Adopting legal tech in a law firm
“To ensure success, to me the key is working closely with your technology provider. ”
Adopting legal tech in a law firm
I’ve recently come across an interesting article exploring how law firms can get an internal buy-in for legal tech initiatives.
The piece outlines 8 Ways to Convince Your Organisation to Invest in Legal Tech. From building a business case, to communicating the benefits that the new tool will bring, with ‘early wins’ and ‘easily solvable’ examples that will make the teams believe the advantages of the change.
And yes, managing change is an integral part of the process. That’s why you should really look to introduce the technology early. Selecting an internal ally will help you champion the product and will support you in navigating any resistance from the teams and their objections to adopting the new tech successfully.
The quoted article highlights many useful tips, which really resonate with me as I apply a very similar approach every day in my job as Product Manager at tmgroup.
However, for me, it seems to be missing a vital piece to the successful ‘onboarding journey’ for any new solution – working with your tech partner.
To ensure success, to me the key is working closely with your technology provider. Allow them to become an ‘extension of your team’ and use their expertise and in-depth product knowledge to help you convey the solution’s benefits to your internal stakeholders.
If you allow them to understand your current operations and challenges, they will work with you to ‘flex the tech’ in the way that will best support the way your teams work, or would like to work.
Your tech partner will also use their experience with other customers to help you find practical examples of what problem or gap the new solution will solve. They may also employ ‘domain experts’ that can enrich the onboarding process with their own previous hands-on experience in your field of work.
This very approach was highlighted during a recent Women in Residential Property webinar I attended on PropTech – What you need, why you need it and how to use it. The panel emphasised that the support you receive from the tech provider during the roll out process, and in the first year in particular, is absolutely crucial to successful adoption of new tech. Looking at the “quality of the Product Owner(s)” at the provider’s organisation, how they receive and implement your feedback into future enhancements and the product development roadmap are good indicators of whether they will be supportive and successful as your tech partner.
Working with tmgroup as a technology partner
At tmgroup we really champion close working relationships with our customers. This year, in particular, we’ve helped many law firms successfully onboard and manage the transition to digital registration applications using our tm platform.
Last year HM Land Registry announced that from 30 November 2022 applications to change the register will be digital by default. With this change HMLR are moving towards fully digital registrations and away from paper-based electronic applications.
This is a big change for any conveyancing law firm that is new to digital applications. It’s not just about moving away from the traditional PDF or MS Word template of the AP1 form to an online environment.
The new process will touch many components of how the law firm currently manages its registrations operations. You should therefore expect tailored support to help your firm manage that change successfully.
At tmgroup we deliver focused product demonstrations and training that will support your law firm with expert guidance on any questions users may have about the initial set up or how to lodge registration applications digitally.
Throughout the onboarding journey your law firm will be supported by your dedicated Account Manager. Our Client Support teams also have a wealth of experience and product knowledge of our digital registrations service. And for more complex queries expert technical advice is also available internally.
We’ve also actively listened to our customers’ feedback. That’s why this year we’ve released a number of new features that have made our digital AP1 service even better. We’ve made it easier to lodge volume property applications and you can now also manage case access in matters that may require information barrier protection. We’ve also added enhancements that promote best practice of early drafting to improve risk management for the firm and to reduce avoidable requisitions.
If you’d like to find out why we’re confident your selection of our platform as a solution of choice will be the right decision, visit our website featuring resources to support you, or get in touch by emailing us on AP1@tmgroup.co.uk to find our more.