Introduction
The use of software and the internet to provide legal services is known as legal technology. This benefits several businesses striving to succeed in the legal industry, as well as aspiring attorneys, students, and other participants in the legal industry who may establish themselves via the use of various internet research tools. Legaltech businesses‘ major goals are to outperform the traditional legal industry and close some gaps.
The field of legal technology is quite broad and diversified. Different ideas have been introduced in this field to simplify things for legal professionals everywhere. Incubators for legal technology are one such idea. An artificial intelligence-based piece of software called a legal incubator aids in providing legal tech businesses with the right direction and funding. This will increase a law firm’s efficiency and advance the provision of legal services. Any sector will largely rely on artificial intelligence to flourish in the future since it is the future.
Legal incubators are sweeping the legal sector, as was correctly predicted. The use of legal-tech incubators has already been implemented by several superpowers, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and Europe. India isn’t falling behind either in this regard.
The legal technology sector in India has been expanding since 2011. In addition to India, several Indian legal technology businesses have proven successful abroad. Given that the globe is currently experiencing the COVID epidemic, this will only contribute to the development of legal technology in India.
Characteristics of the Indian legal technology industry
Over the past few years, the usage of legal tech has grown in the conventional legal sector. Virtual hearings, online courts, or legal research based on artificial intelligence are just a few examples of how technology has changed traditional law. Modern technology allows for speed, accessibility, transparency, efficiency, comfort, flexibility, and ease in the work of legal professionals and the general public.
Legaltech businesses can support attorneys; while others assist them to deliver better legal services and run more smoothly. These startups in legal technology lighten the workload by streamlining the procedure. Modern technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Data Analytics, and Predictive Analytics are being used by both the legal profession and tech entrepreneurs.
Online dispute resolution
The newest addition to India’s dispute settlement system is online dispute resolution or ODR. ODR lessens the load on the courts, where there are already a great number of cases pending. The people can file complaints exactly like with any other alternative dispute resolution. The customers benefit from this since their conflicts are successfully addressed. Presolv360, SAMA, settle conflicts online, the Center for Excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution, and other ODR start-ups are a few examples of those in India. These aid Indians in resolving civil, business, and legal problems.
Nowadays, everything is done online, which has made document verification quite simple. The legal technology industry is experiencing a similar dilemma. Various documentation and documents do not need to be personally signed or verified by legal specialists. Clients may fill out their papers online, self-certify them, check them, and transmit everything using e-signature systems. Sign desk, SignEasy, and other e-signature solutions for the legal industry.
Legal research and evaluation
Several Indian legal start-ups have begun to provide information on legal information from across the world as a result of the development of legal technology. Due to this, legal research has changed significantly from the conventional research procedure, becoming much more straightforward, efficient, and time-consuming.
Online contract management
Some legal technology businesses in India assist lawyers in managing their contracts online. It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare a contract manually. These businesses assist attorneys and law offices with the drafting and online delivery of contracts. Some of these startups include koncord law, spot draught, and legal Capsules.
Markets for legal services
The idea of a legal marketplace demonstrates how far India’s legal technology has evolved. This idea is identical to that of Amazon and Flipkart. Online legal markets assist clients in finding attorneys. People are free to obtain legal counsel from whatever lawyers they want, based on their financial situation and geographic area. Lawrato, Legistify, My Advo, and other significant legal marketplace organizations exist in India.
The control of an intellectual property
It might be risky to manage intellectual property since most of the time; individuals neglect to bring some important documents. However, this duty has become simple thanks to legal technology. Through a single system, users may manage their IP documentation and data online. As a result, it is unlikely that anyone will lose their intellectual property materials.
Why legal technology startups are worth
Every single person on the earth, let alone a businessman, is dissatisfied and suffering losses as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic spreading havoc all over the world. However, this is not the situation for legal technology start-ups worldwide. Legal-tech businesses are seeing a huge influx of financing and investments.
Also predicted for the foreseeable future are enormous prices. The sort of customers that legal-tech businesses draw may be a major factor in determining their development and success. A Canadian legal technology startup called Clio just secured around $111 million in capital and is currently valued at about $1.6 billion. Additionally, the epidemic has benefited law firms by prompting a merger with legal-tech firms. This has contributed to the law’s ability to make more money.
