This Indian ELM startup is Pioneering Innovation and offering End to End Customized Solutions for lawyers

CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Mr. Praveen Kulkarni, Co-Founder PracticeLeague LegalTech

1. What applications of AI are there for the legal industry?

Through the years we have been able to configure applications that would increase the efficiency of the legal industry and lessen delays in legal procedures. Following below are some of the applications that we have categorized-

1. Extraction of Smart Fields: This involves making sense of the data and applying AI to extract relevant information – for example, extracting key dates from within contract documents
2. Summarizing Work: This refers to understanding the implied meaning in text and data and preparing a summary. The perfect example of this is the contract summarization feature.
3. Document Review – Assessing the information against your standards
4. Analytics: Developing insights from data – key reports can be auto-populated as per business requirements
5. Legal Bots: Automated Chatbots can be trained to handle basic Legal work. For example- handling basic initial queries from clients, stakeholders, or other functions.

2. Can legal tech be easily adaptable?

Yes, Legal technology systems are easily customizable and adaptable. At PracticeLeague, this is in fact one of our strengths, designing a solution that is as per customer needs, rather than off-the-shelf products.

3. How well served is the technology vendor for the legal sector?

The sector as a whole is now well prepared with a rich full set of solutions for most requirements. For example, PracticeLeague, which began as a single-solution provider years ago, has now evolved into a fully integrated legal tech platform in itself.

4. How can the transition to automated systems be eased by Practice League?

PracticeLeague excels in implementation, which includes the transition phase. Proper mapping of client expectations and application functionalities is key. Having prior experience in place also guarantees a better outcome, a well-planned training schedule, and assistance in increasing adoption throughout the organization can further ensure that the users transition smoothly. This transition process should optimally start with targeting influential early adopters, training them, and then building around these early users.

5. Is the learning curve for a new user particularly steep?

The learning curve depends on the user and his/her comfort with technology in general as well as the maturity of the implementation and the design of the system. A well-planned and designed system that is customized to organizational pain points, user requirements, and systems has a comfortable learning curve. A standard user is anyway nowadays well accustomed to technology, and hence now it is not a challenge anymore.

6. How does the technology integrate with the existing systems and processes?

The Razor Platform is a fully integrated legal technology software suite. The integration is on two levels – first is the internal integration within in-house legal subsystems comprising the RazorCube system. These comprise Contract Lifecycle Management, Matter and Case Management, Compliance, Patent and Entity Management, and Legal Document Management.

The second level of integration is the integration with wider organizational systems like the various CRM suites, and the finance & procurement systems. This full level of integration is what enables an organization to tap into its resources properly.

The amalgamation of people processes and data under one connected system is thus enabled, breaking down information silos and unlocking higher-level benefits.

7. How can legal leaders assist with the adoption of technology and the enhancement of processes?

There is a pressing need to mend the gap of digitization that exists in the legal sector. Therefore, the legal leaders need to step up and provide the smooth transition that is needed.

Technology adoption is a function of user awareness and acceptance. This arises primarily from a communication of benefits to them, as well as meeting their objections and anxieties. In addition, they need to give a vision of the digitization initiative of the organization as a whole and link legal clearly to this vision. Legal leadership can be very helpful in this process by understanding the pain points, engaging the users properly and motivating them to use the technology systems, and ensuring internal buy-in from at least the key personnel before moving ahead to the technology acquisition phase. In other words, the key aspect of new technology adoption is the clear and transparent communication of intent, in a comfortable setting. Rather than directive, which will lead to adoption but not active usage, the requirement is to break down barriers, kindle interest, and get users to use the new system.

This is an agenda that has to be set and driven by the organizational leadership in conjunction with the legal leadership. The planned and phased switchover, ample training, and handholding combined with direction from the leadership is what ensures the usage and adoption of technology. And most importantly, the provision of a budget for the same – one for acquisition, and a regular budget for technology upgradation and integration, so that a culture of promoting modernized systems is created internally.

8. How does legal technology help in saving costs and enhancing revenues?

Legal technology solutions span the entire functions of the corporate legal department; ranging from compliance, legal drafting, documentation, dispute management, and more. Using legal tech, these entire functions can be integrated into one seamless system, and can further interact with organizational ERPs and CRMs. This results in:

1. Reduced Cycle Time savings arising from automation of manual repetitive tasks, for example, contract creation, automated contract signing, document centralization, and more, all of which reduce the processing time for each legal process. A contract created through a standard template, or an automated signature solution drastically cut down the time required.
2. Time savings automatically translates to cost savings, as the employee’s hours are not wasted waiting for the other party to sign, or writing a complete contract from scratch, or manually checking each required compliance from the 1000s that are needed for any organization.
3. This means a direct connection to business profits, as a better experience for the stakeholders would mean better quality of services, at better rates with higher dependability – meaning leaner, more efficient processes. This results in better product or service delivery and at lower production costs. Flawless compliance and contract management also mean lesser revenue leakages, and lesser penalties or damages.
4. Providing hidden insights or deeper insights into opportunities hidden inside contracts and other transactional documents and their terms;

9. How does legal technology result in higher productivity, efficiency, and profitability?

As we have seen above, faster, leaner processes are a result of technology implementation in the legal function. Standardization and automation of manual tasks further lead to error reduction, faster processes, and attendant efficiency benefits. Second, the technology prioritizes work and ensures the timelines and deadlines are met – in itself a clear advantage in terms of efficiency and productivity. Advanced integrations, real-time stakeholder collaborations, etc., enhance and augment the processes, breaking down organizational silos, and improving relationships. Add to that the first-level savings identified above. This is what translates into higher efficiency, which directly has an impact on profitability.

10. Why is legal technology important for companies?

A business needs to operate under many laws and regulations, ensuring compliance to carry on its operations in accordance with the numerous terms agreed with its stakeholders. Thus, the organization’s need is to strengthen its legal department in today’s environment in order that it can function within the regulatory function enabling it to meet its growth ambitions – and legal technology has been proven to strengthen its productivity and profitability as discussed in the above questions above. Each business must also ensure operations as per its own internal principles & standards. Further, laws, regulations, practices, and standards can also change, hence there is a felt need to ensure that the entire structure is continually in place and in agreement with these. This is where Legal Technology proves invaluable. Increasingly, General Counsels are also involved in strategic decision-making, aiding business growth through their expertise in complex business laws, regulations, and legal procedures. To remain efficient, competitive, and sustainable, businesses must invest in modernizing and empowering their legal departments. Therefore, it follows that the need is for the company to (?)

11. What have been PracticeLeague’s achievements on the domestic and international state so far?

PracticeLeague on the domestic front crossed the 100 Client Benchmark in 2021, enabling 100+ Implementations in 21 Industry Verticals. Our client retention rate has been 95% creating a strong presence across both enterprises, startups as well as law firm segments. As a company, it was an honor to score 92% for CSAT (Client Satisfaction).

In the International state PracticeLeague hailed as the only Indian Legal tech company to be mentioned in 10 Gartner Reports. We have won the coveted Outstanding Legal Innovator Award from Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association (ALITA) at TechLaw Fest, 2022 in Singapore. Over the years we have garnered clients in almost 8 countries across the globe.