Apps for clients, automation of repetitive tasks, and shorter lead times. These are just some of the things that digitalization in the legal profession has led to for law firms. At the same time, the law firms have also had to think about which areas and methods should not be digitized.
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Digitalization is forcing many law firms to evolve and adapt
Research indicates that digitization is forcing many law firms to change and adapt to the new technological landscape that is developing. This leads them to increasingly move away from traditional professional roles, hourly billing business models, and partnership activities. Digitalization has fundamentally changed our society and will therefore affect the methods in which most companies conduct business to a smaller or greater degree. Including law firms.
Some law firms now offer their clients new payment options such as fixed prices and subscription solutions. At the same time, the complexity of the tasks has increased, and business law firms must to a greater extent have an understanding of various legal aspects of, for example, automated production, e-commerce, and self-driving cars, which has meant an increased demand for lawyers with IT skills. In other words, digitalization does not only affect how law firms work within their own organization but also how they help their clients and with what tasks they need help with.
At the same time, digitization makes the law more easily accessible to the public, which has increased customers’ expectations of fast deliveries and low prices. The Swedish digital law firm Juridik Online” https://juridik.online/ is one such example, making their services instantly available online without the need for physical meetings, saving both time and money. This makes it more important for lawyers to build relationships and understand their counterparts as this can both simplify contract processes and negotiations and also extend the relationship with clients.
Law firms sell a personal relationship where clients assume that they have the knowledge and technology needed to be able to serve clients with the highest quality of work and cost-effectiveness.
The challenges for the industry are to be able to create and implement new business models but also to ensure that the next generation has the right skills from law school in order to be able to remain attractive in the future labor market. The legal method is still important, but the training needs more practical elements, a focus on IT, and elements of personal development, the panel emphasized.
Digitization and automation mean great opportunities for law firms and for the entire legal industry. Some services may be replaced by new technology at the same time as new services are created, and by freeing up the time traditionally spent on simpler processing cases, the lawyers can instead focus on creating added value in the form of adding perspective and aspects to cases and at the same time dedicating more for skilled work.
The lawyer becomes a specialist and focuses on advanced advice
Digitization means that law firms can work smarter by using tools to automate and streamline repetitive and administrative tasks that exist in the business. This means that the lawyer’s role becomes more and more specialized and can focus on advanced advice. This is a necessity today when globalization and digitization mean more complex business structures and transactions.
New pricing models are becoming more and more common
Advice that previously took longer can now be delivered more efficiently and quickly. It has therefore made it easier for law firms to predict how long tasks will take, which is beneficial for both the law firms and the customer as there will be increased transparency regarding pricing.
Productization and fixed prices, or package offerings, have and continue to become more common, not least for the services that are simpler and more comparable, such as company formalities and brand management.
Moreover, law firms have shown an increasing interest in the digital area. More and more law firms understand that digitization, automation, and the use of AI are seen as a necessity to live up to the demands of the future and to keep up with the competition.
Time-consuming work steps are streamlined, which frees up time and resources for more qualified legal work.
Law firms are developing apps
Law firms that are at the forefront of digitalization have built their own helps to make their offerings more attractive for their customers and to make it easier than ever to get help for clients. Oftentimes, these apps allow you to get help from a lawyer immediately or whenever you want. By using new technology, the cost of legal advice is much lower than it would otherwise be in a traditional meeting.
Apps also allow law firms to also review agreements and write agreements. A lot of the practical steps can also be integrated into the app for a seamless customer experience and less administration work for the law firm. For example, with their own app, law firms can handle case registration, invoicing, payment, archiving, and more – much of which is done automatically in the app. This also helps make the prices very favorable.
Automating repetitive tasks allows more time for clients
Law firms, and any company for that matter, are always constantly looking at how they can automate, streamline and reuse knowledge and processes in order to create new value and new types of services. This is particularly true for law firms. Among other things, more and more law firms have started to work on digitizing administrative, repetitive, and manual processes in order to be able to have room to focus even more on our clients’ business-critical legal issues
New communication channels increase accessibility
One of the key benefits of digitalization for all companies is the increased accessibility that digital channels have given customers.
Digitization means that law firms can work more intensively and efficiently, including with the help of new tools to support transactions and compliance work, as well as for document management, templates, and administration. New communication channels have also led to increased accessibility that allows them to get closer to the customer.
Artificial intelligence helps with risk assessment
More and more law firms have started to use various tools that are based on AI technologies such as machine learning for due diligence. The development of AI also pushes law firms to think about how they can use the technology in the business to broaden our service offering for clients.
AI tools speed up processes
Law firms use AI tools for, among other things, e-discovery, contract review, and proofreading. The tools do not replace the lawyers, but they speed up the process and help them do better and more cost-effective work.
