I recently attended a webinar hosted by Litera. (Savvy is a trusted partner of Litera and I am always eager to hear what they’re up to.) In this presentation, the host explained why the legal industry is on the cusp of another technological transition and how law firm leaders will face some important decisions about tech acquisition. Namely: how to buy the right tech tools to unlock data to run their business better, without ending up with products that don’t work together for the greater good of the organization.

To set up the discussion, the presenter explained that we are entering the third phase of legal technologies being applied to the legal marketplace. Here are the first two that we’ve already lived through:

1. Simple, One-Purpose Tools: Firms adopted technology in a more meaningful way as part of their paper-centric business. For example, firms adopted Excel to manage costs. This was a basic tool that provided a singular solution.
2. “Piggyback” Tools: Firms adopted tools that helped in the matter creation process and were integrated into production tools, like Microsoft Word. Litera was part of this trend. Again, these were discreet tools that served one function well. 

The third phase, which we are now entering, represents another evolution.

• Tool Integration: Law firms need their tools to collaborate so that they can unlock the power of their data.

Phase Three

Here is a slide from the presentation outlining some of the biggest challenges that law firm leaders face today.

The competition for clients and talent increases annually. Law firms need to improve their processes so that they have the advantage in this competitive marketplace. But if the firm uses six different tools to manage everything from marketing to time keeping to drafting to governance and more, then they are losing the ability to harness data for improved systems.

Law firms need products that can come into their ecosystem and work together to create opportunities for value.

And that is what Litera is building as these slides show.

If you would like to learn more about Litera’s suite of products, or if you already own Litera’s products and need some training to use them better, contact Savvy today.