Law technology (lawtech) is currently valued at over $15 billion globally. In the UK, legal technology has made significant strides over the last few years, which have seen the comprehensive integration of lawtech products like eDiscovery and legal software. Here are five technology trends that are currently moulding the legal industry in the UK for the better.
- Legal Case Management Software
Case management software is designed to handle the business matters in the legal profession. Law school typically doesn’t teach aspiring attorneys how to run and manage a firm, which is why legal software is especially handy to small and medium law firms.
Legal software brings automation, speed, and accuracy to the business end of running a law firm. It typically includes features for scheduling cases, communicating with clients, billing (time tracking), and case management, as well as document assembly, which allows attorneys to build cases faster and with fewer errors.
- eDiscovery
eDiscovery is one of the earliest technology trends that was adapted into legal systems around the world. The concept of electronic discovery was created to facilitate the collection, identification, and presentation of electronically stored information (ESI) during legal proceedings as evidence or to further investigations.
The term ESI encompasses all digital information such as audio and video files, databases, emails, documents, voicemail, recorded phone calls, web sites, and social media pages/accounts. The dynamic nature of digitally stored information lends further benefits to investigators and attorneys, such as timestamps, recipient and author details, and other useful file properties.
- Artificial Intelligence
AI technology has progressed rapidly in the UK legal industry. Legal officials today turn to AI assistants when conducting data analyses and fact-checking information to hasten the research process of case building, and also minimize human error.
AI will play a more significant role in the coming days as lawtech advancements continue to place it front and centre in the legal process. It is possible that rulings and sentencing will be determined entirely using AI systems in the future, which will base their decisions solely on existing precedents and the unique nature of each case to deliver unbiased results.
- Analytics
For AI to take root in the UK legal system, it needs the help of data analysis. Predictive analytics will soon become a crucial tool for attorneys when formulating strategies against the opposing counsel. Analytics will ease the burden of sifting through decades of information in search of evidence, precedence, and other information that’s vital to the advancement of a court case.
Already, several UK law firms have incorporated prognostic analysis to help streamline their legal processes.
- Encryption
Secure encryption has already aided firms in other fields to protect their databases from tampering and malicious actors. The UK legal system could benefit tremendously from robust encryption protocols to safeguard ESI used as evidence in ongoing trials. Encryption will eradicate the destruction or alteration of evidence, and limit access to pertinent data to only the proponent council and the presiding judge.
Presently, digital disruption in the UK legal industry lags compared to other fields such as financial technology (fintech) primarily because it lacks the same level of advancement in regulatory alignment and funding. Even so, the UK is considered a global trendsetter in lawtech with London, a significant legal technology hub in the world, at the centre of it all.
