Covid-19’s Impact on the Legal Industry

The current era that we are experiencing involves an unprecedented event and a global catastrophe which is the pandemic of Covid-19, the world has been impacted by another pandemic after almost 100 years so the global problems that the pandemic has caused have affected each and every individual and every industry in one way or another, similarly, the impacts on the legal industry has not been immune to the effects of the pandemic and here we are going to go through some of the impacts that have been caused due to Covid-19.

Implementing Paperless technologies

Not too long ago, technology was not deeply recruited in the legal industry like it has been embedded in different industries on a large scale, the swearing of legal documents were always in-person affairs which proved to be a problem for many clients who resided far away from offices.

To sign a single document, clients had to travel long-distance routes. The need for hard-copy documents for the council as well as the court resulted in multiple copies for up to 3000 pages being printed which cost about $8000.

After the outburst of Covid-19, technology has been forced upon the legal industry and subsequently, the software for every process has also been adapted, it includes swearing affidavits via zoom and signing documents through docu-signs. Almost all these services debunk traveling long distances and diminish cost. Firms have implemented cloud storage and left the printing of documents and have gone paperless.

Using virtual meetings

Courts that had to stick to in-person hearings have now moved towards virtual teleconferences to debate motions. Although virtual teleconferences have been highly debatable there is no doubt that this practice offers the court a fast and effective way to deal with emotions as well as motions can be conducted from any place in the world which is an added benefit. Seeing as people nowadays are moving constantly from one country to another for any personal or professional assignment, having this added ability to use virtual conferences with any portable device is a huge beneficial achievement for the legal industry.

Accepting the email medium

The traditional hard copy format or the service through fax that was practiced by the court has now been shifted towards the email medium, furthermore being dependable on physical offices is not a requirement anymore as work from home has been implemented and is being emphasized upon as a huge impact on the legal industry.

Changes are here to stay

Any law student trying to figure out the meaning of all these changes within the legal industry should understand that these changes are here to stay and you should be willing to adapt to all these changes and drift apart from traditional practices. You should be able to brush up on all the technological skills and should understand how to use multiple software of use. You should be comfortable speaking in virtual conferences. Covid-19 has accelerated technological adaptation in the legal industry, in the near future the implementation of artificial intelligence within the legal industry is also a possibility.

Many of the impacts on the legal industry have proved to be hugely beneficial to the legal industry to get away from the traditional practices and move towards and accept the ever-advancing global technology from moving towards virtual conferences and leaving the paper-based documents and accepting the email medium and even integrating the work from home practices and abolishing physical offices, all these impacts on the legal industry are here to stay for a long time.