Sales cycles of IT products to law firms have shortened noticeably this year, according to a Law Society-backed report showing the scale of the booming ‘lawtech’ sector. The Global Legal Tech Report is based on responses from 61 suppliers: all but two are privately owned companies and 50 were founded in the past decade.

Law Society president David Greene said the sector is ‘strong and growing exponentially’.

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Lawtech sector is ‘strong and growing exponentially’

In a foreword to the report, Matt Pennington, chair of the UK Legal Technology Association, said that one lesson of the pandemic is that technology can be implemented rapidly: ‘It’s possible to pilot tech solutions and try out new approaches without first trying to identify every possible outcome and mitigate every possible risk.’

Meanwhile, the Society has published a guide for non-lawyers setting up lawtech businesses. ‘There is significant opportunity in this field and we encourage entrepreneurs to establish their start-ups in England and Wales using our guide,’ Greene said. ‘The pandemic has proved that necessity is the mother of invention and lawtech and tech have played a vital part in keeping the legal profession moving.’