The legal industry is constantly changing. As the pace of business and breadth of social change continue to accelerate, so too must the way law is delivered. A new approach is emerging, called “law new.” As its name suggests, it involves creating legal services in completely new ways — ways that do not yet exist in the traditional legal landscape. This new approach can include using different technology to deliver legal services, working with underserved communities, and developing strategies that have never been a part of the legal profession before.
While the legal industry has experienced significant changes in recent years, it has not fully undergone a paradigm shift from provider to customer-centricity. This shift will result in the industry shifting its purpose from preserving an outdated legacy delivery model and outdated legal education, self-regulation and dispute resolution mechanisms to serving clients and society at large. It will refocus on achieving customer impact with high net promoter scores as opposed to pursuing profit preservation and self-congratulatory awards.
To achieve this shift, the legal industry will need to adopt a new business process that will allow it to be more agile, customer-centric, and on demand. A new legal delivery model must be built upon a foundation of platform-based service structure and a multidisciplinary team sport that includes lawyers, “legal techies,” process/project managers and data analysts. This new model must rely on fit-for-purpose legal technology but should lead with a strategic plan based on addressing a specific end-user challenge and delivering an improved experience/outcome.
This is not an easy task. In addition, the legal industry will need to adopt broader, more comprehensive cultural, demographic and experiential diversity. It will also need to develop a diverse workforce that is tech and data proficient, creative and empathetic. It will be capable of working cross-functionally with enterprise business units and across industries.
New York law has taken a step toward this goal by banning businesses from charging customers differently based on their gender. The new law will prevent retailers from imposing the so-called “pink tax,” which is when a product is sold at a higher price than its male counterpart. This is a good thing, and it will hopefully help to create equality for women in the workplace.
The new law will be important to all businesses, but especially those in the tech sector. This law will protect consumer privacy by allowing customers to decide whether they want to use a website or app that has their personal information. It is similar to the GDPR laws that have been passed in many states, but it will be the first time that such a law has been adopted at the state level. This is a big win for consumer privacy, and it will set a precedent for other states to follow suit.
