The world of legal services is changing, new approaches, models and technology are having a fundamental impact on how legal work is delivered. Demand for legal services offered by traditionally non-legal firms such as insurance or document services companies is rising sharply. Businesses and private individuals are increasingly willing to look outside of traditional law firms and this brings further competition.
In addition, new online providers have entered the market reducing the need for traditional paper-based service providers often providing services at lower cost and increased speed. Many customers especially consumer clients are accessing legal services and advice online as an affordable alternative. Tech-enabled teams can work on a fixed fee basis at typically half the cost of a traditional law firm.
With the increasing choice of legal services, clients will select innovative firms that improve the quality, speed and price at which value is delivered. Organisations that are early adopters of ‘non-traditional’ legal delivery models will be able to offer the best combination of cost and quality for clients. Organisations that are more advanced at leveraging technology will demonstrate agility through faster turnaround.
Legal services organisations are increasingly dependent on emerging technologies and data sources to drive efficiency, enhance cybersecurity and expanded capabilities. In addition, customer experience can be improved by both streamlining processes with automation as well as providing customised service where needed and preferred.
However, with an increase in digitisation comes an increase in associated cyber risk. Ransomware and supply chain attacks continue to rise and any vulnerabilities create challenges for IT teams of legal services organisations. Legal organisations are targets for sophisticated cyberattacks and they must invest in advanced cybersecurity solutions to protect the company’s IP and proprietary data and not least reputational risk.
Internal security teams are stretched in different directions, due in part to new remote work policies. Indirect attacks are becoming a growing concern and require time to build detection and response capabilities. The new threat landscape requires careful monitoring and management, failure to do so is massive business risk, the detrimental effects of which cannot be underestimated.
Many traditional organisations suffer from legacy infrastructure and technical debt, which is challenging their ability to address security vulnerabilities without significant investment and transformation. To secure their IP and proprietary data, as well as protect against significant breach fines organisations must invest in advanced cyber security solutions to ensure operational resilience.
Today’s customers are very different in the types of legal services they purchase, how often they engage and their level of knowledge of both the law and legal service providers. They are looking for services delivered in ways that are flexible enough to suit their different needs. They expect connectivity, efficiency, centralisation and transparency. Real-time communication and the ability to work on the go is a must.
Customers who are accustomed to digitally enabled convenience with other products and services in their life expect it from legal services providers. Technology adoption alone will not confer any degree of customer-centrism but using technology to enhance the customer experience is increasingly expected. Those organisations that can put the customer at the centre of their services will increasingly prosper.
Social media and online presence is a prerequisite to access the modern consumer and for fast customer services. It offers the legal profession a valuable opportunity to connect with clients and to respond to their needs faster. There is a great opportunity for customer-centric providers, enabled by digitisation to accelerate market share gains.
The other significant change in customer expectations is in seeking out ethical providers with more sustainable business practices. For reputational among other reasons, many companies have already become active in promoting corporate social responsibility, environment and diversity through their market position. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors are rising to the top of the agenda with the realisation that failure to address these can be detrimental to businesses. The key challenge is for organisations to address these factors in a meaningful way rather than churning out surface skimming rhetoric.
To succeed in this new market, legal services firms need to provide added value by accelerating their digital adoption and transforming their operations to the benefit of customers. Customer demand for more interactive and efficient digital platforms and products is set to continue, this will require ongoing adaption to new technologies. In fact, it’s essential for legal services in order to survive and prosper.
A recent report from Gartner found that around 40% of business will be conducted digitally by 2023 – so its key that legal services organisations invest in their digitisation, artificial intelligence and cloud capabilities to enable them to offer innovative, digital services whilst remaining flexible and adaptable to change.
The adoption of Artificial Intelligence has the potential to reduce costs and increase access to those seeking legal advice. The application of artificial intelligence is likely to change the types of work carried out and reduce the more routine document analysis and review tasks. AI can bring with it new ways for firms to do business, simplify how client work is researched, reduce costs and bring the expertise of the legal profession to a wider audience.
One aspect of the changes brought on by the pandemic is the significant increase in the numbers of lawyers and their staff working remotely. Before the pandemic, some organisations were averse to doing so, but the crisis has shown that legal organisations can successfully form virtual agile teams, provide remote advice, and handle routine work remotely. This has accelerated a shift towards using cloud-based platforms to help staff work together and deliver client needs.
Using cloud-based platforms provides so many opportunities; firms can recruit talent no matter their location; attract clients outside of their normal location to increase their new business potential; employees can work from any destination; and of course there is a reduction in overhead costs.
Digital transformation is already a proven business strategy, with data-driven organisations cited as more likely to acquire and retain customers and far more likely to be profitable as a result. It is essential for organisations wanting to stay relevant, competitive and reputationally sound in the current market.