Technologies to Watch for in Law
One of the most disruptive technologies poised to impact the legal sector is artificial intelligence. In particular, generative artificial intelligence programs (such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT) have the potential to shake up the legal industry by providing quick and easy access to legal information and prescriptive advice in many contexts. Generative AI offers a very powerful and flexible search capability that can be extended to a variety of traditional legal applications. While this type of technology may not replace jobs, as some believe AI will eventually displace attorneys, paralegals, and legal research professionals, those jobs will change and evolve. The most exposed roles are those that are the easiest to automate, like paralegals and legal researchers, but more sophisticated legal work will not be immune from cost pressures or the threat of cybersecurity events if delivered through traditional business models.
Lawyers may soon find themselves competing against a 24-hour virtual assistant capable of providing many of the services traditionally conducted in person. Already, for example, AI is being used to assess its own viability by estimating the probability of success in the courtroom and suggesting jurors for jury selection. It can also assist attorneys in drafting legal documents or provide assistance in case management . If clients can simply ask a virtual assistant to search for precedents across a variety of sources, as some companies are already experimenting with, there will be no need for attorneys to conduct traditional research. This could potentially reduce costs by a significant measure, but also impacts lawyers’ salaries as evidence becomes easier to find.
Furthermore, blockchain technology, is also beginning to make inroads – providing a transparent digital ledger of transactions that can be used to track how and when specific contracts are made. Blockchain could provide a tamper-proof means of tracking and storing clients’ contracts. This is a benefit that could save clients money over time. Electronic smart contracts could also allow clients to enter into an agreement on their own without hiring a lawyer to draft an agreement. Smart contracts have mainly been linked to cryptocurrencies, but they can also be used for supply chain transactions, track product serial numbers, automate insurance claims and more.
The threat to traditional law firms is real, especially for firms that depend on document-intensive processes or do not embrace technology. The impact of AI and other emerging technologies is less likely to be felt at large law firms that have already begun to innovate than at small- and mid-sized firms that have yet to see the light, but there is an urgent need for law firms to embrace these new technologies.
The Growing LegalTech Startups
As the demand for innovative solutions to legal problems continues to mount, the legal tech startup landscape has expanded significantly. These new entrants are not only growing in number but also attracting substantial investment that bodes well for their future capabilities. This trend will likely propel legal tech into the mainstream by 2025 and beyond.
Helping to identify the gaps they want to fill, the next generation of legal technology leaders comes with firsthand knowledge of the problems. Indeed, many successful startups have been launched by individuals with prior careers in the legal field, whether as attorneys, in-house lawyers, legal tech researchers, or legal leaders. A few notable examples include:
• Beagle: Founded by legal tech researcher Gina Balarin, Beagle aims to reduce the time lawyers spend preparing and reviewing legal agreements through machine learning. The Beagle platform allows corporate lawyers to read, review, and track changes as they discuss or negotiate the agreement.
• ClariLegal: In-house lawyer Sundhya Pahuja launched the ClariLegal platform to enable law firm clients to evaluate and monitor their lawyers’ performance post-matter. With the ability to identify red flags, the platform empowers clients to quickly address any potential issues.
• Premonition: Knowledge management and legal analytics expert Marc Lauritsen initially founded the company as Juristat before pivoting to Premonition. It provides analytical tools to make lawyers more efficient and reduce client costs.
• Apperio: A former in-house lawyer, Lord Preedy, launched Apperio as a tool to reduce the inefficiencies and costs of legal service invoices. The platform allows companies to track their legal spending and manage their use of outside counsel.
Client Expectations in Flux
Client expectations in the legal industry are not being met today, much less in 2025. There are a number of emerging issues that have not yet been addressed. Clients, for example, need to know what their outside legal costs will be without surprise. They cannot get that from law firms today: they have to pay for every minute a lawyer works, and they cannot plan their budgets accordingly.
Moreover, clients want data and information to support their suppliers’ (lawyers’) activities. That is, they want visibility into how they can better manage their legal spend and their overall legal relationship with their law firms, and many law firms simply do not provide that data. Clients look for greater control over their expenditures, and they want to see better use of technology, such as artificial intelligence, which can help them reduce their costs, improve efficiency and meet their goal of delivering value to their key stakeholders. They want law firms to pick up the slack with their implementation of technology. Clients also want greater responsiveness and faster turnaround time from law firms.
