boxing
Those who love the Sweet Science know the phrase: “For every punch, there’s a great counterpunch.” I believe that’s the key for law firms in developing a winning legal tech strategy in the competition between firms and alternative legal service providers.
Let’s face it, for those of us old enough to remember, seeing the likes of a Mike Tyson, Roberto Duran or George Foreman entering the squared circle was a fearsome image. They were an intimidating presence, one and all.
In a way, the same can be said for a certain element of the legal vertical market. Sophisticated Big 4 firms are offering complex, deep technology like AI, blockchain and TAR (technology-assisted review). This is, naturally, coupled with their impressive consulting expertise. Sounds like an unbeatable combination, a veritable first round knockout, right?
I’m no boxing expert, but I’d expect a few of them to say what I’m about to say as it pertains to this initial conclusion.
“Not So Fast!”
Let us recall that the counterpuncher also has a storied history in the annals of the sport. For every “Iron Mike”, there is a “Sugar Ray”. There’s a reason fighters like Floyd Mayweather or a Sugar Ray—either Leonard or Robinson—are all among the pantheon of boxing greats. They each perfected the defensive, tactical and counter attack measures necessary to not only compete with, but defeat, the irresistible forces of the sport.
So how are law firms to compete against such a formidable opponent? I suggest, at a minimum, we consider two huge advantages a law firms possesses in this area. These are:
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An intimate, expert knowledge of their client’s businesses and legal processes.
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Close, long-standing relationships with their clients.
The key is, like many things, to change the narrative and play the game at your pace helping clients understand the importance of these two items. Let us explore both of these.
The first item, the understanding of a client’s processes and needs, is huge. Everyone these days wants to innovate and help their clients achieve their goals, one common objective being the good old “do more with less” mantra.
Think about it. If you work in a law firm representing a client, you know what works well and what does not. You see it every day. You live the types of frustration a client might have getting timely reports about a litigation, working on documents with other firms and business partners, exchanging data, developing a consistent message across like matters, and countless other operational areas of opportunity.
Understanding the issues is more than half of the battle. Transformational technology is awesome, we all love that, but the greater challenge is “putting together the puzzle”, meaning developing comprehensive knowledge of a client’s business goals and then applying the right tools to solve each problem. Sometimes the “answer” will be the technologies of tomorrow, such as AI or blockchain. And sometimes the answer will be something else. Law firms are often best suited to solve that equation.
The key here is, those with an intimate knowledge of a client’s business and legal operations can best make those determinations. And that’s the angle law firms are well suited to highlight. Just like a typical Mayweather cover, slide and counterpunching sequence which is near impossible to deal with because of his speed and athleticism, a law firm’s special knowledge of client matters and priorities is close to impossible to contest. A law firm’s approach to legal tech should be, in my view, that they are solving problems and improving operations, not providing technology. Tech is the enabling tool, not the end game service.
That being said, it’s important to understand once again different sweet spots. Large consulting firms with the resources to incubate emerging and powerful technologies will always have some valuable tools to offer. Some examples might include sophisticated lien tracking programs for settlements, the ability to use artificial intelligence or linguistics tools to evaluate and classify large amounts of documents quickly and many other daunting tech challenges. But the law firm’s more intimate knowledge of a client’s products, business and litigation also provide a gateway for targeted applications of technology which might be harder to accomplish with a larger provider.
Now, let’s talk a bit about the second law firm advantage in the legal tech space. That is the relationship lawyers have with their clients.
Here, decades of experience matter. As people and entities work together over time, they develop a sixth sense about what is important to the other. If a client happens to focus more on legal spend than results, or vice versa, an attorney with a long-standing history of representation knows this. A unified understanding of big picture needs is the key which helps unlock the reinforced door sometimes barricading the path to a successful operational improvement effort.
But there are many more opportunities for law firms to leverage these close bonds with their clients. Perhaps one of the most impactful characteristics here might be integration into the business, talking and listening.
What do I mean by this? Well, if you are like me and most people, you probably tend to talk about the same topics with your closest business contacts. But there are usually great opportunities to do more with a relationship. Perhaps you can ask a contact if there are any other pressing needs they have? Or offer to participate in some type of corporate initiative? Or share some interesting example of innovation your law firm executed with another client. You never know what might be of interest.
In all of these examples, a law firm is taking advantage of one key, easy-to-overlook fact.