Leveraging Legal Innovation: 5 Benefits
The legal landscape and the expectations placed upon firms and their business models have been shifting for quite some time. Like many industries, the legal profession has been fairly set in its ways for decades, with the partnership model still very prevalent among many of the most profitable firms. However, as trends, client expectations, and technology evolve, legal innovation has become an important topic and plays an essential part in building and maintaining success in the future.
As with many industries, the growth and prevalence of technology have changed the playing field, making legal services more accessible than ever before and ushering in a new type of business model and standards for client satisfaction. This shift provides an opportunity for legal professionals to build new skills and become leaders in their field. By pursuing programs such as a certificate in legal innovation, law professionals can play an instrumental role in shaping the legal landscape of the future.
What Is Legal Innovation?
Legal innovation can take on a variety of forms in law firms and the field of law. At its core, legal innovation is the effort to evolve and make changes that improve a firm’s policies, workplace culture, and programs—to provide better value and services to its clients.
From an investment in improving workplace culture to the adoption of technological advancements and a shift in focus toward client satisfaction, legal innovations are steps that organizations take to meet the evolving demands of legal professionals and their clients.
5 Benefits of Legal Innovation
Legal innovation and changes in business models can involve quite a bit of growing pain for many firms. However, there are many benefits for those embracing change and technological advancements. From the ways in which they are able to meet the needs of their clients to business efficiency and improvements in workplace culture, legal innovation is becoming a key consideration for firms nationwide. The following are five of the key benefits gained from implementing legal innovation.
1. Increased Collaboration
The classic business models of many law firms have been responsible for fostering an atmosphere of competition within firms and the legal industry as a whole. Under the partnership model, lawyers want to progress within the firm as quickly as possible, allowing them to advance their position and earn more money—a model that often does not encourage collaboration or teamwork.
While the desire to win a case is obviously a positive goal for law firms and their clients, the way legal professionals go about it matters. By placing the emphasis on billable hours or outperforming a colleague, this level of competition can result in lawyers taking on cases that are outside of their expertise. Rather than seeking the assistance of a colleague who may be specialized in that area, a lawyer will often try to complete a case on their own, often at the detriment of their client and case.
Legal innovation improves collaboration between legal professionals by placing emphasis on client satisfaction, encouraging firms to build their bottom line through client retention, and improving the value of the products and services they are providing.
2. Technological Advancements and Automation
The advent of technology and the integration of automation has increased speed and efficiency across a variety of industries, and the legal field is no exception. Utilizing technology to better track and itemize billable hours, streamline research, coordinate between back-of-house and front-of-house teams, and organize or digitize documents, are all essential technological advancements. Legal innovation allows professionals to pass along menial tasks to automated programs and better prioritize their workload.
3. Employee Retention and Workplace Culture
Many businesses struggle with employee retention and fostering a workplace culture that provides value and encourages commitment from employees. In the field of law, it is not uncommon for individuals to feel as though they are simply another number as opposed to a valued and appreciated member of an organization.
The role that legal innovation plays in employee retention and workplace culture are based on the shift toward collaboration—encouraging firms to not only reward teamwork but to acknowledge employee successes and the valuable role each employee plays in an organization’s ability to reach its goals. Through both individual and team recognition, firms can ensure their employees feel valued and appreciated, fostering loyalty and improving outcomes for firms and their clients.
4. Optimized Research
Research plays a fundamental role in collecting the information and documentation needed to build a case. Since research is an incredibly time-consuming process, automation and technological programs can help law firms streamline the research process. This allows them to improve efficiency, save time for their legal professionals, and increase client satisfaction by ensuring cases are handled as productively as possible.
5. Transparency and Convenience for Customers
Seeking legal counsel is not a simple process. Clients may feel there is a lack of transparency in the legal structure—from the multitude of documents and steps to proceedings, to the many members of a legal team and their billable hours—leaving them feeling dissatisfied with legal services. Legal innovation encourages transparency from law firms to ensure that clients feel they are being respected and that their time and money are not being abused for profit.
Become a Leader in Legal Innovation
The ability to adapt and grow is an essential part of building and maintaining success in the field of law. From remodeling the way law firms respond to clients’ needs and keeping up with technological innovations and trends to improving communication between law professionals, legal innovation has a multitude of benefits for both law firms and the lawyers leading them.
Investing in continuing education to learn the latest skills and technology can be incredibly beneficial for professionals looking to make their mark and advance in their field. Pursuing a program such as the Legal Innovation and Technology Certificate from Suffolk University’s Center for Continuing & Professional Education can be a great addition to any legal professional’s resume and help them keep up with industry requirements and trends.
Suffolk University’s fully online program was designed to equip you with the practical skills you need to build a successful career. Discover how you can become a leader in legal innovation.
Sources:
Above the Law, “Is The Problem With Partnerships The Partnership?”
American Bar Association, “Evolving Law Firm Models With Innovation: Using Lessons Learned From the Pandemic”
Bloomberg Law, “Analysis: Legal Innovation—Lots of Talk, Not as Much Action”
Centerbase, “How to Improve Internal Collaboration at Your Law Firm”
Forbes, “Are Law Firms Sustainable? It’s The Model That Matters”
Investopedia, “Limited Liability Partnership (LLP): The Basics”
SPD Group, “Benefits of Legal Technology: How it Can Benefit Your Business”