5 Key Takeaways from TechLaw.Fest 2022: Lupl at the Fest

Well, that was fun. After three days of exhibitions, events and talks (including from yours truly), TechLaw.Fest is over for another year. TechLaw.Fest is the festival focused on the future of law and technology. Or as they put it, the festival about the technology of law and the law of technology.

Festivals like this are crucial to get legal to discuss and adopt new tech. A 2021 report showed that cloud usage in the legal industry increased by just 1% in 2020, from 59% to 60%. Sound okay? Well, compare this to 94% of enterprise businesses using cloud services in 2022.

And because TechLaw.Fest is all about exploring the cutting edge of legal tech, it’s no surprise that the theme for this year’s festival was the metaverse. What does it mean for the legal industry? How could being in two places at once — at your desk and interacting in the metaverse — help law firms? And how can the industry protect itself against potential risks?

TechLaw.Fest recognises that the legal industry needs to be a pioneer in technology — and we at Lupl do too! So it’s no surprise that we were invited to give not one but two talks about our Legal Tech Platform (LTP), powered by Lupl. I was thrilled to give two talks at the festival:

• On Day 2, an under-the-hood look at the LTP, explaining how and why we created the platform
• And on Day 3, hosting a fireside chat with early adopters of the LTP.

But if you’re now feeling a sense of FOMO, don’t worry. Here, we’ll provide you with the key takeaways from our two talks, so you can understand why and how the LTP works — and how it can help you.

1. Communication management is key

Legal still uses many clunky communication processes. Email. Large, overflowing folders. Unsecure WhatsApp chats. So finding, retrieving and managing important client information can be a drag. But as Mark Teng from That.Legal LLC explained in our fireside chat, just a few months after adopting the LTP, his communication management has improved dramatically.

Putting together a file with the relevant information and arranging it in chronological order remains important, and with LTP, powered by Lupl, he can now access that easier. “Over the past three months, I’ve opened about 18 matters to manage communication with clients,” Mark tells us. “The information retrieval process has improved. I can open the platform, search the matter and look at communication really quickly”.

And in creating a matter, as Mark explained, the LTP automatically populates the right email address, allowing emails to be sent within the app. Raeza Ibrahim from Salem Ibrahim LLC noted that he still spends a significant amount of time taken up by administration, 30% he estimated, though primarily due to clients’ communication. By using the LTP, legal firms and departments can get their own house in order. And then bring their clients into it.

No more switching from this app to the other and back again. The Legal Tech Platform allows you to do it all in one place.

2. Legal needs openness and transparency

Nowadays, there’s more legal tech than ever. There are various systems to collaborate on matters. But they’re missing an important thing: the right tools to make them all talk to each other.

The LTP, as an open platform, has the answer. In a behind-the-scenes look, I explained some features, including:

• Integration: We make sure that any technology provider can integrate with the LTP via integrated APIs, letting you use your tech stack seamlessly to get what you need to get done, done.
• Global open library: Our library includes templates from providers, including LexisNexis and the Law Society of Singapore, to let you quickly get started on matters quickly and easily.

And not only is the platform open, our company is too. We want to hear from you! By doing this, we’re able to improve the platform based on what you need. Our WhatsApp integration is a good example of this. Lawyers told us that they wanted to meet their clients where they were, on WhatsApp — but securely. So we provided a feature update that lets them do just that.

3. Adopt tech early — and easily

As the festival showcases, Legal is trying to get up to speed with new tech. Trouble is, as Lim Seng Siew from OTP Law Corporation (another early adopter of the Legal Tech Platform) explained to me, when you’re starting your tech journey it takes time to evaluate various technologies to find out if they’re right for your firm. And once that’s done, you need to retrain staff to use the new tech, which takes time, effort and cost.

But the LTP is like having “somebody that has taken care of those problems”, as Seng Siew described it, adding that the platform is a tool “you can just plug in and play.” Its interface is simple and easy to use — so easy, in fact, that it takes just 57 seconds to set up and get started. No need to spend an age and a fortune in retraining your staff and shifting systems.

Particularly for smaller and mid-size law firms, Seng Siew explained, having the LTP as your starting point makes a lot of sense. Why?

• Digital transformation: The Legal Tech Platform can act as the foundation and the linchpin of your digital transformation via flexible third-party integrations for seamless integration with your existing tech stacks.
• An out-of-the-box solution: The LTP is a simple, out-of-the-box solution to managing your information and correspondence, freeing you up to spend more time on serving your clients and earning fees.

4. The modern way: working on the move…

Lawyers can’t be in two places at once (or at least not until the metaverse figures that one out). When they’re away from the desk, they can’t get the same things done or be as productive, right? Well, not quite.

As Mark explained, through the LTP mobile app he had been creating matters and setting tasks “even while we were just walking around at the conference —because it’s easier.” Not only this, but thanks to the app providing oversight of emails being sent to and from clients, he could check that tasks had been completed, and put his mind at ease.

Tools that enable remote working don’t just put lawyers’ minds at ease; they keep them motivated, too. “While zoom and web conferencing is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t go far enough”, Raeza explained. But platforms like the LTP go beyond this: by providing the flexibility to work from anywhere, lawyers can remain enthusiastic about their work.

“Think about the smartphone. Before someone told us we could have it, we couldn’t fathom it except in sci-fi films.” Now, they’re essential. Raeza noted that the best legal platforms will follow the same trajectory. What once seemed like cutting-edge tech will “be the baseline” for any modern legal business. That’s the LTP, powered by Lupl.

…which affects your top and bottom line

Retaining communication is crucial to the legal industry. And this might be costing you more than you think. As Mark explained, by moving paper files into a cloud system like the LTP, you save space and allow people to work remotely. By providing the flexibility to have people work from anywhere, you can save on rent.

According to Mark’s calculations, the reduction in office headcount and space needed for physical files has saved his firm “40% in rent”. The LTP makes physical desks clean, moving the shared, clean legal desk online.

Adding to Mark’s example of working from the festival, Seng Siew noted that being able to create matters and set tasks on the go means that not only can firms save bottom line costs, they can also work to earn fees. “Don’t think about the LTP just in terms of how you save expenses, but how you boost your revenue as well.”

5. Future tech that’s here today

While the Legal Tech Platform, powered by Lupl, is at the cutting edge of legal tech, it isn’t science-fiction. It’s here today, and it’s simple to use.

But, as I explained in my behind-the-scenes talk, Lupl is proudly open and transparent in everything we do. So we want to hear from you. Do you think there’s a better way to manage your matters? What features in a legal collaboration platform would you like to see? What could we be doing better?

Don’t wait until next year’s festival to find out how we can help. Get a personalised walkthrough of our platform and book a demo today. See how the power of Lupl can help your business.

Want to further improve your legal collaboration platform?

Book a Demo to learn more.