As new legal technologies become more readily available, and client expectations continue to rise, delivering excellent service will require law firms to adopt new processes and solutions – fast. Automating business processes within legal can go a long way to help improve practice productivity, service and costs; innovation that clients today not only want but expect.
Like many industries, technology is heavily influencing the way law firms conduct business. Today, the expectation for legal professionals is that they want to use innovative tools to help them work faster and smarter, work from anywhere, and have information readily available. The pace of innovation has not only heightened the expectations of law firms and its workforce, but also those of their clients.
As the pace of legal innovation ramps up within the industry, so too does the need to improve the caliber of client service with the help of new technologies. For some law firms, this means creating their own innovation departments, fostering a culture of innovation, or differentiating themselves from competitors as thought leaders on the topic.
It’s not surprising that more and more firms are turning to digital tools to steer them towards innovative approaches to meet their clients’ needs and automate business processes. Legal tech spending hit $1 billion last year, with lawyers embracing new tools like case management software such as eDiscovery, now mandated in some states; the use of AI-based solutions to automate processes like patent tracking; and extending services like live video-streaming to better connect with clients.
Another way law firms are using innovative tools to automate processes is with the use of new documentation workflow solutions, ones that can better help streamline legal documentation. These tools can help eliminate transcription bottlenecks, remove manual steps such as entering data into case management systems, and help to accurately and efficiently create legal documents, all by voice.
As technology continues to change client expectations, legal professionals need to become more efficient in their delivery of services. Automating business processes within law firms can go a long way to help to improve practice productivity, costs, as well as the flow of information to and from clients; innovation that clients not only want but expect.