A Message From the Editor Have you ever tried explaining legal technology to somebody not in the legal industry? It’s not easy. I remember trying to explain e-discovery one time, I started with, “So when you have emails or texts in a lawsuit…” The answer: “Why would you have texts in a lawsuit?” For those not steeped in the vagaries of discovery, privacy regulations and cyber threats, there’s a steep learning curve to actually breaking into legal technology.
Which is all to say: as legal technology continues to grow, filling the gaps with knowledgeable people will continue to be an issue. For companies getting into the privacy game, for instance, it’s easy to say that e-discovery skills will translate over. But the reality is a tougher proposition. “If you just go on LinkedIn and find someone who has ‘privacy’ in their title, you’re filling your gap and creating a gap somewhere else. Eventually, because there are a lot of empty roles, the talent has to come from somewhere,” LexFusion’s Casey Flaherty told LTN’s Frank Ready.
For legal tech companies, in my eyes the lesson is twofold. The first we’ve written about a lot: expand your horizons about who you’re looking at hiring. But the second may be easier said than done: invest in teaching about legal technology to new and prospective hires. That high learning curve isn’t going away, even for smart people. But even learning the basics can better help your workforce generate new ideas and figure out solutions with others in the ecoysystem. Rather than throwing up your hands, sending people back to school may be an option to consider. – Zach Warren, editor-in-chief, Legaltech News |
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