P2P

21 I L T A N E T . O R G W hat does "connection" mean when people no longer have to be in the same place? Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we learned that technology has an outsize role in staying connected, whether that means Zoom birthday parties or teens finding community on TikTok. Our working lives and the way we interact with colleagues has also fundamentally changed, and there's no going back to the way things were before. For law firms, the idea of "connection" had been changing for quite some time and, as with many other industries, the pandemic accelerated trends that were already there. The impact we are seeing is similar to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09 that ushered in an era of efficiency for professional services firms, even though many of the ideas around investment, automation, and risk management had been simmering for quite some time. It has become increasingly evident that the legacy of the health and economic crisis born out of COVID-19 will be digital transformation. To be clear, "digital transformation" does not mean simply using videoconferencing in place of in-person meetings, but a complete change in the way firms do business. This can range from enhancing profitability, implementing dynamic labor pools, and new business models with multichannel approaches and new ways of thinking about client value. With the pandemic beginning to fade into the rearview, the legal industry— including both firms and the technology providers who support them—is now in a period of accelerated innovation. Law firms must leverage technology that enables connections between the people, processes, and data of a truly connected firm. In order to achieve this goal, firms must put a connected platform at the heart of their practice and embrace the changes this technology enables. Done right, technology-enabled connections will help the highest-level knowledge workers such as attorneys achieve new heights of excellence, value and trust for their clients. Law firms and other professional services firms, as central hubs of intellectual capital, can become the driving forces that help their clients navigate and thrive in this dynamic and rapidly evolving post-COVID macroeconomic environment. Opportunities—and Needs—Exist Without a doubt, the events of 2020 and the need for remote workplaces have accelerated digital transformation efforts for many firms. However, there is still a long way to go, and much of that stems from the gap between how law firms and their clients view technology. The silver lining is in the opportunity: firms have a chance to improve operations and invest in their future by fully integrating applications, completing cloud transformations, and reducing data silos within their firms. "Law firms must leverage technology that enables connections between the people, processes, and data of a truly connected firm."

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