Disruptive Innovation in Legal Services
The Practice
January/February 2015
Though some may be surprised to hear it, legal services fit the classic profile of an industry on the verge of disruption.
January/February 2015
Disruptive Innovation in Legal Services
In a time of exponential technological change, companies spring up and die off with startling rapidity, and entire industries are being dramatically transformed. It makes sense that it’s become a buzzword. Whether the disruptive process is good or bad is another question entirely. Legal services may be on the cusp of change, but savvy firms can adapt. Now more than ever, excellence requires continuous innovation in how firms do business and work.
How Regulation Is—and Isn’t—Changing Legal Services
Worldwide, regulation of the law occurs amid a cluster of often archaic rules and norms. Services are controlled in most markets around two categories: the practice of law and ownership of law firms. Now, calls for regulatory change are coming from an unlikely alliance of legal innovators, corporate and business interests, and access to justice advocates.
Finch Solutions
Brazil is one of the most litigious societies in the world. In a country of around 200 million people, there are currently 95 million active lawsuits; 28 million lawsuits passed through its court system in 2012 alone. In keeping with Brazil’s consumer-friendly law, most are small claims brought by consumers. How can technology help sort through this?
Selling Innovation to Law Firms
Why aren’t legal startups doing better? Investment in legal startups declined sharply last year, after peaking in 2013 with over $150 million committed. Though law firms want innovation, there are key institutional challenges and barriers that make the legal space a challenging environment for startups.
The Pragmatic Innovator
The pioneering Silicon Valley–based Legal OnRamp, founded in 2007 by Paul Lippe (HLS 1984), began life as a secure professional-networking platform for lawyers. In a growing field of contenders, the company is generally regarded as one of the first to combine technology and law.
Axiom: An Innovator's Journey
How does an innovator gain footing in the change-resistant terrain of legal services? In the case study “Axiom: Getting Down to Business,” Harvard Law School professors Ashish Nanda and David B. Wilkins and Executive Director of the Case Development Initiative Lisa Rohrer present the climb of the groundbreaking legal staffing firm Axiom from inception to profitability.
LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer Make Inroads
Looking for legal advice at the local bulk warehouse store? Perhaps not—but now you can find it there.
Cognitive Computing Will Transform Professions
Computers can mimic how humans process information and learn from prior experience. This capability is ushering in a new era in computing history—what IBM refers to as the era of cognitive computing.
