云内容平台NetDocuments于近日发布了一份“2023年法律科技洞察”，对法律科技发展趋势进行分析，并为律界人士使用相关技术提出建议。
更多律师或将兼任“程序员”
自动化一直是很多大型律所追求的发展方向，因为法律服务中包含大量繁琐、重复性强、不得不消耗大量人力的工作，由工具来完成这些工作是许多法律工作者所期待的。洞察报告预测，律界开发自动化办公软件将变得越来越大众化，更多律师和法务工作人员将亲自“写代码”、兼任“程序员”。
这一趋势离不开低代码/无代码（low-/no-code）工具的推广。通过可适应、可配置的自动化平台，律师们不需要掌握精深的编程技术，就可以快速、以更低成本“编写”出他们所需要的“程序”，将复杂性低、重复性高的工作自动化。这不仅将减少IT工作人员的压力，还能使律师们从文档、模板、流程管理中解脱，专注于客户沟通和其他战略目标。
合并各协同办公技术，实现真正“集中”平台
从视频会议到虚拟白板，协同办公技术的市场在过去几年里大幅增长。但该报告在研究中发现，各类协同办公软件被广泛采纳，却大多相互独立、互不兼容，导致员工们难以完全“协同”，对法律工作管理、安全等方面带来挑战。在工作中来回切换不同软件、为了一项新任务而开启另一程序，都会消耗不少时间、降低效率。
因此，各类公司和组织将寻求能够把各类平台合并起来的解决方案，以实现一站式、无缝式“集中办公”，便于团队成员轻松获取所需文档、邮件等。与外部用户的协作同样重要，报告同时建议律所考虑如何与客户、外部法律顾问等高效合作。
“云原生”技术将成首选
报告指出，只有5%的企业对云技术保持关注，仍在使用传统本地服务器的法律人士最终将转向云存储。
研究发现，超过七成的律所和法律团队把基于云的服务看作首要技术重点。尽管许多组织继续使用混合云系统，但“云原生”（Cloud-native）技术拥有弹性、分布式特性、灵活性等优势，减少了对基础设施的依赖，同时也保证了“任何地方皆可工作”，功能丰富的“云原生”解决方案将成为律界未来的首选标准。
加强防范以应对网络犯罪
报告还预测，若不幸成为网络犯罪的受害者，律界组织将更快恢复正常，损失也会减少，前提是该组织事先做过应对计划并拥有合适的防范技术。研究显示，做过充分演练的组织，数据泄露造成的损失降低了58%，而技术工具将帮助组织更快回到事故发生前的状态。
该报告建议，使用以安全为核心的文档管理系统，采用零信任的安全框架（zero-trust security framework）以确保数据安全，并使用数据丢失预防（data loss prevention, DLP）工具来阻止合法用户有意或无意地暴露数据。
Latest report reveals legal technology trends in 2023
Cloud-based content management platform NetDocuments has recently released a report on legal technology insights for 2023, which includes analysis of major trends and tips to help legal professionals make the most of tech.
Lawyers can code
Automation has always been pursued by many law firms, as a large amount of tedious, repetitive and labor-intensive work exists in legal services. Legal professionals expect such work to be completed by automated tools. The insight report predicts a democratization of software development and the rise of the legal “citizen developer” in the future.
With adaptable, scalable, configurable automation, low-/no-code platforms enable lawyers to create their own solutions in less time and at a lower cost, and automate low-complexity, repeatable work. Not only does this help remove the innovation burden from IT, but it also frees legal professionals from their organization’s documents, templates, workflows, and processes so they can focus on client service and other strategic objectives.
Consolidation of technologies for centralized work
From video chat to virtual whiteboards, the market for collaboration technology has grown exponentially over the last few years, and a variety of collaboration tools have been adopted. However, the report shows many organizations faced challenges while trying to collaborate across disparate, disconnected systems that don’t provide the governance and security needed for legal work. Studies have shown that switching between different applications or reorienting to a new tool for a new task can take up much time, thus reducing productivity.
As a result, the report says organizations are now zeroing in on the solutions that truly consolidate technologies to create a one-stop, seamless “centralized” work platform, ensuring team members can have easy access to documents and emails they need. It’s important as well to consider how to collaborate with external users, such as clients or outside counsel, as the report suggests.
Cloud-native as preferred standard
Finding only 5% of firms remain wary of cloud technology, the report says a wave of legal professionals still using on-premises technologies will finally turn to the cloud.
Studies have shown that over 70% of law firms and legal teams see cloud-based services as a top technology priority. Although many organizations will continue to use a hybrid-cloud system, cloud-native solutions take advantage of the cloud’s elasticity, scalability and flexibility, and reduce dependency on infrastructure while providing work from anywhere capabilities. The report indicates that feature-rich cloud-native solutions will become the preferred standard.
Quicker recovery and less loss from cybercrimes
The insights also include a trend that victim organizations of cybercrimes will experience quicker recovery and less loss, if they have the right plans and technology tools in place. Research shows organizations with an effective incident response plan reduced data breach costs by 58%. And the right technologies will ensure a firm can roll back to before a breach occurred.
It is advised to use a document management system that prioritizes safety, a zero-trust security framework, as well as data loss prevention (DLP) tools to block intentional or unintentional data exposure by legitimate users.
