Evan Koblentz, staff reporter for Law Technology News.
Image by Rick Kopstein/ALM
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Making powerful, easy-to-use software for lawyers is difficult -- that's obvious to everyone except those outside of the legal field. One of the keys to cracking the legal market is to make new products that work the way lawyers already do, not the way Dilbert thinks they should -- even the open-source developers agree. It's the reason, for example, that companies such as Aderant, Guidance Software, JurInnov, LexisNexis, and Microsystems are starting to make their product interfaces as similar as possible to Microsoft Outlook.
Law firm consultancy Lexvista understands this, as articulated Monday by CEO John Wallbillich in his WiredGC blog, which is part of the ALM Law.com blog network. In a post titled "Developing Legal Tech: Seven Challenges," Wallbillich explained why the best laid plans of engineers and entrepreneurs often fail to take hold in this industry. His reasons:
1. "Lawyers aren't great at defining the problem."
2. "Law firms weren't built to solve problems fast."
3. "Legal IT groups are often more service-oriented."
4. "The legal industry under-utilizes low-cost options."
5. "Some developers confuse needs with wants."
6. "Some developers underestimate the pull of inertia in the legal space."
7. "IT in corporations is not typically Legal IT."
I called Wallbillich to ask what he thinks about the answers to these issues. He said he originally had a longer list of challenges but narrowed it to seven for online discussion, and that he'll divulge his answers in upcoming posts. "To call the law unique is probably not really totally honest with the concept of being unique. It's sort of an industry apart. The people in it are very educated, very capable, very knowledgeable, but sometimes translating that knowledge into technology applications or using them is another concept in itself," he explained.
For lawyers, being tech-skittish isn't a bad thing, because the lessons developers learn in making new products for this customer base could extend into other markets. Influential CIOs know that bright lawyers may still need some hand-holding when it comes to high technology, and that lawyers shouldn't take that as an insult. Andy Adkins of the West Virginia-based Steptoe & Johnson is a recent example, as is Doug Caddell of Foley & Lardner who shared his message to "join 'em, don't try to beat 'em" at both LegalTech and ILTA this year. Storage technology giant EMC knows it too, having published the 2-in-1 book, "The Lawyer's Guide to eDiscovery Technology for Dummies/The Technologist's Guide to eDiscovery Law for Dummies," which I strongly recommend reading.
That being said, Wallbillich is due to publish another column tomorrow. Here are my own opinions about how his challenges could be answered by software developers.
1. Lawyers aren't great at defining the problem. So, don't ask lawyers that question. Instead, ask to spend time with them and their assistants, as described in a very insightful ILTA session, "Technology Training for Attorneys." By the way, someone should lead a similar session at the next ILTA or at ALM's own LegalTech conference, with a focus on making software that lawyers actually like to use. (Also: the training session, and most other ILTA sessions, are online now for audio downloads as long as you're an ILTA member.)
2. Law firms weren't built to solve problems fast. This is why software companies in the legal space should put aside their buzzwords and "solutions" and, instead, just say what the product or service actually does.
3. Legal IT groups are often more service-oriented. However, it's important to remember that IT answers to the firm, not the other way around.
4. The legal industry under-utilizes low-cost options. I predict that "appstorization" will help change that culture. Lawyers and their CIOs are gradually learning that good software doesn't need to come from large, expensive vendors. Small shops can do the job well too.
5. Some developers confuse needs with wants. LexisNexis has an interesting new approach to mobile software: Instead of trying to fit the whole desktop product into a smartphone interface, they're going to just sell separate mobile modules for simplicity. Why shouldn't desktop legal software be a la carte, too?
6. Some developers underestimate the pull of inertia in the legal space. This is where cloud/hosted/SaaS/time-shared software (pick your favorite buzzword here) can help. Netscape billionaire Marc Andreessen once said the killer apps of the hosted world will be those that offer functions which can't exist in a desktop model. For lawyers, that could mean online programs which don't need IT staff to manually perform updates.
7. IT in corporations is not typically legal IT. This one is the toughest to answer, so I'm taking a pass and waiting to see what Wallbillich thinks.
As always, your thoughts are welcome too. Please comment using the links at top and bottom of this page.
Evan Koblentz is a reporter for Law Technology News. Send e-mail
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