Why Do Legal Firms Have to Adapt to Technological Developments?

Traditionally, the legal sector has been slow in adopting new technology. There’s always been a model that law firms followed, and they didn’t want to budge until recently. With new changes come new opportunities, and many law firms and lawyers have begun to realize the benefits of implementing new technology. Other firms are still lagging behind, but not for long. Customers have begun requesting their law firms to use technology. Here are some reasons why!

Increase your productivity

One way to increase law firm productivity is through technology. Project management software can help you keep track of all of your assignments and tasks. You can have a good overview of all the deadlines in the calendar, set up reminders for yourself and your colleagues, assign tasks to your team members, and approve documents in the flow with just one click. Technology is a major time-saver, not to mention it’s a neat way to keep track of your clients and projects.

Keep track of your documents

Are you familiar with losing documents, having different versions flying around, and finding unauthorized individuals’ hands on your sensitive documentation? None of that can happen when you’re storing your documents in the cloud. Cloud-based document repositories for law firms have become incredibly popular.

In the cloud, you can keep your documents organized in separate folders. Instead of having multiple outdated versions of a document, you can just replace the old version with the more current one as needed. Give access to documents to people that need access. Retract access from them when they no longer need it. Access your documents from any place in the world using any device, like a smartphone, computer, or tablet. Never lose a document again! And if you ever need a physical copy of a contract, you can still print one.

Edit and proofread with ease

Editing and proofreading are some of the most tedious tasks on a lawyer’s to-do list. It’s not really fun to read pages and pages of legal contracts. The majority of the text consists of legal formalities described in great detail, so it’s not exactly a book of poetry. Besides, contracts are usually drawn from templates, so you will have to read the same template many times in your career.

Top contract review software can make the editing process quicker and easier. It can do the reading for you and identify any potential mistakes. All you have to do is proofread the highlighted parts and make sure everything is correct. The software can identify parts that need double-checking, like bank account numbers, addresses, names, and so on.

Instead of having to read the whole contract just to pinpoint these details, you have the details highlighted for you. Besides, if you took on the task of reading the whole document yourself, you would almost definitely miss a few things. The software doesn’t miss.

Avoid human error

We as humans are prone to making mistakes. Nobody’s perfect, right? Certain mistakes, like typos, are unavoidable. At the same time, they are completely unacceptable when you’re dealing with law. You know that one incorrect detail can put the contract’s validity under scrutiny. Therefore, it’s important to pay attention to detail. Technology does it way better than humans do. Not only is it significantly faster than us, but it is also statistically more accurate. There are certain mistakes that AI would just never make. You can trust technology more than you can trust yourself sometimes.

Low risk – high return

As legal firms adapt to technological developments, they are not giving up control. Many lawyers fear that AI will take over their role as a lawyer, but that’s a common misconception. You are more in control than ever. Instead of having to do all the dirty work yourself, you have someone doing it for you and delivering the work for final approval. It is still up to you to click that “fix” or “replace” button!