Anyone in the international legal realm can tell you that technology, more specifically legal technology has been quite the rage lately. Internationally, legal organizations have been adopting various kinds of technology in an attempt to reduce man-hours on process level tasks and boost efficiency.
In the Middle East, however, the development and adoption of legal tech is arguably in its nascent stages. With the infrastructure for technology and innovation rife in the region, law firms and legal teams in the region still have not hopped onto the legal tech train. If you are wondering why, let’s take a look at the region’s current legal technology scene:
1) Adoption by the big and the international
Small-scale adoption of legal technology in the region is prominent in large international firms that have a presence in the Middle East. Of course, this does not come as a surprise since these firms are in the best position to implement such resources.
Oftentimes, the US, UK, or European counterparts of these firms have incubators where they develop technology focused on firm-specific challenges. The trickledown effect to its Middle Eastern branch is inevitable and mostly welcome.
Large local firms on the other hand do seem to be using legal tech too – they just aren’t labeling it as such. For instance, one of the leading Dubai based law firms has incorporated a chat function on their website to enhance potential client and employee experience. They have also launched an app, where amongst other things clients can securely connect with their lawyer, view details of current matters, manage invoices, and RSVP to upcoming events. Similarly, a leading Qatar based law firm has adopted a practice management and electronic time-keeping software in order to keep up with the firm’s expansion in the region. These firms seem to be using such technology to not just boost productivity, but also give them a competitive edge.
2) Costs and Budgets
Large and small firms in the region alike seem to hold such technology to be an expensive, unjustifiable cost. At times, corporate legal departments in large firms find it hard to get budget approvals. Small, boutique firms often do not possess the scale of work that warrants costly matter management or practice management software. Such firms see little value in investing in digitizing their legal processes using an expensive software.
The result is that legal tech remains largely inaccessible to the small and medium legal practices- either because the available legal tech is too expensive or because it is viewed as such. This, however, is unfortunate because a good legal technology solution has the ability to give small practices the ability to reduce time on repetitive tasks, which eventually lead to signing up more clients, and access to dynamic research tools. This has the potential to empower small firms to compete with market-leaders.
3) Language Barriers
Most of the standard legal technology available has been developed for the English language, which renders it unsuitable for a large portion of Arabic work being done in the region. Many associates primarily draft in Arabic so they see little value in using say, a matter-management software that works only in English. Which is why, our product Sophia aims to fill this gap with its strong Arabic language capabilities.
4) Communication gap & Regulatory concerns
A common assumption in the legal technology space is that lawyers are averse to technology and won’t try anything new that would change their business model. However, this assumption is entirely baseless and just another excuse given by legal tech vendors with a substandard product.
Lawyers are very willing to adopt technology provided it meets their needs and solves a real in-house business problem. The legal market is a tough one and highly regulated where the fear of being sued for malpractice or risks due to non-compliance are always present. If there is an aversion to tech, it comes from this aspect and not because lawyers are inclined to be resistant to change.
The only way to resolve this is with active communication between lawyers and technology providers and the latter reassuring the former that their concerns are being addressed. It means to build a product that is reliable, robust and one that actually caters to the challenges and constraints that the legal industry is bound by. The best legal technology companies understand this and constantly talk to legal professionals and ask the right questions that help them build better products.
Conclusion
Legal teams and law firms in the ME region have begun to acknowledge the importance of legal tech in increasing efficiency, though there is still a long road ahead to its widespread adoption. That being said, if 2020 has taught has anything, it is that organizations can no longer neglect technology if they want to stay competitive. With increasing clients’ demands, call for costs to be reduced, remote and agile working becoming a necessity, law firms and legal departments in the Middle East will soon see the value provided by good legal technology and bring the next wave of legal-focused digital transformations in the region.
