Legal technology has evolved rapidly over the past five years. From contract analytics and document automation to artificial intelligence (AI)-driven decision support tools, these developments have been enthusiastically adopted by large regional, national and international law firms, as well as by alternative legal service providers.
However, as innovation has accelerated, so too has a growing disparity in access. Many small and high-street firms remain unable to engage with these tools, held back by barriers including cost, system complexity and limited internal technical resource. This technological divide is not merely inconvenient; it risks entrenching long-term disadvantage for firms already operating under economic pressure.
Without access to affordable and efficient AI tools, smaller firms may find themselves offering slower and more expensive services, struggling to compete with tech-enabled rivals.
