Like many other countries there has been substantial change in New Zealand over recent years with the development of the LegalTech industry.
Recently LawTalk published an in-depth feature looking at the Legal tech in New Zealand. Together with Gene Turner of LawHawk, I was one of the people interviewed by LawTalk editor Geoff Adlam. You can read the full article here –
The feature addressed 3 key questions –
- Looking at the legal technology available and being used in New Zealand now, what do you see as the biggest changes over the last decade?
- Do you think the various legal tech developments have had any real impact on the way New Zealand lawyers deliver legal services?
- Is legal tech just about tools which make lawyers work smarter and more cost-effectively, or could it be more revolutionary?
I highlighted the considerable change with legal tech over recent years.
Over the past few years there has been considerable development of great legal tech locally. This has resulted in some fantastic legal tech start-ups, with many now taking their solutions to the world.
One of the key developments is that many of these solutions have been lawyer-led, or by those inside a law firm that are intimately aware of pain points. They have developed solutions to meet these problems – ultimately making lawyers more efficient and to better meet the demands of their clients.
I reinforced that these are exciting times with the impact that legal tech is making and will continue to make.
Technology is changing how legal services are delivered and will continue to change. Legal tech has become integral to the delivery of legal services, as it enables lawyers to do things better, cheaper and faster.
An increasing number of lawyers and their firms are opening up to the opportunities to innovate through leveraging technology.
My final takeaway was that before technology is considered, it is important to consider exactly what you want to achieve to meet your business goals – and if technology can enable you to achieve this. This lead to me underlining the further opportunities that technology can deliver.
Sure, technology can greatly assist lawyers to work smarter and more efficiently, although it can be so much more.
Legal tech provides opportunities – the opportunity to deliver legal services that better service your clients and the potential of new clients. Your clients’ needs will be evolving, and they will require innovative ways of delivering legal services.
Embracing technology and new business models will open new opportunities, which will make you more valuable. Technology should be at the heart of your new business models, as it can provide amazing opportunities to generate new revenue streams.
Even though the focus of this LawTalk article was New Zealand, there are many aspects that could be applicable to the role and opportunity with legal tech the world over. Again I am grateful to Geoff and LawTalk for the opportunity to contribute to such and exciting area.
You can read the full article here.
