Has the Digital Revolution Killed the Billable Hour?

Law firms and attorneys cannot ignore the need to use technology to do more and be more efficient for less. This means that law firms/attorneys need to be able to justify why billable hours are still appropriate, whether they are still relevant and, importantly, how attorneys stay relevant for their clients. The purpose of this discussion is not to "throw the baby out with the bath water" as skilled and experienced attorneys are still and will still be required and as such so might billable hours, it is more to talk to the considerations facing in-house counsel when briefing law firms/attorney (i.e. costs) and the need for law firms to consider the ways in which they train young attorneys to be of value to their clients.

Those attending this session will hopefully walk away with a sense of the concerns in-house counsel have with appointing big law firms but more importantly that law firms who want to be successful will need to stay relevant. There are a number of low-cost alternative legal service providers which are challenging the traditional law firms and they can do this because they have fewer overheads but can still deliver the same quality of service. This is not to say law firms are going anywhere nor is the billable hour, but pricing models of law firms will need to evolve to match the type of work and the law firms will need to carefully consider how they develop the young attorneys in their organization to ensure company's see the benefit in having an associate on a matter rather than just a system that generates the document and partner.

Key Takeaways:
1. Cost-cutting, and tighter margin are making corporate reevaluate what is being paid for when using a law firm, as such law firms need to utilize technology to reduce their costs and do more for less.
2. Billable hours may become a thing of the past in the near future but for now they are here to stay, and law firms need to be able to justify the rates through adding value beyond the four corners of a legal agreement.
3. The role of attorneys is changing, and so must the way law firms attract, think and nurture talent.

Creating an Innovation Culture in Law Firms and In-House – From Implementation To Transformational Leadership

The creation of an environment in which innovation can flourish requires intentional action by law firm leaders. In this presentation, I will draw on my extensive experience to explore the challenges and opportunities that you might encounter when embarking on an innovation journey within legal, and useful frameworks through which new ideas and opportunities can be welcomed and tested. I will discuss the importance of developing new capabilities, enabling growth mindset and transformational leadership. I will provide practical tips to enable the successful delivery of your innovation initiatives, including leveraging insights from case studies:

• Invigorate program implemented at G+T
• Innovation initiatives - summer clerk and graduate programs etc.
• Observations from our work with G+T Innovate clients - what it takes to implement true innovation within in-house teams, what has worked and what hasn’t

This presentation will explore:

• The creation of an environment in which innovation can flourish, including what it means to be a transformational leader;
• The challenges and opportunities which might be encountered in law firms and in-house when embarking on an innovation journey;
• The establishment of frameworks through which ideas and opportunities are welcomed and tested;
• Innovation insights through practical case studies;
• Tips for the successful delivery of innovation initiatives.

Three take-away points include:

• What it means to be a transformational leader - the importance of growth mindset, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and effective change management
• Practical examples of success and failure (in-house and law firm)
• How to get started and keep going on your journey

Leveraging Data for Risk

The New Business Intake process in a law firm needs to be data-centric. Comprehensive information regarding a new matter, the related parties and regulatory information needs to be systematically captured and indexed in a structured way. It should be the aspiration of any law firm to fully index their data for instantaneous searching to quickly return information based on keywords Google. That is not to say that risk and conflicts searching function can be completely data-driven, however, any firm would be remiss not to use the massive data asset they currently possess to mitigate potential risks of new business.

Data is increasingly becoming a massive asset for law firms and there is much-untapped value from their existing data. Machine learning principles state that the more data you have, the more accurate your models and reporting become. It is thus vital for a law firm to develop this data discipline and technology to make better use of the terabytes of data at their disposal. This goes far beyond the realms of risk and business development.

Key Takeaways:
1. Maximizing the use of data by creating the availability and quick recall of complete and accurate information regarding clients, matters and entities is hugely useful in mitigating risk and conflicts of interest.
2. A data-centric approach to risk should be implemented in the form of structured data and processes.
3. Tech and systems are just the start, the change management and user adoption is 90% of the battle

Technology - Friend or Foe and How to Use it To Become the Future of In-House Legal

A webpage full of quotes on how to achieve different results with the same action only proves that in order to get different results, lasting results, that which will set you apart of the rest, requires you to do things differently.

