Research by Deloitte in their In-house Insights Report “Trusted navigators in complex and challenging environments” prepared in response to a September 2022 survey of New Zealand's in-house legal community, showed that keeping up-to-date and compliance with legal, regulatory and government policy updates was the number one issue that legal teams are concerned about.
Regulatory compliance has become increasingly onerous, but in my view, traditional methods of managing compliance are no longer fit for purpose as a means of keeping up.
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Topics:
Legal Technology,
In-House Legal,
Self-Service Legal Automation,
Compliance,
Legal Automation,
Legal Operations,
Productivity
I was curious when I saw this question in Deloitte's research in their In-house Insights Report “Trusted navigators in complex and challenging environments” prepared in response to a September 2022 survey of New Zealand's in-house legal community, on what technology systems do you have in place to support efficient/effective legal operations?
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Topics:
Document Automation,
Legal Technology,
In-House Legal,
Digital Signatures,
Compliance,
Legal Automation,
Email Management,
Matter Management,
Legal Operations,
Contract Management,
Knowledge Management
I'm looking forward to the 2024 ILANZ conference on 22 and 23 May. It's a great opportunity to get a feel for the issues and priorities of the New Zealand in-house legal community, as well as to connect with others who are working with, and providing solutions to, in-house lawyers.
This year, I'll be particularly interested in gauging in-house lawyers' feelings about technology and their plans to invest in it. Even as recently as September 2022, Deloitte's research in their In-house Insights Report “Trusted navigators in complex and challenging environments” prepared in response to a September 2022 survey of New Zealand's in-house legal community, showed that more than half of in-house teams were planning no change in their investment in technology. I found that surprising at the time.
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Topics:
Document Automation,
Legal Technology,
In-House Legal,
Document Assembly,
Self-Service Legal Automation,
Compliance,
Legal Automation,
Matter Management,
Legal Operations,
Contract Management
It's not uncommon for someone to show some initial interest in a legal automation project, get excited seeing how it could make a real difference in their work and that of their team, and then be told that it is not possible.
What can you do in that situation?
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Topics:
Legal Technology,
In-House Legal,
Document Assembly,
Law Firm Management,
Compliance,
Legal Automation,
Matter Management,
Legal Operations,
Contract Management,
Law Firm Profitability
A common concern we hear when talking to prospective clients about legal automation is that they haven't got a budget, and they don't think they can get one.
Often, however, this is before we have discussed the size and cost of the problem or the opportunity to be addressed and the expected benefits, and therefore, it needs more context before a price can be agreed and a budget could be obtained.
What should you do before worrying about price and budget for an automation project?
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Topics:
Legal Technology,
In-House Legal,
Document Assembly,
Law Firm Management,
Compliance,
Legal Automation,
Matter Management,
Legal Operations,
Contract Management,
Law Firm Profitability
Looking ahead to the coming year, I think (maybe with a bit of hope thrown in) several themes will be key. This is what we will be focussing on helping our customers with, and in our own business.
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Topics:
Practise of Law,
Future of Law,
Document Automation,
Legal Technology,
Law Firm Management,
Compliance,
Legal Operations,
Contract Management,
Law Firm Strategy,
Productivity
Earlier this month I was at the ILANZ conference. It was an excellent event - the best ILANZ I have been to.
There were several indications that technology for lawyers has matured a lot over the last year.
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Topics:
Document Automation,
Legal Technology,
In-House Legal,
Document Assembly,
Digital Signatures,
Self-Service Legal Automation,
Compliance,
Legal Automation,
Legal Operations,
Contract Management
A lot of technology is bought and sold based on how many features it has.
Vendors are certainly responsible for a lot of marketing, emphasising all their features while simultaneously claiming that their solution is incredibly simple and intuitive.
Buyers, especially those going through formal procurement processes with RFPs, massively overcomplicate things by including spreadsheets with tens, if not hundreds, of requirements.
At some point, everyone loses sight of two of the most important things:
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Topics:
Document Automation,
Legal Technology,
In-House Legal,
Compliance,
Legal Automation,
Matter Management,
Legal Operations,
Contract Management
The regulatory obligations that organisations need to comply with are rapidly increasing, and it's clear organisations are struggling to keep up and find ways to comply. Lawyers can help – ideally as part of a multi-disciplinary approach incorporating other experts and technology focussed on solving the business problem rather than just as legal advice without considering how it can be incorporated most efficiently into business processes.
The problem is not new. Even well-established legislation such as the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 is still causing problems for banks, with recent enforcement action being taken against two New Zealand banks for infringements over many years.
However, it is getting harder. New regulations are continuing to come out, with even more demanding ongoing requirements.
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Topics:
Document Automation,
In-House Legal,
Compliance,
CCCFA,
Health and Safety,
Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act,
SSSP
021 339 527
lawhawk@lawhawk.nz
