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22 P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | S U M M E R 2 0 2 1 It is no secret that, historically, law firms have been more steeped in tradition and therefore slower to adapt to new technology than other industries. Traditionally, change has been driven primarily by client demand. Yet the pandemic has served as a "forcing function" for many industries, and law is no exception. The past year and a half has created clear imperatives for change that firms had no choice but to confront, including: • Changing ways of working: Even with a fully vaccinated staff, law firms will continue to have hybrid virtual and in-person office models going forward, and other traditional ways of doing business will be forever changed as well. • Increasing competition in the marketplace: As law firms compete for clients while demand in some cases is flat and the field becomes increasingly crowded, advanced technology can be a differentiator for firms to win business engagements and attract high-caliber employees. • Accelerated technological innovation: The pace of technology innovation is moving at such a breakneck pace, especially as it related to AI, that being one year behind peers now feels like being five years behind. • New and evolving risks: The newly remote pandemic workforce opened law firms and other companies to cyberattacks and other security threats. They quickly realized that cloud-based technology providers are typically far more secure than their internal data security measures. • Evolving client needs and demands: Clients are facing the same imperatives as firms to improve their technology and adapt to a post-COVID environment, so they will look for law firms that meet their standards, especially as it relates to data security. It is in this last point about client needs that law firms should really be paying attention and make sure they do not get left behind. Earlier this year, the "Survey of Legal Pricing and Project Management" from the Legal Value Network and Blickstein Group, in collaboration with Intapp, revealed that there is a divide between how law firm and in-house tech professionals view technology. For example, 83% of law firm pricing specialists believed their firms are leveraging technology effectively, compared with 52% of in-house legal operations experts expressing the same confidence in law firm technology efforts. Fortunately, according to the survey, alignment exists on the need to advance their organizations so that collaboration can improve. Majorities of both groups--75% of pricing professionals in law firms and 62% of law department operations staff--reported that their primary job is "change management." Firms and clients are on the same page about the need to work together on these issues, but law firms need to take advantage of the opportunity presented to them to as it pertains to digital transformation. The Need for a Purpose-Built Approach Though many industries are facing similar issues related to transitioning to remote workforces, law firms are unique in the way they operate, make money, and handle sensitive information. That is why they require a tailored, purpose- built approach to meet their requirements, not a one-size- fits-all horizontal solution. The promise of a connected firm provides myriad benefits for law firms, including: F E A T U R E S

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