Coming off a jam-packed week in Las Vegas at the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) conference, I would like to share my impressions from this year’s event. Here are my takeaways on the profound shifts reshaping the legal technology ecosystem:
Legal Operations: An Essential Business Function
At CLOC, it was clear that legal operations professionals are gaining recognition as integral to overall corporate health, impacting everything from finance to human resources and to sales. No longer seen as just a cost center, legal teams, and especially legal operators, are pivotal in navigating increasingly complex global challenges and enhancing company-wide efficiency.
Disruption in the Legal Technology Vendor Market
The past week was notable for major shifts in the legal tech landscape. High-profile moves included DocuSign's acquisition of Lexion for $165 million and new partnerships like the one between Evisort and Icertis. We at Clearlaw also launched Smart-Parse with our partner, Streamline AI. These events, coupled with the surge in acquisitions, partnerships, and mergers over the last six months, underscore the profound disruption unfolding in the legal services and technology domain and we believe this trend will continue to accelerate throughout 2024.
A Shift Towards Flexibility in Legal Tech
The disruption transcends corporate transactions. A recurring theme from CLOC was the shift towards more flexible legal technology solutions. Legal professionals are increasingly exploring alternatives to traditional tools, and adopting smaller, specialized components instead of large, one-size-fits-all systems. Examples include the growth of Legal Intake tools in addition to, or even as alternatives to, large Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) platforms, adopting best-of-breed solutions for various components of the traditional monolith Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) stack, and even venturing into AI model training to address bespoke requirements. It will be exciting to see over the next several years how the demand for innovation and the consolidation of vendors will affect how legal professionals evaluate solutions.
AI in Legal Tech: Beyond the Hype
The excitement around AI technologies, especially Generative AI, remains high, driven by their potential to transform the legal sector. Historically, distinguishing between vendors has been challenging due to a lack of specificity regarding features, functionality, and metrics.
However, a shift towards transparency is underway as more companies introduce products that deliver real value and move beyond buzzwords. Real-world deployments have provided valuable insights into the efficacy and, sometimes more importantly, limitations of these technologies. In short, the hype bubble is beginning to crack and this increasing transparency can only be positive for future buyers, and for the success of the industry as a whole.
Looking Forward
As we move beyond CLOC 2024, the landscape of legal technology is evolving rapidly, driven by the empowerment of legal operations and disruptive innovations. At Clearlaw, we are excited to help our clients navigate this dynamic environment, leveraging technology to achieve greater efficiency and impact. The future is promising, and we are eager to explore new opportunities for collaboration and growth in the evolving legal market.
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