Numerous myths and incorrect information about legal technology force law firms to make critical decisions about partner selection and system upgrades. Below are a few of the most common myths about legal technology that we would like to dispel and provide practical tips that your firm can use today.

Myth #1: Lawyers Will Be Replaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Absolutely not; AI is progressing quickly as an advanced component of innovation and exploration, but its utility in most workflows in law firms is presently the automation of tasks, not replacing thoughtful and insightful legal professionals. This means that intelligent automation of the manual or repetitive portions of a typical workflow primarily contributes to the efficiency of human employees, not completely replaces them.

As this technology advances, AI will increasingly become a trusted advisor to legal professionals, providing real-time insights, pattern recognition, and data evaluation/ranking, ultimately enabling employees to make and consistently interpret data-driven decisions backed by metrics quickly.

For example, properly trained artificial intelligence models will allow firms to have a quick and reliable mechanism for scoring job candidates based on the most critical factors. Artificial intelligence can weigh acquisitions and measure expected closing time, expected value intervals, previous interactions with the same person, and even impact on causes and public issues relevant to the company and its community. Instead of employees spending hours searching, researching, and comparing keywords and critical criteria, they simply train an artificial intelligence model to evaluate an acquisition deal against its targets, providing a set of results ordered by the order in which they meet the “rules” of importance.

Make use of  intelligent automation to help you make informed decisions for your own and your customers’ benefit. Automate what saves time without sacrificing the customer experience or relinquishing decision-making control at the human level.

Myth #2: More Integration = Better the Legal Technology

In the legal technology field, there is a lot of consolidation and acquisition activity focused on bringing together the complete technology stack. There is a huge difference between an interface and the integration of two systems. While it is good to have access to new functionality, workflows do not always work as expected.

An interface is typically the easiest way to get a newly purchased product to join an existing software suite. The user can launch the “added” product from a button or event, sometimes without re-login, and send data values to the other product to perform its primary task. The two products rarely look the same, but the data is never stored in a single model or result. The interface is only a shortcut between separate software. In the legal world, a good example is how many intake systems interact with case management systems, sending copies of documents and managing each independently.

On the other hand, an integration strategy allows two or more point solutions to be seamlessly inserted into the main product workflow without having to abandon the main product if they are helpful to the user. An excellent way to think about this is that the system can send text messages or emails directly from its workflow without requiring a “jump” to a new product.

Myth #3: All Data Security Is the Same

This is a common misconception about cloud technology in general. We must never forget that law firm data is one of the most valuable assets and must be protected with measures and protocols commensurate with its value and importance. Privacy, security, access control, recoverability, and high availability are fundamental pillars of data security and must be designed into the system from the beginning, not added on after the system is deployed.

It is essential to be clear on how to protect the data behind every feature built, ensuring that those who need access always have access and those who shouldn’t have access. We have all seen inexperienced technology vendors move the same packages that existed on the desktop to the cloud in security projects based primarily on trust in the goodwill of the average user. Clearly, this is not a good solution and is not a viable platform for holding valuable assets like corporate data and life.

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