Come on a journey of enlightenment with us while we take you through the essential elements of optimizing our legal team and collaboration with Co-Operative Computing and rise to be the Future of Inhouse Legal.

Key Takeaways:
1. Technology is not always the enemy.
2. Lawyers can be business partners.
3. Technology and Lawyers can be partners - be challenged and innovate

The Key Leadership Skill Today Is Adaptability

To be successful in a time of such turbulence requires insights into the disruptive forces that are changing our world and a new toolkit of skills for the leaders who must navigate the changes. This keynote overviews a number of key disruptive forces that are shaping the world right now, and highlights the new attitudes and actions required from your people. They need to be able to see beyond the next horizon, anticipating where disruptions will come from. They need to embrace experimentation. They must remove and renovate any systems that will block corporate agility. They have to take time to not work IN their businesses, but also ON their businesses, while at the same time ensuring that they continue to “do the next thing to be done”. And most importantly, they must deal with any orthodoxies – habits of thinking and action – that are holding their organisations hostage to the past.

Key Takeaways:
1. Identify the latest and most significant disruptors changing the world (constantly updated and customised for each client’s industry)
2. Understand how these disruptors will impact customers and staff
3. Discover how the world of work will change in the next few years
4. Identify key mindset and behaviour changes required for success in a changing world
5. Develop a plan to ensure their team is future-fit

The Reality of AI and Contracts: A Cold-hearted Assessment of the Reality of AI Adoption in Commercial Contracting

The legal services sector continues its slow launch on a journey of unprecedented disruption as a result of technology, process re-engineering and change to the traditional role of the lawyer. The reality, however, continues to lag behind the hype. We will recap our analysis of the typical day in the life of a commercial contracts lawyer and then assess, in a cold-hearted lawyerly way, the extent to which:

• Available technology is genuinely making life easier; and
• Available technology that could definitely make life easier is not being adopted and why.

As part of this analysis we would like to move the conversation away from “lawyer vs robot” to “lawyer enabled by robot”, and perhaps more critically at this early stage of adoption, “robot enabled by lawyer”. We can demonstrate that the technology is available to make an immense difference, for the better, in the way we produce, negotiate, agree and manage contracts. But until traditional mindsets shift, and necessary content and data are available, we will not be able to harness the power of today’s tech. We will explore some of the ways to build the content and data to harness the technology – all with the goal of making more effective lawyers, elevated above the drudgery of repeat work, and truly capable of providing the tactical and strategic value they can provide to their businesses. And critically, ensuring that at the same time there is the comfort of knowing that the full workload is still being taken care of – so enabling the business to accelerate at the pace it craves but not driving unacceptable risk.

Key Takeaways:

1. How the life of a commercial contracts lawyer can truly be made easier by available tech today.
2. How contracts can be made even easier by combining (a) the right content and data and (b) available technology.
3. Some tips on how to accelerate along the journey to effective use of technology in commercial contracting.

Life in the Fastlane – Navigating the Maze of Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation of the legal field has given rise to both an opportunity as well as a potential minefield of solutions. It is not about why we must adopt Technology, but rather about how to adapt to the plethora of technological advancements. The legal field is expected to embrace and adapt to change, but such change comes with challenges.

This session will showcase answers which will assist the legal professional in understanding, adapting and embracing the impact of technological advancements in the legal profession.
Juta, who leapt into the disruptive evolution by being early adopters of legal technology, brings you a practical panel discussion with leading legal technology implementers. Juta & Company CEO, Kamal Patel, will be chairing a panel of industry leaders, customers and legal innovators, who will discuss the challenges, changes and process innovation within the legal industry.

Join us as our panel discusses the myriad of challenges they faced when they implemented technological solutions in their respective work environments and how they navigated through the complexities of the technology landscape.

