As part of our autumn tech special, we asked partners, innovation heads and CIOs to give a pragmatic take on the state of law firm tech
Just do it
‘In the next year or two, people will stop talking about AI and just use it. AI will just be embedded in the way firms work – like computers or emails. I don’t think in the long term we’ll have the situation where AI alone gives some firms a sustainable competitive advantage over others.’
Kevin Harris, director of IT, Taylor Wessing
Part of the process
‘One of the risks in the industry is to believe that tech alone is the answer. It’s only part of the solution. We need to work out solutions that involve people, process and tech. What’s always interesting is how legal tech is connected to wider innovation: they should go together. It’s a question of how joined up those things are.’
Stephen Allen, head of legal services delivery, Hogan Lovells
Dog days are over
‘Tech is not just about [cutting down on] fees; it is about freeing up our people to do more intellectually stimulating things. No-one went into law to do mundane work. One of the factors in retaining the best talent is to give them intellectually-stimulating work.’
Shilpa Bhandarkar, head of innovation, Linklaters
‘We don’t just do what we have always done in a more efficient way – tech changes the way we work.’
Jonathan Brayne, Allen & Overy
Everything changes
‘It is wrong to say this is just about cost reduction; it is also about a number of other things, all of which go to benefit clients. We can do things through tech now that we previously couldn’t do. We don’t just do what we have always done in a more efficient way – it changes the way we do things.’
Jonathan Brayne (pictured), partner and chair of Fuse, Allen & Overy
Leave a light on
‘When you give a lawyer a new application or tool, sometimes you can see the lightbulb switch on when they realise how useful it is.’
Jane Bradbury, director of knowledge and information, Slaughter and May
The big picture
‘We overestimate technology in the short term and underestimate it in the long term. If you are responsible for making a strategy at a law firm and consider tech a completely separate thing, rather than holistically, then you’re looking for a silver bullet.’
Ben McGuire, director of innovation and business change, Simmons & Simmons
Walk the dinosaur
‘Tech is changing how law firms work, but if we’re looking for some cataclysmic event, that is pie-in-the-sky stuff. But there is no doubt technology is disruptive. If you have humans looking over one million disputes documents instead of using technology, you are going the way of the dinosaurs.’
Nick West, chief technology officer and director of MDR LAB, Mishcon de Reya
‘Tech is about freeing up our people to do more intellectually-stimulating things. No-one went into law to do mundane work.’
Shilpa Bhandarkar, Linklaters
The promise
‘There is an immediate technology threshold that needs to be crossed before you can say: “Okay, we’re going to adopt this.” Assurances of where the data will be held is the big one. But on paper, a lot of the tech stuff seems to be in a good place.’
Haig Tyler, chief information officer, Herbert Smith Freehills
You don’t get a badge
‘The relationship with start-ups is never an easy one. It’s not as simple as phoning them up and getting something for free or the tool in exchange for some funding. Start-ups burn through money before they can pay wages and other basic things. Some people say: “Oh, we’re engaging with start-ups so it’s job done,” as if they then get a badge.’
Andrew Mcmanus, IT director, Eversheds Sutherland
Learning to fly
‘We identify the best of breed and bring it in to aid us with our legal service delivery. We are not looking to develop our own legal automation products. In my experience, the external legal tech providers have learned from early mistakes. Many more of them understand it isn’t a simple sell and run away.’
Mike Polson, partner and director of Ashurst Advance