Definition of LegalTech
There is no universally recognised definition for legal technology (short: LegalTech). In this article, we will define the term LegalTech broadly as technology and software used in the legal profession.
LegalTech can be applied to almost all working steps that a necessary to render legal services. This definition of LegalTech encompasses the high end uses of technology, such as AI, for legal reasoning, as well as the apparently more mundane use of software for billing or case management. In practice, other terms like “law tech”, “legalIT” or “legal informatics” might be used synonymously. The term LegalTech is not to be confused with information technology law or the substantive law relating to the use of information technology. As Wikipedia describes it: “Legal technology, also known as Legal Tech, refers to the use of technology and software to provide legal services. Legal Tech companies are generally startups founded with the purpose of disrupting the traditionally conservative legal market.”Broadly, three solution categories can be distinguished within LegalTech (cf. Bucerius/BCG Study): (a) technologies facilitating the access to and processing of legal data and lawyers (b) support solutions, and (c) substantive law solutions. The first category offers solutions which provide a better access to lawyers and legal data ranging from vertical legal marketplaces to legal research and information retrieval. The second category comprises supportive tools which enhance case management and back-office work, ranging from human resources management, accounting, billing, and financing to business development. The third category includes solutions which support or even replace lawyers in the execution of specific legal tasks. This category contains numerous subfields like, for example, automated contract drafting and analysis, e-discovery, online dispute resolution, legal analytics and blockchain-based solutions (smart contracts etc.). This article will primarily focus on the third category without implying that tools of the first and second category are of minor importance. However, we assume that the third category will have a more profound impact on the way lawyers will work in the future.
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