Introduction
With the emergence of COVID-19, the world is at the brink of going truly digital. Many industries and companies have undergone a tremendous change in the way they operate and provide services. One of the examples of an industry that had to face the consequences of the situation is the legal industry, hence, the significance of digital transformation has been highlighted in the legal sector.
Nowadays, especially during the pandemic, the adoption of digital transformation has not only benefited organizations but has also paved new opportunities for many sectors as well. The transition to digital transformation has been considerably easier for other sectors when compared to the legal sector, which has tended to drag a bit in technology adoption. Especially since travel restrictions and work from home regulations, many of the courts worldwide and legal services have started going fully remote and this scenario of access to justice becoming online is considered to continue even after the pandemic. Digitization has most definitely rescued legal services in all factors of functioning.
Digital Transformation in Legal Sector
Digital transformation has impacted the legal sector now more than ever before. Digital transformation in the legal industry refers to digitizing every factor of the legal background, including processes, workflow, client meetings, and team collaboration. The pace and discharge of work in the traditional law firm might appear to correspond to the speed and instant satisfaction that consumers would anticipate from present digital tools.
Benefits of Digital Transformation in Legal Sector
When we take a look at the benefits digital transformation has to offer the legal sector, there are quite a few.
Document Automation-
Document automation is the type of technology primarily utilized to simplify the drafting stage. This technology is very useful to lawyers and legal experts. This is because it assists them to organize all the legal documents in a single system, allowing them to create customized documents swiftly. With the help of document automation, it also helps lawyers to reduce the lot of paperwork required to create contracts and agreements.
e-Billing-
This procedure helps in enhancing cash flow faster and efficiently, without causing many billing errors. It also enhances productivity and reduces billing complexity. Most importantly, it is reliable and generates a structured automated billing process.
e-Filing-
Today, the demand for e-Filing is advancing as people are seeking to file their cases online as it is risky to step outside and go to court because of the pandemic. Therefore, the introduction of e-Filing apps has enabled people to file petitions and documents online.
e-Hearings-
The legal fraternity has been deeply impacted by COVID-19. Following the lockdown, many countries have suspended work for a particular period of time. Digital transformation has enabled the judicial system to still run effectively and ensure the delivery of justice in the right order of time. With the help of e-Hearing, it has greatly benefited the legal sector as it saves high court costs in terms of infrastructure, protection, and transportation expenses.
Contactless Attendance-
This is another benefit digital transformation brings to the table for not only legal sectors but for other industries and organizations as well. The pandemic has resulted in a huge toll on many sectors, there is a risk of containment of the spread of the virus at your office. The future of office hygiene would need the elimination of the biometric attendance system.
Challenges of Digital Transformation in Legal Sector
Benefits apart, there are also a few challenges legal sectors are facing with the implementation of digital transformation.
Limited Research Capability-
There are libraries full of books that attorneys rely on for their research. This is because the law is heavily dependent on case history. The challenge when transforming paper-based information into digital files is archiving it so that it is still available through analysis. If the file is not correctly named, or the proper keywords or concerns are not utilized, locating the documents will be unattainable. One answer for this issue is the usage of optical character recognition (OCR). OCR can read and revise these documents, which can quicken up the procedure of digitization.
Vulnerability to Data Hacks-
With huge quantities of data being altered, there has been an expansion in online security threats. Businesses are known to hold confidential, personal information. They are most likely to get attacked by hackers. It makes law firms and legal sectors a target too since they often handle sensitive information as well. To prevent this, law firms should subsidize security tools. Implementing antivirus software, firewalls, etc, would keep them safe from external threats.
Conclusion
Today, the latest innovations are presenting themselves in the field as new technological advancements are booming. Companies are trying to provide the best services such as mobile app development services, and AI services to their clients. As many sectors and organizations have started implementing digital transformation, legal sectors have also started to adopt it to keep up with its workings and processes.
Author bio:
Feral Mohammed Hazem is an industry expert and a professional writer working at ThinkPalm Technologies, a software and mobile app development services provider. He has a keen interest in AI. He is fascinated by futuristic technology and its ways. Off the screen, he is a movie buff, likes playing basketball and listening to music.
