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05 February 2009
Issue: 7355 / Categories: Features , Profession , Technology
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Disruptive technologies

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Law firms should use emerging technologies to boost productivity, says Greg Wildisen

It is not that long ago that technology and lawyers seemed about as compatible as oil and water. Many saw the emergence of technologies such as email and time-recording systems as challenges to long cherished ways of working while others regarded technology as a fundamental threat to their business models. Fast forward a few years, and the picture is very different indeed. Formerly late adopters, today many law firms are now ahead of other professionals in their use of technology as they have realised the genuine benefits it can provide for a knowledge industry.

Progress
Technological progress continues unabated and a range of new tools and systems is again transforming the way that lawyers work. Law firms have already exploited technology as a means for making traditional processes—communicating with clients, time recording and workflow management, for example—much more efficient, but the deployment of information technology is now rapidly moving past this point as new technologies enter the mainstream.

Chief amongst these are so-called “collaborative” technologies

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