Legal Tech Trends In 2020
The tech marketplace includes innovations in artificial intelligence, analytics, automation, and other new technologies. Trends for legal professionals and law firms are always changing. In 2019, the technologies reached a record point of $1 billion worth of investment. Legal tech trends in 2020 include:
1. Artificial Intelligence
Even though artificial intelligence has been a popular trend for some time now, it has gained a lot of popularity in 2020. It is still one of the most significant trends in legal tech. In 2019, experts predicted that it would grow significantly. In 2020, it will continue introducing new features to improve efficiency. Tools to look forward to including AI robot lawyers, AI-powered lawyers, and AI-powered features for team management. AI will continue to be incorporated in day to day tasks within the legal industry.
2. Virtual Legal Assistants
According to Gartner predictions, Virtual Legal Assistants (VLA) may present up to 25% of internal requests to the legal departments of big companies by 2023. Virtual Legal Assistants are a fast-growing trend, especially in large enterprises. Automation in legal departments may promote faster response times and improve efficiency.
3. Focus On Security and Privacy
With the increase in breaches and legislation, there has been an increased level of attention to privacy and security. Firms are increasingly getting concerned about their security and that of their customers. According to the American Bar Association’s Legal Tech Report in 2019, 26% of firms experienced a data breach. The number has increased in 2020.
4. Automation
Automation is one of the fastest-growing trends in 2020. PWS and McKinsey studies suggest that it is possible to automate about 25% of lawyers’ time. Most legal firms have adopted document and business process automation. It is one of the most effective ways to promote profitability and efficiency. In 2020, more businesses are embracing a business approach to their automation tools. The goal is to integrate as many automation tools as possible. The most natural and most common form of automation in 2020 is document automation. There are lots of document automation tools to suit all types of legal businesses.
5. Focus on Clients
The need to focus on client needs has become a priority for most businesses in 2020. The message to focus on client needs has been a trend over the past decade. In 2020, most law firms need to think about the most critical concerns for clients and how to solve them. Most firms are using technology to develop good relationships with their clients. Some of the most critical questions that firms are now asking include:
- How can we add value to our relationship with customers using technology tools?
- How can we stay relevant to our clients?
- What tech tools are necessary to deal with client issues?
Law firms are using the answers to these questions to adopt features and products that cater to the needs of customers.
6. Clients’ Demand for Transparency
In-house counsel demands that law firms be transparent about their pricing. Billing per hour is no longer acceptable. As clients demand for strict billing guidelines, law firms have no choice but to adapt accordingly. Many of them now rely on technology to analyze legal bills.
Over the years, the cost has been the biggest challenge to seeking outside counsel. The lack of billing transparency for most law firms has been keeping potential clients away.
Even though all of these trends have been gradually growing over the years, they have become more prevalent in 2020. While AI and automation are arguably the biggest ones, all the emerging trends have changed the industry significantly. They deliver high-value benefits for legal businesses of all sizes.
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