In recent times, legal operations have morphed into a rather flexible aspect of most functional organizations driven by the need to provide business returns. Initially, in-house legal teams were tasked with mostly esoteric legal duties which could be executed by outsourcing.

Meet Jessica. She leads the legal team at a popular real estate firm. Her team is hardworking and dedicated - but she’s noted their performance has been faltering as of late. With heavier workloads, the team clearly wasn’t working as efficiently as they could be.

Each day they’d spend hours drafting complex contracts by hand, tediously copying and pasting clauses and explaining contracts to different parties. There were communication breakdowns due to poor collaboration between colleagues - and even some contract errors. For Jessica, it was evident: the legal team was placing all their energy into drafting legal documents, instead of supporting the real estate firm to really thrive.

Hard paper and physical documents are becoming increasingly obsolete in almost all the workspaces that depend on them. Including law firms and legal departments that operate heavily on generating documents and contracts. What is happening is that all these professionals are shifting towards digital documents and digital contracts that are bringing more convenience and accessibility.

Technology is undoubtedly revolutionizing and transforming different sectors and industries, And of course, one of the sectors that do not escape this transformation is the legal sector.

It has become absolutely necessary that all legal professionals are prepared to face these new digital transformation technologies while being able to take full advantage of the benefits of these digital tools.

According to many business forecasters and market statistics, Legal tech has been receiving a massive amount of investment worldwide. This makes us wonder what does it really mean for the Legal professional and how is that money being spent? 

The move from traditional filing systems to cloud-based document management software has been not just the trend but the standard for most law firms. This has rendered firms who still keep a substantial amount of paper files obsolete in their practices. But in 2020 there have been additional challenges due to recent global office closures and new social distancing rules.

I’ve spent most of my career deeply involved in technological and organizational transformations, working hand in hand with my clients through challenging transition times. Along the road, I’ve seen some projects succeed and achieve incredible results, while others have made no significant impact.

It’s no secret that the legal industry is rapidly transforming and today, law firms and legal departments from all over the world are feeling the pressure to respond.

Perhaps it’s no wonder; clients expect better and more efficient customer service and law firms feel the need to stand out from the crowd.

Not only are we in the digital era, but we’re also in the era that brings awareness to our planet. Reducing emissions and the use of fossil fuels, we are learning more and more about ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Let alone how the COVID19 pandemic has helped this reduction.