Technology adoption – it ain't the lawyers' fault
The public believes lawyers are slow to adopt new technologies like cloud computing or AI, and this is backed by studies from bar associations and consulting firms globally.
There a good reasons why this might be true:
Risk-averse culture: Stability, diligence, trustworthiness, and other cautionary characteristics are traits assigned to and associated with good lawyers.
Economic disincentive: Billable by the hour is still the predominant model, which doesn't incentivise faster deliveries.
Organizational structure: The partnership model in law firms creates decision-making complexities.
Compliance concerns: Upholding strict ethical and regulatory requirements for client confidentiality and data security.
However, the truth of the matter is:
It ain't the lawyers' fault.
If we want lawyers to adopt technology and benefit from it, we must better understand them and their environment.
CASUS has learned this the hard way over the past couple of years. However, their latest product, CASUS Review, struck a nerve.
Why CASUS Review is successful
CASUS Review understands lawyers and addresses their needs head-on.
No Entry Barriers | Lawyers can start testing immediately—no heavy implementation project or licensing agreement is required. There is also no need to install a Word plugin or application. |
Save Environment | Compliant by default – Swiss-hosted and fully GDPR compliant. |
Clear Functionalities | AI Document Review to identify risks, avoid mistakes, ask questions, and improve contracts on your behalf with ease. You can even benchmark against your internal standards. |
Low Costs | The competitive pricing with a monthly subscription costs less than the average Swiss lawyer charges by the hour. |
Familiarity | Upload Word docs or PDFs for review and be sure that Corporate Identity is safeguarded. |
Strong signs that you should start using it
You might find yourself in one of these buckets:
You used an AI tool like ChatGPT in the early days, experienced some hallucinations, and never went back to test it again.
You're using ChatGPT or other tools through your personal account even though your company's policies don't allow you to do so.
Your firm has access to generic AI tools, but you're unsure how to use them to your advantage.
You would like to try an AI tool for your legal practice, but don't know where to start.
The above points stem from our extensive UX research interviewing lawyers, but we found the same patterns with bankers, wealth managers, insurance agents, and professionals from other fields.
For all of them, especially lawyers,
trust is the highest good.
Trust enables technology adoption
Technological innovations always move faster than humans can adopt them. Hence, it is key to provide solutions that do not require entirely new skills or habits. Even when new tools manage to provide frictionless usage with the current skillset, fast adoption can only be achieved when users trust the solution and understand it from day one.
CASUS Review manifests a working instrument for lawyers, considering their needs, the environment in which they operate, and their past experiences. It enables lawyers to understand, trust, and use the latest technology—an opportunity to shift the public perception of their technology adoption behavior.
It is time to take action and show that it wasn't the lawyers' fault all along.
