A recent Law.com article entitled “It’s time for Smaller Firms to Question BigLaw Technology” identified the need for smaller law firms to question following larger firms lead when considering legal technology and innovation.
Within the article author William Caraher argues that when compared to larger firms, smaller law firms have a significant advantage when it comes to adopting new technologies. It is believed that smaller firms can adapt to change and are typically more open to new ideas, standards are less rigid and implementation costs are usually lower. Caraher highlights that many “assume the legal culture is pigeonholed into making “lemming” decisions based upon what other firms are doing”. As a result firms should be not be focusing on what other firms within the legal profession are doing but what are other industries doing.
An interview conducted by the Legal IT Professional with Richard Susskind highlighted some important points relating to the adoption of cloud computing within the legal profession. The article entitled “Richard Susskind about law firm IT management and cloud computing” highlights that many start-up and small law firms can benefit significantly from the software as a service model as it enables them to access legal applications previously only available to larger firms. Addressing the benefits of cloud computing for smaller law firms, Richard Susskind said, “Cloud computing does the thing, it actually puts the data storage, the computing power and the facilities that used to only available to large organisations, and makes them available to small organisations. I think all these firms are absolutely crucial in bringing and driving technology through into the legal profession.”