Change is inevitable, and although the legal industry is slow in adopting new technology, it’s only a matter of time until it is fully embraced. It’s a well known fact that the legal industry struggles to integrate new technology, however, it’s not the technology itself that is being resisted, but it’s the training process that comes with it. Most legal technology does not take into consideration the immense amount of time lawyers already spend on researching and applying law. Practicing law is no simple task, so when new technology is presented, the last thing legal practitioners want to do is spend more time on something else. Legal technology needs to provide more user-friendly systems that are aligned with the intuition of a legal professional.
For instance, litigation technology such as online case management and electronic document exchange should be a very straightforward process. When something as simple as managing and exchanging documents online requires training that means the system is counter-intuitive. When serving documents online has too many steps, it’s no better than serving a document in the traditional matter via U.S. Mail, Courier Service or Facsimile. Instead of trying to bundle various features into one platform, attorneys would be better served if they can execute a simple task of serving a document with the least amount of steps.
The following is a simple three step process that Online Case Management & E-Service providers should provide:
Some may say the above is idealistic, however, that is the reality of what legal practitioners prefer. There should be no need to jump through hurdles to complete such a simple task. Technology is meant to simplify and streamline processes, not make them more difficult. Time is money and nobody has time to waste, especially legal practitioners.
