Following recent engagement with a top-tier Law firm concerning their digital transformation, it was clear that the legal sector’s use of technology is advancing at rates we have not seen before. This is in part, as we all know, a product of our environment. The global pandemic has forced law firms to adapt to a digital way of working as their staff, clients and partners have been required to work remotely.
Modern technologies are transforming the legal sector, empowering law firms to digitise business processes and operations by offering innovative solutions.
“Over the past year, no area has undergone more rapid transformation than the way we work. Employee expectations are changing, and we will need to define productivity much more broadly — inclusive of collaboration, learning and wellbeing, to drive career advancement for every worker, including frontline and knowledge workers, as well as for new graduates and those who are in the workforce today. All this needs to be done with flexibility in when, where, and how people work.”
Satya Nadella - CEO at Microsoft
As the dust settles from the frenzied move to remote working, the finer details concerning information governance, secure external sharing and collaboration and information architecture best practice now need careful consideration.
Furthermore, with cost-saving initiatives being at the forefront of decision making and an ever-evolving list of often expensive platforms and applications to choose from, it can be easy to overlook existing, underutilised tools you may already have.
The question is, how can firms use the tools they have to adapt to hybrid working to offer innovative solutions that employees love? In turn, empowering them to communicate, collaborate, and be more productive, wherever and whenever they are working?
A good example of this is the Microsoft 365 suite. Many firms are already using Outlook and Teams but have not yet unlocked the full potential of all the tools in the platform. They are missing out on the opportunity to collaborate securely with clients, increase internal productivity, reduce error, and share knowledge and expertise. Users need solutions, not tools and it is vital that when implementing Microsoft 365, considerations are made on how users will interact, learn, and embrace technology in a hybrid world.
Remember, your clients are likely to be using these technologies too and expect modern interactions that are secure, and simple to use. Interestingly, a recent case study between Microsoft and Shakespeare Martineau highlights their decision to use Microsoft 365 to provide a secure, modern digital workplace.
"Many of our clients have insisted that they will only use Microsoft Teams for calls and collaboration for security reasons.”
Dal Virdi - IT Director at Shakespeare Martineau
At Dapt we’ve seen a huge uptake in technologies such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and the Power Platform within the organisations we work with. We have partnered with Orchestry to address the specific needs of Law firms to help with the rapid shift towards hybrid working.
Law firms are using Orchestry in several different ways to ensure compliance, drive efficiencies and promote adoption of these new ways of working. Using Orchestry you can provide a consistent template that is complete with inbuilt governance, document templates, metadata and is linked to your case management system.
Michal Pisarek – 6x Microsoft MVP and CEO of Orchestry
Orchestry extends Microsoft 365’s ability to accurately create, structure and store confidential client information through process automation and intelligent design.
With incoming new solutions such as Microsoft Viva Connections, Learning, Topics and Insights, preparing for a hybrid workplace should be at the forefront of every law firms agenda.