The past 18 months has spurred a lot of changes across industry, with the legal sector standing as no exception to this rule.
Joseph Painter- a Blacksburg area lawyer with insights on notable legal trends- acknowledges that one of the premier challenges for legal professionals is isolating which changes are likely to stick and which are likely to be discarded in the coming months. Legal experts have, therefore, put a lot of time and energy into recognizing trends and making investments in those likely to continue.
With the first month of Q4 wrapped up, Painter sees a great opportunity to share a few insights on a few of the most common trends impacting the legal field currently. Here, he explores ongoing trends that legal professionals will want to keep in mind as we prepare for 2022.
Technology Adoption is Here to Stay
Anyone that has seen legal professionals at work knows that legal procedures can be incredibly complicated. Law offices were already fast-tracking technological adoption to streamline processes, but the impact of COVID-19 has further emphasized this digital migration.
Joseph Painter recognizes Blacksburg lawyers have increased technology usage for a wide variety of systems. For example, the discovery process where lawyers examine pertinent items for their cases is aided by e-discovery. This ensures that the complicated process is streamlined for the sake of a smoother legal proceedings. Courts have also been using virtual hearings at an increased rate, which can be immensely helpful for moving along certain cases.
Improved digital client portals, processes for data management, and infrastructure to support remote employees all ensure that law firms across the country will budget more for technology spending in 2022 and beyond. Many experts believe that, even with firms moving back into offices, most have noted too many benefits to technological implementation to regress to more outdated methods.
Politics Will Continue to Impact Litigation Trends
Since the beginning of the pandemic, an immense number of factors have influenced litigation trends. For example, issues such as eviction moratoriums ending, unemployment benefits stalls, vaccines in relation to employment, supply chain issues, and labor shortages have impacted multiple sectors and will be common catalysts for litigation in 2022.
One hot button topic within law has been the lack of state and federal level enforcement for both masking and vaccination. With states having different takes on protocols and workers being subject to these rules, many legal experts expect to see a period of litigation from workers across various industries.
Housing is another factor that will likely spur litigation in 2022. Virginia recently extended its eviction moratorium to last until July of 2022. Joseph Painter predicts Blacksburg area lawyers will see an increase in the number of cases related to housing particularly if Virginia’s eviction moratorium is not renewed at that time.
Politics and their impact on legislation have always had a notable impact on litigation trends. Never have we experienced a situation where so many relevant changes are occurring at once, however, and legal professionals will want to keep a close eye on developments to ensure that their firms can properly address the needs of clients moving forward.
Changes in Clients’ Preferences Will Define Working Relationships
As the legal field continues to evolve, naturally the diverse needs of clients will change as well. A clear example is how the increased technological implementation that defined the pandemic has had a sustained impact on the preferences clients have regarding handling their working relationships with legal professionals.
The 2021 Legal Trends Report found that 79% of consumers consider the ability to work remotely with a legal professional plays an important role in their decision to work with them. 58% of polled consumers wanted the option to have consultations through video call and 67% responded that in-person and remote options for correspondence were preferred.
Video calls are great for keeping at-risk clients safe, but they are also seeing increased usage because of their accessibility
Joseph Painter speaks to how technology will continue to impact key processes, but it is important to emphasize how implementation is changing communication throughout the field as well.
People who have been involved in even simple legal matters know that correspondence and building a fruitful working relationship with representation is crucial for a case. Lawyers will need to heavily consider how to make sure their practices align with evolving client preferences in 2022 and the years to come.
Increased Demand for New Blood in the Field
Data from this year shows that, following the initial shocks of the pandemic, there has been a large increase in available jobs for lawyers.
In May of 2021, Reuters found that there were around 8,472 open jobs for lawyers of all positions. This is a sharp contrast to years prior, where some experts suggested that the legal field was becoming saturated with new qualified professionals- leading to a very competitive pathway for career advancement.
There are many reasons why experts believe the demand for new lawyers is increasing throughout the pandemic. One of the most cited is the backlog of cases that lawyers are attempting to sift through. After all, the pandemic has brought about changes and obstacles in almost every area of life, and cases linked to these shifts are far from in short supply.
Another reason for the increased demand in new legal professionals is the trend of older lawyers beginning to consider retirement. The 2021 ABA Profile of the Legal Profession found that 47% of older lawyers felt that the pandemic encouraged them to hasten their retirement.
For years, experts have suggested that the demand for new blood would increase as more esteemed lawyers approached retirement- but none could predict that the perfect catalyst for retirement would come in the form of the public health crisis.
What Do Evolving Trends Mean for Law Firms Moving Forward?
Legal professionals have had a lot to consider over the past 18 or so months since the onset of the pandemic- and largely they have done an excellent job transitioning to address the ever-evolving landscape.
Joseph Painter encourages law firms to do their best to remain proactive and avoid complacency as they evaluate their strategies for 2022 and the years to come. By following recent developments and paying close attention to how they impact litigation trends and client needs, firms across the country can continue to move towards a more efficient future.
