Technology a ‘sink or swim’ choice for smaller law firms

The importance of technology for the future success of smaller legal firms has been underscored at a conference hosted by the Law Society of Scotland.

Technology experts and smaller firm owners outlined the potential for technology to improve workplace efficiencies and client interactions while reducing overheads at the annual Legal Tech Conference held in Edinburgh on Tuesday, 24 June.

In the conference’s closing keynote address, Nick Dale, a Vice President with IT and consulting firm CGI, said that technology must be viewed as part of a bigger picture: “Tech is 30% of the problem. The issue is the change. Day one of implementation isn’t the end, it is the start.”

Discussing technology and smaller firms, Glasgow Law Practice Managing Director Ross Yuill said: “As soon as there is a younger set of partners or people come in, things start to change. I think we’ll be dragged along because if not, it’s going to be a sink or swim situation for people.

“I’ve done a High Court trial as a Solicitor Advocate with an iPad and no paper. That would have seemed mental 10 years ago but we do it. It has saved us money on storage and has made a big difference in our business.

“We used to think that we would have clients that might not have technology but everybody does now. I think the days of that are now gone. We send text reminders to clients instead of letters for their Court appearances. Small things like that have made a difference.”

A fellow panel member, Ergo Law Director Emma Reid, highlighted the importance of experimenting: “There’s nothing we have used that we have thought, ‘That doesn’t work at all’. If you don’t reach and grab those new opportunities that is also failing.”

In closing the conference, Co-Chair and LawscotTech Advisory Board member Aleks Tomczyk said that supporting smaller firms is one of four key priority areas for the board.

He said: “Legal technology is for every practitioner in whichever sphere you are in. Legal technology is here and it is not going anywhere. There is the opportunity for it to add a whole lot of value across everything we do.”