribute to companies lowering their legal costs because they no longer require long and expensive legal consultations or court proceedings.
- Improved quality
Legal Tech can improve the quality of legal services and processes in a variety of ways. One of the biggest benefits is the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate and simplify processes and decisions. This helps to ensure that decisions are made faster and more accurately because the technology is capable of quickly analyzing and processing large amounts of data and information.
In addition, Legal Tech can also help to ensure that services and processes in companies are standardized and consistent. By automating processes and using standardized templates, it can be ensured that all steps of the process are carried out carefully and consistently. Processes thus run faster, more efficiently, and with fewer errors, which in turn improves the quality of the work results.
Another benefit of implementing Legal Tech is the ability to provide a wider range of services. By using digital solutions, in-house counsel from different areas and with different skills and capabilities can work together to tackle complex legal challenges. This makes it possible to use the best resources and skills for a particular task, which in turn improves the quality of the legal services.
- Access to legal knowledge
Legal Tech provides access to legal knowledge through the use of technology to automate and simplify the legal process. This technology is used in a variety of areas, such as legal advice, court proceedings, and in monitoring or complying with laws, regulations and guidelines.
One of the most important tools in the field of Legal Tech examples is legal databases. These provide in-house counsel with access to a comprehensive collection of laws, regulations, court decisions and other relevant documents. These databases are often run by specialized companies and offer a variety of search functions to make it easier for in-house counsel in the legal department to find precisely the information they need. These tools can also be integrated optimally into already existing systems to ensure an efficient workflow.
Many Legal Tech examples have also made it easier for companies without comprehensive legal expertise or their own legal department to gain access to legal knowledge. With the tools available today, it is quick and easy to get information on legal matters and to make decisions without having to resort directly to expensive external counsels.
Types of Legal Tech
In this article, a distinction is made between three types of Legal Tech: enablers, process optimizations and legal applications.
Legal Tech examples: enablers
An enabler refers to a technology, a method, or a tool that enables or supports the use of Legal Tech. Enablers are important to get the full benefit of Legal Tech and to increase efficiency and quality.
Some Legal Tech examples of enablers are:
Artificial intelligence (AI): Legal AI is a key enabler in Legal Tech because with it, large quantities of data can be analyzed and decisions can be automated that otherwise would have to be made by in-house counsel.
Cloud computing: The use of cloud computing allows Legal Tech companies to store and process large amounts of data, which increases the efficiency and speed of data analysis.
Blockchain: The use of Blockchain technology allows legal documents and data to be safely stored and monitored, which improves both the integrity and the transparency of the legal process.
Legal Tech examples: benefits of process optimization
Another type of Legal Tech examples is process optimization. This refers to the potential to systematically optimize processes in companies on a number of levels. Below are some of the key Legal Tech examples and benefits for legal departments and companies:
Increased efficiency: Legal Tech solutions speed up processes because they automate tasks that had to be done manually in the past. For instance, an AI-based solution can analyze large amounts of data and make decisions faster and more accurately than humans.
Cost savings: Legal Tech helps to reduce costs in companies by incorporating automated processing steps in accounting and controlling and relieving the workload of valuable staff, as well as enabling increased efficiency. In addition, it can also reduce the costs of training and further education because it makes it easier to familiarize in-house counsel with the most recent developments in law.
Higher quality: Quality is generally improved by Legal Tech tools. The solutions minimize sources of error in companies and ensure the integrity of data and documents.
Transparency and traceability: The Legal Tech solutions increase transparency and traceability by making it easier to monitor and record activities and decisions.
Legal Tech examples: benefits of legal applications
Legal Tech examples also relate to specialized tools that can usually perform tasks for in-house counsel automatically. Below are some of the main legal applications and Legal Tech examples:
Contract management: A contract software helps companies to manage their contracts by providing automated workflows and tools for monitoring deadlines and other reviews.
Legal research: AI-based legal applications and other Legal Tech examples help in-house counsel to find legal information quickly and accurately without having to spend a long time researching.
Compliance management: Legal Tech solutions help companies to monitor and implement regulations and laws, especially by providing automated reviews, reports and alarms.
