An emerging discipline in recent years, Legal Design offers particularly interesting perspectives for legal professionals.
The genesis of Legal Design
Coming from the United States, Legal Design or Design Thinking emerged in 1999 in New York. Designer Candy Chang created an infographic aimed at making street vendors in the city aware of their rights. Thanks to this infographic, it simplifies the maze of regulations then applicable in the Big Apple. Design Thinking was then theorized in 2014 by Margaret Hagan, lawyer and designer, working with Stanford University. She popularized the concept in particular thanks to her Tumblr, lawdesigntech.
Since then, the Legal Design Lab at Stanford has been emulated. Taught in certain law schools (at ERAGE, School of Lawyers of the Grand Est) but also subject of study in universities (the Legal Design Assas association, the first association of this kind in France founded in 2016 with the IllustrAssas newspaper), Legal Design tends to establish itself among legal professionals. Widely used across the Channel, French administrations are also trying to appropriate it, following the example of the French tax administration which created infographics in 2018 to explain the withholding of taxes.
The result of the merger of three disciplines
This new concept is a revolution in the world of law made possible thanks to the possibilities offered by the latest technological advances. Legal Design is located precisely at the confluence of three disciplines. First of all, the design which allows the creation of attractive visual content. Then, the user experience (UX), that is to say how the user perceives the tool used and whether he can easily use this tool. Finally and of course, we must add the legal expertise of legal professionals allowing the dissemination of reliable legal information.
To summarize in a few words, what is Legal Design? It is a concept which aims to translate legal text into images. It thus aims to create simplified and visual legal documents using diagrams, graphics, tables, infographics, etc.
The observation of legal complexity
The observation initiated by Legal Design incubators is the same: legal information is often abstract and obscure, too often falling into a complex jargon for the uninitiated. Added to this is information that is often poorly highlighted and unattractive with a messy presentation.
Far from being a simple cosmetic issue, this concept is based on the obvious: legal information should be clear and accessible to all.
Offer visual supports
The use of a visual aid greatly facilitates the understanding of legal dynamics. The educational aim of these documents for the general public is certain.
Let's take the example of a long and boring list of general conditions of sale that we often only glance at briefly. Translated into visuals with colors, boxes, symbols, arrows, bold, underline, etc., it immediately becomes more structured, much more pleasant to read and easier to understand!
Jarvis Legal is inspired by the logic of Legal Design for the decision-making tools integrated into its software platform. No more complicated reporting, Jarvis simplifies your life thanks to the use of elements of reporting graphics generated on demand. Your data can thus be rendered in the form of tables, graphs, tree structures, with varied colors and layouts, etc. facilitating decision-making.
Facilitate the lawyer-client relationship
Legal Design contributes to the establishment of better access to law. By promoting the understanding and accessibility of legal information, it allows lawyers to communicate better with their customers.
The overall approach conveyed by this concept is fueled by the desire to put the user at the center by offering them more intuitive content. In this way, it enriches the customer relationship by allowing richer and more fruitful interactions.
A real shock of simplification for professionals, Legal Design is above all an opportunity to question and reinvigorate one's practices to make them more accessible.
