Attitudes towards lawtech adoption

Technology has the potential to significantly change the way legal professionals do their work.

However, in this fast-changing climate, there is a considerable amount of uncertainty around adopting new tech ranging from:

• basic software and databases to improve the efficiency of service delivery
• advanced chatbots
• the latest advances in predictive artificial intelligence

For legal professionals to adopt these new ways of working, it may take a profound change in mindset to fully harness the complete potential of emerging lawtech.

To interrogate this further, we have collaborated on a primary research project with a team of researchers from the University of Manchester and University College London.

The findings

The report illustrates perceptions of lawtech adoption and intended use.

It concludes that, although there is currently limited uptake of legal technology amongst the profession, there is a growing willingness to embrace it to increase efficiency.

Lubna Shuja, president of the Law Society, said: “Partners and senior management within solicitor firms have a vital role to play to encourage and support individuals through change that greater use of technology inevitably involves.

“It’s essential that the legal sector capitalises on the potential benefits of lawtech, but also mitigates the risks involved by upskilling its leaders and managers in the art of change management.”

As well as the full report, we have produced a summary detailing some of the project’s goals and findings.