As the world slowly but surely starts to emerge from the dark and difficult times we have collectively endured over the last year, we as humans are bound to try and cultivate the good that has risen out of the struggle. There are countless essays and op-eds being written on the “silver linings” of COVID-19, but for lawyers, the fact of the matter is, the legal industry has progressed ten years in the past one. That’s something to be grateful for.

Lockdowns forced the adoption of technology that firms should have been using long ago, and in turn, has set the industry up for a more ethical and prosperous future. It was a chaotic mix of trial and error in the first few months but came together in the end for a few key reasons.

  1. Legal technology was ready and waiting for laggards to utilize in their own practices.
  2. Rules and regulations met the moment, opening doors that in the past could have remained closed for erroneous reasons, and instead were opened out of pure necessity.
  3. The industry rallied as one to solve collective problems in an effort to serve the public.