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How digitalization is applied in jurisprudence, what specialists should learn and whether this knowledge will be in demand during the crisis
LegalTech is an industry at the intersection of jurisprudence and IT. The global demand for its specialists is growing. Companies strive to reduce transaction costs, and algorithmization and IT solutions help in this in many areas of the economy. Experts predict that by 2024 up to 50% of legal functions will be automated, and specialists with technical skills will be needed in the field.
In 2020, the LegalTech market in our country already included at least 150 companies. Separate solutions for automating legal functions for business have appeared and digitalization has begun within the legal departments of large companies. Changes in the Labor Code, which allowed the use of electronic document management, only contributed to the further growth of the LegalTech market.
Therefore, mastering skills at the junction with IT becomes a significant advantage and allows you to remain in demand as a specialist in a changing labor market.
How LegalTech is applied
LegalTech can be used to solve problems of varying degrees of complexity – from elementary, where simple technologies are used, to advanced ones, where deep knowledge of programming is required.
Document versioning
This is the simplest form of digitalization of legal functions. If earlier lawyers kept a separate folder on the computer with different versions of a document (for example, a user agreement), now tracking changes can be automated and simplified. To do this, you can use Git, a document version control system. Typically, it is used by developers to track code changes in large teams.
But the editing functionality itself is useful not only in programming. For example, there is a repository of laws of Germany, in which you can see both the current version of the law and the history of changes in it. A document uploaded to the repository can be directly linked to the site interface. This will allow the company not to involve developers with each subsequent update.
Inventory of contracts
It uses spreadsheets. They allow you to systematize the work with information and reduce the cost of processing documents. For example, counterparty data is collected in an excel file, then processed using formulas and the dates for renegotiating contracts are displayed in a separate list or calendar.
Risk management
LegalTech allows you to bring semi-structured data into an algorithmic form. So that the legal department can comprehensively assess the risks of different departments, they are processed using no-code tools (tools that do not require knowledge of programming languages), such as Notion. To do this, decisions from different departments are collected in a database and based on it, a dashboard is made that reflects the amount of risks and links to detailed information on each of them.
Financing legal disputes
This is a rarer case in LegalTech. More sophisticated and usually proprietary technology is used here so that investment companies can decide whether to fund a lawsuit in exchange for a share in the amount awarded by the court. In this case, data on the company, precedents and forecasts of experts are standardized and correlated using machine learning algorithms. And predictive technologies help to assess the risk of investments and the probability of winning a case.
Key competencies for working in LegalTech
Since the range of application of LegalTech solutions is diverse, the requirements for a specialist will depend on the chosen direction. But there are a few key competencies that will be required in any of them:
- Knowledge in jurisprudence. They include legal regulations in the area that the specialist is trying to optimize: about personal data, real estate or any other. It is necessary to understand the practice of applying the law, the norms of its regulation and the sequence of processes. For example, in order to compile and process the consent of users on the site, you need to know the law on personal data and understand how it is applied.
- Proficiency in Python – a universal, relatively simple and most popular programming language for working with data. With it, you can automate almost any repetitive action. So, to auto-fill contracts, it is enough to set variables and substitute them into a standard template, and then use the code to set up their substitution from the counterparty data base.
- Engineering Thinking allows you to solve the key problem of classical jurisprudence: the dependence of the results on a particular specialist. To ensure the versatility and reproducibility of processes, you will need the ability to systematize decisions and achieve predictable results. To do this, you need to be able to document processes, look for ways to optimize and take into account potential scaling.
How to get started at LegalTech
Both lawyers and programmers can work in LegalTech. Wherein lawyer it will be easier to enter this area, since from jurisprudence he is already familiar with the principles of hierarchy and algorithmic work that are used in IT. Therefore, even with a little programming, a lawyer will already be able to start working with simple solutions.
Rђ RІRѕS, programmer more time will be needed. It is more difficult to master jurisprudence: it contains a large amount of unstructured information, and many principles become clear only in the process of applying them. However, it is quite possible to do so.
The management of the company will always appreciate a specialist who alone is able to solve the tasks assigned to several employees. In the future, you can count on career growth and, for example, to digitalize the legal department of your company.
Another option is to go to a company that is directly involved in creating legal tools for business. And for those who have an entrepreneurial mindset and are ready for a certain amount of risk, opening their own project or working in a startup is suitable. At the same time, in addition to the listed competencies, knowledge of product management and market research methodologies will be required here.
Will LegalTech be in demand during the crisis?
The crisis creates a strong need for optimization. To stay in a highly competitive market, you need to improve the product and allocate resources efficiently. The powerful development of customer service and technological solutions in Russian banks is the result of previous crises. And the current crisis will be sustained by companies that are able to optimize their functions, including legal ones.
In a constantly changing market, business owners need to make decisions quickly. Therefore, in companies where it takes weeks to resolve legal issues, it will be more difficult to survive the crisis. And for those who can optimally restructure legal processes, the chances are much higher.