It has been a not-so-easy time for businesses across the world due to pandemics. Organizations face losses as customers go for fewer services and products. And if you take the example of the legal sector, they also face challenges, but it’s tilted more to technical difficulties.
With social distancing a necessity, digital adoption became a norm for industries across the world. According to a McKinsey report, many companies moved to remote work 40 times faster because of COVID constraints. The legal industry, which worked on traditional methods such as an in-person court hearing system, also had to make changes in their process through the transition to remote work. Though it looked complex and ineffective initially but left with no option, the legal sector had to make this crucial move.
Pandemic revamping entire legal value chain
In the past few months, the number of court hearings through videoconferencing has increased exponentially. All these hearings are held over different communication technologies that include Zoom, Slack, JoinMe and others. For some, who needed fast settlement of case it was a blessing; virtual justice was delivered within a short time.
And the people running the whole process, Judge, Attorney and others, found the transition convenient enough to proceed from the comfort of their home. While the tech-enabled digital adoption is widely appreciated by many in the legal industry, one could see challenges arising from the same. It means a threat to clients’ confidential information. And as you don’t have physical communication, there could be instances where cybersecurity could hamper the flow of crucial proceedings. The ambiguous synthesis of various challenges might also lead to unfair trials, a concern raised by many.
Challenges arising from digital adoption
It is yet to see how much digital adoption would offer, but the legal industry is bound to see more of these complex difficulties in the future. The important thing that needs to be looked into here is digital transformation should align with every aspect of the legal value chain. Next, the industry should move to collaborative communication. As professionals work remotely, it should be ensured to have seamless communication between all the professionals, clients to lead to the right results. All data or evidence forms that include emails, information on mobiles, text messages need to be shared only with persons authorized to access them.
The unique challenge of this tech adoption process that needs to be aligned with the Judicial system is a mix of complex constraints that are hindering the workflow in the industry. For example, high-profile criminal cases that need an in-person hearing to deliver justice to the right person becomes a challenging proceeding if there is the tampering of any evidence. Here, some might favor pandemic to subside so that they can actually have the physical presence of everyone involved in the case of a fair trial. This means waiting for more time, which doesn’t look viable paving the way for tech-enabled trials.
Future workforce and legal-tech combination
The tech-enabled digital adoption is also enabling the diverse workforce to perform in legal industry. The Zoom session is proving to be a facilitator where communications between these professionals get executed with digital technological means. The overall benefits what would it mean if experienced and talented take the lead in the legal industry? It would help execute cases the right way, improving client experience in the long run.
The technology would also lead to improved understanding as with this, it would remove the process that involves working in silos. There would be a better understanding of clients’ requirements and the difficulties that it would take in resolving them. Further, on the contrary, what the majority think, digital proceedings could prove to be more effective if all the protocols are followed and right security measures are implemented at best time.
Conclusion
Tech-enabled legal proceedings are here to stay, as the world sees no complete eradication of this deadly virus anytime soon. What one needs is responsible integration of technology with the legal system so that there is a fair trial. In this way, people would also not lose trust in the credibility of the system.
