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Half of firms still not investing in innovation
Regardless of the profession-wide recognition that innovation is key to surviving long term, only half of Australian law firms have formalised an innovation function.
Naomi Neilson
According to Acritas and Thomson Reuter’s Australia: State of the Legal Market 2019 report, and based on a study by Alpha Creates, 25 out of the 50 law firms studied have formalised a role or established an innovation committee to see through new trends.
The report noted there is also a perception in the legal market that “technology equals innovation”, which is “far from reality” of innovation emerging through low or no tech.
In response to changes in the market, the law firms that have changed are investing in their own innovation capacities, some by formalising new roles. In some cases, this is allocated to existing roles, meaning partners, heads of technology and management directors are being asked to take on additional responsibilities.
“With the ascendance of legal tech within the legal industry in Australia, market-leading firms that develop and productise new solutions by leveraging disruptive technologies are emerging, often in concert with multidisciplinary and client-facing legal tech teams that are effectively in-house solution vendors,” the report noted.
Some firms have engaged legal innovation consultants, process engineers and design thinkers, although it is still a relatively rare trend for firms. Their journey to innovation in law typically follows a path with an inward-facing assessment of what innovation will mean to the firm and how it can embed this into its culture.
“Some firms have matured into an outward, client-facing journey that sees them deploy multidisciplinary teams tasked with identifying and solving bottlenecks and workflow issues and technology adoption issues,” the report listed.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