A legal technology startup from Canada named Clio just secured about $111 million in capital and has an estimated market value of $1.6 billion. In addition, by combining with legal-tech enterprises, the epidemic has benefited law firms. The profits of law firms have increased as a result, and legal technology companies are also growing, so everyone benefits.
The legal tech sector values startups.
The COVID-19 epidemic that is wreaking havoc on the world is causing losses for every person on the planet. On the other hand, legal tech start-ups worldwide confront completely distinct difficulties. Legal technology businesses have seen a significant increase in financing and investment, and it is anticipated that their valuations will soon skyrocket as well.
The primary factor determining the development and profitability of legal-tech enterprises may be consumer type. Law firms have benefitted from the epidemic by joining together with legal tech businesses. It’s a win-win situation for everyone since the legal-tech businesses have grown and the law firms have boosted their revenues.
The Indian Legal Technology Sector’s Future
Legal technology refers to the use of cutting-edge tools like artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc. to improve the capacities of all parties involved in the legal industry. In India, there are roughly 17 lakh attorneys in practice. Compared to what our country needs, the number is much too low. Furthermore, before technology, it was difficult to practice the profession.
Doing legal research for their claims in India has been one of their main issues. A staggering 2.81 crore cases are waiting in India’s district courts, according to further statistics. The lack of judges and attorneys in the legal system is the main cause of this backlog. The absence of technological use in the legal industry is another important factor in the high number of open cases.
The future of technology introduction in the legal sector is promising. Young legal professionals are adaptable and dynamic. They take initiative in acclimating to the new workplace culture. They have technical knowledge. They are skilled at utilizing modern technology to their advantage. Currently, a lot of legal tech businesses are branching out into online goods and services including online filing, online drafting of contracts and legal documents, helping clients discover attorneys, online legal database firms for legal research, and so forth.
The lack of an effective and dependable online legal research portal now presents a significant challenge for attorneys. When conducting legal research in India, finding pertinent Indian case law and analyzing the unstructured Supreme Court decisions are some of the main problems that come up. Utilizing technology in the field of legal study has a bright future.
Even the government has supported the use of technology to speed up court proceedings. In its study “Reforms in the Judiciary – Some Suggestions,” the Law Commission of India advised that cases with related issues be grouped utilizing technology and decided all at once according to priority. The arrears will be decreased. Additionally, it recommended setting up a legal database to facilitate the quick resolution of comparable cases. Another idea was the simple accessibility of instantaneous judgments made possible by technology. This proves that people are beginning to understand the value of legal technology and the need to incorporate it into our legal system.
- Spotdraft
 Indian legal technology startup that provides contract management solutions to businesses and law firms. The platform from Spotdraft enables users to immediately draft, review, update, and maintain legal agreements, saving them a lot of time and resources when managing several clients at once.
The SpotDraft technology, which uses artificial intelligence, has automatic reminders and payment management tools. These capabilities may be used by in-house legal departments (as well as law firms) to simplify contract execution, minimize conflicts, and eliminate expenses associated with oversight. Users as well as compliance and risk management departments have access to a single data storage system.
As per the company, their platform is used by over 300 large enterprises across multiple countries. Other than its various functional modules, Legistify also leverages machine learning to provide intelligence and insights using historic case data, specifically across India. Some of the company’s backers include Y combinator, Cathexis ventures, Indiamart, GSF, Java Capital and Titan VC.
- LegalMind
Another legal technology firm in India is called LegalMind, and it operates in the fields of legal research, AI, and predictive analytics. Users of the program can utilize analytics to forecast the decisions and behaviors of parties and judges. This allows users to construct their thesis and create strong arguments for their topics.
Another software tool that aids attorneys in removing relevant information from disjointed and fragmented material is Document Summarizer. Lawyers may obtain documents and decisions about legal notes, moot cases, and rulings in addition to identifying pertinent case laws with the AI-based Deeplex function.
- Mike Legal
Artificial intelligence is used by the trademark management technology business Mike Legal to streamline intellectual property administration in India. These are the capabilities this legal technology startup provides:
Mike TM Search: With the help of this tool, legal departments of businesses may more simply execute a trademark search.
