How to become a modern law firm in 4 steps

With the rise in the use of technology in the legal world, it can be confusing to know how to stay up to date and in charge of your legal tech needs as well as the needs of your clients. However, there is an overwhelming amount of legal technology out there and understanding the one that's best for your client provides a prime opportunity for modernising your law firm in the UK. 

The State of the UK Legal Market 2022 (SOLM) report shows that legal buyers report their highest level of spend optimism in five years. This is encouraging news, but what are clients looking for when it comes time to spend?

A deep understanding of legal buyers' businesses as well as the ability to structure legal advice in the context of their unique challenges could put UK legal firms at the top of their field. Clients are showing an increased propensity to use alternative legal service providers (ALSPs), including the Big 4 accounting firms, because these providers offer a focus on speed and efficiency not found in most traditional firms.

This speed and efficiency are attractive to legal buyers because they need help tackling increasing digitization and an increasing volume of work for their departments. Clients are looking for firms with robust legal tech and strategic innovation to help them automate work and improve processes and workflows.

The message is clear — law firms that can help clients along their legal tech journey stand to win. So, what can you do to become a legal tech leader?

Easy wins with legal tech

UK firms have reached a 50% adoption threshold in only four legal tech categories: e-signatures, legal research, practical know-how, and e-billing. This presents a tremendous opportunity for forward-thinking firms to help clients bring their tech adoption to desirable levels. According to the SOLM, clients noted that firm-critical technologies — like e-billing, legal business intelligence, and analytics — show significant room for improvement.

If your firm hasn't already adapted legal tech like e-billing, practical know-how, legal research, and e-signatures, now's the time to do it. Next, leverage those tools and your experience to help your clients introduce the tech into their operations.

How to become a modern law firm

To be a leader in any industry, you must be able to go above and beyond your clients' expectations. This is especially true in the legal industry, which is ripe with opportunities for innovators. With ALSPs becoming more mainstream, this is more important than ever.

As client spend grows, modern law firms must make sure they're poised to deliver. The SOLM report demonstrates that clients have a need in their technology journey. Law firms with the infrastructure and personnel in place to provide that service will differentiate themselves from the competition. 

Look beyond the obvious solutions. Things like document management and e-discovery are relatively easy for any legal provider to offer, meaning the bigger opportunities lie in efficiency, billing, and legal business intelligence tools.

1. Increase efficiency

As more people work from home, businesses are looking for ways to make meetings, systems, and processes in these environments more efficient while still falling within the letter of the law. The SOLM shows that a functional understanding of technology applications is high on clients' wish lists.

Simply having the best tech isn't enough — lawyers must know how and when to apply it to best solve client challenges.

2. Manage spend

Today's legal tech leaders must have detailed insight into client matters in order to manage budgets, meet deadlines, and prevent write-downs. These internal firm efficiencies translate into more profit and an increased client base.

Not only does managing firm spend increase the bottom line, it shows clients you respect their time by meeting deadlines.

3. Be proactive

Modern law firms that offer proactive insights into budgets, matters in progress, and project timelines are a rare asset to their clients. Again, knowing your client's business, industry, and the specific problems they face is key here.

Listen to your clients and understand their problems, then figure out how you can use legal tech to best be of service to them.

4. Solve specific business problems

Knowing your client's business will give you an edge over the competition, especially if it enables you to solve their unique problems and make their lives easier through the use of experts in their field. Often, this involves not just understanding your client's industry, but also knowing your clients’ larger business objectives.

The combination of industry knowledge and an understanding of long-term objectives makes your firm a valuable resource your clients will turn to time and time again.

How can technology help modernise your law firm?

As mentioned above, firms that adopt new technology early will better position themselves for success. The path to adopt legal tech at your firm will be worth the time and effort. 

With the help of cloud-based management software, your firm will be on its way to becoming the best modern law firm in the UK.