It’s a surprise there is still a debate over the impact of legal software on lawyers and the modern law practice.
Using legal software is the only way to stay relevant today and address the needs of the clients. New lawyers are more efficient, accessible, and are without a doubt able to offer top-notch service at a faster rate and lower price.
While the legal industry is famous for clinging to the past (just remember the WordPerfect vs Word debate that’s still on), lawyers are finally catching up with the times and recognizing the many benefits of legal software.
Understandably, there is always going to be pushback from the older crowd who fear becoming irrelevant. However, legal software isn’t new. It became more advanced, and as such, an integral part of the industry.
We’re going to name just a few tangible benefits and ways legal software can impact legal professionals, as well as explain the context of why it became a force to be reckoned with.
Legal software in context
In a nutshell, legal software is a software platform designed for use within the legal profession. It’s there to attend to legal processes and complete them in a fast and efficient manner.
Currently, there are multiple types of legal software such as:
- Knowledge management
- Accounting and billing
- Legal document management
- Law firm CRM and intake software
- Contract review
But why did legal software suddenly become a buzzword?
In short —the world has changed.
The digital revolution affected every industry and shifted the expectations of clients forever. Affordability and fast service became a new standard.
Lawyers, in particular, also had to deal with the influx of online legal service providers and cheap legal services. This led to legal professionals seeking ways to lower the costs and satisfy their clients by addressing their legal needs in a more time-effective fashion.
How does legal software address these problems?
1. Makes lawyers more efficient
The best example of how legal software for lawyers makes legal processes more efficient is apparent in its alternative approach to contract creation and review.
You are now able to create documents using templates filled with information from an electronic form collected with the help of client management software. The entire process is becoming a matter of filling in blanks, which is a far cry from writing a lengthy contract from scratch.
Even reviewing contracts or editing can be accomplished in a fraction of a time with AI contract review software such as Loio.
It scans your entire legal document and highlights the key details automatically, eliminating the need to go back and double-check specific terms.
This is just one example of how legal software can streamline a lawyer’s workflow and improve efficiency.
2. Helps lawyers become more accessible
Modern cloud-based legal practice management software makes it possible to take the practice outside the office and become accessible to clients everywhere.
This flexibility is achieved through the cloud-based central hub where important law firm data is stored and accessed on a mobile device, regardless of the working hours or location.
It’s also important to note that software such as this helped many lawyers survive the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Allows lawyers to make informed predictions
We previously mentioned AI, and how it can help you achieve efficiency regarding repetitive administrative tasks. But it’s just one thing it does.
As the foundation of natural language processing (NLP) technology, AI can aid lawyers in researching a case faster by eliminating many of the pitfalls of traditional research. There is no longer a need to craft complex search queries when searching through online legal databases.
The same technology can also analyze data and statistics and make informed predictions on things such as case outcomes.
For instance, AI can analyze data on how a particular judge ruled on similar cases. This provides you an insight into your chances of winning a case, so you can advise your client accordingly.
