Time for Legaltech? From implementation to deployment

The post-pandemic era has been a big push for technology adoption in the legal sector. This is not news. What is new is the fact that, for some months now, clients have been demanding one more step: its implementation (something they often do without the necessary prior reflection).

I have turned to the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (RAE) to clarify the meaning of the two terms that appear in the title of this article and that sometimes seem the same but whose nuances, in this context, are of vital importance:

Deployment 2. tr. To establish and put into execution new doctrines, institutions, practices or customs

 Implement 1. tr. To put into operation or apply methods, measures, etc., to carry out something.

I am one of those who believe that the power of words creates realities, that is why understanding these two terms has seemed to me key to be able to land what a real transformation and adaptation of the organization to Legaltech entails.

 When we talk about implementing, we refer to putting something in place, especially something new, while implementing implies putting it into practice, making it a reality.

 Both components are essential, but I want to focus on the first one, the implementation, which is the one that requires a process of ideation, defining a "what for", adapting the use cases to the specific needs, the commitment to carry it out... and, above all, accompanying people.

 To this end, I find it particularly useful before starting, to reflect with tools such as Agile inception, which allows us to ground the project and take into account the following

Principle 1. Start with the process:

 Before implementing is essential to optimize current processes.

Principle 2. Set the data

•  Selection of contracts and information to be stored in the tool.
• The tool is only as useful as the data it contains.

 Principle 3. Optimize templates and simplify contracts

• Identify all existing templates
• Simplify and streamline them where possible.

Principle 4. Start small

 Consider iterative scoping based on:

1) the data

2) the content

3) and most importantly, people

Principle 5. Change Management is Essential

 The cause of most failed implementations often stems from a lack of change management and change communication. The key is understanding how to adopt a new way of doing things faster, safer, more secure, more transparent and more efficient.

 To do this, it is especially useful to understand the technology adoption lifecycle, which is a sociological model that describes the adoption or acceptance of a new product or innovation, according to the demographic and psychological characteristics of defined groups of adopters.

 The adoption process over time is often illustrated as a classical normal distribution or "Gaussian bell". The model indicates that the first group of people to use a new product is called "innovators", followed by "early adopters". Then come the early majority and the late majority, and the last group that ends up adopting a product is called "laggards". In this process all users are needed to fine-tune any transformation and adapt the project to the organizational culture. 

Agile and Design Thinking as methodologies are crucial in this curve to get everyone in the organization on board the transformation bandwagon, as they focus on putting people at the center and iterating to provide value in each delivery. And it is especially useful in large and/or complex legaltech projects where typically a single department is responsible for the entire project, requirements may vary and involve different stakeholders.

Original article in Blog General Council of Spanish Lawyers Blog CGAE