TM Watch: Violations in the portfolio can be examined and result in immediate action being taken against the perpetrator.
Mike TM Manager: Users of this service may also manage their IP portfolios and keep track of how their intellectual property is being used.
Mike Litigator: This AI-based technology allows lawyers to explore case law. Utilizing Natural Language Processing improves the effectiveness of legal research for attorneys. They may swiftly locate case laws by using technology to search through enormous databases and papers.
- Volody
Artificial intelligence-powered contract management software called Volody streamlines and digitalizes the creation of legal contracts. With only one application, users may create, negotiate, approve, and attest to their legal agreements. The software may also be connected with other practice management tools, including CRM applications, email systems, and others.
Within a seven-day implementation period, business users may completely customize agreement templates, the approval system, access settings, integration of digital signatures, and contract administration. Volody offers board meetings and insider trading solutions in addition to compliance management and board meetings.
- Practice League
One of several legal technology tools, Practice League is likely the most well-liked among mid-sized to big law firms. This integrated platform can help law firms and businesses increase their legal efficiency. Practice League, a supplier of contract lifecycle management solutions, also provides management services for litigation, tax, internal audit, compliance, and intellectual property.
Among other emerging technologies, Practice League products use blockchain, AI, and secure cloud storage. Another large multinational, PepsiCo India, has joined Practice Leagues to handle and automate its legal affairs.
- Provakil
Provakil is a SaaS platform that offers legal management solutions to law firms and corporate legal departments. Solutions for managing legal operations include tracking compliance, managing contracts, and managing litigation. Provakil also offers solutions for automatically tracking and updating the intellectual property. With the platform’s integration with more than 8000 courts in India, attorneys can keep up with case developments and rulings. Additionally, it may be used to handle calendars, papers, docketing, billing, and invoicing, as well as expenditure monitoring.
- Presolv360
Users in India can use a corporate online dispute resolution system through the online dispute resolution (ODR) startup Presolv360. The platform makes it easier for online dispute resolution in India through e-arbitration and e-mediation. Users can settle their issues online with the assistance of a platform’s third-party expert by including ODR terms in their contracts.
By competent arbitrators or mediators, conflicts may be raised, objectives can be stated, and disputes can be resolved. On the platform, disputes are often settled once the user has been onboarded by the opposing party in around 45 days on average.
- Quant LegalTech
Similarly, Quant Legaltech is an Indian legal tech startup that intends to enhance contracts, due diligence, and compliance for businesses and law firms. The system provides three tools:
Complies: With this compliance tracking software, users may handle problems with legal compliance. In addition to automating compliance tracking and administration, audits, etc., the functionality also serves additional uses.
Contractum: It is a tool for managing the lifespan of contracts, including the ability to develop, generate, and monitor the advancement of contracts. The built-in agreement form may also be modified by the user to fit their tastes.
Virtual Data Room: Quant LegalTech is a tool that users may utilize for their legal work, due diligence, internal teamwork, and file-sharing.
- Blog iPleaders
This business has had a lot of success and is a top legal tech startup in India. The business supplies current legal knowledge and a wide range of courses. It provides more than 60 online courses through LawSikho for attorneys, students, government workers, etc. The business offers diploma programs online.
Conclusion
From conducting legal procedures online to offering legal services online, technology has unquestionably played a big role in the legal profession. The development of legal tech businesses in India has changed how the legal profession works due to technological improvements. Both law and technology are always evolving. Legal technology’s function is to support attorneys. Although a lawyer’s job cannot be completely replaced, it can always be made more effective, and this is what legal tech start-ups aspire to provide.
Legaltech businesses offer affordable and simple solutions that the average person can obtain in a fair length of time. Legal professionals are not as overloaded with work as they once were and feel less overwhelmed. Due to their high potential, legal tech startups will boost the sector’s efficacy, productivity, and efficiency. The number of laws in the nation grows over time, as does their complexity. By cutting down on search and research time while performing legal research for client cases, we may work to assist lawyers in completing their research.
The legal industry is adopting technology to improve accessibility and approachability for the general population. The legal sector has just recently begun to adopt digitization as a result of the epidemic. Legaltech has proven to be dependable and effective, and if used properly, it will offer a platform that is simple to access and has superior security.
