5 Reasons Why the Indian Legal Industry still has a Long Way to Go in the Legal Tech Race

There is no denying the fact that the world has witnessed massive changes in the last year or so – the biggest one was our dependence on technology to facilitate ALL our activities. Be it benign things like ordering groceries, or more complex ones like probating a will or other tedious legal proceedings, technology has been the core facilitator in times of lockdown and social distancing. But even before the pandemic had set its sights on us, the seeds of legal and justice technology were well and truly in place with the Indian legal frameworks. The Supreme Court of India was well into its operation of digitising legal processes, all in the cause of making sure that justice remains equitable and accessible to all. Afterall, everyone was in consensus that technological solutions will greatly help in alleviating the load on legal systems at various levels. However, despite the urgent need brought on by the pandemic and the boom in technological advancements witnessed world-wide, the practical and real-time application of tech-based solutions within the daily operations of regular legal processes has been slow on the uptake.

Here are 5 reasons why the Indian legal industry still has a long way to go when it comes to catching up with the rest of the advanced world in this race to legal and justice tech superiority.

Lawyers might become obsolete

Despite the many assurances by the tech industry, there is a widespread fear among legal practitioners that their profession will be overtaken by machines. There are technological systems currently in place that can perhaps accomplish several legal tasks with higher degree of astuteness and accuracy than guaranteed by humans, yes. But they can never replace the actual working sensibilities of human beings. They are simply in place to ease the workload of lawyers, spare them the time from tedious, time-consuming tasks to focus on more pressing and important matters – allowing lawyers and law firms a greater degree of security, accuracy and profitability.

Great expectations

If one end of the spectrum is reluctant to adopt tech-based solutions, the other end builds it up and places it on an unreachable high pedestal. It is the inevitable story of ‘1st step: the moon landing, 2nd step: the Jetsons lifestyle’. Although modern day technology has advanced at a neck-break speed, the expectations, at times, placed on computing and machine capabilities are at times too unrealistic. As a result of which several expectant practitioners turn away from tech-based solutions disappointed and sometimes jaded. It is important to remember that machines, even with all their clear benefits, are just as advanced as the humans who create and use them. They might accomplish tasks quickly, accurately, securely and in a transparent and equitable manner, but it is still unrealistic to expect them to solve the +2 crore pending cases overnight!

Money matters

Even with the right approach and the best intentions, many times organisations and law firms struggle to find the right fit for them. With so many different solutions and versions of solutions available in the market for problems many professionals didn’t even know they had,

it is easy to be overwhelmed or side-tracked. As a result of which many institutions are reluctant to invest in long-term tech solutions. A much easier solution to this quandary would be to first diagnose your particular need or seek expert advice. Chances are that you have been missing out on your own potential!

Lack of expertise

Clients right now, choose lawyers and law firms based on their experience and legal expertise. No one expects lawyers to be incredibly tech-savvy or have an in-depth knowledge of topical technological advancements. But the lack of expertise is never a good enough reason not to appropriate tech-based solutions within legal proceedings. More and more organisations and law firms are investing substantially to bulk up their IT support or seek the help of legal tech specialists. Recognising the tech-tsunami that is waiting for the industry in the near future, prominent law schools are making sure that their students are prepared to handle an advanced, technologically enhanced legal world. There is a huge, viable market of legal tech expertise simply waiting to be exploited!

Intimidating legal jargon

For those who don’t have their finger on the pulse of daily technological advancements, words like programming, computing, machine learning or data analytics could trigger them and send them off on long, hyperventilating rants. Even regular IT jargon is enough to frustrate the novice into never using a smart phone again. Multiply that by at least 50 and you have the collective frustration of a traditionally paper-based industry valiantly trying to learn and adapt to the ‘new normal’. Expecting seasoned and polished legal minds to overnight study, understand and practice their profession in an entirely new way is of course unrealistic. It is in the domain of legal tech experts to make sure that they avoid unnecessary, at times condescending jargon and make their solutions easy to adapt and understand, even by complete tech-novices.