Legal Team
To drive legal tech adoption, it's crucial to understand the diverse needs of stakeholders, from junior lawyers to partners, and address their unique concerns. Successful adoption hinges on combining individual benefits ("pull" factors) like time savings with organizational necessities ("push" factors) such as regulatory compliance. Building trust with users and showcasing technology's real-world value—reducing costs, enhancing efficiency, and improving client service—turns tech from shelfware into a transformative tool.
Source: Medium, Jack Shepherd
In the realm of legal technology, it's easy to get caught up in the allure of buzzwords and impressive AI capabilities. However, the real challenge isn't in creating the technology—it's in ensuring it gets used. Legal tech’s potential is vast, but without adoption, it becomes a wasted investment. This leads to the critical question: why should anyone care about using it?
Understanding Who “They” Are
Legal departments are diverse, comprising corporate lawyers, litigators, tax experts, and various support roles, each with unique needs and motivations. For instance, while junior lawyers might look for tools to streamline repetitive tasks, partners are more concerned about the tool’s impact on client relationships. Additionally, tech impacts more than just the lawyers—IT teams, administrative staff, and finance are all affected by new systems. Recognizing the variety of stakeholders involved and understanding their unique pain points allows for tailored, compelling messaging that can drive adoption.
Push and Pull Factors: The Adoption Formula
To effectively encourage adoption, it’s essential to leverage both “pull” and “push” factors. Pull factors directly benefit users on a personal level, such as reducing time spent on repetitive tasks or making workflows more efficient. When these benefits are clearly communicated, users can see how the tech will make their lives easier. Conversely, push factors come from organizational needs, like regulatory compliance or digital transformation mandates. During the pandemic, for instance, e-signatures became a necessity as remote work eliminated physical document signing. Combining these factors helps create a comprehensive case for adoption that addresses both individual and organizational priorities.
Building Trust and Overcoming Reluctance
One of the biggest barriers to adoption is often a lack of trust. Lawyers are trained to assess risk and adhere to established practices, so changes in technology can feel risky. To overcome this, legal tech champions must build trust by directly engaging with users, understanding their concerns, and showing how the technology complements—not disrupts—their workflows. Addressing real issues like reducing costs, enhancing efficiency, and improving client service helps create a meaningful, user-centric approach.
Legal tech adoption is as much about culture and behavior as it is about software. By asking the right questions, building trust, and carefully crafting both pull and push factors, firms can turn technology from an unused investment into a transformative asset.