Key Takeaways:
1. Learn how Industry leaders and innovators navigate the plethora of technological advancements
2. Learn, adjust and adapt with your customers
3. Learn how to be agile to respond to the needs of your customers as the pinnacle focus of success

The Future of the Legal Profession & The Next Generation Lawyer

With the fourth industrial revolution upon us, the impact the legal profession and the next generation of lawyers cannot be ignored. It's impossible to predict with certainty how radically the legal profession will transform in years to come, but what we do know is that change is certain. While institutions such as the American Bar Association require members to use technology to the benefit of clients, it must be understood that no technology is infallible. Robust debate and consideration is required in order to determine which legal functions should be aided by technology, in order to protect clients’ interests. Universities can play an important role in understanding and refining the moral and ethical obligations created by the use of technology.

In this Fishbowl session, you will hear representatives from both industry and academia discuss the Future of Law and the Next Gen Lawyer. Our speakers will discuss how young law students and lawyers can leverage technology to deliver an improved and more efficient legal service and how this will change the future of practice. Speakers will reflect on an ongoing collaboration between a law firm and a university on a project to use legal technologies and private sector resources in university law clinics in order to advance access to justice for vulnerable communities, and to efficiently meet the law firm's social and legislative obligations as part of the legal profession.

Cybersecurity Considerations for Legal Practitioners: Preparing for When, Not If, It Happens!

The consequences of cybersecurity breaches are serious. They include:

• Downtime…the firm’s professionals unable to work
• Loss of IP…your entire precedent base gone or confidential client IP stolen
• Reputational…would your clients still have confidence in you
• Operations…imagine all your accounting records being deleted
• Legal Practice Council…disciplinary hearings before the LPC
• POPIA Information Regulator…fines of R10 million or imprisonment

Considering what the top 100 US law firms would probably have been spending on cybersecurity, what hope do small and medium-sized law firms and in-house legal departments have of protecting themselves? The reality is that by taking simple consistent processes and procedures, the chances of an incident happening are reduced manyfold.

The presentation will take delegates through five basic steps that firms and in-house legal departments can take to minimise the risks of a breach. Practical real-life case studies, including actual but thwarted attempts at my firm, will be used to drive home the lessons that need to be learned.

Key Takeaways:

• Practical cybersecurity measures are crucial and must be implemented in all law firms and in-house legal departments.
• Cybersecurity measures need not be prohibitively expensive, with appropriate measures being applied for different organisations.
• Having good cybersecurity measures gives your organisation a competitive advantage. Clients are more likely to use an organisation that can demonstrate that it can protect their and its own information.

Technology - Friend or Foe and How to Use it To Become the Future of In-House Legal

A webpage full of quotes on how to achieve different results with the same action only proves that in order to get different results, lasting results, that which will set you apart of the rest, requires you to do things differently.

Come on a journey of enlightenment with us while we take you through the essential elements of optimizing our legal team and collaboration with Co-Operative Computing and rise to be the Future of Inhouse Legal.

Key Takeaways:
1. Technology is not always the enemy.
2. Lawyers can be business partners.
3. Technology and Lawyers can be partners - be challenged and innovate

Making an Impact in Legal Operations that Will Optimise your Legal Department, Create Value, and Yield Results

There is a growing expectation of legal functions to optimise how they operate, integrate, and add value to their broader organisations. Whether you want to optimise the legal function’s operating model, building a legal operation function, considering right sourcing/matching service with internal/external providers, or wanting to leverage technology to drive efficiency, knowing how to approach this and where the wins are is a critical success factor.

In this session, our clients will share real-life examples of where their focus is, where the wins are and aren’t, practical applications that can be used to make an impact in your own department and systematising change management and automation projects.

The Future of the Legal Profession & The Next Generation Lawyer

With the fourth industrial revolution upon us, the impact the legal profession and the next generation of lawyers cannot be ignored. It's impossible to predict with certainty how radically the legal profession will transform in years to come, but what we do know is that change is certain. While institutions such as the American Bar Association require members to use technology to the benefit of clients, it must be understood that no technology is infallible. Robust debate and consideration is required in order to determine which legal functions should be aided by technology, in order to protect clients’ interests. Universities can play an important role in understanding and refining the moral and ethical obligations created by the use of technology.

