| | June 20219CIOReviewmanagement will allow firms to have more transparency into support staff workload. It also means efficiencies can be achieved by ensuring work goes to those with available time and to those with particular skill sets in any office.During the pandemic, we have also seen a surge in the desire by corporate legal clients to use AI tools to examine contract documents..."what is the force majeure provision in all of our contracts, and how soon can you tell us our obligations?" we were asked. Contract AI analysis, as a result, experienced great adoption. Attorneys who had been skeptical of this technology over the past couple of years suddenly became adopters, and the technology is increasingly used for general contract analysis as well as for M&A due diligence. This use of technology reminds me of the eventual acceptance of predictive coding for e-discovery document review and is likely to change the way traditional contract review is conducted going forward.The automated workflows and AI technology have found their way into various administrative departments and practice groups. As I look at the technologies I am involved with, they include the following: e-discovery data analytics, predictive coding, and automated PII/PHI detection, document automation and AI-document drafting, machine translation and machine transcription, automated signature management, AI-lead legal research, AI-infused idea management, automated task assignments, and more. We are looking at new on-line service offerings and new ways to deliver services to clients. Indeed, these technologies are being encouraged by clients and embraced by law firms and are transforming the practice of law. Of course, while we have been mostly stuck at home working, the need to ensure the security of our data has not lessened. As we examine these new technologies, many of which are cloud-based, our growing data security team must vet each potential vendor and their platform. The move to a remote work environment meant ensuring all employees could connect securely to their work environment. We respond to an ever-increasing number of client surveys asking about law firm security. Security awareness training long-ago found its way onto the new hire orientation agenda, and regular training is a requirement of all firm members. As a result, more and more resources are needed to support the law firm security team and technologies. Security continues to be--and will continue to be--an overarching consideration as we seek ways to innovate, collaborate, and move our industry forward. I have only touched the tip of the iceberg, but suffice it to say that this past year, as challenging as it has sometimes been, has been a catalyst for change in the legal technology industry. It is a very exciting time to be involved in legal technology! This use of technology reminds me of the eventual acceptance of predictive coding for e-discovery document review and is likely to change the way traditional contract review is conducted going forward
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