Mar 9th 2019, 15:27

HOW TO ENGAGE EFFECTIVELY WITH CONTEMPORARY LEGAL TECH & DIGITALISATION

An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers
and Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”


Globe Law and Business excel with their blend of special reports which offer practical frameworks for business and law.

This new publication, a collaboration with Venturis, offers all involved in legal matters, whether as practitioners, advisers or legal support staff, an insight into where law firms might be going in the future.

The report assesses the new industrial revolution which is advancing computer technology at an astonishing rate of development, and the use of digital systems for the legal profession as new methods of conducting legal business emerge.


The authors of this report are Robert F van Beemen, Rupprecht Graf von Pfeil and Gerard J Tanjo. They bring their specialist expertise to cover a series of topics depending on what you are looking for, including basis questions which need to be answered. For instance, what impact do technology, legal tech and technology-based legal services have on the formulation of strategy in traditional law firms?

We will not give spoilers, but other issues explored here include these matters such as whether legal tech affects the competitive positioning of law firms. The answer is very much that they do in 2019!

Legal tech and client services delivery is also reviewed in some detail. The authors pose these questions: Will the distinctive value proposition of law firms change? How does legal tech impact the traditional business models of law firms? How do national and international law firms implement technology in their business model? What are best practices and what can we learn? In fact, what you get here is a short but detailed tour around the biggest IT problems facing our profession today.

The report begins by providing insights into the impact of legal tech and digitalization on strategy formulation, and on how the digital revolution is affecting the traditional models of law firms.

The authors conclude with a commentary on the perspectives law firms should consider with regard to legal tech companies for the future so if you are busy read the summary at the end of the report which looks ahead for the next 10 years- always a risky business for the law!

The big question which remains is whether the profession will see mergers between law firms and such new entrants and legal tech companies. Although there is a protectionist element always present to preserve the professionalism of the law, the answer is clearly a probable “yes”.

Then, we consider the role of the 'Big 4' leaders and how they will embed legal tech in their services and in which areas they may try to compete in the future. The difficulty all legal businesses face at present is the uncertainty for the future in the next decade with the continuation of digitation and expanding technologies are the march of artificial intelligence continues. Your worries, in our view are well answered here as the report is both positive and sound on what the future might look.

You need this short paperback for the suggestions the authors offer on future competitive positioning and what is currently on offer for business models of law firms in a post-Brexit world. Thank you, Globe and Venturis for taking this project on and we look forward to many more reports from Globe as business models develop in the 2020s.


This paperback report was published in 20th September 2018.