PINSENT MASONS
“ THERE ARE DEFINITELY CONVERSATIONS THAT ARE TRENDING NOW , WHERE CLIENTS WANT TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HOW WE PROVIDE A SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM , AND NOT JUST LOOKING THROUGH THE LEGAL LENS ”
NIGEL TRANTER CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER , PINSENT MASONS
infrastructure as a code – the low-code / no-code space – it ' s still embryonic , it ' s still going to be moving in two years . It will just be normal behaviour for us . It won ' t be something new , it ' ll just be this is how we do stuff around here .”
As with any organisation that is utilising automation , there continue to be concerns from some about workers ’ futures . But , as Tranter describes , technology will be utilised to upskill the workforce rather than make people obsolete .
“ I think that inherently there is always this fear of people being put out of the job . There ’ s a fear that technology like automation and robotics is going to roll in and displace people , but I just don ' t see that happening .
“ The legal sector is a relationship business . It is a people relationship between a client and somebody from the company , and technology ' s not going to change that .
“ What I ' d foresee is that the people that are having those conversations will be more skilled and more geared up to talking about providing solutions that technology can help deliver , or data conversations or process conversations that extend the reach of the conversations they ' re having now .
“ We are seeing this with our Advanced Delivery Teams . There are definitely conversations that are trending now where clients want to have conversations about how we provide a solution to a problem , and not just looking through the legal lens . And I think we ' ll see more of that .”
As technology continues to evolve , the legal industry could even prove to be an interesting space for technologies such as the metaverse in future .
“ There are conversations ongoing around things like the metaverse , and whether that will form more collaborative conversations in a more virtual world ,” Tranter predicts . “ With it being a relationship business , would people that are working with a client want to have a conversation like that ? I ' m not sure , but I think there ' ll be a trend to move to test that and see how that will actually work in a real relationship .
“ It may become part of a hybrid mechanism where some of the time we meet in person , other times we meet in the metaverse in teams , and I think it ' ll just become a tool for what we do . I ' m not sure how many people would feel comfortable wearing an Oculus headset when conducting a trial or a legal transaction . But there are some interesting places that will be in the mix in one-to-two years .”
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