Technology is increasingly front and centre of the legal services market and, whether it is used by purchasers or providers, a new tech-driven world is rapidly opening up. Technology is also core to D2 Legal Technology’s (D2LT) business and a critical reason why it won last year’s Best Risk Management Initiative at The Lawyer Business Leadership awards.
As a legal data consultancy a major part of what D2LT does is help its clients in the financial services sector transform the obligations and rights in legal contracts from just words to something that has meaning. This enables the client to achieve business optimisation and better manage their risk.
“Given the regulatory pressures on our clients in the post-financial crisis environment it’s no surprise that the stick has prevailed over the proverbial carrot – that’s why the risk management angle of our services has resonated so well with the in-house counsel and businesses we work with,” says D2LT partner Akber Datoo.
The legal profession has been slow to incorporate technological change, Datoo believes, and the past two decades have not seen any real disruption in the way legal services are offered.
The next decade is likely to be different, however, with a number of key advances in artificial intelligence and the cloud.
A digital transformation
“Lawyers will find that technology advances underpin a paradigm change in legal services, as well as being able to apply the law – which itself will need to evolve – to a world in which business models have undergone a digital transformation,” says Datoo. “Technology is a driving force with business clients, enabling them to scale and achieve new heights. Lawyers have typically shied away from technology, divorcing it where possible from their core offering. In an information society this just won’t be possible.”
Datoo says an appreciation of legal data is a valuable asset, enabling business optimisation and risk management. Chief data officers are realising the importance of the ‘legal data domain’ and forcing in-house legal teams (who, in turn, are forcing firms to slowly wake up to this challenge) to treat legal documentation as key reference data and drive better governance of legal data.
“It’s been great to see the use of document generation tools and machine learning to help address the neglect in this area over the past few decades,” says Datoo.
Clients and some law firms are starting to shift their mindset about technology, Datoo adds.
“‘It’s all about the data’ is a quote from a recent conversation I had with a senior magic circle law firm partner – it was music to my ears,” he jokes.
The key lesson Datoo says he has learned is that change is constant and success relies on embracing that change.
“Equally, technology and systems are never a magic bullet without the people and process elements,” he adds. “Often I see clients viewing technology as a cure to all their problems and neglecting the simple process and people aspects. In-house legal teams are particularly guilty of this.”
Datoo admits he was surprised to have won The Lawyer Business Leadership award as it was first time the consultancy had entered for any formal awards. He did not know what to expect.
“With hindsight, one aspect of the evening that was particularly exciting – apart from winning the award, of course – was that we were joined by three of our major clients who were able to join in the celebrations,” adds Datoo.
It was also a satisfying reward for D2LT, adds Datoo, as it was recognition of the consultancy’s innovation in the area of legal data management, which the lawyer believes will be an essential part of the legal profession going forward.
“As well as the staff enjoying our success, which they fully deserve, clients appreciate it,” adds Datoo. “It gives them confidence in us, in our work, legal and technical knowledge and client service. As a result of the award we’ve received quite a lot of press coverage and attention which is, of course, terrific for business and gives us an advantage when pitching for work or targeting new clients.”
An unexpected bonus is that the recognition the awards brought D2LT has also led to the business working with private practice law firms to help them adapt to the changing nature of legal services and legal service provision.
“That is immensely exciting,” concludes Datoo.
The Lawyer Business Leadership Awards 2015: Best Risk Management Initiative
D2LT’s technology-driven legal data extraction solution was purpose-built to help in-house lawyers and their teams with the often gargantuan risk management issues they face. Rather than enlist ranks of paralegals, this solution helps clients understand and quantify the risk contained within their legal documents, including ‘toxic clauses’, and the valuation and impact of this on their business. In short, it empowers the client not only by saving time and money but also by providing flexibility and more accurate results.
This is one of a series of interviews we are conducting with past Business Leadership Awards winners.
Entries are now open for this year’s Awards, visit: businessleadership.thelawyer.com for more information