The phenomenon of LegalTech, or technology applied to the commercialization and provision of legal services, is becoming more and more relevant worldwide, since one of the highlights of LegalTech is the versatility of adaptation to any area of law, so its extension and application is much more general and focuses directly on practicality, analyzing and solving problems such as lack of communication, disorder, delays, the impossibility of attending certain places due to health risks, among others.
The implementation of technology in any sector increases productivity and quality, since technology always brings with it the acceleration of processes. Legal innovation is the big idea under which the transformation of the sector is taking place. Daniel Katz (professor of law at Illinois Tech University of Chicago Kent College of Law), has defined the four pillars of innovation in the legal sector as:
- Law: knowledge and mastery of substantive law.
- Technology: data analytics platforms, artificial intelligence, computational capability and knowledge management
- Design: process improvement, user experience, design thinking, and project management;
- Delivery: business models, regulation and legal marketing.
Although LegalTech is already present in Mexico, the level of penetration in the legal system and in the operators of the sector is still very incipient, since the evolution of LegalTech in the country has not had the digital transformation that took place a couple of decades ago in the United States, Europe and Asia.
The pandemic derived from COVID-19, gave a clear sample of the delay that exists in the implementation of technology in the legal area, a clear example of this is the non-existence of the concept of “Telework” in the Mexican legislation, whose guidelines were not established until the beginning of 2021 and that contemplates a reform to the Federal Labor Law.
At present, many Mexican citizens have to manage their affairs without access to legal counsel, or with legal counsel of heterogeneous quality and at non-transparent prices. This situation prevents the legal system as a whole from fully deploying the desired effects of clarity, certainty and stability, which favor, both at an individual and social level, legal security, the protection of private property and fundamental rights.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance a professionalization in LegalTech and a structure or investment capacity by the Mexican State to potentiate business niches and find benefits such as online legal services, automation of online legal services, software development for the legal sector, technology-assisted review and the creation of artificial intelligence algorithms to find errors in texts.
Génesis Moyeda Salazar
Gloria Ponce de León & Hernández
