Legal and compliance adoption of this technology tends to be less mature than other business functions. There are likely many untapped use cases where a pre-built solution could provide benefits as well as expertise across the organization. The key is to start with the business problem that needs to be solved, and then look for a predictive analytics solution that can do it. Innovation in law and compliance continues to advance at a rapid pace. In-house lawyers and compliance officers need to carefully align their investment positions with more established platforms and new features that can help them meet growing demands with limited additional staff. There is also a debate about whether they should be included. And if ALSPs are included, shouldn`t we include “law firms” in the hype cycle graph…? Kate Bowen, General Counsel at Texas Oncology, explains how she used Gartner`s tools and knowledge to grow her legal function and reshape her department`s collaboration with external partners. In 2021, smart contracts are now in the trough of disillusionment after being at the top of inflated expectations. And that sounds right. Now that Clause – the leading provider of complex smart contracts – is part of DocuSign, there is a huge opportunity for real growth and substantial adoption of the technology. This follows a period of high hopes that did not materialize on a large scale in the real world. So this category position seems to be fair.
Digitized workflows “Legal and compliance teams need to do more work than ever before, and traditional overhead costs are huge,” says Hutto. “Digitizing the largest workflows is both feasible, with mature technologies, and has proven to have profound results in terms of legal productivity for early adopters – if managed well. As legal and compliance teams come under intense pressure and struggle to manage their workload since the global pandemic, legal leaders should focus their technology efforts on three areas to maximize their value: According to Gartner, Inc., alternative legal service providers (ALSPs), which are primarily qualified legal services firms, sometimes had consulting capabilities, and in a handful of cases that offer their own tech stack, for example Elevate, in the 2020 table and this year, they are now entering the trough of disillusionment after going through the peak of inflated expectations. Well, here`s a category that we can really say hasn`t really taken off – yet – and has seen a lot of hype, partly because of its connection to the blockchain world. Hype Cycles is based on extensive research, investigations, and conversations with technology vendors and Gartner customers. While each company`s business priorities should guide their legal department`s technology initiatives, four technologies in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Legal and Compliance Technologies, 2020 are maturing rapidly and most will reach the productivity plateau within two years. “Technology adoption by the average legal and compliance team lags behind many other business functions, so the legal department shouldn`t try to operate until it can function,” said Zack Hutto, consulting director in Gartner`s legal and compliance practice. “Teams must first set up basic systems of record, then invest in solutions to facilitate key workflows before exploring more sophisticated opportunities such as digital risk management.” Rob van der Meulen Gartner rob.vandermeulen@gartner.com For most legal departments, digital maturity remains low. Gartner`s research identifies three key opportunities for legal leaders looking to pursue technology: 1) establish (or strengthen) foundational systems of record; 2) enable centralized workflows with digital investments (beyond sending emails or Excel spreadsheets); and (3) the transition of largely analogous risk management approaches in the digital space.
A number of mature technologies are available on the market to facilitate these areas (see Figure 1). Investing in foundational legal and compliance systems promises to address these three trends, enable better capture and reuse of work results, reduce ad hoc data collection otherwise required for ESG reporting, and create datasets that could unlock the potential of analytics and AI. In the hype cycle for legal and compliance technologies, there are several related technologies on or near the set that can help create such a system of record that will directly benefit you. “Corporate legal management (ELM) systems continue to evolve, providing a compelling option for extracting basic information from mismatched channels such as email, personal devices, or shared drives,” Hutto said. “What`s even more important than setting them up is keeping a team on the same page as the solution should be used. Only then can they enable more effective information sharing for the post-pandemic era of hybrid working, improve accountability and transparency in the legal organization, and enable predictive analytics capabilities. Gartner provides the information, tools, and guidance legal departments need to confidently invest in legal technology, develop a long-term legal technology strategy without vendor hype, and harness the power of legal technology to automate workflows and increase the legal efficiency that enables business growth. “Legal and compliance leaders need to start with a real business impact problem that needs to be solved, and then understand how technology can help, now and in the future,” said Zack Hutto, consulting director at Gartner. First, the hype cycle has always been as interesting as it is sometimes frustrating, with product categories and inclusion positions not always matching how the market seems to appear – at least where this website is from.
But it certainly makes people think about the development of legal technology, so it`s a big help in that regard. Every street, here are some thoughts. “By focusing on these four hype cycle technologies, you can narrow down a confusing array of technologies to those that are best positioned to solve the most important problems facing corporate legal departments today,” says Hutto. “While the right technology for a particular team depends on its underlying priorities, past digital advancements, and its own risk posture, legal leaders also need to monitor innovation progress to determine where to focus their technology investments,” Hutto said.