Login
Creating a more tech-savvy profession
Embracing technological changes in the legal industry is of the utmost importance in a post-pandemic world, according to one firm director.
Lauren Croft
Lachlan Page is the newest associate director at Mullane & Lindsay (M&L), responsible for operational effectiveness at the Australian firm. Commencing his new role as associate director this month, Mr Page has been at M&L since 2016 and said that it’s “important to surround yourself with different types of leaders with different leadership attributes in order to leverage each other’s strengths.”
“I believe in a collaborative approach amongst firms and a walking back of the traditional insular competitive approach amongst individual legal firms.”
Mr Page has a passion for adopting technology-based solutions that help change and improve how people do their jobs – be it in the workplace or remotely. According to him, one of the biggest issues with traditional practice methods is the lack of electronic files.
“The biggest issue, which has only been accentuated in a coronavirus environment, is accessibility to documents, files and information. Many traditional practices are still driven by physical files and, whilst the industry is transitioning into electronic files, it is still rare to see a truly full electronic file,” he said.
“One of the main problems of the traditional physical file is that it is really only visible to one person in a particular location. The benefit of the electronic file means that, not only do you have the ability to access and work on a file from anywhere with an internet connection, but any member of your team is able to also view the up-to-the-minute status of the file at any point in time.”
Whilst he is “constantly excited” by new, more effective and time-efficient ways to deliver solutions to clients, Mr Page described the legal industry as a “slow moving beast” when it comes to technological changes and developments.
“I see that technology-based solutions are key to dragging the legal industry into the 21st-century and beyond to ensure that the legal industry is as efficient and cost-effective for our community as possible,” he said.
“It is my concern that if the legal industry does not accept and embrace technology-based solutions, the community will become disillusioned with the industry and lose faith.
“My generation has grown up during a phase of exponential technological growth. I think that it is the lawyers of our generation’s responsibility to impart the knowledge that we have grown up with and demonstrate those benefits of technology to the legal industry as a whole.”
Mr Page was instrumental in delivering critical online support when M&L needed to rapidly introduce work-from-home measures during the height of the pandemic, taking the lead on making sure clients and colleagues had access to online support.
“The coronavirus pandemic forced upon us a complete overhaul of our file practice management system,” he said.
“We were fortunate that we were already well advanced into our electronic file practice management system which enabled all our staff to transition to working remotely from home with ease.
“It was important to our firm that we are able to protect our staff’s health and well-being but equally important that we continue to effectively provide a high level of service to our clients and our referral base.”
M&L was able to implement new technologies and procedures for their staff, meaning they had access to the full range of tools and services that they did in the firm’s physical office.
“This meant that additional security and authentication measures were required,” Mr Page explained.
“In turn, this resulted in our firm being able to continue to provide services to our clients without any disruption, to the extent that our clients were unable to tell whether our staff were working in the office or from the dining room table.
“This was vital in ensuring continuity for both our staff and our clients.”
Looking to the future, Mr Page said he was excited about the prospect of more technology being injected into the legal industry post-pandemic.
“I am optimistic that the pandemic was the kick up the proverbial backside that the legal industry needed in order to force the industry into acknowledging that past practices cannot continue indefinitely,” he said.
“The post-pandemic world will demand that the industry be more dynamic, technology solution based, flexible and practical in order to accommodate our SME clients and the entirely different post-pandemic world.”
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
