Lawyers Who Fail To Incorporate The Latest Technologies Will Be Left Behind

Stephen Nipper over at  the Invent Blog has an interesting post “Are attorneys (on average) lacking in basic technical skills?”

"It is surprising to most people, but attorneys tend to be late adopters of technology. I think it is a result of having a “I don’t have time to learn something new, must keep working” mentality."

"Proof: check out branding guru Justin Foster’s recent post on “5 technical skills a modern professional should know” and tell me what percent of the attorneys you know have all five of those skills."

There’s no question that professionals, including attorneys, are late adopters of technology.  Those who simply think “they don’t have time” to (fill in the blank) (blog, learn technology, participate in online professional networking, experiment with group collaboration systems, etc.), are just about everywhere within our profession.  Part of it is the hourly billing mentality.  Lawyers get up in the morning with one thing on their mind, capturing six-minute increments until the end of the day.  Learning about technology is often seen as non-billable time, and therefore without merit.  Our law firm Traverse Legal, PLC incorporates technology at all levels.  We often say that we are one of the most technologically advanced law firms in the world.  I believe this is true.  From our extranet system which puts every client’s case-matter online, to our transparency and use of a range of software items which help us organize and collaborate is unique.  But these technology tools are much more than “fun.”  They provide a real advantage in the marketplace.  Clients notice and regularly comment about our systems.  Clients who are located in distant corners of the world tell us that they are more closely tied with us than their large law firms located down the block in their home town.  Technology makes us both accountable and efficient. 

Lawyers who fail to incorporate the latest technologies into their law firm business model will simply be left behind.  It’s that simple. 

Comments

[Stephen M. Nipper]

Thanks for the link.

Wait...what are we thinking? Don't we (techie attorneys) benefit when others lag behind? Perhaps we should be quiet!

[Enrico S.]

That's the beauty Steve. You couldn't whip most lawyers to the starting line, let alone get them to compete in the technology race. Thanks for the great post Steve. Keep up the good work. :-)