Peer to Peer Magazine

PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA 42 Individuals, societies, businesses, governments and the institutions that surround us will all feel the transformative force of these developments. For some law firms and in-house legal departments, it is clear that IT innovation is already a strategic priority. For the rest, it is becoming clear that their future survival and growth depends on making the intellectual and emotional shift to accepting that they simply won't have a viable business without mastery of IT. INNOVATE OR PERISH By its own admission, the legal sector has historically seen itself as a slow mover and cautious adopter of IT innovations. Generally, legal has followed rather than led clients and other professional sectors in driving IT-enabled innovation. That situation is changing, not least because clients are demanding it — they are clarifying their expectations to all of their professional services partners. Clients need their key partners to equip themselves to provide effective and flexible service offerings that reflect the constantly changing reality shaping the business landscape. In this turbulent environment, IT is seen as a critical enabler of the delivery proposition for the 21st century law firm. A simple choice is emerging — either embrace and invest in the opportunity, or suffer the consequences of a lack of commitment. As we consider innovative technologies and practices in the legal sector, two case studies merit our attention: the first is rooted firmly on the ground while remaining visionary in its use of technology; the second has a definite "sci-fi" appeal and offers the prospect of a future enhanced by the rise of the smart machines. CASE STUDIES Out of all the forces of change shaping the operating environment for law firms over the next decade, advances in science and technology could have the most revolutionary impacts. Breakthroughs in many fields — IT in particular — will drive radical, socially challenging and operationally disruptive change. Our Mission: To Boldly Go Where No Law Firm Has Gone Before Excerpted from ILTA's Legal Technology Future Horizons About the Study A forward-looking global study exploring how advances in information technology (IT) could impact the legal profession over the next decade was undertaken during 2013 by Fast Future Research at the behest of the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA). The study used a combination of desk research, interviews, workshops and two global surveys — one explored the business applications of IT in the legal sector, and the other provided input to create an emerging technology timeline. The resulting report, Legal Technology Future Horizons, provides the critical findings and implications emerging from the study. Download the full report at www.iltanet.org/ltfh.

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