Legal Regulatory Developments
Beyond the usual anticipated developments, conversations over the last year suggest that legal industry regulators have heard the message that "doing more of the same" is no longer good enough. As such, there is an expectation of regulatory change, in some cases transformational change, and this is likely to have a material impact on how legal practices operate.
With widely-cited statistics such as 70% of law firm partners now at or nearing retirement age, regulators appear poised to usher in new rules that allow non-lawyer partners, whether they are technology professionals, business strategists or investment funds, to invest in or even manage law firms. Separately, we may see a push from regulators, and eventually clients, towards price transparency, which is typical in other professional services sectors such as financial advice or accounting.
On the technology front, we can expect regulators to become increasingly concerned whether legal practice systems are properly protected by state-of-the-art cyber security, and to regularly test legal practitioners’ cyber defenses. There are of course cost benefits to security checks of this type as well.
In addition to corporate efforts, litigation lawyers involved in international trade law modelling have also noted that G20 countries, including the United States and China, are becoming increasingly protectionist. This, combined with the rise of economic nationalism – such as populist governments who may not be wedded to a rules-based trading order – means that the regulatory landscape for trade law practitioners is rapidly changing.
Increased Focus on Diversity and Inclusion
As discussed above, consumers increasingly demand social responsibility from the companies with which they engage. It comes as no surprise, then, that diversity and inclusion initiatives have begun to proliferate across a wide range of industries, not the least of which is legal. Studies have shown that diverse teams outperform their peers across a variety of metrics, including revenue generation, employee engagement and employee retention . For legal work in particular, diverse legal teams have been shown to provide a higher quality of deliverables. Immigration and mobility programs, partnering of senior lawyers with diverse associates and mentorship initiatives are just a few of the many initiatives being rolled out by law firms to help support and promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. These programs will go a long way to helping build an environment of mutual respect and collaboration whilst enabling individual team members to thrive.
Shifts in Legal Professional Workforce
While the statistics regarding the percentage of lawyers whom are employed by a law firm remain remarkably constant over the years, the dynamics of the legal workforce and their place in the world are changing. Over the next five years, more lawyers will work remotely and/or in a gig economy. The following are some of the changes we are watching.
Remote work is coming to the legal workplace. As I have written many times before the stigma regarding remote work is evaporating. In preparation for remote work, we are seeing employers and employees embracing more sophisticated telecommuting capabilities. Gone are the days that you must actually fill out a form to request the opportunity to work from home on occasion. Lawyers are enjoying more freedom to work where they want. No longer are you tied to your desk from 9-5, there is a large segment of the population that works whenever they can, regardless of location. Law firms are realizing that you don’t need to come to a downtown office to be productive. Law firms are busy creating flexible work environments in which lawyers can thrive while working virtually.
The gig economy is here to stay. Stats about the gig economy are encouraging including surges in entrepreneurship among women, minorities and people over 50. We expect that we will see an increase in lawyers entering the gig economy through contract positions and/or freelancing opportunities. Getting to this point can be a challenge if you have been a law firm lawyer for any period of time. Going forward we expect that law schools will be teaching the skills necessary for lawyers to thrive in a gig economy (e.g., finance, marketing, project management and particularly soft skills).
Millennials will be running law firms. Millennials have a lot to offer the legal industry including technology savvy, interest in social causes, and interest in flexibility. While this generation not spent years grinding away and learning in a large law firm setting, what they do lack in experience, they make up in excitement. Their enthusiasm is infectious and their vision is clear. Millennials will be in the driver’s seat at law firms opening doors for future generations. The millennial generation is now 25% of the U.S. workforce, we anticipate that as the baby boomers continue to retire we will see a continued shift in the power dynamic within the firm to millennials.
Gen Z will be entering the legal world. My favorite show growing up was Fame, the television show that chronicled the lives of students at New York City’s High School for the Performing Arts. The show made performing arts cool so cool that I convinced my parents to let me attend summer music camp in Ohio. Fame took place in 1985 and just like my fascination with Fame shaped my youth, the show Mills and Boon Breaks the Glass Ceiling will shape the lives of a future generation of lawyers. The Nollywood movie which just released on Netflix tells the story of a young woman’s fight to break into Nigeria’s male-dominated law society. Gen Zers are taking notice of this public image and want to be part of the change. While lawyers are the butt of many jokes, Gen Zers are more accepting of different roles and models than any previous generation. This generation has a desire to make a difference and can do so with a career as lawyer. Gen Zers should be entering law school around 2025, we expect them to have a short learning curve, as they will require less of the traditional training models, as compared to older generations.
