1001startups recently published an article asking the question of the “Uberization of law” (see article below). This is indeed a question that many lawyers and legal professionals in general ask themselves.
http://1001startups.fr/legaltech-doit-on-reellement-parler-duberisation-du-droit/
There is no uberization of law
The term uberization was created by Maurice Levy, boss of Publicis a few years ago. It designates a process of replacing a profession and its rules by a new actor who frees himself from them. From this point of view, we can state very clearly that there is no Uberization of law, neither in France nor even in the United States.
If we cite players such as Doctrine, Predictice or Mon-avocat, none is a threat to lawyers. They all provide relevant solutions to improve their work. Jarvis Legal is also a provider of added value for the lawyer, so that he can concentrate on his expertise and his client relations and not on the administrative and accounting management of his activity.
Even players like Rocket Lawyer, Captain Contract or Legalstart are not threats. Although they offer end customers the opportunity to purchase documents and contracts online, for a price often lower than those of lawyers, these sites do not offer a service WITHOUT a lawyer. It is a kind of inexpensive access to a first level of legal services, which needs to be supplemented by the expertise and interpretation of a lawyer. They are ultimately more business providers than legal services.
On the other hand, the deregulation of the legal professions is changing the economic model of the various players, particularly lawyers. The legal market is also evolving, with the client (company, individual) taking power and the lawyer becoming a “price maker”.
This diagnosis is recalled in particular by Kami Haeri, Richard Susskind. David Wilkins ou Rohit talwar also highlight the opportunities that these transformations create.
The good and the bad #Legaltechs
No #Legaltech is bad, all provide useful services to lawyers. The American market, 6-7 years ahead of the French market, sheds light on the possible future of the French market:
- acceleration of growth in lawyers' turnover,
- increase in the number of lawyers
- distribution of avocado prices on a broader scale
- increase in the specialization of lawyers
- optimization of costs and organization of practices
So what’s the difference between good and bad legaltech? It's about as clear as the difference between the good and bad hunter in the famous Unknowns sketch.
Seeking to “moralize” #legaltechs between good and bad is actually a bad fight!
Happy Holidays to all !
