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Legal firms must turn to tech

Published : Wednesday, 3 July, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 1173
Anika Tahsina
Legal industry is considered bespoke and unique. The legal firms in Bangladesh follow the long-standing custom of experienced lawyers mentoring junior lawyers with meager salaries and requiring them to work hard for years to acquire a substantial sum. Lawyers frequently have the misconception that technological disruption would never affect their line of employment. According to them, they perform craftsmans work and each client is different. Nevertheless, the situation is evolving.

The global legal market has grown more competitive in recent years, particularly following the 2008 financial crisis. These days, a lot of legal services are available online. Even in Bangladesh, for many, google is the first place to seek advice. According to Bangladeshs telecom regulator, there were 131 million internet users as of the end of December 2023, with roughly 7 million new users joining in the previous year.

Of Course, only solicitors may argue a case in court, but anyone can launch a legal tech business, and the legal sector is a great place for future entrepreneurs. The creators of Kindle are obviously not librarians. Since legal technology is developing, legal services are becoming a commodity globally.

With rising digitization, there may come a day when a significant percentage of the legal business will probably be automated. It requires reinvention on the part of lawyers. The industry needs to be reformed before the digital age renders the legal industry obsolete.

Law has historically focused inward. Instead of customer satisfaction its emphasis has been on hours and revenue. Law companies dominated the market by selling only legal expertise. Now, global law is ready for digital change. Law delivery now follows corporate standards, even if the profession still has its own set of rules. This includes tech-enabled, differentiated, customer-aligned models, coordination with other supply chain participants, accessible services and capital to scale.


Because of globalization, remarkable technology breakthroughs and the digital revolution, legal purchasers are now convinced that legal practice is no longer synonymous with providing legal services only. Using new tools, new skills, data-driven, multidisciplinary workforces, business process, project management and a customer service philosophy are essential in the digital age.

Evidently, there are many different ways to raise money, including collaborative projects, institutional finance, self-funding, and going public following the models of the UK, Australia, and a few other countries. These are some of the reasons behind the money flowing into the legal delivery globally.

In Bangladesh, little have we witnessed the growth of legal tech startups, although there are some great efforts to make the legal industry more fragmented and accessible. Legal Tech means disrupting the legal sector with technology. So, a lawyer who loves technology can have a great potential to start a legal tech company or a firm facilitated by modern technology.

Obviously, the lawyers are not expected to be software engineers or programmers but it is expected to have modern service and an accessible delivery system by the law firms. The problem can be solved by coordinated efforts by the lawyers and experts in technology and business.

In the coming days, legal firms may have enriched tech and business support by the experts of other disciplines in Bangladesh. Legal tech companies may also explore diversified business ideas in the legal world with additional support including document automation, practice management, online dispute resolution, legal research, legal education, e-discovery, marketplace, analytics, compliance and more.

In the end, young lawyers in Bangladesh seeking out chances in the prospective future market instead of existing opportunities may be the ones who will steer our legal sector towards its ultimate efficiency, productivity and precision.

The writer is a fourth year Law Student, University of Dhaka


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