Gear Up To Ace The Legal Tech Race

Technology is changing the world around us every single day. Traditional industries are fading away, and new innovative industries are getting curated. This massive intervention of the pandemic has impacted every industry, including the legal sphere. The legal industry is by its very nature cautious and very often criticized for its resistance to change. But in recent years, technology has started to take over the legal landscape. Even more recently, the havoc caused by Covid-19 has forced every part of the legal sector to adapt to technological advancements. Therefore lawyers of the coming tomorrow must be more technologically competent than before.

Technology has become an essential piece to a larger audience and has opened a variety of outlets. From law schools to the corporate world, technology has portrayed itself useful with innumerable advantages rather than downsides. As a result, most law schools and their students have adjusted and accepted the innovation as it has made their work cycle a lot simpler and less complex. 

Technological advancements are changing the whole dimensions of law and critical premises. Digital transformation has brought a huge variety in the legal profession, and indeed the legal professionals and students are catching up with the tech race. Advancement in technology provides the public with easy access to justice. There are many ways that legal tech solutions can be developed to support access to justice, such as guided pathways, chatbots, and online dispute resolutions tools. 

With the fast rise of technology, a law student should be adept with the qualities of a desired legal professional and must have a great affinity with technological advancements. As advancement and digitalization are proceeding to change worldwide industries and organizations, legal professionals and attorneys should adjust their range of abilities to address the issues of their clients and their organizations in general. A great rapport with advanced technology will ensure a bright career for law students as the technology will take over the coming future. 

Advancement in legitimate instruction has prompted a rise of new courses and projects that match the complexity of the worldwide scene. Young legal professionals will successfully flourish in the computerized age with the right apparatus and procedures. Law students should see technology as a way to expand their skill set with the rising trend such as:

• Analytical thinking and innovation
• Better network and communication skills
• Learning new strategies and being creative enough to showcase originality
• Multi-jurisdictional skills
• Adaptability to change
• Acceleration towards the digital area
• Focus on client experience

The present situation and the lack of tech knowledge have caused a lot of hindrance in the functioning of the courts. Legal professionals suddenly had to develop the skills and basic technical knowledge to operate the online court hearing system and applications. Tech knowledge from an early age in the law school’s curriculum and pedagogy will make students more compatible. Law institutes need to start recognizing the law sector’s intersection with advanced technology and explore new innovative ways of providing students with the opportunity to develop advanced legal solutions to support the notion of easy access to justice. As a law student, there are a couple of things that they need to focus on:

• Sufficient knowledge about lawful innovations
• Attempt courses to completely comprehend normal innovation as well as advanced innovations 
• Acquaint with lawful administration programming like Legodesk.
• Most importantly, be versatile.

Much like the world around it, the legal profession is transforming. Law institutes have a responsibility towards their students to teach them about these innovations. They can harness this change to transform and enhance legal education. Evolution is ever-present, and legal education needs to keep up.

Dr Sukhvinder Singh Dari

Guest Author The author is Director, Symbiosis Law School, Nagpur