In this Fishbowl session, you will hear representatives from both industry and academia discuss the Future of Law and the Next Gen Lawyer. Our speakers will discuss how young law students and lawyers can leverage technology to deliver an improved and more efficient legal service and how this will change the future of practice. Speakers will reflect on an ongoing collaboration between a law firm and a university on a project to use legal technologies and private sector resources in university law clinics in order to advance access to justice for vulnerable communities, and to efficiently meet the law firm's social and legislative obligations as part of the legal profession.

Retrieving Data: Wait a Few Seconds and Try to Cut or Copy Again

In order to survive, thrive and become more resilient in a VUCA world, Debswana realised the need to challenge legacy thinking and status quo when it comes to how it mitigates enterprise risk. This made it necessary for certain functions that are considered the second line of defence e.g. legal, risk management, etc to reinvent and reposition themselves from traditional thinking in order to create more value.

This is about how a business can disrupt itself by changing internal thinking and processes that have been in place understanding and the great role that transformational game-changing leadership, technology and innovation play, supported by robust change management and awareness campaigns. Importantly, how being willing to fail fast and forward was a necessary mindset but being aware at all times that minimal disruption (through a pilot phase) should be maintained in order to gain trust and confidence in the success of the transformation.

The risk management philosophy in the organisation has transitioned from being reactive to now being proactive. Instead of reporting on lagging indicators, the process now is to derive insights by analyzing big data, through the use of technology and to use these to drive data-driven decision making. This adds value by removing the human bias and reducing uncertainty from decision making and sets a great foundation to now in future influence decision making through predictive and prescriptive analysis, using algorithms and AI.

Key Takeaways:
1. The future of work
2. The process of challenging legacy thinking and the status quo
3. The ROI of technology and innovation

The New Revolution in Law: It’s Not About Tech, It’s About Creativity!

Do you ask yourself how you can reinvent your legal business model without breaking away entirely from the past? How about instigating an innovative culture in your organisation to retain the key people and take your organisation into the future while not making others fear they will be replaced by robots? In which ways can you invest in technology without leaving automation to lose your staff and steal your clients? You may wonder if this is even possible ... Resisting the technological revolution is not the answer. Instead, you should also learn how to embrace the creative revolution!

Creativity is the new law. Here’s why: Several reports establish Creativity as the most important skill for the future. In 2018, World Economic Forum reported Creativity to be the most desired skill in hiring future workforce. For the second year in a row, LinkedIn has listed creativity as the most in-demand trait in the job market. So, how do you embrace the creative revolution and apply it in the Legal World? In this highly engaging session, you will learn the fundamentals of creativity and understand how it interplays with design using innovation methodology. You will discover how to give your organisation a significant advantage by using creative tools and techniques derived from Design Thinking and have them implemented in your organisation.

The Legal Industry does not need more technology, instead, the Legal Industry requires leaders who can instigate and nurture a culture of creativity, adaptability and innovation. Join this session to discover your creative potential and apply it to your advantage. Learn how to reinvent your business model, retain your best staff and deliver more value to your clients.

Key Takeaways:

1. Reinvent your business model;
2. Retain your best staff and;
3. Deliver more value to your clients.

Contract Design Workshop: Drafting a Better Future

Simplicity is becoming a key way to differentiate products and services and delight customers with fantastic user experience.

Except when it comes to contracts... Contracts are long, hard to read, and difficult to implement. And there are lots of them! The volume of different contracts written, negotiated, and implemented within even a small corporation is difficult to track and manage. Time pressures, competing priorities, and increasing scrutiny on corporate conduct can overwhelm lawyers, leaving little time to think about delivering legal services differently, just when innovative, user-focused services are needed most.

If you have looked at a contract and thought "There must be an easier way!!" then this session is for you.

Key takeaways

1. Learn the key aspects of contract design
2. Develop effective skills and mindsets needed to plan and execute a contract design project
3. Create a basic Contract Design Canvas for real-world projects