Could lawyers be replaced by robots?

By Demetrio Zema, Founder & Director

Around the world, the professional services industry is abuzz with talk about automation, innovation and artificial intelligence (AI). This technology and automation (largely), seeks to cut out the very work that professional service advisors do!

I often find myself pondering these developments in the context of the legal industry, and ask myself the question: Could lawyers be replaced by robots?

I then ask, If we were, would anyone care, other than lawyers?

Honestly, I don’t think many people would! Lawyers have built a reputation as:

• Inefficient
• Poor communicators; and
• Expensive

Technology advancement is relentless, the market is unforgiving, and clients won’t bat an eyelid in deciding to opt for a cheaper, more effective, and more transparent service.

And in my opinion, they wouldn’t be wrong to do so either.

So what can we do?

We need to be more human. Lawyers need to build relationships with their clients, understand their goals, empathise with their situation, and be more transparent about what you’re doing and what they’re charging! This is the value we can add as lawyers, to actively understand both the commercial and emotional decisions and needs of our clients. This is something AI, technology and even automation cannot replace (yet).

Clients, choose law firms who focus on giving the best experience, who address their needs with minimal fuss, clear communication and transparency on costs.

With this in mind, we should all embrace the technological advancements in the legal industry and encourage this. Because at the end of the day, “robots” won’t replace us but they will make us better. Those who chose to embrace the technology will be better off as a result.

This month we are proud to support Startup Victoria’s Professional Services Tech Pitch Night on 27 February 2018. We hope to see you there!

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At Law Squared, we partner with passionate entrepreneurs and businesses who need our technical help and expertise. We’d love to have a chat with you, so feel free to drop us an email hello@lawsquared.co.

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Demetrio Zema

An accomplished entrepreneur and lawyer, Demetrio is the founder and director of Law Squared.

dzema@lawsquared.co

0417 679 007