In legal automation, the most important thing is actually getting started and finding an initial project to get going with. Too many legal teams think about it, and think about it, and never actually start.   But where do you start? 

Topics: Document Automation, Legal Technology, In-House Legal, Document Assembly, Self-Service Legal Automation, Automated NDAs, Legal Automation, Legal Operations, Contract Management, Productivity

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.

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?

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.

Topics: Document Automation, Legal Technology, In-House Legal, Document Assembly, Self-Service Legal Automation, Compliance, Legal Automation, Matter Management, Legal Operations, Contract Management

Legal teams often rely on support from Finance, IT, or Procurement to access new technology and systems.

This is confirmed in the Deloitte In-house Insights Report “Trusted navigators in complex and challenging environments”, prepared in response to the September 2022 survey of New Zealand's in-house legal community, which identified the CFO/COO as the most common decision maker, followed by the CIO/IT Department.

Topics: Document Automation, Legal Technology, In-House Legal, Digital Signatures, Legal Automation, Matter Management, Legal Operations, Contract Management

I found a few sections in Deloitte's In-house Insights Report, “Trusted navigators in complex and challenging environments”, prepared in response to the September 2022 survey of New Zealand's in-house legal community, fascinating.

They were questions about the skills of the in-house legal profession, and in particular:

• What legal skills do you consider will be most important for you to be able to perform your role in the next 2 years and
• What non-legal skills do you consider will be most important for you to be able to perform your role in the next 2 years.

If they are skills that a lawyer needs to perform their role, then aren't they ALL legal skills?

Topics: Future of Law, Legal Technology, In-House Legal, Law Firm Management, Legal Automation, Legal Operations, Law Firm Strategy

As an in-house lawyer or lawyer in a firm, you may have heard about the benefits of using technology to improve your legal processes and get better outcomes. You may have seen some impressive demos or testimonials from vendors who claim to have the perfect solution for your needs.

But how do you decide which technology or approach is the best for your situation?

How do you navigate the overwhelming amount of information and noise in the market?

The truth is, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Different technologies and approaches have different strengths and weaknesses, depending on your goals, constraints, preferences, and context.

What works for one legal team may not work for another. And what works today may not work tomorrow.

So, how can you simplify your thinking and make progress in evaluating LegalTech?

Here are five suggestions that may help you:

Topics: Document Automation, Legal Technology, In-House Legal, Document Assembly, Law Firm Management, Legal Automation, Matter Management, Legal Operations, Contract Management

An area where improvements might easily be made to overall contracting speed is in the approvals process.

Topics: Document Automation, Legal Technology, In-House Legal, Document Assembly, Legal Automation, Matter Management, Legal Operations, Contract Management, Productivity

 

I found the latest podcast by Ron Baker and Ed Kless in The Soul of Enterprise (The Time Tax: The Crime of Stealing Customers’ Time) very thought provoking. I recommend it highly.

It is based on an article by B Joseph Pine II and James H Gilmore – Competing for Customer Time.

While there is ongoing discussion about the hourly billing model and lawyers charging for their time, the focus in the podcast and article is on the value of the client’s time and how to avoid wasting it.

Pine and Gilmore come out strongly:

"While not crimes against humanity, time-wasters are certainly offences against human customers. The worst thing you can do is waste your customers’ time – yet companies do it all the time.”

They go on to say:

“Companies can create value for customers by eliminating activities that waste their time; saving their time when so desired; offering experiences where time is valued; and even helping customers to wisely invest their time.”

and

“No company should impose wasted time on customers. The primary strategic choices today focus on time well saved and time well spent.”

This made me think about how this applies to our business, LawHawk, and the legal automation solutions we design, build and support. I have set out my thoughts below.

Topics: Document Automation, Legal Technology, In-House Legal, Law Firm Management, Self-Service Legal Automation, Legal Automation, Matter Management, Legal Operations, Contract Management

Thinking back over many of the projects we have been involved with over the years, one thing that stands out is the importance of, and key dependency on, the legal team's relationship with their IT team.

What happens without a good relationship?

Topics: Document Automation, Procurement, Legal Technology, In-House Legal, Legal Automation, Legal Operations