Legal documentation and recording: Legal Tech tools improve the internal documentation and recording of legal matters by making it easier to monitor and record activities and decisions.
Legal Tech examples and use cases
In the following, we have put together a list of some of the most important Legal Tech examples and use cases:
- E-Discovery: Legal Tech example
E-Discovery is playing an ever-greater role in the law. This is due to the increasing use of electronic media and digital data. E-Discovery allows in-house counsel to collect, review and analyze a large amount of data more quickly and efficiently. This makes it possible to visualize anomalies and trends instantly.
- Legal research: Legal Tech example
Legal research can be done manually or by means of computer programs. Nowadays, special legal databases are frequently used to allow in-house counsel to quickly search for relevant laws and rulings. These databases contain an extensive collection of laws and court decisions from various jurisdictions and cover a broad range of legal areas.
However, legal research requires both a basic understanding of the law and the ability to think logically and critically. It is important that in-house counsel interpret and evaluate the relevant laws and rulings with regards to the case to arrive at a correct legal conclusion.
- Automation: Legal Tech example
Over the last few years, the automation of legal tasks has taken on an increasingly important role in legal practice. The automation of legal tasks relates to the use of software and artificial intelligence to automate legal tasks that are usually performed by in-house counsel. This primarily concerns recurring and routine tasks that take up a lot of time and resources. Examples include case tracking and documentary check.
- Case management systems: Legal Tech example
Another Legal Tech example is a CMS. These are an integral part of the modern business world and are used to optimize internal processes. A CMS is a software that allows companies to manage and automate their business processes from beginning to end.
The Legal Tech example helps to structure and simplify the workflow of business processes by centralizing and organizing the data generated by a company. The system makes it possible to collect, analyze and manage data, thus allowing business processes to be carried out quickly and efficiently. The software performs, among other things, the creation of to-do lists, the assignment of tasks to specific employees, the monitoring of task progress and the integration of workflow tools.
- Legal service platform: Legal Tech example
A legal service platform is an online platform that offers legal services. It can be run by lawyers, notaries, or other legal experts. These kinds of platforms frequently offer a number of services, including document templates, advice, legal services or mediation, which can be used by registered users.
- Matter management: Legal Tech example
Digital matter management (DMM) uses technology for the management and delivery of legal matters. There are many software tools that can improve specific aspects of a field of work, such as the drafting of contracts, document management, spend management or enterprise collaboration. Even established tools such as MS Excel or Dropbox can be used as part of digital matter management and are useful for many legal teams.
Although individual software point solutions can already manage many parts of legal matters quite well, the use of several tools can also present certain challenges to legal departments, such as integration problems, data silos or inefficiencies caused by context switching between different applications. Legal departments are also under pressure from their IT departments to simplify and reduce the technology infrastructure. For these reasons, when it comes to selecting a Legal Tech tool, it is also worth considering solutions that optimize the entire matter lifecycle in one central system. Cloud-based platforms are one of the preferred choices.
Making the right choice from many Legal Tech examples
The growing number of Legal Tech examples and solutions on the market means that it can be difficult for companies to find the right solution for their needs. It is important, however, to make an informed decision to ensure that the concept selected meets the company’s needs and requirements. Below are a few factors that should be considered when choosing a Legal Tech solution:
Needs and requirements: Before you choose a Legal Tech application from the wide range of Legal Tech examples, you must be clear about your needs and requirements. Consider what processes you would like to automate and what functions are important to you. Ensure that the solution selected meets all your requirements.
User friendliness: It is essential that the application selected is easy to operate and has an intuitive user interface. It can thus be ensured that in-house counsel and other employees are able to use the solution effectively to save time and money.
Integration: Consider whether the solution selected can be readily integrated into your existing systems. It is important that the Legal Tech solution can work together smoothly with other systems, such as email clients and document management systems.
Security: Ensure that the software has robust security features, so your data is protected. It is also important that the solution is updated regularly to ensure that it is protected from new threats.
Costs: Check whether the costs of the legal software are in line with your budget. Compare the prices of different solutions and ensure that you receive the best value for your money.