Legal Tech Software: Enablement & Integration

Written by Joshua Fraser
Written by Joshua Fraser

Blogger

case management software, practice management software, legal accounting software, legaltech, technology for lawyers, case management, immigration, london, united kingdomcase management software, practice management software, legal accounting software, legaltech, technology for lawyers, case management, immigration, london, united kingdom

For law firms that intend to make use of legal tech software, a necessary consideration is the process of enabling and integrating the legal software tools they have chosen to employ. In other words, an important and unavoidable aspect of utilising legal tech workplace systems is the procedure of ‘setting up’ the particular legal technology solutions in the context of the relevant firm. 


Why is Enablement and Integration Important? 


In order for a firm to run with clockwork efficiency, or anything approaching it, it requires, at the very least, a competent core of employees. However, even the most competent of workers can be rendered comparatively inept when incorrectly or inefficiently introduced to a new legal software system. 


Without the baseline of employee functionality, any business will cease to be effective, if not fail to be at all capable, in its chosen productive function. Consequently, it is crucial to successfully harmonise any new digital workplace solution with the workers who are required to use it. 


However, employee competency, in relation to legal practice software usage, is not the only factor that makes the enablement and integration of legal technology important. Similarly, the efficacious migration of data from any given previous system to the relevant legal technology system is crucial. The question of what happens to your data when a system is transferred between suppliers is both important and nebulous. Yet the consequences of negligent and flawed data migration, from one system to another, are myriad – saliently resulting in exposure to legal liability and an undermining of the efficiency of firm operations. 


Accordingly, two considerations are relevant when initially utilising a legal software solution, the on-boarding of legal and other relevant personnel and the successful migration of data.


Successful Onboarding of Employees to Legal Tech Systems


There are a number of complex challenges inherent in training employees to adopt (digital) workplace assistive systems. These range from organisational resistance to change, where existing methodologies in a workplace are antithetical to the functionality and/or UX design of the new integrating system, through to procedural and doctrinal hangovers from the prior system of operation, where legacy decision-making leads to repetitive confusion and errors through force of habit. 


These teething problems can, however, be tackled through a well-thought-out, structured and implemented training plan. Indeed, one of the easiest ways to overcome these hang-ups is through comprehensive training. Such training should, ideally, not be bloated or excessive in its scope and depth. Indeed, to have an overly exhaustive training regime would not only likely confuse employees who are trying to get to grips with the system, thus undermining the ultimate efficacy of the training altogether, but would also likely result in unwarranted and deleterious periods of employee absence from their roles, as they spend a larger than necessary interval learning the ins-and-outs of the new legal software.

This training should adhere to three pillars of successful workplace tech-system induction;  task orientation, communication and assimilation.


  1. Task Orientation:  

Task orientation refers to the essential concept that the integral purpose of the legal office software is to fulfil a workplace task. This might sound intuitive; however, all too frequently, the focus of training in relation to a given legal practice management software is the features of the software rather than the how those features will enable the employees to more efficiently complete their specific roles. This distinction may seem minimal, but in actuality it is crucial to helping employees quickly and proficiently absorb the necessary knowledge they need to use the relevant software adeptly. 


This is largely because task-oriented training, which focuses on how the digital system can benefit a workplace task rather than the feature in concept, makes use of a hugely effective learning strategy known as ‘constructivism’, also referred to as ‘anchored instruction’. 


This theory is based on the idea that an individual will learn faster if the knowledge they are taking on is tied to a practical construct which they already understand, such as an apple falling in relation to gravity. In this vein, an employee learning about how a feature can help them complete a task, rather than simply learning about the feature in abstract will improve their capacity for and speed of learning. 


  1. Communication: 

As is the case in any business, harmony between operational goals and employee action is based on the cornerstone of communication. Accordingly, when introducing a new software system, communication should be a priority in the training cycle. Any concerns employees have, regarding the software, should be sought out and addressed.


  1. Assimilation:

Assimilation involves identifying all of the relative levels of technophobia/technophilia amongst trainees and adjusting the pace and tempo of the training for them accordingly. In essence, this tenant involves attempting, through adjustment, to assimilate all employees into a shared and ideally ubiquitous baseline of competency


Assimilation is important as not all employees are equally techno-competent and therefore training should be dynamic to cater for differing levels of ability. All too often, training assumes that there is a similar if not the identical level of innate aptitude between employees, when this is rarely the case. Having dynamic training that aims to assimilate employees to a similar or same level of ability would serve to account for this differential. 


Data Migration in The Context of Legal Tech Systems


Transferring between third-party legal providers can necessitate a headache-inducing data transference process. This process is required for the firm’s day-to-day running and function, and so importing data from legacy systems to a new legal practice management software is an important procedure to get right. Accordingly, successful data migration requires an expertly crafted migration plan, which is often best implemented by the third party taking over as a firm’s software supplier.


Enablement and Integration with GLS


It is understandable that most firm manger’s expertise does not include seamlessly introducing legal tech solutions into their practice’s management system. Therefore, Good Law Software will handle the data migration, training and overall enablement of the GLS system for any firms that choose GLS as a provider. 


Bibliography:

[1] Knowledge Structures for integrating working and learning: A reflection on a decade of learning technology research for workplace learning https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjet.12835

[2] ‘Seven Steps to Successful Data Migration’, Anthology https://www.campusmanagement.com/higher-education-resources/insights/seven-steps-to-successful-data-migration/ 

[3] Tessa H. ‘Six steps to successfully onboard teams in new software’, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/six-steps-successfully-onboarding-teams-new-software-tessa-herd-court/  

[4] ‘Workplace Tech Issues Revealed’, at https://www.gazprom-energy.co.uk/blog/the-uks-most-searched-for-workplace-tech-issues-revealed/

[5] Yannick Griep, ‘Technology in the Workplace: Opportunities and Challanges’ at https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-74128-0_6 

[6] ‘Legal Departments’ Technology Ambitions Still Running Into Internal Roadblocks’’ at https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2022/06/23/legal-departments-technology-ambitions-still-running-into-internal-roadblocks/ 

[7] ’ ‘Employee Training: Building Proper Employee Training Programs’ https://www.personio.com/hr-lexicon/employee-training-programs/#:~:text=Employee%20Development%20Programs-,What%20Is%20An%20Employee%20Training%20Program%3F,should%20go%20well%20beyond%20that. 

[8] ‘Data Migration: Process, Types and Golden Rules to Follow’, https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/data-migration/ 

[9] ‘How to Train Employees On A New System’, at https://elearningindustry.com/how-to-train-employees-on-a-new-system

[10] ‘What is Cloud Migration? Strategy, Process and Tools’ at https://cloud.netapp.com/blog/cloud-migration-strategy-challenges-and-steps

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