Legal Industry In 2024: 3 Emerging Trends

In a recent survey, around 84% of legal professionals stated that keeping their technologies and systems up-to-date was the foundation of successful practice. 

The legal industry is changing, and technology is becoming a pivotal element in the way legal organizations operate. 

Maintaining awareness of developments in legal technology can help legal firms maintain competency in court. What does the legal sphere look like in 2024 with the development of new technologies?

Emerging Trends And Technologies In The Legal Sphere

The latest trends in the legal sphere mean big changes for legal processes in the future – for both clients and legal firms.

Self-Serve Justice Made Simple For Everyday People

Organizations have been carving out a path for individuals to take a more autonomous approach to their legal matters. The justice gap means that lower-income households often can’t afford the cost of legal representation. 

Should they fall victim to personal injury or a crime, they should be able to file a claim independently in small claims court. However, representing oneself is difficult, as the legal process can be tricky to understand.

Many companies are now offering self-serve justice, providing people with the resources they need to represent themselves in small claims court and legal proceedings.

The Justice Direct platform is one of the companies driving change and closing the access to justice gap. 

Justice Direct provides resources to educate people on legal processes while simplifying the management of legal documents. They also provide support from legal professionals. 

Using these platforms allows anyone to access justice without taking on debt or paying more than they can afford in legal fees – a truly fair justice system is on the horizon. 

Implementing AI

Many legal practices are now exploring the potential uses of AI in the legal sector. One of the most time-consuming legal practices is retrieving legal documents to support a case or perform research. 

AI allows lawyers to refine their searches and retrieve specific files with ease without scouring through mountains of files and documents. This technology is primarily applicable to digitized legal documents, however, which drives the need to update paper-based filing systems.

What are some of the other ways AI is streamlining legal processes?

• Risk identification: Some providers claim to provide 90% accuracy in predicting case outcomes, allowing legal firms to manage client expectations and select cases more favorably.
• Insurance claims: Many insurance firms are using AI to manage claims and reach verdicts without human intervention. The AI uses the company’s policies and the evidence provided by the claimant to make a decision. This technology has reduced the cost of claims processing incrementally.
• Compliance: AI is now being implemented to assess product compliance and ensure they comply with industry regulations, allowing companies to avoid the legal and reputational ramifications of non-compliance.
• Generative AI: With tools like ChatGPT, legal firms can now use their own generative AI systems to automate the drafting of boilerplate legal documents. By reducing the manual and time-consuming tasks associated with legal work, firms can shift their focus more towards strategy, providing better legal service and more face-to-face interactions for their client bases.

Since the AI revolution is only just budding, we can expect to see more examples of AI in the legal sector in the upcoming years, making legal processes quicker and simpler for both the client and the firm.

Increased Demand For Data Protection

As legal firms veer away from paper-based filing systems towards digitized and cloud-based systems, there is an increased need for data protection. Many firms are now emphasizing their cybersecurity.

To ensure legal resources are only accessible to authorized parties, firms are now implementing multi-factor authentication to access legal portals and filing systems. This involves two or more methods of identity verification, which could include two or more of the following:

• Passwords
• SMS codes
• Fingerprint recognition
• Facial recognition

By implementing these security measures, firms can ensure that sensitive documents remain in the hands of authorized legal professionals and maintain GDPR compliance.

Summary

The legal industry is currently undergoing monumental changes, just like other industries adopting emerging technologies like AI. We can expect to see the justice gap bridged more effectively in the upcoming years, and legal processes will become less inefficient and time-consuming. Look out for trends in the industry as they evolve to stay ahead of the curve and keep your practice up-to-date.