The perfect New Year's resolution – "I will do something on the tech front"

As the new year gets under way, it is the ideal time to consider technology trends and what the legal sector can do about them to ensure 2017 is a year of positive change, writes Mark Andrews.

During the last few weeks of 2016 and first few weeks of 2017, I have had quite a few conversations with my colleagues – not about new technologies or trends, but about the fact that a significant percentage of the lawyer population either does not appreciate the technologies available, or they are not clear on how to leverage those technologies. The other factor at play is that relatively few firms are being bold enough to embrace technology to improve their work practices and products. This prompted me to think more about what technology teams need to be doing in 2017.

Trends to watch

Let us first set some foundations for the discussion by referencing some of the trends being outlined by various analysts. I was fortunate to attend a Gartner conference in late 2016 and found the trends that were shared to be interesting – and with significant potential impacts for firms. Gartner has identified 10 trends for 2017:

• Artificial intelligence and advanced machine learning(including technologies such as deep learning, neural networks and natural-language processing)
• Intelligent apps (such as virtual personal assistants)
• Intelligent things (including robots, drones and autonomous vehicles)
• Virtual and augmented reality (which transform the way individuals interact with each other and with software systems)
• Digital twins (a software model of a physical thing)
• Blockchains (a type of distributed ledger)
• Conversational systems (ranging from simple informal, bidirectional text or voice conversations to more complex interactions such as collecting oral testimony from crime witnesses)
• MESH app (solution architecture that leverages cloud and server-less computing and service architecture)
• Digital technology platforms (the building blocks for a digital business)
• Adaptive security architecture (enabling security to become security has to become fluid and adaptive).

What strikes my about all 10 themes is the increased sophistication and ‘intelligence’ of technology and the ever increasing connectivity of everything we do. In a recent article for Forbes magazine, Jayson DeMers, chief executive officer of internet marketing company AudienceBloom, writes about seven trends for 2017:

• The Internet of Things and smart home technology
• Augmented reality and virtual reality
• Machine learning
• Automation
• Humanised big data
• Physical-digital integration
• Everything on-demand.

We can see some similar patterns in the trends identified by DeMers to those mentioned by Gartner. Further surveys of articles and literature shows some similar trends and thinking from various authors and analysts, so it would seem reasonable to conclude that some variation of these trends will play out this year.

What impact will they have?

Let us for a moment assume all of the trends play out in a mature way. What might the impact be on the legal sector? I would suggest there will be a profound impact as it is hard to think of a time since computers first entered the law that there has been so much potential for the impact of technology. All of these trends strike at the heart of what has defined the legal sector in terms of leverage models, apprenticeship, significant investment in supporting infrastructure and people, and dependence on time recording, to name just a few. I would, however, caution that not all of the trends are going to play out in the same timeframe and with the same maturity.

What I do think is critical in 2017 is that we allow some of these trends to have an impact. Let us not be the frog in the pot of cold water whose temperature gradually increases to the point where survival is no longer possible. Let us be the frog that senses the pot may not be the best long-term position and makes some changes.

Of the trends, I think automation, AI and machine learning are present and real in the legal environment today, but they are yet to be adopted widely enough to have a transformative effect on law firms. Blockchain is another trend that could have a significant potential impact, but perhaps we can also consider other forms of digital signatures.

If we connect humanised big data to AI, then the world starts getting even more interesting. The legal sector is one of the most content-rich sectors around, yet we tend not to think in big data/analytics terms. The knowledge management profession has for a long time been pushing the value of information held within law firms, but it has not had the sophisticated IT tools to be able to support this. With the trends at play, this is now changing.

None of the trends should be dismissed as if they are not having an impact on the way the legal sector is using technology; they are clearly having an effect on the way the clients of the legal sector operate and transact.

What to do?

‘Something’ is the first word that comes to mind. Make your first resolution for 2017 to ‘do something’ about technology trends and make it something that has an impact on your firm. In some respects, it does not matter whether it is a success or a failure – if 2017 is the year you start to ‘do something’, that in itself will be a positive. To expand on this, I am not suggesting that there aren’t firms and individuals that are doing something, but we are still a little too complacent as a sector. It is almost like we are waiting for someone to prove they can disrupt us in order for us to start acting.

Perhaps your second resolution for 2017 should be to ‘get out more’. If you have lawyers focussed on the IT sector, how well do you understand the issues on which they are advising their clients? What things are their clients doing to embrace technology and what disruptions are their clients either anticipating or acting to mitigate? Make 2017 the year you spend more time with clients, both within your firm and directly with the clients of your firm.

A third resolution for 2017 could be to ‘make it pay’. This is one way of saying that you should make sure that all of your investment in technology is paying for itself – not in a literal dollar-for-dollar way, but by the way lawyers in your firm have awareness of the technology available to them and make appropriate use of it. There are all too many conversations in law firms among lawyers bemoaning the state of their technology and viewing the greener grass at a competitor firm.

The reality is that much of what is bemoaned as missing is actually available, but either the technology team has failed to communicate effectively, train appropriately or articulate clearly the use case for technology. It could also be a failure on the part of the lawyer in believing their work practice cannot be improved. Therefore, they either finding reasons not to adopt the technology, or they avoid any engagement altogether.

A final resolution for 2017 that seems to fit the trends is to ‘be different’ since it is pretty clear that if we are to make 2017 a year of positive change then we cannot keep doing the same things we have done for the past few years. The trends are there to experiment with, to be explored and to be embraced. The way to do this is to reflect on all of the ways you have approached the use and promotion of technology in your firm, see what has worked and try some things you have not done before.

Time to act

I wanted to keep this article brief as I cannot prescribe a solution for your firm or know what steps might work for you, but if you are prepared to ‘do something’, ‘get out more’, ‘make it pay’ and ‘be different’ and measure your 2017 by these resolutions then I am confident you will have played your part in moving the legal sector forward and mitigating against the external disruptive forces that are upon us.

I wish you a year of change … created by you!

Mark Andrews is Director – Global IT Service Delivery at Baker McKenzie. He has a varied background, including time in the public and private sectors, along with considerable professional services experience. He has held roles ranging from HR to management consulting and has previously been a guest lecturer as part of University of Technology, Sydney’s Executive MBA program.