There is no doubt that the legal industry will continue to change in the new decade. Every day, it seems like another headline proclaims how the profession is changing including due to the appointment of Richard Reibstein as the head of Dentons’ Artificial Intelligence and Automation Initiative. In addition, the world continues to change and we expect that the legal profession will continue to change.
Ethics and Sustainability
Sustainability and the ethical practices of a law firm toward its own sustainability strategies are no longer afterthoughts. For many, they are now central to the firm’s market identity and differentiating services, grounding them in values that align with those of their clients and business partners.
More than tacitly expected by clients, it is essential that firms must now also embrace their environmental, social and governance actions to build sustainable futures. In large part driven by client demand for ESG services, firms are reshaping themselves as industry leaders through research and advisory roles.
As more law firms integrate sustainability into practice group philosophies and internal operations, sustainability will continue to grow as an industry differentiator as firms reap the bottom-line benefits from their sustainable growth practices. This trend has accelerated since many of the largest corporate clients are prioritizing sustainability at the center of their business models, looking to partner with firms that align with their objectives.
A subset of the above sustainability values, the ethical practices of greater importance to the legal profession’s position in the ESG hierarchy have included: Doing good work is good business; paying attorneys and staff fairly; removing unnecessary barriers to entry; giving back to the community; moving sustainability and responsible business practices forward; and most important, treating clients and opposing counsel with respect, courtesy, and civility.
Legal Education Horizon
In recent years, law schools in jurisdictions across the globe have had to react to a rapidly changing legal services market; the UK and Australia are leading the way in reforming legal education at present, possibly to allow for ‘alternative business structures’ to take over legal activities but jurisprudence at both common and civil law systems are closely watching these developments as well. With no mandatory education for lawyers yet in place in India, it remains to be seen whether the Indian system will take inspiration from these changes. Adapting to change can be difficult. For example, the changes in UK Law Schools’ criteria for granting recognition of schematas for graduate, mobile, non-European Commonwealth and European Union lawyers seeking to take the Bar Practice Course have had a detrimental effect on English solicitors’ opportunities to work in the European Union. It has left some lawyers unable to practice their profession in a united Europe. Law schools, often led by those with vested interests in furthering their own careers by developing their academic credentials or by becoming university professors, are vilified for being slow of thought on these matters – if thought is given at all. Above all, however, it is the myriad of professional bodies, particularly those with accreditation powers, that hold the keys to the future of legal education and to determining the core mandatory skills required from lawyers. Notwithstanding the above, the standards of legal education in many parts have, and still do comprise quite capable young people with bright prospects who would no doubt make excellent lawyers . But the issue is that most of them will never see the inside of an office; a recent report shows that in 2010 in the UK, only 27 per cent of students gaining a Law degree actually went on to practice as a solicitor, while another huge tranche were not even able to find training contracts or pupillages in barrister’s chambers. Should there have been more stringent entry requirements into the profession, when there is little or no opportunity for newly qualified solicitors or barristers. While the US has resisted this trend, some states, such as California, have already limited the number of students permitted to enter the legal profession. Even so, given the ways in which technology is changing our lives, law schools may need to grow ever more adaptable to the evolving global legal services market. Beginning with the decision to opt for moving into areas with a great deal less job security, but higher risks and better financial returns; it is no longer common to follow the doctrinal form of academic training preceding entry into the legal profession. The model of legal education in Asia is more likely to be similar to that in the US: the JD program. JD programs continue to evolve overseas, and are likely going to be further influenced by factors as AI, technology, Human Resources and industry insights. From understanding how to collaborate with business leaders to mastering new sources of legal intelligence, contemporary legal education will need to focus on teaching the most relevant areas and equipping future lawyers with the skills to use the technologies they will likely be working with. Just a few years ago, many in the legal profession viewed tech skills as outside the domain of lawyers, but the movement towards new tools and platforms has burgeoned and the need for legal talent to learn digital skills is now seen as vital.