How often do you hear the phrase ‘legal tech’? If you work in IT or are just technically inclined, you probably hear it all the time. But for the rest of us who don’t speak geek, what is legal technology (aka legal tech) and why should you care about it? After all, you don’t need to know how the sausage is made, you just need to know what to order off the menu, right? Well, not quite…
Legal technology was once simply (and I use that word sarcastically) about word processing and file management. But over the past decade, legal tech has become a major part of our day-to-day legal activities in formats like eDiscovery (electronic discovery) and CRMs (client relationship management tools). Most recently, legal tech has gone a bit more mainstream, similar to technology startups or mobile apps, which will likely have great effects on our daily administration of the business of law.
A popular legal technology tradeshow, LegalTech, took place in New York February 2-4. Although we in the legal field are not known for our early adoption of emerging technology, I was interested in the event and able to observe what was happening without being in attendance through the magic of social media. Thanks in part to the event’s hashtags, #LegalTech and #LTNY16, I was able to identify attendees and companies involved with the event and watch what they shared on social media, mainly Twitter. I quickly found Mary Redzic, a startup lawyer based in San Francisco, who was sharing pictures and content from the event.
One of the panels she Tweeted about was the concept of Legal 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, from “The Evolution of Business and Legal Technology: Looking to 2020 and Beyond” by speakers Rich McClain, Kermit Wallace, and Christopher Zegers, and Gina Buser as the Discussion Leader. This is the idea that we, as an industry, are currently in Legal 1.0. It is a parallel to the concept of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 – the World Wide Web was in its infancy from its mainstream launch in modern day America in the 1990’s, and development over the past 20 years has given us great advancements. This evolution has pushed us into Web 2.0, where we now have responsive web design, which makes web pages accessible on your phone or tablet, smart technology, such as wearable fitness devices, and the Internet of Things, which is the concept that everyday gadgets are interconnected and can send and receive data to work smart.
Legal 1.0, by comparison, is largely comprised of the daily technology we have been using for the past 30 or so years in the workplace – word processing software at first, but now Microsoft Word and Outlook, Adobe Acrobat for working with PDFs, document management software such as iManage, time entry software such as CarpeDiem, client intake systems, and whatever conferencing tools we use. The panelists described this current state of affairs as technology that is “always available” and used primarily as a tool. We use Microsoft Outlook as a tool to schedule meetings, host email, and other functions, but generally, we look at it as a specific tool designed to do a specific task. We use the tool from our toolbox to complete a task, and then we put the tool back in the toolbox.
Legal Technology 1.0 (photo by Mary Redzic)
Legal 2.0 is more than a tool; think of it as a service whereby an assistant or associate knows the tool and utilizes it to the best of its capabilities, for our benefit. The panelists described Legal 2.0 technology as “always on.” Whereas for Legal 1.0 you pick up a tool, use it for a specific task, and put it back in the toolbox, Legal 2.0 is always on, always running, and always working. It’s not used for a specific task because it comes with the abilities to do more than a specific task.
Legal Technology 2.0 (photo by Mary Redzic)
Office 365 is an example of Legal 2.0 – instead of launching Microsoft Word and Access and Outlook and Internet Explorer, Microsoft developed Office 365 with the intuition and anticipation that you will use these different applications interdependently, as they complement each other to achieve a unified work product or goal. You may draft a form letter in Word and import contacts from Outlook to Access to create a mail merge, then utilize Outlook to distribute it electronically. When you open Office365, Microsoft launches all of these intertwined programs together, in the background (as to not take up memory), because they feed off of each other and work together to produce the end result.
Mary succinctly described Legal 2.0 as follows, and I think it’s a great, precise summary:
“Legal technology 2.0 allows us to share valuable data and information with our clients, electronically sign documents, use eDiscovery, and get docket alerts. It makes us more efficient. A few firms and lawyers are in this phase.”
Legal Technology 3.0 (photo by Mary Redzic)
Legal 3.0, on the other hand, is technology that we should think of as a partner, or collaborator, and it is “always engaged.” This technology is along the lines of IBM’s Watson computer, the computer that won Jeopardy with the help of artificial intelligence. IBM describes Watson as “cognitive technology that processes information more like a human than a computer.” This is pretty advanced stuff, but it’s already trickling down to other parts of mainstream America, and it’s only a matter of time before it disrupts the legal industry in more mainstream ways.
The panelists contest that we’re currently spending 85% of our time still working in Legal 1.0. Some may find this current status underwhelming and wonder when we are going to catch up with the rest of the technology ballgame. What I think is pretty cool about legal tech is the reality that its borrowing success from the larger technology startup mindset – which is that normal users can improve current technology and build solutions to everyday problems without being an MIT grad working in Silicon Valley.
Such advancements shouldn’t frighten us or cause us to jump ship in fears of being replaced by computers; they should inspire and enlighten us, and elicit interest in the future of law. Change can be difficult when it is misunderstood, so I look forward to learning about these new advancements and discussing them here on this blog. And if you haven’t guessed so already, you can bet this will all have an impact on the need for expert witnesses in the field of technology! If you have some legal tech news you are interested in or excited about, please leave a comment below or email me so we can discuss in more detail.