Digital and legal are two words that can hardly be found in the same sentence. Whenever they are together, they refer to the legal implications of the digital world. However, the reverse effects are hardly talked about or acknowledged. The digital impact in the legal sector is yet to take effect in a more serious, value-added, paradigm-shifting way.

There is no doubt that the digital has been the lifeline for most businesses since the beginning of 2020, when we have all been locked out of our offices and kept inside our homes. The digital kept the teams connected, kept the businesses going and also provided the transformation which was much sought after and talked about before the pandemic, but imminently implemented during the lockdown.

Many departments, such as HR and finances, embraced the digital transformation much earlier which provided them with a good foundation for quick adaptation in times of crisis. However, the legal functions of a business had been lagging behind digitally, which meant that during the lockdown, there was not too much scope for adjustment.

In this context there is an opportunity for driving chance based on digital innovation of the legal functions of a business. The benefits are evident: intelligent automatization of routine legal tasks, outsourcing a wide range of legal function processes, budget optimization, value-added business development, better visibility and perspective on the business, enhanced efficiency and productivity, continuous transformation of the operating models. 

We are yet to see more start-ups in the corporate legal sector, but sooner or later, the inevitable will happen. In our global context, this sort of initiatives can appear from any part of the world and have the potential to shake and disrupt the classic operating models.  Whoever will make the most of the early digital opportunities will be ahead of the curb and will be able to incorporate them in their business development strategy. There is no doubt that this is an exciting time for the corporate legal sector and big surprises are yet to come!