Law firms are harnessing the power of varied technological innovations that are redefining the legal framework.

The legal industry is undergoing a major transformation over the past few years. From the conduction of legal procedures getting reformed to the diverse priority of the law firms, this transformation is inherent. As technology like artificial intelligence and its subsidiaries permeate the industry, the legal framework is not exempt from it.

Across the globe, law firms are harnessing the power of varied technological innovations that are reforming the legal framework. With COVID 19 outbreak, this reformation is further accelerated. As the law courts and legal firms are rendered to work remotely, the traditional practices of law are replaced by a client-centric approach. This article focuses on the trends that will shape legal practices in 2021.

Baby Boomer Impact  

This is the fastest evolving trend in the legal industry. With an entire generation retiring from different services in the next few years, the demand for lawyers to provide legal assistance is expanded. The legal firms are also not confined to providing judicial advice, but they are now expected to assist the clients in asset management. This is usually observed when a client is engaged in retirement planning and wants to transfer the familial asset to the ward. Moreover, the legal firms are also expected to provide legal assistance to the adult children who are navigating their parents to nursing homes post-retirement. Many individuals with few years of retirement also seek legal guidance regarding health insurance and payment of the loan. Thus with the baby boomer impact, the legal procedures would exceed beyond the jurisdictional framework.

Legal Processing Outsourcing

As technology is readily getting adopted in the legal Diaspora, a shift is observed regarding the recruitment of new talent. Most of the firms are looking forward to hiring talents that are equipped with the technological interface. As not all the employees in law-firms are lawyers, the paralegals, IT, and administrative staff is expected to take over the non-lawyer executive roles such as CEO’s CMO’s and CFO’s. This means that the legal areas are getting broken down into comprehensive compartments with limited expanses. This is known as legal Processing outsourcing. Through this approach, the law firms are expected to increase the revenue by 35 billion.

Emerging Technologies 

Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning are replacing manual tasks in legal enterprises. These tasks involve assorting the paperwork, carrying out legal research, documentation, citation, and ensuring litigation support to the contract. Moreover, instead of storing the client’s information in a hard disk, most law firms are looking at cloud services to store confidential information. Technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality are also getting utilized for remote consultation of clients, training new lawyers, and collaborating with the experts. Emerging technologies will play a significant role in paving digital transformation in the legal industry in the next few years.

Global Legal Markets 

Law firms are also planning to extend their operations in the legal market. As the legal industry is a diverse domain, many regional and national law firms are investing overseas in the legal fields. Moreover, most law firms are adopting an inclusive approach in all practices within the organization. This implies that big law firms are readily providing all legal services in one domain, thus ensuring that the name of the brand is expanded. Many business law firms are also merging their operations for broader customer assistance and making their brand name in the market.

Outlook 

With the fast-changing world, increased globalization, and accelerated adoption of technologies the legal framework is getting redefined. The legal firms are looking at various options to expand their services. The integration of technology is just the beginning of redefining the legal framework. The legal workforce thus has a positive outlook in the future.