Overcoming Lawyers’ Resistance to Adopting Legal Tech

Sorting through legal technology options can be overwhelming to legal ops professionals, while overcoming lawyers’ resistance to adopting legal tech is even harder. According to an iManage blog post, one strategy is choosing the right solution, and another is making sure your department lawyers adopt it. 

Selecting the right legal tech begins with clearly defining the problem at hand. Whether it’s streamlining due diligence or automating document management, narrowing the scope allows legal teams to filter options more effectively. Budget constraints further guide decision-making, balancing the promise of support from eager start-ups against the reliability and track record of established vendors. 

However, risk looms on both sides. Start-ups may fold, while larger players might stagnate post-acquisition. Sites like G2 and Capterra offer third-party validation to help vet products, but even so, trial and error often play a role in selecting workable tools.

Once a promising solution is chosen, a more challenging task begins: driving adoption. Lawyers are under intense pressure and often see new systems as disruptions, rejecting them if the first use of these systems interferes with their thought stream or workflow process. In addition, rollouts can fall flat if the tech seems untrustworthy to them. 

Overcoming these obstacles requires cultural and structural support. Leadership buy-in is critical, as is creating space for lawyers to learn more about tech. Legal ops professionals can set up regular peer discussions and bring back new ideas from external events. Showcasing success stories will further inspire department lawyers to embed technology into their workflows. 

Adoption thrives when everyone, from leadership to paralegals, commits to collective improvement. Sustained success hinges on overcoming lawyers’ resistance to adopting legal tech, making adoption a shared priority, and embedding new habits across the legal team.