Some people tend to say that New York City is not America due to its landmark, diversity and many other things. What differentiates it from other wonderful cities is its landmark. One of the most commonly used concepts refers to the Real Estate, like pre-war and post-war buildings. Yes, not every single building in this city looks like the Empire State Building or the Ground Zero. However, the beauty is in how the two different blueprints blend together.
It is interesting to look at life, in general, through the lenses of a Pre and Post event. One of the most recent events that is and will remain a focus in many conversations and areas of life is COVID-19 and its ramifications. If only a few months ago we've talked about how the world was completely shut down, today we are looking at how this most recent "crucible" has affected us on the individual and collective level. And because our focus is on the Virtual Law and the blend of the Legal Technology all together, we've decided to take a look at how the pandemic affected the "legal way of life".
If yesterday, we've looked at the pandemic as a negative disrupter of the law practice one of it being keeping many lawyers away from physical courtrooms, limiting access to justice but for the essential cases, today we are looking at this transforming event as a way to allow cost savings, encouraging lawyers to become more comfortable with using technology and why not support courts in transitioning to e-practice, which they have been otherwise resistant to. It is well proven that we as humans are sometimes resistant to change and only a drastic event can make us accept and even embrace it. So, what are some of the trends that Courts will sustain even beyond 2021?
- Lawyers will have a better handle on the Technology. If in the pre-pandemic era lawyers had a choice as to how to conduct their legal practice, today even the most resistant to change lawyers will have to have some grasp of the tech tools in order to be able to keep up with the competition. If conducting a trial via Zoom was very foreign to them, today they have to learn what makes for an effective remote depositions or court appearance. Also awareness that a simple "mute" button can jeopardize their case or even career if not used mindfully.
- Legal practice is likely to stay virtual during 2021 and possibly beyond. Although some of the legal practices or court functions will not cling to the virtual proceedings, we should expect that some of them will opt to stick with the new way of practising law. The good thing about this is that even the most traditional courts will not be able to rely on the "history excuses" to make some very much needed changes.
- Complex cases are likely to not long for the virtual world. Although, at the moment, applying an additional layer of technology would feel unnecessary and overwhelming or overburdening, that may change in the future.
- Cost savings may sustain some virtual proceedings. Although many law firms have responded to the pandemic with furloughs of administrative staff and pay cuts, very few law firms or law jobs have disappeared as a result of the Pandemic. We are actually seeing a rise in the demand for lawyers due to illness crise, economic downturn, domestic violence cases, reforms affecting small businesses and so on. Lawyers have stayed busy throughout the pandemic and there is not doubt that things will stay the same.
- Although many young legal professionals are in the dark, the light at the end of the tunnel is closer than they think. One thing they need to be sure of is that there is immense work ahead to safeguard and strengthen the rule of law amidst the transition to remote work.
- Law firms that have gone remotely even before the pandemic hit will most likely continue to run their practice this way, despite of the downsides some of us may see:
o the hardship of establishing a team culture and face-to-face relationships;
o the difficulty to judge the efficiency of workers who are at home with potential distractions;
o addressing employees' mental health hardships due to isolation;
o lack of mentorship from seniors while working from home.
- Some legal professionals will return to in-office environment:
o large firms courting wealthy corporate clients who expect and demand a certain level of services;
o leaders who are uncomfortable with new technologies;
o some offices will opt for a hybrid model.
Not everyone of us likes the rain, but we certainly love the rainbows. We should expect exponential growth in the future with regards to virtual law firms, although, these changes will come in many shapes and forms. We should expect some of the law firms to operate like Uber or Upwork, tech platforms with a few lawyers serving as a backup or lose affiliations of lawyers working under one platform. At the same time, we should foresee seeing high-end modern law firms where elite lawyers work closely together. Many law firms will feature remote work while offering access to quality offices and resources. Let's be honest: "we cannot deny that remote work works" and many more law firms will work on finding solutions to keep the new status quo. However, should we expect for the traditional law firms to be completely replaced by their virtual counterparts in the short firm is a question we will likely answer at another time. What do you think?
by Galina Barbascumpa