Become a Legal Tech and Run Digital Transformation in Modern Law Businesses

The growing world trend of remote work is no news for most anyone else these days. What enterprises and professionals are presently discussing is the ways how they are adapting to this new working model.

They are also looking for the wide range of market opportunities that have opened up. Finally, these firms need to deal with the impacts of new business models in their profession, clients’, and workers’ lives.

Of course, law firms are not apart from this scenario, they are one of the highly transforming areas. Since the beginning of the pandemic, big law firms authorized their lawyers to work from home. Many of them have turned out not to revert this system for a significant percentage of their employees.

They just found that, after many executives and managers adapted to a new lifestyle, there was no turning back. They had gained more life quality, moved to different places, stopped wasting daily time on traffic.

But they still worked the same much, and even better. With no generalizations, many companies saw it is possible to do most work from distance. Moreover, they confirmed the system has advantages like lower costs and employees motivation.

The Advantages of Becoming a Legal Tech

• Many clients nowadays prefer to be assisted virtually, since they travel a lot, so you should be prepared to offer services and solve problems online and offer a communication platform like GitScrum to keep them aware of your processes;
• As well as your clients, you gain flexibility and mobility when you are able to work and solve problems online. This way, you can also travel and still be responsive from different places and timezones;
• You can expand your client(s) and partner(s) network and services internationally, working and collaborating online with professionals from all over the world, even in different languages, using our GitScrum project management tool;
• Cost reduction – many jurisdictions demand companies to have physical addresses. Even so, allowing part of the workforce to work from home still reduces costs with rent, maintenance, energy, and equipment;
• Environmental contribution – save resources preventing workers from using fuel, digitalizing documents, reducing paper usage and, as a consequence of all these, reduce your carbon emission levels;
• As we’ve said, you will engage your team with more life quality and still create commitment towards the company goals, provided that you use an appropriate tool and methodology – GitScrum helps you apply Agile and keep your team working for united, even when they are physically apart.

How to Become a Legal Tech

Ok, so you are probably thinking it’s a great idea to go virtual. If not totally, working on the hybrid model (mix presential and remote work). If so, what would be the way for your digital transformation? Here are some valuable tips:

1. Build a digital transformation plan:

We know there are still many bureaucratic public institutions, and going virtual does not only depend on you. Fortunately, governments are also gradually evolving their processes. Thus, it’s important to build a plan and monitor these evolutions. Be aware of what is changing for good and the routines you can migrate, as soon as possible.

2. Research about the countries/regions you intend to work in:

Consider the specific laws that are applicable there, regarding the need of maintaining a physical address or not. Verify how to employ and associate lawyers at your office, and the rules and restrictions to advertise your services internationally. Research on promising market niches and services you can offer virtually, rather than the traditional ones. Markets are always changing, and so is yours. For instance, offering law consultancy virtually might offer less bureocracy and bareers than processes.

3. Prepare the Team to Collaborate Remotely:

Invest in training your team members and yourself to work and communicate with clients virtually, solve problems and offer services with the same quality you did before, or even better. The objective is to deliver an unprecedented experience to clients. They must feel that now it’s faster to solve troubles that were once too slow. It can be a gradual process, don’t demand yourself to operate miracles.

4. Research for Your Target “Persona” :

It sounds like a marketing expression, and it is. The fact is, when you become a virtual law firm, not everyone is your potential client. What we mean is that your “ideal potential client profile” might change when you go virtual. Clients looking for virtual law offices are probably looking for fast resolutions. They have different behaviors than the clients who used to enjoy spending an afternoon overtalking while drinking coffee. Planning a transition means figuring where to find these new clients. You also need to plan for how long you will be still working the traditional way.

5. Plan tasks substitution:

Search for available technologies which will allow you to virtually scan, sign, authenticate and verify documents, make safe payments for instance (so you reduce the need of conventional procedures).

6. Stay aware of global agreements and national regulations that impact all companies’ routines:

Even though these issues might not be originally laws, they might offer business opportunities, since they imply parallel legal issues, so you can partner with specialists and create additional services to offer consultancy and training for companies, even proactively: you can convince them to work issues internally to avoid legal problems.

7. Build a Partnership Map:

As in many other professions, it’s impossible for one lawyer, or even a small office to offer  services in all law areas, but there is a need to be responsive and offer quick solutions to clients. In the same way, you need partnerships in a traditional office, you will build your virtual network – what changes is the kind of services you are willing to offer and focus, and the fact that they don’t need to be in your city. Even after you go virtual, you can invite partners to collaborate and contribute to your projects!

8. Don’t be ashamed to ask another Legal Tech to help you:

They can tell you how the company managed to create virtual routines. Even if you don’t know the company’s owner, there is nothing wrong about humbly asking – your highest risk is not getting an answer.

9. Interact in Social Media groups:

Another easy way to obtain free help is to participate in thematic social media groups on the web, on Facebook, Linked In and others, where professionals exchange tips on how they are adapting and creating new services. It’s almost impossible not to get at least one good hint there, so give them a chance!

10. If your team is not made of tech lovers, it’s time you all start to change:

Automating tasks means working on collaborative tools, using smart integrations, mobile devices, and exchanging notifications among apps. But don’t panic! Your project management tool must facilitate it all for you, and you’ll be able to take all steps at a time.

How is the Legal Tech Office Routine Like

Some common grounds virtual law firms share:

• Automating tasks and client requests, on a virtual platform like Gitscrum Board;
• Lawyers respond to clients on this collaborative platform;
• Meetings appointment (video calls) when necessary;
• Virtually scanning and signing documents, with appropriate certifications;
• Documents savings in a safe Cloud, like GitScrum Documents (unlimited storage space);
• The lawyers and managers team have weekly goals to meet in time-boxed sessions, which can be done with GitScrum Sprints;
• Encouraging team members to create new projects;
• Lawyers use smart project management to investigate customers’ needs and improve services, besides searching ideas for innovative services – they use short reports that we call GitScrum User Stories.
• Every team member can monitor they multiple assignments and know, any time, every task that’s about to start or end – this can be done with GitScrum Gantt Charts.