The Legal Tech Landscape
A new world is upon us, and you can use it to get ahead
A year and a half ago, I was introduced to the small world of legal technology through my podcast with the great Ernie Svenson. My eyes and ears were amazed by the new technologies available.
A couple of weeks later, I met Luke Yingling, the CEO of Rhetoric. My eyes and ears were further amazed by Rhetoric's capabilities. I would make them my first sponsor and become an intern for the company.
The Legal Tech Landscape is now reaching a peak like none other. With companies like Clio, becoming one of the first legal tech companies to achieve Unicorn status (valuation over 1B), back in 2021, and has continued to grow immensely since, legal tech is not just a fad, it’s a massive ecosystem on the precipice of becoming an integral part of everyday legal life.
This article is why you not only should want but NEED to start down your legal tech journey today.
A few days ago, I was listening to the very popular, and awesome, All-in Podcast. On this particular episode they had the legend himself, Naval Ravikant joining the pod. In this episode (check it out below, it’s one of my favorite podcasts of All Time), they would begin down the path, speaking about the future of AI.
Jason Calcanis, one of the “Besties” as they call them, would make such a profound remark, that it would cause me to write this article. He would go on to say about AI, that being able to use these LLM’s such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Bard, Gemini, etc, etc, that you can put yourself in a position to leap over your competing applicants, in any pursuit, of any job, in pretty much any industry. This for me, was a massive light bulb moment.
As I wrote in the past about resumes (Below), that your digital footprint, and content would be more valuable than any resume you could ever have, I feel the same exact way about Artificial intelligence, and more specifically Legal technology.
More than a Resume
The struggles of a 4.0 student. My Sophomore year of college left me burnt out more than any other year of my life. Even last year, when in 6 months I made and produced over 50 episodes, and then another 50 over the next 6 months, sophomore year still leaves more of a mark in terms of energy expenditure. What made it so intense was I began my involvemen…
Since I do indeed intern for a Legal Tech Company, I have an everyday glimpse into where the puck is going. But after doing some personal research over the past couple weeks, the puck is moving faster and faster every day. The largest firms among the AMLaw 200 are quickly adopting Directors of innovation, Director of Technology, and other technology adjacent positions, bringing the best and brightest talent, all with a keen eye on bringing in the best Legal Tech they can possibly find.
So, what does this mean for the new generations of lawyers, who are being created by the thousands every 6-12 months?
It means that, just as Jason Calcanis said on the All-In podcast, having experience with AI tools, and Legal Tech alike, will give you a leg up on your competition, when it comes to getting that job you need. And it’s not only having experience with these tools, but being able to use them at their maximum capabilities.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I got to see this with my two eyes and ears, when Matt Preston came on the podcast for the second time, to speak about the immense capabilities that ChatGPT has for helping legal professionals become as efficient as humanely possible. For the sake of not twisting any of Matt’s words, just listen to the episode, it’s legitimately mind-blowing!
To return to the beginning, when I first found out about the Legal Tech World, I had an instantaneous feeling that this was going to explode into one of the most valuable industries on the planet, one with an ecosystem of Billions (Yes B!) of dollars.
And today I can confidently say to new Legal Professionals, and Law Students on their way to gaining lawyer status, that Legal Tech is not only here to stay, but is here for good. Just as the iPhone transformed our everyday life, Legal Tech will transform the Legal Industry, and Lawyers day to day work, for decades to come.
My advice? Take as many opportunities as you can and get your hands dirty with AI and Legal Tech as much as you can, because it can turn you from a middle of the pack candidate, to number 1 on the list!
"Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything” ~ Steve Jobs.
Well, folks, that’s all from me, Nate Crespo, your host for today and FOREVER. There is a new AI and Legal Tech company every day, but lawyers from every part of the land let me know that Legal Tech and AI is here to stay in the Legal Industry, and lawyers around the country are using it to get their time back, and avoid the tedious work. Just as content creation has become an amazing vehicle to show off your capabilities, mastering Legal Tech represents another opportunity to push yourself to the top! With all that being said,
Happy Friday!