Automation is a big topic in legal technology right now, and there are a lot of big trends that help explain why. 

But it can be easy to get lost in the theory and generalities of big trends. So, we thought it would be helpful to capture the practical impacts of automation that our clients bring up after the fact. 

This isn’t just about what goes into the business case – it’s about what keeps people excited six months later… or even three years later. 

1. There aren’t enough people to do this work. 

This isn’t a surprise to anybody, but it’s helpful to say it out load. A lot of great organizations are doing a lot of great work to change this – but, for now, you just can’t hire your way out of a backlog. 

2. It gets data into review faster 

This is important in legal matters – but it’s super important in incident response scenarios. The sooner experts put eyes on critical facts, the better. 

3. People can focus on more interesting work 

Remember how there aren’t enough people to do this work? One way to help address that issue is to let the talented, experienced, and trusted professionals who already work in your department focus their energy on problem solving, project management and consulting. 

4. Rewards real expertise 

Something that always surprises people is how much more time and effort they spend getting a process or workflow exactly right. 

And its worth it because that process will be executed exactly right every single time. 

The consequence is that the people who have the vision or experience to push our understanding of “exactly right” are enormously valuable. In a manual world, these experts would handle the biggest or most important projects only. In an automated world, that same expertise scales across all projects.  

5. Rewards deep relationships 

One of the ways that departments can get a “vision” for how to do things better is receiving real, honest client feedback. Of course, this kind of feedback is earned over time – and, earning it requires real commitment and resources. 

But it pays off in the long run. 

6. Reduces administrative overhead 

This is one of the things we hear time and time again – the burden of “doing more” isn’t just the delivery, it’s the administration. Maintaining client and matter lists, staging data, double-checking outputs, keeping track of cases, etc. 

A lot of this work has to happen whether it’s a large case or a small case. 

As a result, reducing the administrative burden has an outsized impact on a department’s ability to do more work.  

7. It’s fun! 

Getting access to meaningful facts and patterns in data is fun! People enjoy it. Unfortunately, when it’s a repetitive grind with significant latency in the process, the fun gets lost. 

But, when teams really nail the automation, the integration, and the incremental improvement… it becomes fun again. 

8. Increased productivity 

You can’t argue with results – clients regularly report having cleared backlogs, expanded their daily operating capacity, improved response time, and more time for other projects. 

9. It prevents burnout  

We’ve all seen it – people working late or getting up in the middle of the night to VPN into the office network to make sure a processing job keeps moving forward to make sure a production deadline is met. 

For a lot of projects, this kind of commitment is expected, even assumed. 

And sometimes, it can’t be prevented. 

But, where tools like automation can reduce this pressure, we should let it. 

10. This work matters 

A lot of people who work in eDiscovery and related fields do it because they think it matters. Sure, it pays well, and it’s interesting, but it is tied to some really big ideas like access to justice, uncovering malfeasance, and protecting people and businesses from bad actors.  

And when the work matters, doing it better matters too.