As seen in State of the Legal Market 2023 report, demand in all practices declined over the course of the year, however, transactional practices were hit especially hard. What should transactional practices do now to set themselves apart from the competition?
The answer may be in this latest on-demand webcast,“The power of document automation in a competitive legal market.”
Who you’ll hear from
Two Thomson Reuters experts, Isaac Brooks and Catherine Kidd, provide insight into today’s legal market and discuss solutions that can set your law firm apart.
Isaac Brooks is the Senior Analyst for the Thomson Reuters Institute, focusing on financial benchmarking and revenue management within the legal industry. He is a major contributor to the Law Firm Financial Index, as well as the annual US and Australian versions of the State of the Legal Market report and numerous other reports and updates from the Institute.
Catherine Kidd leads part of the Legal Tech Product Marketing team at Thomson Reuters. Catherine has over a decade’s experience working in Legal Tech in product management, product marketing, and customer success. Catherine has had the pleasure of working closely with law firms globally, both to support successful deployment of Contract Express and in getting to the heart of customer’s challenges to drive growth.
What you’ll learn
Watch the on-demand webcast to learn more about:
- The decline for transactional work and its impact on transactional practices
- Strategies for transactional practices to stay competitive in an uncertain market utilizing technology
- The impact of client service delivery in client retention and winning new business
A sneak peek: Three takeaways from the webcast
Takeaway 1: Document automation can optimize law firm operations
The current competitive legal market requires law firms to find ways to optimize their operations and maintain profitability – and document automation can play a significant role in achieving this. This modern technology can automate mundane and repetitive tasks such as document drafting, ultimately improving efficiency and quality of service.
Brooks noted that “as much as 50% of a lawyer’s time is spent drafting.” Document automation can streamline this process, saving valuable time and resources. Kidd further emphasized that document automation can ensure that all work products are consistent and compliant, saying that it enables lawyers to “focus on that high-level work, that satisfying work that brings them job satisfaction.”
Brooks also touched upon the financial benefits of document automation, citing one company’s experience: “Document automation has saved us $7.9 million in operating expenses in mostly fixed fee work. This is the amount of time and money saved in billable time.” Kidd also highlighted the role of document automation in enabling alternative pricing strategies and delivering a differentiated service to clients.
Takeaway 2: Today’s legal market is increasingly competitive
The rapid changes in the legal market, particularly the decline in transactional demand and the rise in countercyclical practices have created a very competitive environment. Law firms need to adjust their strategies accordingly, and adopting technologies such as document automation can be a key part of this shift.
According to Brooks, there has been a fall in demand for transactional work due to macroeconomic uncertainty. However, countercyclical practices are thriving, creating a new dynamic in the legal market.
Find out what this means for legal buyers and midsize law firms.
Brooks also highlighted the evidence around rate growth and the shift in spend, emphasizing the competitive environment and the need for law firms to rethink their delivery of services. He noted that document automation can help manage risk and quality of work product while maintaining profit margins and delivering a compelling service to clients.
Takeaway 3: Client portals and document automation work hand in hand
Client portals and document automation technologies can work synergistically to enhance law firm operations and client interactions. These technologies can streamline processes, improve collaboration, and provide greater visibility into the status and progress of legal matters.
Kidd explained that “client portals are a great tool” that offer visibility into the progress of a matter and can show how a firm is performing against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). When combined with document automation, these portals can provide clients with the ability to generate documents on demand, enhancing their experience and embedding the law firm into their day-to-day operations.
Kidd also mentioned the role of these portals in facilitating data sharing between the client and the firm, helping to create a central data repository that can feed into the document creation process. She concluded by noting that “there’s a huge amount of opportunity in the way that both client portals and document automation work together.”
Watch the on-demand webcast today to learn even more about setting your practice apart and staying competitive through the rest of the year and beyond.
