Embracing Technology in Legal Practice: Practical Tools, Emerging AI, and the Lawyer’s Role

Many practitioners are curious about technology but feel daunted by its complexity or by a lack of formal training. The good news is that embracing technology in legal practice does not require coding expertise – just curiosity, a willingness to experiment, and an eye for improvement.

For lawyers, particularly those in sole or small practices, technology can be a powerful equaliser. It allows individuals to compete with larger firms, manage costs, and deliver high-quality legal services more efficiently.

Why Technology Matters
The primary driver for adopting technology is cost. Smaller firms servicing cost-sensitive communities face constant pressure to deliver affordable legal services without compromising quality. Technology helps streamline administrative processes, reduce duplication, and automate tasks that traditionally consumed valuable fee-earning time.

When client data can be entered once and used across all documents, errors decrease, consistency improves, and efficiency rises. The result is faster turnaround and reduced administrative overheads. These are benefits that clients increasingly expect as standard.

Clients today also have greater technological literacy. They are accustomed to automated systems, online scheduling, and instant communication. Many now question traditional billing practices and expect their lawyer’s systems to mirror the efficiency they see elsewhere. Firms that cannot demonstrate these efficiencies risk losing relevance.

The Direction of Change
The pace of technological change in Tasmania’s legal profession has historically been cautious, but recent years have brought momentum. Conferences and summits across the country have showcased accessible tools designed for small firms and sole practitioners, offering document automation, case management, and AI-assisted drafting at modest cost.

Large firms can face structural challenges – partnership approvals, risk committees, and system-wide rollouts – but sole practitioners and small firms can adopt new tools quickly. Starting small, testing features, and scaling gradually can yield significant productivity gains with minimal disruption.

Understanding Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in law is not a monolithic force but a collection of systems designed to process information, detect patterns, and make predictions. Common categories include machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing (NLP).

Natural language processing is the foundation for many tools lawyers are now encountering such as chatbots, language translators, and the “generative” models that can summarise cases, draft letters, or structure arguments. These systems learn from vast quantities of text to predict the most likely next word or phrase.

While AI can assist with document review, precedent checking, and information synthesis, it remains a tool and not a substitute for human judgement. The lawyer’s professional responsibility to exercise care, maintain confidentiality, and ensure accuracy remains unchanged. AI can support efficiency but not ethical discretion or professional nuance.

Using AI Wisely
There is a fine balance between using AI as a productivity tool and over-relying on it for intellectual work. The risk of “AI hallucination” remains real. Systems may produce text that sounds plausible but is factually wrong or entirely fabricated. Lawyers must therefore verify every output and ensure that any AI-generated material complies with their duty of competence and candour.

The discipline of prompting i.e. the way we ask questions or frame instructions has emerged as an essential skill. Clear, specific, and well-structured prompts produce better results. Lawyers already possess many of the relevant habits: precision with language, logical sequencing, and sensitivity to tone and context. Developing effective prompts simply extends those professional instincts into a new medium.

AI should be used to support tasks that are mechanical or time-consuming, such as summarising material, reformatting notes, or structuring drafts, while leaving analysis, strategy, and ethical reasoning firmly in human hands.

Building Technological Confidence
Before investing in new systems, practitioners want to ensure they are maximising the technology they already own. Most firms use Microsoft 365 but only a fraction of its potential. Small adjustments to daily habits can deliver measurable efficiency.

• Microsoft Word: Mastering track changes, automatic tables of contents, restricted editing, page numbering, and the Format Painter improves consistency and presentation. Dictation and voice-to-text tools can turn spoken notes directly into draft file entries or letters.
• Microsoft Outlook: Rules and filters can automatically sort correspondence, flag urgent matters, and reduce inbox fatigue. Voice dictation and search tools save time otherwise lost scrolling through old emails.
• Microsoft Teams: Beyond meetings, Teams provides a shared space for collaboration and resource storage. Status indicators, shared task lists, and chat threads streamline communication, especially for matters with recurring processes.
• Microsoft OneNote: OneNote serves as a digital notebook or searchable archive which is perfect for professional development notes, research snippets, or administrative information. It integrates seamlessly with Outlook and can, for example, track professional development compliance by linking notes to calendar entries.
• SharePoint: Although sometimes perceived as complex, SharePoint offers structured document management and secure collaboration. When properly configured, it supports version control, audit trails, and data protection – essentials for professional record-keeping and ethical compliance.

Upskilling and Practice Evolution
Technology is most effective when combined with deliberate professional development. Investing in short, focused upskilling, whether through webinars, mentoring, or experimenting with new tools, pays exponential dividends.

A small firm that learns to automate engagement letters or manage precedents centrally may save hours each week. A practitioner who masters dictation or template automation can reduce the mental load of repetitive drafting. Each small improvement compounds into better client service, higher profitability, and reduced stress.

The next generation of lawyers will not only need to understand the law but also the systems through which law is delivered. Familiarity with technology like competence in advocacy or negotiation is becoming a core professional skill.

The Lawyer’s Continuing Role
Despite the rise of automation, the essence of legal practice remains profoundly human. Law demands judgement, empathy, persuasion, and ethical reasoning which are qualities that no machine replicates. Technology may reshape process, but it cannot replace trust.

The challenge for practitioners is not whether technology will change the profession as it already has. It is how to engage with it wisely, creatively, and responsibly. Those who approach it with curiosity and discipline will find it enhances rather than diminishes their craft.

Last Word
Technology in legal practice is no longer an optional extra. It is central to efficiency, competitiveness, and client trust. Yet adopting it does not mean abandoning the traditions of professionalism or judgement that define the law.

By combining practical knowledge of existing tools with thoughtful exploration of emerging technologies such as AI, lawyers can build practices that are modern, ethical, and human-centred. The key is not mastery of machines, but mastery of mindset and remaining curious, adaptable, and committed to continuous learning.

Note: This article is a summary of a CPD delivered by Alice Grubb, Principal Lawyer at JM Legal & Conveyancing – Tips to Enhance Your Tech-Enabled Legal Work Practices. The recording of that presentation can be found here.

November 2025