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‘Best practice’ for in-house legal tech uptake revealed
In an environment where legal innovation is in “substantial flux”, research has revealed best practice legal departments can apply to overcome the inertia of ambiguous legal technology.
LexisNexis’ Legal Technology: Looking Past the Hype report has provided a “best practice” framework for in-house teams to use for the implementation of new technology.
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The five elements the report recommends in-house teams adopt are: removal of ambiguity, starting with problems, making time to innovate, utilise multiple skillsets and select partners well.
According to the report, “it is crucial that you have a strong understanding of your departments activities and processes.”
The report noted that “technology is unforgiving of ambiguity and investments made without clear objectives or rationale are highly likely to fail.”
“Utilise your management information to understand your key risk areas and cost categories, and then consider where potential opportunities may lie,” it recommended.
Starting with problems is the next step in the best practice framework, which stated that “in order to identify a solution that is likely to work, identify pain points in your organisation and then find a solution that addresses this pain point.”
With two in three lawyers lacking the time “to fully understand the legal tech market”, LexisNexis emphasises the importance of finding ways “to carve out time to dedicate to innovation”.
“Taking the time to build an understanding of available solutions is critical to effectively building the business case for stakeholders,” it continued.
It also recommended teams not “forgo human intelligence in search of artificial intelligence,” as “using multidisciplinary teams allows for richer discussions and helps foster a true culture of innovation.”
It argues that bringing in experts in other areas of the business “will substantially increase the chances of technology gaining traction.”
Lastly, the best practice principles are rounded out with an emphasis on teams selecting partners “well.”
According to the report, “successful technology deployments have invariably been the product of effective collaboration.”
This is relevant no matter whether the partnership is between a legal services provider and a technology provider or between law firms and general counsels, with the report citing the input from each party to the relationship as being fundamental to the successful uptake of legal technology.
