It’s an accepted truism that lawyers and law firms are notoriously slow to adopt technology. With all the publicity surrounding new technology and automation, it’s tempting for law firms and lawyers to rush to some tech—any tech—hoping that technology will somehow miraculously solve all their problems. But it won’t unless the tech adoption is carefully considered and well thought out. Ill-considered tech adoption often has the opposite effect from that which is intended. Poor adoption will sour users on tech in general and further exacerbate the reluctance to use any tech—even that which can help.
But the legal tech field is full of products and vendors, all offering what they trumpet as the be all and end all solution. So how do busy lawyers and legal professionals figure out what and how to adopt tech?
Here are ten tips:
1.
Rushing to tech that doesn’t help solve actual problems is of little value. Think carefully about what job you want technology to do for you, your fellow lawyers, and legal professionals. What problem do you want the technology to solve? There is no one size fits all tech that can fit perfectly with your firm and the problems you have, so you must identify your specific issues and areas of your practice that need improvement. Is it law firm management, payment, or client intake? Is it more substantive, such as needing data analytics to enhance litigation analysis for a particular practice group or marketing? Does your corporate section need help with contract preparation that automation might help?
2.
Relatedly, talk to the lawyers and legal professionals who will be using the technology products. Look at their workflows and where and how tech might best fit with how they do their work. Most lawyers believe that what they do is
