Before any explorer can set off on a new adventure, they must first plot the course and plan the way. Ask any space explorer, for instance, and they’ll tell you they didn’t just show up on the moon one day. They had to prepare for the launch well in advance. The same holds true for planning your trek with legal tech.
The trick is to to build up to it. And the only way to build on something is to first start with an honest assessment of where you are currently. However disorganized and not-yet-packed that may be.
Or maybe, if you’re lucky, your company’s a little more prepared for the expedition and you’ve already got a baseline of supplies established. At this stage, you’re probably just searching for ways to take your company to the next level.
Wherever you are in your legal tech journey, there’s something more you can do to drive competitive advantage for your company.
The first step, according to leader of the Law Department Consulting Practice at HBR Consulting, Kevin Clem?
Ask yourself these three questions:
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What are your goals when it comes, not just to legal technology, but to how your legal department is aligning with your overall company strategy?
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Where are you on the path towards achieving these goals?
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What are the major influencers driving you to seek change?
Essentially, companies need to identify any nuances of business or regulations that could create barriers to change so they can address and overcome them while moving ahead in building a legal tech ecosystem.
At this early stage in the process, things might look a little messy. A company might not have a specific strategy around legal technology. Companies might not have a well-defined or documented process for performing legal work. They might operate in a non-standard, ad hoc way and track work in a personal environment, such as through local drives, Outlook and spreadsheets. There’s a good chance they also lack department-wide tools and applications.
“Even today, a lot of law departments are mired in using email and spreadsheets to manage their operations,” Clem states in his recent webinar.
The good news? With a little effort – and maybe some elbow grease – it’s possible to take your legal technology to the next level.
