18 Types of Legal Tech All Legal Professionals Should Understand

The practice of law is undergoing a tectonic shift. Being a lawyer these days is as much about being a businessperson, project manager, salesperson—and yes tech expert—as it is about writing motions and negotiating contracts. This shift isn't leaving anyone untouched. We all see it, and we are all figuring out what it means for us.

But change is hard, especially for lawyers. And especially when it comes to technology.

Yes, know how to use basics like Westlaw. But be familiar with new legal research platforms like Casetext and Ross that approach research in new ways. They don't handle legal research like other platforms, and you will find new tools that you might like better. Each of these platforms has also been shown to turn up different results using the same terms.

Legions of tech tools help lawyers keep data secure these days—whether it be file encryption programs, file security programs, or password vaults. Get familiar with the options you have for securing your files, communications, and even your video conferences.

Even if you aren't a litigator, e-discovery tools can extract and sift vast amounts of data. Some e-discovery platforms give you visual insights and analytical data that can help you spot trends, find critical information, and view data in different ways. And if you are a litigator, e-discovery platforms can sort your documents, produce privilege logs, organize exhibit lists, and so much more.

Many legal orgs use document management platforms: Programs created to help manage document versioning, storage, and security. These platforms are hugely beneficial for every lawyer, and even if you don't use one, you can build your own with simple tools like Airtable or even an Excel spreadsheet hooked up to a database.

PDFs are a core lawyering tool. Nearly everything gets PDFed in our line of work, whether it be a financial document, a filing, or any other document shared externally. The market is flooded with PDF editors, with powerhouses like Adobe (the company that created PDFs) and Nuance leading the pack. Make sure you pick a tool that has the features you need and invest time to master at least the basics.

Legal tech companies specializing in analytics have sprung up across the sector in recent years. These tools help you extract useful information from data. For example, predictive judicial analytics can give you insight into how particular judges tend to rule on certain types of motions or matters. Attorney analytics can do the same thing, but for attorneys. And many legal orgs are now investing in their own legal analytics: Extracting all sorts of useful insights about data they have on their systems.

Practice management platforms are becoming standard in many firms and legal orgs. They manage all the data and information related to a case, matter, client, or even your practice as a whole. They give you quick access to high-level information, like how much time you've billed on particular cases or budgets for similar matters.

No matter your practice area, you should understand the basics of how e-filing and court dockets work. You never know when you may need to file something or, at least, look up a case for a client.

Knowledge management is one of the most powerful but underused tech tools. It helps organize prior work product, research, contacts, and other information, making it all easy to find when you need it later. Invest in this tool now, and you will thank yourself again and again.

A slew of tech companies create tools for helping companies and lawyers manage risk and spot compliance problems. These tools can help spot risks in contracts, regulations, and much more.

This is one of the hottest areas of legal tech. New contract tools can analyze contracts for weaknesses, draft template contracts, and even pull from databases of vetted contract terms. The potential time savings for in-house and transactional attorneys is enormous.

Tools like Docket Alarm can manage all your case deadlines and even calculate due dates based on a court's rules.

Tracking time is critical, even for folks who don't charge by the hour. That's because every lawyer's commodity is time. The more productive and efficient you are, the more things you can do. But tracking time is also a hassle. Tools can help you automatically track your time by watching what you do on your devices. They can even help automate the time-description process.

For litigators, trial presentation software can make an impression on judges, juries, and even clients. These platforms organize and present evidence like documents, images, and videos, with fancy finishes like zoom capabilities.

Document automation can save you hours on any work product you create. And exciting new platforms are pushing the limits when it comes to automation. Compose, for example, can draft simple motions for you in a handful of clicks.

Artificial intelligence gets constant hype and has for years, but folks disagree about what it means. The most helpful definition is probably something like tech that is so sophisticated it manages to mimic some higher-order things humans would usually be needed to understand or process. But understand that companies use this term all the time and it's often not very helpful when deciding whether the product can help you.

Machine learning enables computers to make data-driven decisions rather than being explicitly programmed to perform specific tasks. It's often considered a subset of AI, but again, it's probably best to focus more on what machine learning tools can do for your workflow, and less on the buzzwords themselves.

Blockchain is another area that has gotten endless hype in the legal world, some warranted, some not. Blockchain is simply a process for verifying transactions that can be carried out without an authoritative intermediary. Because the nature of blockchain makes it hard to forge or modify a transaction in the chain, it’s useful for things like smart contracts.

These are just some of the exciting new legal technologies that are changing the way we practice. Start investing in the ones you need now! They'll pay dividends over your entire legal career.