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Victor Sikora, CEO of Lawrify, looks at key steps legal professionals should take to select the most effective technology tools. (Sponsored content.)
Thanks to rapid advances in technologies such as cloud computing, AI, natural language processing, and more, there is a large and growing range of tech solutions designed to help legal professionals in their day-to-day tasks.
Ideally, these tools help reduce the time you spend on less engaging and lower value parts of your job, freeing you up for the more challenging, exciting, and high value work.
However, with a large and growing range of tech solutions to choose from, it can be confusing to know which will truly add value versus which sound helpful but will end up being largely unused.
In this article, we will look at some straightforward criteria to help you choose the most appropriate tools for your day-to-day work.
1. Value add
This sounds super obvious, but as mentioned above it is actually quite common to install a browser plugin or download a solution that seems like a good idea in theory but is rarely used in practice. If you are considering adding a tool, it should do one or more of the following:
• reduce your workload,
• accelerate your output,
• add to the quality of work as you do it, and/or
• check/validate work that you have already done.
Critically looking at these criteria — or any other that you have — before committing will help save time and money in the long run.
2. Frequency of use
Related to point one, a tool’s potential use is tied to how often the task you are doing that the tool helps with. Example: administrative tasks such as proofreading legal documents may be something you spend time on daily, and therefore it would be handy to have something to speed up that task, or to reduce the risk of errors. If the solution in question only helps with something you do occasionally, it may not be worth the investment.
3. Ease of use
It is human nature to be impressed by fancy solutions that claim a lot and provide a great deal of functionality. But complexity means two things:
a. You have to invest time and effort that could otherwise be spent helping clients.
b. The chances are great that while you pay for all the functionality, you only end up using some of it.
Both of these things defeat the purpose of having something to help you improve your work.
If you are trying out a new tool, make sure it is simple and intuitive to use. If documentation or instructions are needed, they should be easily accessible, and clear and short, to ensure a minimum of wasted time. You should not need to contact support, but in case you do, instructions on how to get in touch should be obvious and response time should be fast.
4. Ease of onboarding
Testing out something before buying always makes sense. For lightweight, easy-to-use solutions, online tools that you can use easily and try out for free — ideally without having to ask for IT or compliance permission — are a great way to test something.
Ideally, you should not need to share your payment or even contact details — if you do make sure there is no end of free trial period where you are automatically charged.
Also keep an eye out for complex pricing plans and expensive solutions where free or almost free tools do nearly the same thing.
5. Privacy and security
If you need to share legal documents with any third party, security is critical. Check to see if the solution is GDPR compliant, and if it has other verifications that you recognise and trust.
Choosing the right tech to help you in your daily work
It is no secret that the legal profession is challenging. A 2022 survey found that 92% of lawyers have experienced stress or burnout because of their job, with more than a quarter experiencing it daily.
Selecting the right tools to help you with repetitive tasks won’t solve all the challenges of your stress and burnout. But choosing the most suitable solutions can help reduce some headaches, speed up administrative jobs, and provide extra certainty that your work is up to par. With up to 48% of a lawyer’s day spent on administrative tasks, there is enormous potential for legal tech to reduce your workload and stress.
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