Making legal technology work harder for law firms

Are law firms making the most of their technology investment? Most businesses only use a fraction of the capability of their existing technology, underestimating what platforms such as Microsoft 365 or their case management systems can already do. As a result, firms often purchase overlapping software that performs similar functions, increasing cost and complexity without delivering real value.Its a pet subject for legal technology consultants Stephen Lucas and Mike Taylor who join Today's Conveyancer Podcast host David Opie for this latest episode exploring how law firms can improve efficiency, reduce duplication, and understand the “art of the possible” when it comes to legal tech, automation and AI.The first part of that process involves understanding what systems are in place, what the firm actually needs to achieve, and where simple changes or integrations can unlock efficiencies. Poor technology decisions are often made because firms do not clearly define their requirements before engaging with vendors. Sales processes can oversell functionality, leading to costly long-term contracts and difficult system migrations. In the age of artificial intelligence, both are advocates of robotic process automation (RPA) as a practical solution for interoperability and automation; helping where systems cannot easily integrate. RPA allows “robots” to replicate human actions, logging into portals, copying and pasting data, triggering workflows, at far greater speed and accuracy. Tasks that might take a member of staff ten minutes can often be completed in under a minute, without errors, and even run outside office hours. By eliminating repetitive administrative tasks, firms not only save money but also reduce risk, improve compliance, and free staff to focus on higher-value work. Importantly automation does not typically lead to resistance from employees. Instead, staff often welcome it, as it removes frustrating and monotonous tasks from their daily workload.When it comes to AI closed, UK-hosted AI environments, rather than the large language models like ChatGPT, CoPilot and Claude, that allow firms to benefit from document summarisation, case analysis and risk identification without exposing confidential information. And rather than trying to do everything all at once, a process-driven approach will yield better results; mapping the end-to-end legal workflow, identifying pain points, and introducing technology incrementally.Ultimately, say Lucas and Taylor, firms don't need to be spending thousands of pounds on new technology; rather they should be focusing on maximising the functionality of existing technology with simple interconnectivity solutions. The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack