The ‘tech-unfriendly’ legal industry is gradually catching up with the fast pacing changes in technology, with lawyers, law firms and in-house legal counsels beginning to adopt the technology-based system that simplifies redundant or complex tasks, saving billable hours and increasing efficiency. 

Over the year, new trends have emerged in legal technology that has increased productivity and competition in the legal domain. These trends have emerged from changes in technology and demographics. Here are the 7 trends of 2017 that are transforming the legal sector:

1. Adoption of Efficiency Tools: Legal professionals are implementing tools and systems that help them perform legal functions efficiently and expand their services to customers in even the remotest of locations. Micro-level management is becoming a reality as legal technology companies are cultivating technology solutions in addition to talent management and improved customer services.

2. More Investments in Legal Techs: Legal professionals that are proactively investing in technology tools to increase productivity are achieving an increased client retention rate than businesses that merely react to client demands. 

3. Enhanced Digital Strategy: The legal domain is making much more focused efforts to improve their digital strategy as a determined digital strategy increases the financial taking as it reduces the time taken to complete administrative activities. Digital marketing strategy is employed by legal technology companies for more focused client acquisition, by recognising and predicting client needs.

4. Cybersecurity- A top priority: Securing the sensitive information of clients and confidential information of its technology, the legal world is focusing more on managing and maintaining digital solutions that protect sensitive data. Secure digital solutions also meet the requirements for data breach prevention. Almost all the data is in the cloud, and legal tech companies are making visible efforts to protect client’s data through case management tools that have features such as data protection and back-up.

5. More focus on Branding: Leveraging social media and other engaging tools like podcasts, blogging, QnA forums, etc., legal technology companies are connecting to the masses and the legal profession is keeping up with the pace at which these strategies are making access to clients easier. 

6. Make way for Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence or AI is the technological system where tasks that require human intelligence are performed by a machine. AI is automating the previous redundant tasks that were manually performed by lawyers, especially in-house legal counsels. The application of AI in the legal sector comprises of drafting and reviewing contracts, e-discovery, predictive analysis and sifting huge volumes of data to simplify legal research. 

7. Online Retail and Banking in Legal Industry: To serve the clients faster through the use of technology, the legal sector is implementing tools that serve what clients are asking for and driving value beyond expectations. Ease of payment with mobile and net banking has enabled a person to pay legal fees from a distant location and have their legal queries sorted by the legal technology company. Case management tools are enabling lawyers to raise e-bills as they provide safe payment and invoice management features. 

In present times, clients have high expectations of what technology can deliver and legal technology companies are performing at par with their expectations by constantly improving and implementing technology in their undertakings. With legal technology companies revolutionising the legal sector, more trends are set to follow that will be focused on providing prompt legal services and improve the overall client experience.

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