LegalTech on the Rise: Technology Changes Legal Work Behaviours, But Does Not Replace Its Profession

Abstract

For some time, the authors of this article discussed the understanding of LegalTech, its foundation and its impact on the legal profession. This paper aims to provide an overview of the global LegalTech development in an integrative manner. First, we elaborate on a definition of LegalTech and its history in recent centuries. Thereafter, the authors introduce the key technological foundations of LegalTech including artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing. We also highlight the use of LegalTech in practice, ranging from e-discovery to automated legal reasoning. Our understanding from the technological foundation and practical applicability of LegalTech postulates that LegalTech changes, but does not replace, the way lawyers work, and leads to disruptive change of the profession.