Extractd from a Post June 13, 2013 -
12:03
by Emory Kale
Lawyer robots will one day kill us all while
suing us for copyright infringement on our DNA, but until then, it could be
that technology is making the profession a little nervous about its role in IT.
Rohit Talwar of
Fast Future Research has written a really thoughtful piece on
the relationship between the legal sector and information
technology. In an ongoing research project, Mr. Talwar sees the
following key themes emerging:
- The technology environment will be characterized by the “internet of
things” [machines “talking” to machines], social
media and “social listening”, smart environments, a more
immersive multi-sensory intelligent internet, increasingly sophisticated
data gathering and analysis, plus widespread penetration and adoption of
artificial intelligence (AI).
- End-users will increasingly be mobile, supported by intelligent
digital personal assistants and “lab on a chip” devices, and use wearable
technologies enhanced with augmented reality (AR) and holographic
displays.
- Devices will offer AI-enabled smart interfaces, automatic language
translation, and support user interaction via gestures, language and
thought.
- Customer service delivery could be enhanced through deep collaboration
environments, portals providing tracking dashboards and total transparency
on the status of individual matters, shared databases, advanced
videoconferencing, touchable holographs, novel data handling tools and
sophisticated security
technology.
- Legal function and law firm processes could be transformed through
developments in AI, knowledge management, smart data capture and analysis,
predictive analytics, intelligent document production, video mining,
integrated analytics and “gamification”.
- Emerging
technologies could bring about dramatic changes in the way
matters are conducted and information is analyzed and presented back to
clients.
- At the IT management level, the cloud will be used for infrastructure,
applications, development and data. Priorities for IT
management will shift from production to innovation, developing
next-level services and evolving the IT staff profile, skill sets,
management focus and alignment. For in-house functions, a dedicated IT and
knowledge manager will become an increasing priority.
Services like Legalzoom are changing the traditional
efficiency of certain legal practices, streamlining and virtualizing processes
that used to be strictly the domain of flesh and blood lawyers.
Therefore, there are clear examples of a direct impact on the legal profession.
In addition, as our actions
and output are increasingly captured in digital formats and stored
indefinitely, the nature of the services that the legal profession offers will
probably have to adapt. The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA)
is funding Talwar's Legal Technology Future Horizons research with the hope o
creating strategic priorities for the profession in the coming decade.
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