Speech Blog

At every turn – across both consumer and business landscapes – increasingly sophisticated computer-driven capabilities are becoming integrated into our lives. Technologies that seemed like science fiction yesterday are now quickly becoming the status quo. In the legal field, new technologies such as AI are helping legal professionals do more with less resources, keep up with the accelerating pace of business, and use their time more effectively.

However, some firms are facing challenges in realizing returns on their technology investments, not having the appropriate parameters in place to support successful implementation and measurement. This can lead to another problem: Across the organization, staff and leadership alike may undervalue investing in new technologies, dismissing them as irrelevant or impractical when in fact, the challenges may stem from integration.

Though there are a myriad of reasons new technologies don’t take root within an organization, some of the most common obstacles law firms experience in adopting new LegalTech include:

Doing too much, too soon

As advantageous as technology is, it can also be extremely disruptive if instituted too suddenly and on too large a scale. Introducing completely new solutions (along with their requisite procedures) without staffers understanding their context or how to utilize them makes it difficult to gain the advocacy and engagement necessary for success.

Lack of true integration

All law firms are a complex ecosystem of interdependent moving parts. Without extensive planning, analysis driven by real data, and cultural consideration, new solutions can’t be woven seamlessly into existing processes and workflows.

Low adoption by end users

This is perhaps the biggest challenge, and the one that ultimately makes the most significant damaging impact. Besides wasting valuable budget, time, and resources, orphaned tech projects can foster a negative perception and unwillingness among staff toward trying new approaches to work.

Faced with these potential snares, how can firms avoid them and quickly realize ROI?

Don’t “rip and replace”

Rather than make wholesale changes, take an incremental approach. For example, rather than stepping directly into advanced AI functions such as predictive analytics, try using advanced dictation solutions for automating transcription, document creation, and other traditionally manual tasks. These solutions are familiar enough to be immediately useful, but also feature innovative capabilities that create a natural step into AI applications and other digitized automation solutions.

Do (more) homework

All technology installations require multi-faceted due diligence, but putting extra focus on assessing how new technologies will integrate into the firm’s workflows will prove worthwhile. Many firms have introduced speech-to-text solutions (both physical devices including smartphone apps and cloud-based software), as they have proven to be a natural fit into the workday for attorneys, paralegals, and other staff across the firm. It is another way to ease the transition of phasing out time- and labor-intensive tasks.

Assign cross-functional champions

Lastly, identify and leverage owners of any new technology, who will campaign for its successful implementation and take accountability for adoption and measurement among team members. As the adage goes, “if everyone owns the task, no one owns the task” – therefore, naming clear leaders is critical.

No matter how innovative or feature-rich technology is, the human element is crucial to successfully incorporating it into a firm’s day-to-day environment. Philips is proud to help firms around the globe find the best of both worlds, developing leading-edge, user-friendly dictation solutions built for the specific needs of the legal industry.

To learn more about how you can prepare for a more tech-enabled future,

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