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The director of technology at a national law firm has offered their take on the biggest digital developments set to impact Australia’s legal profession over the remainder of 2021.
Speaking to Lawyers Weekly, Corrs Chambers Westgarth director of technology, Berys Amor, says the key tech trend likely to see flow-on effects to the legal market is cloud-based, on-demand products.
“[The] use of cloud platforms can be scaled up and out as required and data integration and process automation are much easier through the use of robotics, AI and machine learning.”
This technology, according to Ms Amor, will create some initial challenges for those lawyers who operate in the private practice space, however the benefits of utilising it outweigh the risks.
“Security is always a key consideration with cloud services but with proper evaluation and due diligence in the selection process the security risks can be mitigated, and in some cases result in improved security,” Ms Amor said.
“The opportunities are to use these cloud platforms to enhance the provision of legal services.
“Clients can leverage the firm’s cloud services and expertise to access the latest legal technologies including document automation and data integration, analytics and visualisation.”
In order for lawyers to make best use of these technologies, Ms Amor said the way in which lawyers at all levels engage with the firm’s IT professionals needs to change.
“Partners and lawyers [are encouraged to] work collaboratively with both the clients and the firm’s IT professionals to design and develop cloud-based solutions that can streamline and automate business processes,” she concluded.
“[This will] help improve productivity and drive efficiencies that reduce time and costs for clients.”
