In the list of words guaranteed to leave a buzzing noise in lawyers’ ears, “technology” has to take first place—closely followed by “transformation” and “innovation,” of course. Law firms and legal departments are under pressure as never before to compete on productivity, value for money and digital capabilities. If you follow the press, the books and the conference circuits, it is so-called legal tech that holds the key to competitive success in this brave new world. But it is one thing to identify your killer app and get the funding to procure it. The hard part is getting it to work and deliver the promised transformation.
Legal organizations are not alone with this challenge. A recent report from digital services firm, Econocom, for example, showed that, while nearly two-thirds of U.K. companies are currently working to implement new technology, one in five have already launched what they consider to be an unsuccessful digital transformation project. And more than half admitted that their project failed because the company had struggled to get to grips with the new technology.
